Stormbreak (Seafire #3) - Natalie C. Parker Page 0,14

change that. But I need your help. We all do.” Caledonia paused, then, sensing their reluctance, she added, “Now is the time to fight this fight. We can make this world better than it is. We can work together and change things.”

“How? You defeated Aric, but another has risen in his place. There will always be another Bullet.” Osias shook his head. “We have nothing to gain from joining your war.”

Frustration surged in Caledonia’s lungs. She quickly pushed it down again. “You may be able to avoid the fight, but it has imprisoned you just the same.”

“Our river is not a prison.” It seemed the ocean was already pulling Osias away, ending the discussion on his behalf.

“What about your soils?” Caledonia asked, feeling desperation make her voice sharper. For all that the Hands had plenty of tech in their possession, soiltech eluded them.

“What are you doing?” Pisces muttered.

Caledonia ignored her. Now was not the time for caution. She had to do something. “We have Bullet soiltech and we are close to re-creating it, and when we do, we’ll share it with you. We’ll give you the tech and the plans for reproduction.”

This time Osias seemed to consider her proposition. He paused, listening as the others slipped alongside him and whispered their own thoughts. Caledonia held her breath, not daring to make another sound in case she upset whatever might be working in her favor.

But her hopes plummeted when the discussion stopped and Osias bent his mouth in a frown.

“No,” he said. Then he turned to Amina and added, “Do not bring strangers to our river again, Amina of Maryam Water.”

Without another word, they turned their slender vessels, and vanished into the rivers.

CHAPTER SIX

The white cliffs of Cloudbreak sifted through the fog, darkening against the sky in a slow smile.

Though Hesperus had revealed to Caledonia that there were more ways in and out of the city itself than the lifts, they were still the fastest. And they’d gotten faster. Over the past six moons, Old Man Clagg had managed to cut nearly a minute from the time it took to travel up the harrowing cliffside. With Oran’s help, he’d shaved off an additional thirty seconds. Now, as the command crew stepped onto the pallet and they pulled away from the ground, Caledonia felt every second of that speed.

Pisces planted herself in the center of the lift, where she rode the whole way seated with legs crossed and eyes closed. Hime sat with her, taking one of Pisces’s tightly balled fists between her own hands. Amina stood at Hime’s back, while Nettle swung from one of the stationary ropes with one hand. Pine hovered nearby. He might not be willing to admit it, but he was always close enough to reach out and catch the girl should she lose her grip. Sledge stood apart from everyone, arms crossed against his chest, eyes pressed serenely shut, as though the sensation of being whisked up a mountainside were commonplace.

Caledonia stood alone at the edge of their pallet. Cold wind ripped through her hair, and the force of the lift’s speed pushed against her entire body, reminding her that if she stepped from the lift, she would sink like a stone in water, plummeting back toward the rocky shore.

As they approached the top of the cliffs, which curled protectively around the city within, their pallet slowed, then deposited them on a platform where five anxious figures waited. Hesperus was at the front, mouth pinched in a frustrated twist and brow creased. While the city was technically still his, it had transformed since the battle, and every time Caledonia returned from sea, he had something new to complain about. Today was clearly no exception.

Just behind Hesperus stood Ares. Unlike the Sly King, Ares did not look like he was chewing on something unpleasant, but his relief was visible when his eyes landed first on Sledge and then on his sister. Next to Ares was Kae, who was probably waiting for her own sister Mino to appear, and just behind her was Ennick. The man was several turns Caledonia’s senior with skin as salt-pale as her own and dusty brown hair. A former Ballistic turned rogue captain, he and his crew had joined with Caledonia’s during the Battle of Cloudbreak, and Ennick had been the rallying point for rogue ships ever since.

And there, standing at the rear of the entire group, was the one person she most wanted to see: Oran. He leaned against the low wall

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