made him weak.
She guided his fingers to her thigh, and he felt her racing pulse. They were naked in an eye blink. And then they were bound in each other, hot and cold combined, and it was hard and rough, and utterly unexpected. By the time they were done, David felt stripped away, worn out, and yet more alive than he could have believed. He traced a finger along the curve of her belly, kissed a nipple gently, and Graine pushed him away.
“That will be enough,” she said primly.
“Enough?” His face was slick with her, his senses filled with her. “Good heavens, madam, I thought we had only started.”
Graine smiled. “Cadell, my Cadell. I really am sorry.”
Her hand flashed out, striking him just above the eyes, and David fell.
“Not fair,” he breathed.
“Of course it isn’t,” Graine said, and kicked him in the face.
CHAPTER 26
Two things does Drift give to the world and they are, without argument, the finest pilots, and the strongest rum.
Is there anything more that you need to know?
THE CITY OF DRIFT 1410 MILES NORTH OF THE ROIL
The reception possessed little formality. Margaret still wondered how people could let themselves get so drunk, and so quickly. Then she had a sip of the Drift rum, and her eyes watered. David wasn’t so circumspect. He was soon nearly as drunk as the rest of them.
The pilot reached out a hand. “I’m Cam,” she said.
“Why am I talking to you?” Margaret said.
Cam's gaze held hers. “Because you have to talk to someone, and I'm good at talking.”
Beads rattled in her hair when she spoke; rings covered every finger: silver, brass, and gold. She pulled back her hair, all those beads rattling again.
“Aerokin are possessed of a singular fury,” Cam said. “Sometimes I and Meredith fight, sometimes they don’t know their own strength. We were both so much younger, scarcely more than children. She never struck me again.”
“You don’t need to defend your Aerokin,” Margaret said lightly.
Cam shook her head. “That is why I live. A pilot would die for her craft.”
Margaret reached out and touched her hand. “And I believe you,” she said. She wondered what it might be like to be joined with a craft that loved but didn’t like you, how that relationship might rage and rush.
“So what are you here for?” Cam asked.
“I really don’t know,” Margaret said.
“I’ve been off north, patrolling the edges of the ice plains.”
Margaret’s eyes flicked towards her. “Near Tearwin Meet?”
“Close enough,” Cam said. “Seen the high tower and that damn wall several times through the glass. You come down over those northern mountains, and think you’re done for bloody spectacle and then… there, the three mountains and the great wall that links them, rising like a black fist into the sky, and beyond the wall, the sea. It’s threatening, don’t like things that I can’t just glide over.”
“And the way was clear?”
“Always is. I could get in trouble for telling you.” Cam grabbed her arm, pulled Margaret in close. She lowered her voice. “You a spy or something?”
Margaret yanked her arm free. “No, of course not.”
She grinned. “Glad to know, though I’m sure you wouldn’t out and admit to it. I like the look of you. Let’s get ourselves a drink and then we can chat.”
Margaret had to admit that she liked the look of Cam too.
Mother Graine entered the hall, and the whole place quietened. Those nearest dipped their heads in a quick bow.
Margaret watched Mother Graine; a guard came over to her, whispered in her ear. Margaret couldn’t hear what was said, but Mother Graine shook her head furiously. The guard stepped back, and she gestured for the door.
Not long after, Mother Graine walked to David, said something to him, and they left the room.
“Mystery piled on mystery,” Kara Jade said to Margaret, and not without a touch of jealousy in her voice.
Margaret looked at her oddly.
Kara took another slug of her rum. “Keep your wits about you, Miss Penn,” she said.
“I’ll try not to follow your lead.”
Kara raised a finger in the air. “Do as I say — not as I do.” She bent forward and whispered in Margaret's ear. “I'd watch that Cam, she’s a wild one.”
The rest of the evening passed in a blur of drink and talk. And she stumbled to Cam’s room. Talking, laughing, swinging from humour to mad seriousness in what felt like heartbeats. Then she was spilling her guts, and then spewing them. And Cam was patting her back, and then she woke in Cam’s bed.
Cam smiled at her, eyes bright with affection and concern. “It’s all right. You’re safe here, unless you want to be dangerous.”
And Margaret did. She really did. Not once did she think about the Roil or Tearwin Meet, or David for that matter.
It was Kara Jade that found her. Kara smirked. “You ignored my warnings, I see.” Margaret felt her cheeks redden. “I… where’s David?”
“I was hoping you would know,” Kara said. “All I know is that they stopped having me followed. Big men, I believe that you had a run-in with them.”
Margaret realised that that the night had never been about her. Something so obvious that she had missed it. They’d taken David.
She swung a punch at Cam. The pilot blocked it.
“What are you doing?”
“Where did you take him?” Margaret asked.
“Whoa, I had nothing to do with that. Nothing! I was merely asked to keep you company. And fine company I found it. That is all.”
“We’ve all been damned and deceived,” Kara said, “Distracted. I didn’t expect to see my sister at the reception-”
“Is he safe?” Margaret said.
Kara shook her head. “When is David ever safe? That boy attracts danger like lint.”
“We’ll find him,” Cam said. “I don’t like being used. The Mothers of the Sky have never acted this way before.”
Kara nodded. “Yes, something is very wrong.”
Cam threw Margaret’s long coat towards her. She caught it easily. “But the world isn’t as it was,” Cam said. “And I guess we were foolish to think it otherwise. You find David.” She looked over at Kara. “I’ll get the Dawn ready for the journey north, if you'll let me.”
“Was going to ask you myself,” Kara said.
“Be careful,” Margaret said, and Cam laughed.
“There’s nothing careful about any of this.” She kissed Margaret hard. “I’m a pilot, ain’t nothing careful in my
