An Airship Named Desire (Take to the Skies Book 1)

An Airship Named Desire (Take to the Skies Book 1) Read Free Page A

Book: An Airship Named Desire (Take to the Skies Book 1) Read Free
Author: Katherine McIntyre
Ads: Link
muscle, I notched the toes of my boots in the crevasse behind me, using the leverage. A shot glanced by, and a howl ripped from his throat.
    The officers arrived on the scene. A spurt of vitality flooded through me, and I yanked Jensen up until he gripped the vent and lunged inside. The ropy scar on my left leg throbbed at the thought of his gunshot wound. We forged on through the tunnels above the ceilings even though their shots rattled through the shoddy aluminum.
    “This wasn’t an ideal plan,” I said.
    “You think so?” Jensen’s voice came from behind. “You’re not the one who got shot.”
    “Buck up, boy-o, we’ve got more ground to cover.” I tried to keep my tone light. “We’ll take care of it as soon as we can.” I bit my lip to suppress the worry that crawled through my veins. Jensen never got shot. Not in the time I’d known him. Pushing the bundle in front of us, I squeezed through the tight tunnel until the vent stopped at an intersection and peered down both ends.
    “Go right,” Jensen mumbled behind me. “It’ll get us to the top floor.”
    I shifted into that vent and forced myself through. Good thing claustrophobia never bothered me.
    “Beatrice, do you copy?” My communicator sounded again. I cursed myself for not turning the damned thing off. I could barely fit inside the area ahead let alone move around enough to pull it from my bag to respond. That scratchy noise of interference echoed through the vents. Up ahead, the dim square of light at the end beckoned, and the vent widened enough that I shifted my bag around in front of me.
    “Hold on. I’ll make sure we have an escape route.” I yanked open the beaten leather bag and pulled out the blasted communicator, which cast a green glow against the dark tunnel. After pressing down on the metallic button, I spoke.
    “This is Beatrice. Cargo acquired. We’ll be topside in minutes. Over.” I clicked off the knob and popped it back into my pack.
    “You make some hefty promises.”
    “None we aren’t going to keep.” I grinned. “Either we make it through in minutes, or we’re dead anyway.”
    A numb tingling raced down my spine, and my heart pounded a notch faster. Looping the bundle back under my arm, I crept to the side of the vent. This grate suspended over the ceiling unlike the one we entered through. Jensen crawled over to the opposite side, and we peered through the slatted view. Below us, the halls appeared empty, lined by bleach white walls with evenly paneled mahogany floors. I strained to hear anything besides the engine’s whirr echoing through the vents.
    “Are they there?” I asked.
    Jensen shrugged. “We’ll find out.” He unscrewed the vent and bent over the side. “Remember, you promised minutes,” he said, before jumping.
    I grabbed the cargo and hopped after him. Jensen covered my right side while I glanced down the left. Both corridors lay empty with those chestnut floors sloping upward to the main deck where our struggle to the top would reward us with no cover and a whole crew to tangle with. Those odds were something I could get used to. I forced away the fierce smile threatening to take over my face and instead pulled my pistol from its holster. The corridor met the deck on the main level, and the walls stopped up ahead to greet the sunshine spilling in from the entrance.  My breaths came out in staccato beats, and sweat slicked my palms. The clamor of footsteps rose behind us again.
    We peeked over the sides to view the main deck. Many crew members had charged to the hull upon the alarm, so the deck cleared out more than I expected. Still, pockets of uniforms gathered from both ends of the ship. New wooden planks, cleaner than dry bones, lined the deck. I scanned the area again. Ahead of us lay a clear trail to the edge but no cover.
    I stared above at the brazen blue sky. The wind roared with the same intensity as an engine, and the clouds puffed like outpouring steam. Several of the guards

Similar Books

Death of an Old Sinner

Dorothy Salisbury Davis

Stripped Bare

Susan Mac Nicol

Waggit Forever

Peter Howe

End of Eternity 3

Loretta Lost

New Beginnings

Brandy L Rivers

The Vampyre

Tom Holland

Gemini Summer

Iain Lawrence