World Weaver (The Devany Miller Series Book 4) (33 page)

“You liked that, huh? Man, wait until you taste homemade fudge. Or cheesecake.”

His hands went to my waist and he spun me outward, then back in toward him. “We’ll need to live three lifetimes to fit it all in.”

“I guess I’d better hope we live through this then, huh?”

“We will.” He hugged me and I wrapped my arms around him. We swayed together like fourteen-year-olds at our first dance. We were inside a Dream now, the rest of the world having faded away. The knife was there, waiting for me to make up my mind. I almost used it, I almost severed the ties that kept me wed to my old life. But there was Bethy to think about, and Liam. They deserved to have a say in where we lived and what our future looked like. Liam, I was sure, would vote to stay in Odd Silver, but what of my daughter? They both had friends they would leave behind, not to mention their grandparents.

“I can’t. Not yet.”

“It’s okay. That’s why it’s in your hands, so you have the control.”

“Why don’t you ever push me?”

He grinned. “Because I know you’ll choose me.”

“Oh really?” I kept my own smile off my face through sheer force of will.

“Yes.”

“Well, it must be nice to be all prescient and shit.”

He moved in, stole a kiss, and danced away before I could get him back. “It is confidence in what I feel for you and the knowledge that you would be mine when we first met. That confidence has only grown since.”

“But I’m dangerous and whiny and unsure and stubborn and I’m nobody’s doormat and I won’t do your laundry or clean up after you. I’m really not good wife material.” I wasn’t sure why I was trying to talk him out of me again. I obviously had issues.

“You’re right. If I wanted something like that, I’m sure you would be a terrible choice.”

I made a face at him as we danced around each other, though really it was more of a rhythmic walk than dance. Here, in this Dream space I could hear the drums and, though I could not see them, I could feel the others dancing with us.

“I want a partner. Someone strong enough to help me keep Meat Clan safe. Someone who feels as strongly about the People and the land as I do. Someone who isn’t afraid of blood or danger. Or is afraid but doesn’t let that stop her.”

“I don’t know if I want any more kids,” I said. Would that be the deal breaker?

“So be it.”

“Really? No urge to pass on your genes?”

He shrugged. “It matters not to me. It’s not why I’m here with you and it doesn’t factor into staying with you. Children are blessings. There are many in Odd Silver, and you have Liam and Bethany. I’m not a greedy man.”

I’d long ago stopped thinking of him as too good to be true. Now I thanked my lucky stars the wild magic had decided we needed to meet.

When we came back to the Real, Zephyrinia was at the prow looking through a spyglass. She flicked a glance at us over her shoulder. “You always fade like that?”

“No,” I said, but didn’t explain further. “What’s going on?”

“We’ve gained on them. Quite rapidly.” She held the instrument out to me and I peered through it.

I didn’t expect it to have much telescopic strength, but I could see the scuffs and scratches in the rails on the other ship. I searched the deck for my daughter. “I don’t see her.”

“I’m not surprised. They wouldn’t want civvies underfoot when they’re being hunted. Kieran would consider her cargo so he’d keep her …” She adjusted my aim, guiding me visually to a spot near the rear of the ship. “There.”

The windows were too small for me to look into despite the magnification and I finally handed the glass back to her, disappointed. “Thank you. For all this.”

“Of course. Those bastards need taught a lesson and their ship needs burned to Ground. And no child deserves to be taken away from her parents.” She glanced over at Krosh, but didn’t ask. “They are running scared. Tomorrow we’ll have them.”

“We could catch them in an hour or two, though, couldn’t we?”

“Trust me. You don’t want to be in an airship battle at night.” She folded up the spyglass and hooked it in a loop on her belt. “Get a good night’s sleep. We’ll be running hard in the morning.”

TWENTY-SIX

I couldn’t sleep, of course, and was up at the first bright light of morning pierced the curtains and glared off the picture on the opposite wall. I put my clothes back on with a wrinkled nose. How long had I gone without a change? Krosh rolled out of bed and dressed, then we were both at the prow once more.

