Chapter 19
Dinner ended with the captain attempting to foot the bill, Rory rejecting his money, and Will leaving a stack of gold talents on the table anyway as their large group poured out onto the streets.
The temperature had plummeted since they’d been inside, so Amaya tugged her coat tight, admiring the way the sunset illuminated the textured streets. Serena approached from behind, putting one hand on Amaya’s shoulder and one on Lexington’s.
“Captain,” she said mischievously, “in honor of Amaya’s first time in a sky city, I think we should take her to Breezeway Park. Don’t you?”
The rest of the crew echoed their approval while Lexington frowned, considering the proposal.
“Are we on schedule with the repairs?”
“Sure are. Ahead, actually. I’ve got Malcolm working around the clock, and we’ll be ready for takeoff tomorrow morning.”
“I wouldn’t mind picking up some of those roasted pecans, Captain,” Ozzie said.
“Oh, and last time we saw that new stand with the vintage books. Remember?” Edmund said.
“And the carnival games!” Mouse chimed in.
“Right, all of that. And Amaya really wants to see it. Don’t you?” Serena threw Amaya a conspiratorial grin, and she blinked.
Amaya had never even heard of Breezeway Park. But looking at the rest of the crew, everyone seemed eager to go, so she played along, painting an innocent smile on her face and nodding.
“I really do.”
Lexington glanced at Sebastian, who nodded in encouragement, and sighed in mock defeat. “Fine. One hour, then I’ll meet you back on the ship.”
“Oh, I don’t think so. You’re coming, too.” Serena linked one of her arms with Will’s and one with Amaya’s.
He rolled his eyes. “You’re fired, Serena.”
“I know.”
Serena led them through the winding streets of Vaelstead, turning off the main road and pulling them down a dimly-lit alley. For a moment, Amaya thought Breezeway Park would be a shady den of pirates and thieves, but she’d never been happier to be wrong.
The alley unraveled, the park popping into view like a storybook.
Breezeway Park was perched on a plateau on the outskirts of Vaelstead’s main island, populated by vendors and decorated with green trees and a jewel-toned rainbow of flowers.
The spirited vibrato of fiddles and banjos resonated through the park, courtesy of a quartet performing on a small stage.
A sweet, nutty cinnamon filled the air, making Amaya’s mouth water even though she’d just eaten—that must be the roasted pecans.
Right in the middle of the park stood a tall, narrow tower topped with a circular viewing deck. A lookout tower. The glass lifts on the outside slid up and down, transporting patrons beyond Vaelstead’s skyline to enjoy what had to be a magical view.
The entire place was magical.
The crew dispersed to pursue their various interests.
Ozzie made a beeline to the pecan cart while Edmund practically bolted toward a stall selling old books, maps, and stationary.
Mouse ran off to a row of tents hosting carnival games.
Lockwood was drawn to the music, Sebastian to the arm of a pretty girl in need of a dance partner, and Serena released both Amaya and Will in favor of a vendor selling cider and chocolate.
Amaya was about to follow Serena, but paused when the woman at the stand gasped and caught the engineer in a fierce hug. Serena laughed, briefly lifting the other woman a few inches off the ground.
Suddenly, Amaya didn’t want to intrude. For all her amiability, it was clear that Serena hadn’t organized this extra excursion for Amaya’s sole benefit.
Something brushed her shoulder, and she flipped back around to see William Lexington beside her, his arms folded.
Somewhere between asking her if she’d ever used a gun and now, he’d loosened the white shirt he wore under his coat, the deep indentation of his chest now visible beneath the open collar.
Amaya averted her eyes, hating herself for wondering how many rows of muscles hid beneath that shirt—and swore he’d done this on purpose.
“You want to go to Cloudspire?” he asked.
“What?” Amaya tore her thoughts away from his distracting physique and followed his line of sight to the top of the thin tower.
Above the ticket booth hung a sign lit up in round, yellow lights: Cloudspire. Her chest tightened. She very much wanted to go there, but with him?
“Um . . . yes.”
They stood in line for tickets, not speaking, a healthy distance between them. When they made it to the front, Will slid four silver talents to the ticket agent.
“Two.”
The ticket agent, an older woman with white-blonde hair and bright eyes, let out an astonished cry when Will’s motion caused his sleeve to slide up, briefly revealing the web of black scars across his forearm.
“Maker have mercy, you’re Lord Lexington!”
