What had he gotten himself into?
The woman handed Danny his clothes and politely looked elsewhere. When it became clear that they weren’t going to leave, Danny blushed harder and began to dress. He noticed a bandage around his elbow where that ginger-haired girl had stabbed him with the needle. He ripped it off, revealing the mottled bruise underneath.
“Zounds, what happened?” the man asked, nodding at the messy sheets. “Was the bacon burnt?”
“Leave him alone, Ed,” the young woman chided. Her voice was lower than Meena’s, and her skin was darker, like those from southern India. As he tugged on his trousers, Danny inhaled sharply.
“What’s the matter, something stuck?” the man, Ed, asked with a smirk.
“Meena,” Danny said. “What happened to her? Is she here?”
The two exchanged a look. “We didn’t bring the girl,” Ed said slowly. “Just you.”
Danny hoped that Meena was safe. Maybe her Shiva had protected her.
Finally, dressed and feeling a little more like himself, he checked his pockets. No cog. Someone had definitely taken it, and he thought he knew whom.
“Right, then,” Ed said, turning the young woman back around. “Introductions. I’m Edmund. This is Prema. Welcome aboard.” When Danny didn’t respond, he leaned in. “Psst, this is where you say your name.”
“We already know his name.” Prema sighed. “Hello, Daniel. It’s nice to meet you.”
“It’s Danny, actually.” He licked his lips, and his eyes strayed toward the window. “I, uh … What are you people?”
His captors exchanged another look. “We work for Aetas,” Edmund said proudly.
Danny blinked three times, waiting for a further explanation. When he received none, he asked, “What on earth does that mean?”
“Ed, you’re being too blunt. Anyway, Zavier said he wanted to be the one to tell him.”
Danny jumped on the opening. “I want to speak to him.”
“Of course. It’s just …” Prema hesitated, and Edmund shifted on his feet.
“What?” Danny snapped.
“Could you hold out your hands?”
Fighting the nervous energy in his chest, he stiffly held his arms out. Prema gave him an apologetic look before she handcuffed his wrists.
“Can’t have you getting into mischief,” Edmund said cheerily.
As they walked him along a few corridors, Danny wondered just how big this airship was. He recalled the massive shadow beside the Notus, like a leviathan floating up into a kingdom of clouds.
A few doors were open, and he glanced inside the rooms as they passed. He didn’t see anyone except a girl who was practicing throwing knives at a pallet she’d leaned against the wall. When she noticed him walking by, she sneered.
They eventually stopped at a metal door with a red Z painted on it. Edmund knocked and opened the door.
“Good, I was hoping you would find me,” Zavier said as they entered. He was sitting on the edge of a wooden desk, a book in his hand.
Zavier nodded once, and Prema gave Danny a small smile as she unlocked the handcuffs. Once the other two had departed, Zavier stood and closed the book. Glancing at the cover, Danny swallowed his surprise. Greek myths.
“Look, Danny, I’m sorry if I got you worked up earlier. I’ve been hoping you’d join us for so long now. I may have overstepped.”
Danny rubbed his wrists and cleared his throat. “No amount of pleasantries is going to put me at ease, you know. I’m your prisoner.”
“That’s true enough.” The bastard actually admitted it. “But we won’t hurt you.”
“It’s not just me I’m worried about. You’re threatening Colton. You’re destroying clock towers. Don’t you think that affects people?”
Zavier drummed his metal fingers against the book cover. “Yes, and I think it affects them for the better. They shouldn’t be pawns in this war on time. But,” he said when Danny opened his mouth, “I don’t believe this is the right path to take for this discussion.”
“What is, then?”
Zavier gazed down at the book, then held it up for Danny to see the cover depicting a Trojan soldier on horseback. “Are you familiar with Greek myths, Danny?”
“I thought your little spies told you everything.”
“Don’t be cheeky.”
“Yes, I know some of them. What does that have to do with anything?”
“I have something I’d like to show you,” Zavier said. “Then I’ll tell you the whole story.”
“Will I be wearing handcuffs again?”
“That was Ed and Prema being cautious, but I see no reason for them. There’s nowhere for you to run on this ship.”
He thought of the girl throwing knives in her room. “I could grab a weapon.”
“You wouldn’t know how to use it.”
“You seem to have very little faith in me.”
Zavier smiled, half amused, half considering. “No, Danny. I have all the faith in you.” His eyes dropped back to the book. “Just for something different.”
Zavier led him back into the barren corridors. His boots thudded against the metal floors, but Danny was only in his socks; they hadn’t allowed him his shoes. The cold metal leeched through the thin fabric, numbing his toes.
“By the way, I’d like my trinket back.”
“Trinket? You mean this?” Zavier pulled the cog from his pocket. Danny tensed. “It’s curious that you carry it around so openly. What if someone were to see you with it?”
“That’s just a risk I take.” He reached for it, but Zavier held it at arm’s length.
“It’s illegal to own pieces of the clock towers. You never know what sort of power they might still possess.”
Danny clenched his jaw as Zavier put the cog back into his pocket. “What do I have to do to get it back?”
“First, you listen. Then, we speak.”
They came to a set of wide doors that opened to a view of a plant nursery. A garden in the sky. Danny had once read that these were used to generate more oxygen throughout the larger airships. As they passed, Danny caught the aroma of basil and mint. It brought him back to his family’s garden on rainy days, when his mother plucked herbs for cooking.
The simple thought of home, of his mother, hit him hard, and his eyes began to burn. It struck him in that moment just how far away he was, how helpless, how alone. He crossed his arms over his chest and tried not to shiver.
The boy beside him was his enemy. No matter how calmly he spoke, or how much patience he showed, Danny couldn’t let himself forget that.
They walked down a set of steps, and Danny heard the ringing of metal.
“A quick stop.” Zavier led him to a set of thick double doors. Though they were closed, Danny could hear the clang of a forge. “I think you might enjoy this.”