Read Online Whispers of the Skyborne (Devices of War Book 3) by SM Blooding - Free Book Online

telling me that this woman, who is a better tactician than even your Nix—”
    I bit the air and flexed my hand at his word choice.
    “—will not see this? That woman knows what you will do to protect your only living sister. She knows what Oki’s people will do for her. She has to know she has spies in her city.”
    “Fine, Haj!” I slapped my thighs in frustration. “What do you want me to do? Leave my sister? Abandon her? Let her be executed in the morning?”
    Haji stared at me unmoving for a long moment. Then, he shook his head and raised his hands. “I just wanted to ensure you knew what you were walking into.”
    I closed my eyes and reopened them, drawing in a deep breath of calm. “I do, Haj. I do.”
    “Good.” He cleared his nostril with his thumb and gestured to my bare chest. “Please tell me you are going to at least put on clothes.”
    I waved him off and hopped up the stairs to the upper catwalks. “Don’t attempt a transfer of manpower while we’re in the storm.”
    He grumbled something, but the high winds took his words away as he turned around, heading back to his men in the wide galley.
    I spun the wheel on the door and entered the command dome. “Take us above the storm to drop the Umira Nuru off. Those winds are brutal.”
    Jamilah nodded, but remained focused on her crew as she issued the orders to the communications technician and Lash.
    Aiyanna stepped through another door, sealing it shut behind her, clothing in hand. She tipped her head, her expression softly rebuking me. In the past months, she’d forsaken her traditional priestess robes and scarves. She now wore something more traditionally tribal: a short, full red skirt over dark pants; black knee-high boots; a soft, billowy blouse; and a pink vest. Pleasure seated in my belly as she hurried to me, handing me the clothes. “What did you discover?” she whispered.
    I pressed the tip of my nose to her cheek, a grounded assuredness filling me as I inhaled her scent—jasmine and some sort of wood. She was the only person close to me who wasn’t connected to power. Yes. She was a priestess of the powerful Hands of Tarot, but she wasn’t a high-ranking priestess, and no one was controlling her actions. She was genuine, so I was safe being genuine with her. “It’s worse than we’d imagined.”
    She pulled away at the torso, shoving my shirt over my head.
    I hurriedly punched my arms through the full white sleeves.
    “What?” Her large brown eyes studied my face as she held a maroon vest up for me.
    I twisted, slipping my arms through and then turned to face her, wrapping a long, red scarf around my waist. “I know who ordered the destruction of the El’Asim.”
    Aiyanna’s hands stilled as she prepared my belt, her startled gaze lighting on mine. “There is no doubt?”
    I swallowed, the reality settling over me “No.” Dear sky. “No.”
    Jamilah stepped into my line of sight to stare at me in horrified rage.
    How loud had I spoken?
    She unfurled her arms. “My El’Asim , what did you learn?”
    The other members of my crew stared at me, waiting. Most of their expressions were marred in outrage. A few were stunned to silence.
    I ran my middle finger along my eyebrow and grimaced. I hadn’t intended to share the information just yet. It wasn’t that I feared the allegiance of my crew. Aiyanna and Carilyn had vetted them. No. I worried about the maturity of my leadership skills. When my father was the El’Asim, few knew what the issues were until they had to deal with them. It lessened the stress on the crew.
    Jamilah’s face screwed up in outrage. She opened her mouth to speak and took a step toward me.
    “Ino Nami ordered the destruction of the El’Asim Fleet,” I blurted out before Jamilah unleashed her anger.
    Lash shouted in a startled guffaw. “She wouldn’t!”
    “How could she?” Ghaz asked, her lip curling, her voice low and gravelly.
    More exclamations and questions filled the space of the