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My tongue didn’t feel so fat in my mouth. I rubbed my cheek again. The numbness seemed to be fading away, bit by bit.
Thank God the magic wasn’t stronger.
Crouching, Wendel held his dagger over Natalya.
“Don’t.” I caught his wrist. “Someone will find her eventually.”
He had the audacity to look innocent, like he had never killed in cold blood before, but he shrugged and pocketed his dagger.
I wiped my sword in the snow. “We overstayed our welcome in Vienna.”
He straightened, his gaze on the horizon. The wind stirred his butchered hair, the tattoo of the black eagle bare on his neck.
“Constantinople?” I asked.
Wendel nodded, his eyes still focused on his destiny.
The Orient Express Airways zeppelin floated, anchored to a steel mooring mast, over the grass of Aspern Airfield in Vienna. Sunset angled through the haze of clouds, shimmering over the airship’s silvery skin.
We waited in line to board the zeppelin. Wendel gazed at the airship with a faint smile shadowing his face. Anticipation buzzed in my stomach. In my hand, I clutched two first-class tickets. We hadn’t booked a round trip flight, but then again, who knew how long we would spend in Constantinople.
Or if we were ever coming back.
A page ushered us into an electric elevator at the bottom of the mooring mast. We climbed to the height of the zeppelin.Whistling wind stung our eyes. We hurried over the swaying gangway and stepped inside the zeppelin’s nose, where we were greeted by smartly dressed officers of the Orient Express Airways.
I wanted to glance around the luxurious foyer, but Wendel slipped his hand into mine. He led me to the left-hand promenade deck. Windows ran along the wall, tilted so that passengers could lean against the railing and see the ground below. He found us a spot by the windows just as the airship began to glide away from the mooring mast. Below us, people waved handkerchiefs and hollered goodbyes.
I watched the world drift away beneath me. In another life, we could have been newlyweds traveling on our honeymoon, with hope instead of dread for our future. The impossibility of that idea tasted bittersweet.
“I wonder when we will see Vienna again,” I said. “Or if we will.”
His fingers tightened around mine, though he kept his stare on the ground.
We departed at five o’clock. By six o’clock, Vienna had disappeared in the distance, and the cathedral of Budapest towered over the city. By seven o’clock, the moon had risen, and the zeppelin sailed over Serbia.
We went to dinner together in the airship’s dining room. I gazed through the windows at the glittering lights, so far beneath us. My breath clouded the air. The interior of the zeppelin had no heat, and it was a chilly night. Around us, passengers wore furs while they sipped wine and ate their dinner.
Wendel had liberated some stationary from our cabin, and he slid it toward me now.I hope the waiter brings our food while I’m still awake.
“Tired?” I asked.
He nodded, then scribbled his reply.I feel like the walking dead.
“You should know.”
His mouth twisted into a wry smile.
The waiter served us sea bass with almonds. I rubbed my thumb over my fork, concentrating on the silverware’s ornate engravings. A thought had haunted me for hours now, but I hadn’t had the courage to ask.
“Wendel?” I said.
He glanced into my eyes, only for a moment, still focused on cutting his fish.
“Should we sleep in the same bed tonight?”
He relinquished his knife for a pen.I have fewer nightmares when I’m with you. Are you comfortable with this?
I reached across the table and squeezed his hand. “Yes.”
