Skybuilders (Sorcery and Science Book 4) by Ella Summers Read Free Book Online Page B

few cheap and disposable aircraft for a bit of target practice, is all.”
    “Your employer wouldn’t happen to be a Selpe lord, would he?”
    “Oh, no. Of course not. No Selpe lord would ever tarnish himself by purchasing illegal goods.” Leonidas winked at him. “So, are you looking to sell or not? We’d like to get out of here before the Auster City Guard comes marching in.”
    Paling, Master Dominick asked, “They know about it?”
    “Unless they’re all asleep, they certainly should by now,” replied Leonidas. “News of the plane has spread all over the city. Now, we heard it from this old man at the flea market, but he says he heard it from a barmaid, who heard it from—”
    “You can have it,” Master Dominick cut in. “Ten thousand Crowns.”
    “We’ll give you two thousand,” countered Leonidas.  
    “Two…thousand?” stuttered Master Dominick. “Now, see here, sonny. That plane cost me—”
    “Oh, you’re right. What was I thinking?” Leonidas smiled. “I’m sure the Auster City Guard has a much better offer in mind for you.”
    Master Dominick’s mouth fell open. He moved his lips, but nothing more than a pop came out. Leonidas smiled and waited.
    “Take it,” Master Dominick said finally, his shoulders slumped over. “Just get that damn thing off my property.”
    “Fabulous.” Leonidas set a stack of bills in his hand, then walked down the dock. He stopped before the plane and turned back around to wave Silas forward. “Come, Big Bob.”
    Oh, yes, Silas thought with grim satisfaction. I’m really going to have to kill the spy when this is all over. But for now, he joined him at the plane.
    Master Dominick hit the button to open the hangar doors. As they spread, spilling in streams of daylight, he stared at Silas and Leonidas and scratched his head. They’d only just climbed inside when the junkyard proprietor’s eyes lit up in recognition and locked on the spy.
    “He’s identified you,” Silas told Leonidas.
    “Too late,” he replied.
    The plane’s engine roared to life, its propellers began to spin, and Leonidas drove it out into the bay before Master Dominick could do so much as close his unlatched jaw.

CHAPTER SIX
    ~ The Floating City ~
    526AX August 20, Seabird-4

    THE SEAPLANE SHUDDERED and dipped. It lasted only a second, but that was long enough for Silas to aim a hard stare at Leonidas.
    “Sorry about that.”
    The giant Elition continued to stare, his eyes pulsing white. Leonidas had the unsettling suspicion that those eyes could burn a hole through his head. Considering what he knew Elitions could do, it was not a mad thought.
    “Just a sticky lever.”
    Silas arched an eyebrow, clearly unimpressed.
    “I’m not so familiar with this particular plane model.”
    Because it is over fifty years old , he wanted to add. They didn’t even make the Seabird-4 anymore. No one wanted it, and it was no wonder. Turning the steering wheel was like churning butter. It jerked and hiccuped and belched dubious black smoke out of its tail end. Leonidas was fairly certain it would survive the flight to Oasis, but he was less optimistic about his chances of getting it up in the air again. Once they found Marin, maybe she could work some of her mechanical magic to spit some life into the dilapidated plane. Leonidas gritted his teeth. Marin…
    “Leonidas, is this truly the best vehicle you could find us?” Ariella asked for the two-hundred-and-fifty-seventh time. She was a beautiful woman, but she was also really starting to grate on Leonidas’s nerves.
    He sighed and counted back slowly from ten before speaking. He could not afford to snap at the Elitions. Silas would toss him overboard.
    “As I explained before, planes are the domain of the military. The only people who can get their hands on one are highly ranked officers and filthy rich aristocrats who have bought off anyone who matters inside the military. You put two thousand Crowns in my hand and told me to get you a