The ship was close enough for me to see without a spyglass. I gripped the rail until my fingers made depressions in the wood. A thousand ‘what ifs’ circled in my head, each one more terrible than the last. What if one of the pirates pushed my daughter overboard? What if the other ship caught fire and Bethy died in the blaze? What if someone accidentally shot her? What if the pirates killed her?

“I can’t do this. I can’t stand here watching.” My clothes felt too tight in addition to being dirty, and I wanted to rip them off my body so I could breathe again. “I have to do something.” I couldn’t even hook over. The magic had bumped us right off the ship when I’d tried back in Bayladdy. There was nothing to do but stand and wait in agony.

“What do you have now that Neutria is gone?” Krosh asked me.

“What?”

He let his hyena show through his eyes. I could almost see his massive jaw and lolling tongue. “You’re Wydling too. Aren’t you?”

“I don’t …” The bird in the cage. “Wait. Let me look.” I dropped down into my control room and slid through the fleshy tunnel to the bird. It squawked at me, peeved. Its feathers were dusty and the cage was too small for the poor thing. I unlatched the lock, but the door wouldn’t swing open. “Rusted hinges? Really?” I put a foot on one side of the cage and pulled hard with my hands. The hinges groaned, shrilled and the door gave way, tossing me into the back wall. The bird boiled out of the cage and grew, grew, grew, until I feared it would suffocate me.

Gasping I came up out of my control room—if there was a control room anymore. “I—” the rest came out as a caw. I stared at Krosh, aghast, but he only took my hands and stared into my eyes. His power was strong. I’d never felt it this way before, not in his capacity as anchor, not directed at me.

The pain of the transformation was gone. The agony that burned through me when Neutria came forward wasn’t there. There was a sense of folding, of brushing my skin against my skin—familiar yet strange. My skin pricked, feathers grew, arms extended, body shifted.

The next sound wasn’t a quiet one. It was a scream. My wings flew out in startlement, and when they hit rope or rail, adrenalin filled me.
Danger,
that feeling meant. I scrabbled to get free of the trap, free of the cage holding me and then Krosh was touching me again, filling me with calm.

‘Devany, can you hear me?’

His voice was so very welcome in my head. I wasn’t in the back of my mind, hunkered down while Neutria did her gruesome work. I was present in every part of this new shape. It was such an odd feeling I didn’t quite know what to make of it. ‘What’s going on? Did I do it? Why do I feel so weird?’

‘You did it. Your boy beat you, though. You took a lot longer than he did.’

I heard him chuckle and hissed at him. A bird hiss, not a spider hiss. It made me sad. ‘He’s a little show-off,’ I said, pride sneaking into my voice. ‘Too long? Are we caught up to them, yet?’

“They pulled sharp right through the gales. It took out one of their gasbags. Zephyrinia says that they will have to put down. No choice.’

There was a hesitation in his voice I didn’t like. ‘What? Damn it, Krosh, tell me.’

‘She’s not sure they’ll be able to land without crashing.’

‘Shit. I have to get out there.’ I tried to turn, but walking was almost impossible on the slick wood of the deck. My claws clacked as I scrambled to turn myself around. Idiot. I was an idiot and I would die before I even reached Bethy. Finally, with Krosh’s help, I got to the rails. They weren’t as high up as I thought. Was I bigger than a raven then? I had very little sense of proportion in this form. I didn’t like it. I missed Neutria’s competence and deadly fangs.

What the hell use was a bird?

I had wings. I could fly. I would get to my daughter and … then what? Change. Hook her away. It would work. It had to work. “Okay,” I said, though it came out an ugly gak of sound. I flapped my wings. Nothing. Flapped harder. Nothing. ‘What am I doing wrong?’

‘You don’t have enough room. Hold on, I’m getting help.’

‘For what?’ But I had my answer when several hands lifted me up, up, up to the rail. I gripped the wood with my talons, sinking more significant dents into the wood than my puny fingernails had managed. The wind buffeted me, ruffling my feathers like a song of freedom.

