The Kraken King by Meljean Brook Read Free Book Online Page A

answer.
    “To my knowledge, no one and nothing of significance was aboard. My friend is the wife of an ambassador, but he is already in the Red City.” She paused, and he hoped she would speak of herself, but she only continued, “I think the target must have already been destroyed.”
    “Why?”
    “Because you said they hadn’t been so stupid before this. And sending a dozen flyers against a French battleship would be an efficient way to get rid of any pilots who might expose whoever was pulling the strings.”
    Ariq shook his head. She’d taken another sideways leap, but although it was logical, even brutally clever, it exposed her inexperience. Such diabolical schemes suited villains in costume plays, not real men.
    “No?” she asked. “Why?”
    “Because no one who commands other men would toss them away so easily. There are better ways to persuade them to silence. And if they must be killed, there are more efficient ways to do it.”
    A shiver raced through her body. Had he frightened her?
    If he had, he hoped it wouldn’t stop her questions. They’d been coming more rapidly as their flyer neared the ironship, as if she wanted to fit them all in before they landed.
    Ariq had more questions, too. He wouldn’t have time for them.
    Quietly, she asked, “How would you do it?”
    “I wouldn’t kill my own men.” But he’d kill others by whatever means necessary.
    “Would you sacrifice your men?”
    Inexperienced. But still clever. She would reach the same conclusion that Ariq was heading toward.
    “I would,” he said.
    “Easily?”
    “No.”
    Her breath shuddered against his neck. “If they sacrificed so many men, it must have been very important to destroy this airship.”
    Gaze fixed on Fujimaru ’s iron deck, Ariq nodded.
    “Why, though? What could they possibly gain?”
    Ariq didn’t know. But he could imagine one possibility: a clever woman with secrets and documents. If she’d been the target, they’d come for her again.
    Ariq intended to stand in the way.
    Directly ahead, the ironship pumped smoke into the sky from three tall stacks. Uniformed sailors waited on the deck. Ariq slowed his approach, and the flyer’s drone whined above the deep thrum of the ironship’s engines.
    Ariq pulled back on the levers, angling the flaps to begin their descent. The bullet wound in his arm burned. He gritted his teeth—then forgot about his arm when Zenobia’s hands slid from his sides to wrap more securely around his waist.
    This flight hadn’t been long enough. He wanted more of her touch—he wanted more of her .
    Ariq hoped she could be persuaded to have him.
    And he’d made himself remember her expression when she’d jumped from her flyer, but he hadn’t really looked at her. The sailors rushed forward to fasten the tether lines to the flyer’s nose and to hold the runners steady. Ariq leapt down to the deck and reached for her hand before any other man could assist her.
    She bent her head as she dismounted from the seat, carefully watching her step on the narrow runner. Her hair had come undone in the water. The wind had dried and twisted the strands into thick curls down her back. An unremarkable brown, in an unruly tangle around an unremarkable face. Her features were long and angular, her bottom lip pressed between her teeth. He wanted to see her laugh. She would often, Ariq thought—and he suspected that her smiles would be sharp.
    Her fingers folded over his. Her grip tightened as she hopped to the deck. She stood taller than he’d realized. The top of her head reached his chin.
    Then she glanced up, her eyes like jade stones lit by an inner flame, and Ariq sensed that another battle was coming. There was nothing unremarkable behind those green eyes—and this woman might have the power to lay waste to him.
    But if she did, he didn’t want to fight it.
    She quickly steadied under the weight of her pack, but he kept hold of her fingers. Her gaze briefly met his again, then she looked