Suzanne Lazear - Charmed Vengeance

“That?” Jeff made a face. “Perhaps you’ve actually started paying attention in history?”

A nervous laugh leaked from her lips. “Yes, that must be it.”

Why the artifact was in the museum wasn’t her concern, after all, it was just a scrap. She’d mention it to V later.

Jeff offered her his arm. “Are you ready? We have to be onboard before sunset—and we promised to bring Vix back something. I think we passed a sweet shop.”

“Oh, I could use a pastry—and a cup of actual tea.” She grinned at Jeff who listened to her whine about no tea every single morning.

He took her arm, schooling his expression into their mother’s favorite and mimicked her giving a pained sigh. “I suppose.”

She shook her head as they left the room and walked back down the stairs.

“Wait. What was it that you wanted me to see?” She looked around the gallery of Rubens, the schoolgirls gone.

Jeff laughed. “Me? What do I care about art? I just wanted to go someplace warm and the museum is free. ”

Noli elbowed him in the ribs. Hard. “Grownup, indeed. Now come along, I think you owe me a cup of tea.”

Pink streaked the sky as Kevighn wandered through the cargo ship docking area toward the Vixen’s Revenge. The gangplank of the ship was down but no one seemed to be around.

“Shipman Silver requests permission to come aboard?” he called, stamping his feet on the wooden docks to keep warm, hoping to garner someone’s attention.

“Oh, it’s you.” Captain Vix appeared, looking up and down the sparsely occupied docks as if expecting someone else. “Permission granted. Stow your things below in crew quarters. Supper will be soon in the galley, and remember,” her brown eyes narrowed. “Stay out of the engine room.”

“Yes, sir.” Curious as to how she kept saying that. Now he wanted a peek even more.

Kevighn went inside the tidiest airship he’d ever seen. In the galley a very large man with an eye patch cooked. Right, they all took turns cooking. It didn’t smell half bad.

The wooden stairs led down below. He turned and found himself at a door marked engine room . Hmm …

He looked around the small hallway then slipped inside. The first thing he noticed was how clean the room—and the engines were. The second was the little painted flowers festooning the engine. Interesting. He wouldn’t have pegged the captain for such things. She probably didn’t even like men.

Toward the back stood another door, two boxes hung on them, one filled with socks. Odd. Airship folk got strange sometimes.

He peaked inside the partially open door, curiosity propelling him. Deep red fabric swathed the tiny, empty room. A doll, a needlepoint pillow, and a blanket lay draped on the hammock in the corner. Ladies hats hung on the back of the door. Very, very interesting. A tool box sat on the desk and books on engineering filled the shelves along with a few others.

“What do you think yer doing?” a male voice demanded from behind him.

Kevighn turned and looked at a short, pudgy man with glasses, white hair, and a striped hat, dirt streaking his cheek. “I’m the new crewmember. I was looking for crew quarters.”

The older man’s eyes narrowed as if he didn’t quite believe him. “This way. You best be leaving her alone.

Who?” A girl engineer? Or a joy-girl in the only available space on the ship?

“Our engineer.”

Kevighn nodded as he followed the man out of the engine room. “Of course.”

She was probably the captain’s … lady friend. Yes, that made perfect sense given the captain’s warnings.

“The names’ Winky and these are crew quarters.” Winky opened a door which led to a very small, lightless room with six hammocks and footlockers. “Those two are both unoccupied, take yer pick.”

Kevighn chose a top hammock. Winky watched as he stowed his things in the footlocker as if waiting for him to do something wrong.

“Chore list is in the galley, changes every day.” Winky turned to leave. “Come along or you’ll miss supper.”

As they climbed the stairs, the sound of the captain scolding someone echoed down the stairwell. Her voice certainly carried, especially in close quarters.

“I told you to be back before sundown,” she chided.

“Sorry,” a man replied bashfully. “It’s just sundown now.” She made an annoyed noise. “Go eat, both of you—and thank you for the cake.”

“We thought you’d like it,” a female said shyly. Her voice reminded him of Magnolia, but lately everyone seemed to remind him of her.

Meeting the crew would be interesting. Hopefully, they’d be more like Jeff and less like Winky and the captain. As if hearing his thoughts, Winky narrowed his eyes at him as they crossed what looked like a common area and entered the galley.

A young woman, hair under a hat with a little bird on it, set the table with mismatched dishes. The hat hid her face, but her bustled gown looked rather fancy for this sort of airship.

Jeff held up a hand in greeting. “Ah, Kevighn, you made it.”

“Kevighn?” The young woman whirled around, nearly dropping the dish in her hand. Steel colored eyes stared at him. A familiar jaw dropped.

His heart pounded. “Magnolia? What are you doing here?”

Was the Bright Lady continuing to smile upon him or playing tricks?

The girl in the engineering room must be his fair blossom. No wonder the crew was so protective. The first mate’s little sister, a young girl, not to mention Magnolia sort of inspired protectiveness—and the fact she didn’t like it much only made it more fun.

Jeff did a double take. “Wait—you two know each other?”

Kevighn’s chest tightened. How exactly could he explain knowing her in a way that wouldn’t get him pushed off the ship mid-air?

“He knows V and James.” Magnolia set the table without missing a beat. But she bit her lower lip as she did so.

“Does he?” Jeff focused on him.

The intensity made Kevighn want to squirm. Instead, he shrugged, wishing she would have chosen a better explanation. “I wasn’t always an air pirate.”

Jeff harrumphed. That probably wasn’t the best answer either. But it wasn’t as if he was friends with either one of those rapscallions.

Kevighn studied her out of the corner of his eye. She looked even more beautiful than she had the last time he’d seen her, before he’d been exiled. He sucked in a sharp breath. Magnolia was no longer mortal. When had that happened?

And why?

The captain took the seat at the head of the wooden table. Kevighn tried to sit next to Magnolia, not that he could speak with her so publically, but she ended up between Jeff and the large dark man he’d seen earlier in the bar.

Supper was uncomfortable. Every time he even looked in Magnolia’s direction someone got his attention and pelted him with questions.

The message was clear–yes, if he was going to speak with her he’d have to be very discreet, otherwise they might make a detour over the Grand Canyon.

Noli put away the dress she’d had laundered off ship. The clever laundress even managed to get the grease out. The newest member of the crew could pose a problem.

Kevighn. On this ship. Flying figs.

He was exiled from the Otherworld, just like V’s family had been. That meant he had to make it on his own in the mortal realm and take up an occupation. Kevighn had been a pilot before and even owned his own airship once. It wasn’t as if exile would make him respectable all-of-thesudden.

Why couldn’t he have simply gone to work in an opium den? Certainly he’d spent enough time in them.