I Will Breathe (Forbidden Book 1) Read Free Page B

metal finger down her cheek.
    Liberty hadn’t realized she had been crying until he’d pointed it out. Her chest hurt. She whispered, “So much has been lost.” She cleared her throat. “How do you have these images?”
    “My father downloaded them into me when he knew he was dying. He was the Keeper, his father was the Keeper, and his father too, and his father before him. Father only had me to pass this honor down to, so now I’m the Keeper. Father had never viewed them until the day he died. Do you know why?”
    She shook her head.
    “He said he could never bear to see what the Great War had stolen from us. It was easier living in these hard times if he didn’t know about what could have been, if not for the hate and ignorance.”
    He slid the cover back in place. “These things shouldn’t be lost. Someone has to keep safe what has been lost, and what we can have again if we don’t give up.”
    “That’s a great honor.” Now she understood why Boy was afraid of dying.

Chapter Four
    “May I steer?” Boy stared without blinking as he waited for Liberty’s reply.
    “No.” She checked the gauges and repositioned her goggles, trying to work out the kink in the strap. Once they were settled back onto her face, she looked over at him. Just to be certain he understood, she repeated, “No.”
    “Please?”
    How could a robot put so such emotion into its voice? Liberty rolled her eyes and tried not to notice Boy’s deadpan stare. Even though he was just a machine, she hated to think she might have hurt his feelings. “Stop staring and go do something useful.”
    “I can steer. That’s useful.” He stared at her, as if that would be enough to break her will.
    “No. You don’t know how to operate an airship.”
    He clinked forward a couple of steps. “You could teach me.”
    She shook her head. “No.”
    “Please?” Deadpan stare.
    “Damn. I knew it. It told myself back at Tinkers that you were going to be as annoying as hell. I should have left you there, sweeping his storeroom.” She adjusted her goggles again even though there was nothing wrong with them.
    “Why do you always say damn? Am I going to Hell? Are you going to hell?” He blinked once, in slow motion.
    “I feel like I’m already in Hell, but that’s not why I say it. I curse because it makes me feel better. It’s like shooting tiny little poisons darts out of my mouth. I picture them shooting into whatever pisses me off.”
    “Pisses? So you’re urinating while these darts are shooting?” No blink.
    “Whatever did I do to deserve you?” Liberty sighed and plopped into the captain’s seat.
    “Both of our fathers died.”
    Seeing she was losing the battle, she asked, “So what do you want to know about flying Airus?”
    “Everything.”
    She stood and motioned for him to take her place. “Hold here and here, and please don’t get us killed. Okay?”
    “How long before we get to the east coast?” He let go of the wheel.
    “Damn it.” She took his hands and repositioned them. “Never, if you don’t do what I tell you to.” Liberty saw him staring at her mouth. “What are you looking at?”
    “I’m trying to see the poison darts.”
    Liberty smacked her forehead, even though the thought had crossed her mind to smack his instead. “You can’t see the poison darts. They’re imaginary.”
    “Oh.”
    By late afternoon, the sun slid behind black, billowing rain clouds, and strong gusts of wind kept pushing Airus off course. Even though Boy didn’t want to give up his post at the helm, Liberty took over anyway. Since she wasn’t certain how water tight the robot was, she sent Boy to her cabin, just in case it began raining. Rain she could live with, but a lightning strike was another matter altogether. One strike on the airship could set a fire she might not be able to put out. She shut down the thought that it could also kill her. Every day held some form of danger. That was just a part of life.
    When the storm