Read Online Beneath the Surface by Lindsay Buroker - Free Book Online Page B

the bulk of a bouncer. “ ’Scuse me, Bare and Brawny. We’re looking for—oh, what’s his name? The first officer said—There he is.” Maldynado thrust an arm toward a corridor entrance a few paces away.
    From Evrial’s viewpoint, she could tell it was empty, but the brawny fellow shouldn’t be able to see down it. “Yes, yes,” she said, “I see him too. We better get out of the way before we disturb the act.”
    She gripped Maldynado’s hand and led him into the corridor, not daring to glance back to see if anyone followed. He stumbled and staggered so effectively that she was surprised he didn’t trample her heels. They reached the corridor without anyone intercepting them, but Evrial hustled past several hatches and around a corner before stopping.
    Heat radiated from the white, metal walls. The dim lighting couldn’t have accounted for it; they must be near engineering and the boiler room. There was no sign of Akstyr or the enforcers. They hadn’t been back with the performers; where else could they have gone? Numerous metal hatches lined the utilitarian walls, but why would Akstyr have started going into random cabins? These windowless inside rooms probably belonged to the crew. Though if the circus performers were paying their way with their performance, perhaps they’d been given small cabins in this area.
    “ What now?” Maldynado asked, his drunken slur gone.
    “ I don’t know,” Evrial said. “If we go back the way we came, we’ll raise suspicions. More suspicions.”
    “ You don’t think my brilliant act fooled anyone, eh?”
    Maldynado was proving a quicker thinker than she would have guessed from the feckless façade he usually portrayed, but—
    Footsteps interrupted her thoughts. Boots, Evrial guessed, resounding on the metal floor and echoing over the banging of the drums.
    Maldynado jogged down the corridor to a hatch that stood ajar. He jerked his head for Evrial to follow. Though she had doubts about being trapped in a cabin, there wasn’t time to debate other options. She darted into the dark space behind Maldynado just as someone asked, “Did he go this way?”
    Maldynado eased the hatch most of the way shut, leaving a crack. The darkness behind it was absolute and revealed nothing. They might have been in a closet or a cave. Though, from the whiff of sweaty laundry that floated to Evrial’s nose, she guessed a crew member’s cabin was more likely.
    “ I thought he went this way,” a second man responded.
    The footsteps thudded into their corridor, and Maldynado pushed the hatch all the way shut. The voices shifted from distinct to muffled, though they didn’t fade away. It sounded like the men had stopped outside to discuss their search, or tomorrow’s breakfast menu, for all Evrial knew.
    “ The good news,” Maldynado whispered, “is that they’re looking for Akstyr instead of us. The bad news is that they’re looking for Akstyr. That means they know our team is aboard.”
    “ At least they haven’t found him yet. Of course, we haven’t found him either. I’m supposed to be in charge here, and I lost one of my men not ten minutes into the assignment.”
    “ Now, now, it’s not that bad,” Maldynado said. “It’s been closer to fifteen minutes.”
    “ Very helpful, thank you.”

CHAPTER 4
    Amaranthe dangled from the bar in the corner of the cabin, alternately wondering if her quivering forearms thought these chin-ups a worse torture than Pike’s knife and if she’d have to pay a fine for Sicarius’s unauthorized installation of training equipment.
    “ One more,” he said from behind her.
    “ I know. I’m just... marshaling my muscles and giving them a rousing speech, much like a general readying his troops for the battlefield.”
    “ The longer you hang, the harder the task will become.”
    “ I know that too.”
    “ Do you wish assistance?”
    Yes, Amaranthe thought. “No,” she said.
    Far less effectively than a general marshaling troops,