Amaya froze at the accusation, half-expecting law enforcement to race out and arrest them. But this wasn’t Sorrento, and the ticket agent wasn’t looking at Amaya with concern for her safety. Instead, she regarded her like she was the luckiest woman in the world.
“No, please. You don’t need to pay.” The woman printed a pair of tickets and, when Will wouldn’t take them, thrust them and the talents into Amaya’s hand. “You and the lady can go right up.”
“That’s not necessary.” Will took Amaya’s hand and pried open her fingers to retrieve the talents, sliding them back across. “I insist.”
“Oh, no. My boss would have my head if he found out I charged William Lexington.”
Will glanced at the elevators, then at the line behind them. Everyone was staring at them now, in various stages of shock and awe. Amaya mirrored them as he leaned closer to the glass separating them from the ticket agent, lowering his voice conspiratorially.
“Maybe you can help me with something else.” He looked pointedly at Amaya, then back at the woman, and winked. “We’d like some privacy.”
Amaya’s insides disintegrated.
The woman was only too happy to evacuate the tower and dismiss the line at Will’s request—though she did accept his money in exchange for the lost sales.
When Amaya and the Sky Lord stepped into one of the glass elevators, it was just the two of them.
Amaya flipped a cardstock ticket between her fingers, examining the gold-embossed letters and smirking at the printed text at the bottom: Enjoy the view.
She snuck a glance at the captain. Enjoying it so far.
“Why’d you do that?” she asked as the lift started to move.
“Do what?”
“Ask them to clear the tower.”
His lips tilted up ever so slightly. “Because I can.”
“You probably ruined a lot of evenings just now.”
“I don’t care about their evenings, I care about mine. I don’t enjoy the gawking. And you’re facing the wrong way.”
“What?”
Without warning, Will’s hands found her waist, their sudden heat stealing her breath.
He spun her around so she faced the glass, and was now positioned to see the full effect of the lift soaring into the sky.
The city revealed itself beneath them in all its wonder, full of twinkling lights.
The fading sunset streaked the sky with dark pink, purple, and gold.
“Going up is actually the best part,” William murmured, his breath tickling her ear. Goosebumps pricked Amaya’s arms, and she became acutely aware of his nearness as they soared past the unbelievable cityscape with all its twinkling lights, broken apart by streaks of sunset.
“Wow,” Amaya breathed as the lift slowed. “This is . . . have you ever seen something so incredible?”
It was a stupid question; she knew it as soon as it came out of her mouth. He was a Sky Lord. Of course he’d seen more impressive things than this. But when she looked back at him, the corners of his eyes crinkled, a ghost of a smile on his lips.
“Can’t say that I have,” he said, kindly humoring her.
Amaya beamed. If the novelty of sky cities really wore off like he said, she couldn’t comprehend how.
The lift doors opened and Amaya shoved past William, dashing to the edge to see how high they were. She gripped the railing lining the deck and leaned over, the sight spiraling her senses into vertigo.
“Woah, that’s high.”
She backed up and extended her hands to either side to regain her balance, surprised when she backed into something solid—Lord Lexington’s chest.
“Don’t tell me you’re afraid of heights.”
“I’m not,” Amaya insisted, huffing and not turning around. “It’s just . . . really high.”
She wondered how far away they were from real ground. The cold, thin air pinched her lungs, not quite filling them how she was used to.
As her bravery returned, Amaya re-approached the edge with more caution.
With a steady hand on the iron rail, she slowly traveled the circumference of the emptied observation deck, admiring the city from every angle.
It was so much bigger than she’d realized, and their altitude made it seem surprisingly quiet.
From here, she could even see some of the distant farming islands.
If she’d be traveling with sky pirates for the foreseeable future, Amaya knew she’d live for sights like this.
“Are all sky cities like Vaelstead?” she asked, sensing the captain’s lingering presence behind her. “I mean, do they all look like this?”
“No,” he said. “Many of them are laid out similarly, but they all have different architecture, different people.”
“And you’ve been to all ten?”
“Of course. Before I was twelve.”
“Wow.”
Amaya’s shoulders shook as another chill blew through her, cutting through her wool coat. Sorrento wasn’t exactly warm this time of year, but this type of cold stung differently. That was, perhaps, the sky’s main drawback. She grabbed her arms, rubbing her hands up and down them to generate heat.
“Why’s it always so—”
Before she could finish her sentence, another layer dropped over her shoulders.
Perplexed, Amaya looked up at the enigmatic man beside her. Sure enough, he was now short a dark gray coat.