Twisted Metal Heart - Eve Langlais Page 0,73
in a place this big.
Out of his depth wasn’t something he was used to. In Emerald, the biggest bazaar he’d visited had only about twenty tents, and he’d never been inside a dome. He doubted the domes were like this anyhow. This reminded him of the Marsh City. It tasted like freedom.
He had to tell Axel and the others. A place like this could swallow their number easily. But first, he had to find Riella, which meant locating this pirate Darius on his ship. What had Alfred called it? Avenger something or other.
A ship wouldn’t be in the city itself. He needed a place with water.
“The harbor road is the one by the shop with the red sign.” Alfred nudged Titan in hopefully the right direction.
“Have you found Riella?”
“Shhhh.”
He clamped his lips and quickened his pace, noticing the vendors in this area sold a lot of strange-looking meat and fish. The air had a pungent aroma that was somewhat offset by the scent of cooking spices. His rumbling stomach wished he had something to trade for the slab he saw sizzling on a grill.
They emerged from a busy section to a bunch of squat buildings. Giant hangars lined up by the docks where the ships sat lined, big metal sentinels perched atop water. They were impressive to see, the plated metal welded and smoothed. He drooled at the amount of firepower he saw mounted. He’d never actually seen a turret gun before, but he recognized it. Kind of concerning all those ships required that kind of weaponry. Just how bad were the monsters at sea?
He glanced out at the deceptively calm waters. Would a monster come this close to snatch a snack?
He’d rather not find out. But what if Riella and the pirate had already set sail? Would he still follow? For Riella? His child?
Right off the edge of the world if need be.
“Which ship belongs to Darius?” He eyed the line of nine ships and realized he couldn’t search all of them. A glance around showed Alfred nowhere near. Probably a smart thing given the only animals he’d seen in the city thus far ran on a few legs and didn’t fly. He should convince Alfred to be a hat next time. Something stylish that he could keep close by.
“Why are you snickering?” asked the snooty bot.
“Nothing. Where are you?” Because he couldn’t spot where Alfred hid.
“Close.” The voice by his ear startled.
He looked to his left, and the air seemed to shimmer. “That’s kind of cool.”
“Don’t be an idiot. I’m using my cloak, but it’s not perfect. So don’t draw attention. Use the goggles.”
“What goggles? Riella’s?”
“Yes, Riella’s. Do you want to see her, yes or no?”
“Of course, yes.” Did he still have them? He reached into his bag, and it took a bit of rummaging before his fingers closed around them. He pulled them free. “How do they work?”
“Put them on and I can show you Darius’s boat.”
“You know which one it is?”
“Only one Ocean Avenger.”
“Let’s locate it then.” He jammed the goggles on, opened his mouth to ask how they worked, then stumbled. Image overload on his left eye. He closed his lid against the dizzying feel of having two images fed to his senses at once.
“What the hell?”
“Not Hell, it’s a video. You’re seeing what I’m seeing,” Alfred said, the sound emerging from the goggles. “Think of me as your eyes in the sky.”
“More like vomit on the ground. It’s moving too fast.”
“Why must you plague me with complaints?” grumbled Alfred. “Riella has no problem following me.”
“Because Riella is radioactive.” The woman kept awing him with her skills. With practice, he might eventually catch up. “Give me a second to get used to it.”
Because it became quickly clear he could not walk and watch the camera feed at the same time. He had to find a place he could tuck and hide before he glanced again. It took only a moment to locate an out-of-the-way spot. Hunched and calm, he opened his left eye and closed the right one. Having only one image in front of him helped. He frowned. “What am I looking at?”
“A boat.”
“Obviously,” he sighed.
“That’s the Ocean Avenger,” Alfred remarked. “Darius has been her captain for nine years now, which is impressive for a pirate.”
“Meaning he’s due to get hit.” Luck only held on for so long.
“Or he’s the safest thing out there. Have to say, traveling with him was kind of fun even if he was arrogant. Then again, he could at