I leaned into it, drawn in by the rush of air against my beak. I opened it, drawing in the scents. Leaned more and more.

My wings flew outward when I felt the sudden yank on my stomach from the drop. ‘Krosh!’ I flapped in utter panic, tossed here and there by gusts. I was going to die. I would die and the only thing left of me would be bird splat. Then Krosh’s calm washed over me again and I stretched out my wings. They caught the air and when I twitched them, I soared upward. Twitched again and I dove.

I flapped in long, slow strokes and ancestor memories of flight flooded my brain.

‘I’m not going to die!’ I shouted into the wind.

Then I remembered why I was out here doing the impossible and searched in the sky for the
Marauder
. My eyesight was sharp and I had no trouble picking out my target. With an angry shriek, I lowered my head and flew for my daughter.

***

I pulled energy from the Source to gain on the
Marauder
. Yeah, I was not above cheating to get what I wanted. I circled above them, scanning the deck in vain. One of the ship’s gasbags was draped over the starboard side as sailors worked furiously to cut it free. More sailors were lined up at the rails, putting on packs I assumed were parachutes.

They were abandoning ship? Sure enough, the crew started jumping, yellowed canvas popping open as they cleared the hull. Two, eight, fifteen. How many chutes did they have? Would they have enough for everyone aboard? My guess was nope.

Damn them all to hell.

I swooped in and heard shouts and screams. They were afraid of a bird? Wait until I gained my human form, then they’d have something to fear. The pop of a pistol startled me out of my concentration on the sailors jumping ship. Shooting at me? I spiraled down as another shot whizzed over my head. I searched from prow to stern and spotted the culprit in a crow’s nest under the intact gasbag.

I kept the masts between us, flying hard and dodging upward at the last second. He screamed, throwing up his hands as I swooped down on him, talons spread.

Lightning struck him before I had the chance to grab him. His life ended, mid-shriek, and he fell, burning. I felt victorious for about two seconds. Then he hit the deck and caught a nearby pile of rope on fire. ‘Shit!’ More lightning struck another man, and another. I glanced up, but could only see gasbag, though I could have sworn the sky had been blue and cloudless, not stormy at all.

Never mind. I needed my daughter. Dared I change? How long would it take me to get back to my human form without Krosh?

I hadn’t thought this through very well. And then I saw a man drag Bethy on deck, my daughter obviously terrified. He didn’t stop when Bethy tripped, just dragged her behind until she gained her feet. The bastard. I would kill him. I dive bombed him, but pulled up when Bethany screamed and cowered. She didn’t know it was me. I didn’t want to hurt her or frighten her into doing something stupid.

Frustrated, I circled around. My daughter was hiding behind the sailor, apparently thinking him the lesser of two evils. The sailor yanked a pack around my daughter’s thin shoulders, roughly locking the straps on. ‘I’m going to make you suffer,’ I thought at him.

Then he put his own pack on and pushed Bethy over the side with a screamed order, “Pull the string in five seconds!”

Oh god. She would panic. She wouldn’t find the string. She would fall. I couldn’t let that happen. I swooped down, wings folded tight to my sides. Like a bullet, I shot through the air, tracking Bethy with my sharp bird sight. Just as I got close enough to touch her, her chute opened. It popped outward, hitting my left wing hard, spinning me sideways. My head slammed into the taut rope of the parachute and knocked the sense out of me

When I came to, I was feet from the ground. I formed a hook, screaming in fear. It popped me out in the Slip and I pumped my wings hard to keep from crashing into a startled Skriven. I landed with a heavy thump and set about putting my bird back into its cage.

It didn’t work. It wouldn’t go back inside that small enclosure, no matter how I prodded. In fact, it closed off the fleshy tunnel as if to say, “No going back now.” Even though I couldn’t stuff the bird back inside the cage, I was able to change back to my human form, aided by the magic in the Slip. Back in human form, I waved toodle-fingers at a gaping Skriven, and hooked back to the spot on the beach where I’d almost become a splat of bone and blood.