Stormbreak (Seafire #3) - Natalie C. Parker Page 0,23

her voice. “In a way, it’s always reminded me of you.” He lifted his broad shoulders in a shrug. “Though I am not enough of a poet to say why.”

There was a smooth spot on the top of the stone where Hesperus must have worried his thumb thousands of times. The rest was shrouded in a rough exterior, as though the only way to uncover the truths hidden inside was through the constant pressure of a friendly touch.

Caledonia could think of no better comparison for herself, though she was certain Hesperus didn’t recognize the perfection of his gift. He could not know that she had always imagined her girls as stones.

“Thank you, Hesperus. This is poetry enough for me.” She closed her fist around the gift and added, “Next time we run the drill, I want you with Viridian Fleet.”

CHAPTER NINE

Two weeks after their return to Cloudbreak Caledonia was itching to return to the sea, but every day conspired to keep her bound to land.

Rogue ships continued to arrive, Amina successfully modified a tow with enough explosive to sink a ship, and with Nettle’s clever assistance, Kae was certain they were mere moments away from cracking soiltech. It all pointed to one thing: staying put.

Her days were endless rounds of finding problems and solving them while trusting that time would give them the tows and soiltech they needed to move forward with their plan. All she had to do was keep everyone prepared for the moment it came together.

Still, in the back of her mind, she could not quell the haunting voice that whispered a name over and over again like a slithering ocean breeze: Donnally. She could not subdue the ever-present fear that her brother had become the monster she was destined to kill. Her thoughts dragged her back to that moment on the Titan when he’d refused to go with her, and her dreams cut darker trails through her mind, conjuring memories she could not claim of the violent murders of Fivesons Decker, Venn, and Tassos.

This, at least, she could do something about.

“I’m going to talk to her,” Caledonia told Oran as she slipped a jacket over her arms.

Oran stood with his back to the window of her office. Outside, storm clouds rolled slowly across the western sky, giving the room a liminal quality.

“Remi,” Oran said, disapproving.

“Yes, Remi.” Caledonia let defiance slip into her tone.

They’d had this conversation twice already. Each time, Oran had urged her to forget Remi’s words. Even if they were true and Donnally had killed the other Fivesons, Oran argued there was nothing new that Caledonia could learn from Remi. Better to verify the information on her own and leave Remi to her recovery.

Caledonia was in the process of doing exactly that. She’d sent Gloriana and her crew out days ago to confirm the deaths of Fivesons Venn and Tassos, but now that Remi was recovered, it was harder to ignore that she was a potential source of information.

“I’m not saying you shouldn’t see her. Only to be cautious. Don’t let her inside your head.” Oran spoke carefully, watching her as she twisted her hair into a thick braid. “I’m afraid she’s already there.”

“That’s why I have to go,” she said. “To get her out of my head.”

Oran was quiet for a moment before he spoke again. “At least take the mountain with you.”

As Caledonia exited the fortress, the sky above rumbled and the western distance flashed with lightning, brilliant blue against the black coil of a storm. Undeterred, Caledonia struck out for town, Sledge and Pine following close behind. Though Sledge followed like a dark cloud, Pine was the one who matched his stride to hers.

“There’s only one way to get good info from a Bullet,” Pine said, the opening bars to what had become a very familiar song. “Pain.”

“We aren’t torturing her,” Sledge growled.

The dawn air should have chilled her, but adrenaline fueled her steps and even though her breath came in small white puffs, she broke into a light sweat.

“Pine,” Caledonia warned.

“What choice do we have?” Pine protested. “You can’t unmake a Bullet in two weeks. The only language she understands is pain and pleasure.”

“We aren’t torturing her,” Sledge repeated, voice growing more dangerous.

“You don’t have to.” Pine tossed the answer out casually. Even now, it was easy to forget how swiftly Pine shifted between the Blade he was and the Bullet he’d been. Caledonia was suddenly reminded of the night he’d killed that Bullet in Slipmark, how he’d moved to

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