The Dream Thief by Kari Kilgore (books for 10th graders txt) 📕

No one else was on the upper deck so early, with the navigator out of sight in his room just under the prow of the airship. This solitude was exactly what she needed after days filled with so many people, with days full of people in her own house still to come.

Maybe she was underestimating Karl, or overestimating her own appeal. He'd resisted his mother's attempts to get him married off if his stories were to be believed. Maybe he would give her enough time and space.

The much larger problem was how he felt about what Loretta did for a living. That was going to be hard to avoid no matter who found out about it, as good a reason as any to guard her secret so closely.

But Karl had a more legitimate objection than most if she actually was sending people out to Joffrey Columns with her nocturnal activities. She didn't break minds on purpose, and learning how to avoid it would be a good thing to protect her suppliers if nothing else. And her paying clients.

She walked toward the front of the shaw, one hand brushing along the railing. Even with his surprising suggestion to keep Rullin off Crumble, Karl seemed too straitlaced to be accepting of her work even without the side effects. He hadn't been at all straitlaced in her makeshift bed, though, to a wonderfully surprising extent.

She stood at the front of the airship, watching the rolling countryside beneath them, mostly trees with a few dirt roads here and there.

Karl could come in handy, though, if he could get past any need to be overly involved in her life. He was the best protection Loretta had ever had besides Bess, and he was willing to do what was necessary.

He was damn smart, too, with a passion to learn nearly as fierce as her own. And she'd welcome such a skilled lover in her bed, on her own terms.

Alone, far above the ground in the middle of nowhere, Loretta whispered to herself that if they could somehow match up both of their terms, Karl might be good to have around for more than protection or sex.

For the first time on this trip or any other, she heard Bill walking up behind her before he spoke. Perhaps settling back to her Waldron's Gate self truly did make a difference.

"Good morning, my dear," Bill said. "I trust you slept well?"

"I did, very well," she said. "The best I've slept in a long while. And you?"

Bill smiled, his dark skin catching the reddish light of the sun.

"Not as well as you from the looks of you. Is this one a keeper?"

Loretta hoped her blush was hidden by that same light.

"As much as any of them are, Bill. I'm quite certain you understand."

"Indeed, I do," he said. "I speak true when I say you're the only one who could tempt me from my wandering ways."

He held out his hand, and Loretta squeezed tight.

"That's only because I would never do that," she said.

"You speak true as well, my lady." He kissed her hand. "Sadly, we're too well suited for each other, and that's the way we both prefer it. Karl does seem like a good man, Loretta. Maybe even a good one for you."

She smiled, trying to soften her abrupt change to an unpleasant topic.

"What will you do about Rullin? I shed my own family obligations, besides Gemma, many years ago. I know that's never an easy thing."

The pilot stared straight ahead before answering.

"I don't know. He's proved himself worthy of prison, or maybe Joffrey Columns, many times over. But if someone is behind this latest outburst, it doesn't feel fair to leave him to twist on his own. I'm as stupidly sentimental about family as I am unsentimental about lovers."

"Lovers are a lot easier to walk away from," Loretta said. "For anyone besides me. Please let us help any way we can. For whatever reason, I'm his target. I'd like to help resolve this mess if it's possible."

"I'll let you do that," he said. "I can't even read the damned address properly, or at least I can't tell where it is. I never did learn the Waldron's Gate way of navigating. So much trickier down there on the ground."

"That I can help you with, Bill. I'm more of an expert in that area than you know. I have a map at my house that will suit our purposes admirably."

"I thank you for that," he said. "We still have the problem of finding out why all of this is going on in the first place. I doubt someone who's worked so hard to keep this secret is going to just volunteer once my brother shows up on the doorstep."

"Well, that may be another area I can help with, my old friend. I happen to be expert in finding my way about Waldron's Gate, and its residents, late at night when secrets are most likely to be shared."

Chapter 36

Karl held the handle on the trolley, trying his best to keep from recoiling every time another person brushed up against him. He'd only been away from this sort of crowd for a few days, less than a week. But he felt like he was surrounded and hemmed in on all sides.

He glanced at Loretta, sitting a few rows down from him. She seemed to be more at ease in all this fuss and noise, not less. He'd have to ask what her secret was.

He watched the tall, colorful houses rolling by, wondering how he'd ever felt comfortable living in one of them. They very nearly rubbed shoulders as much as Karl was right now. He doubted a good, fresh wind could really get going in such close quarters, much less the heavy, wet breezes around Gemma's house.

Something about the peace in those mountains, the quiet, soothed a part of Karl he hadn't realized needed soothing.

Gemma sat beside Loretta, her bright eyes every bit as excited as Karl was anxious. He