Another Love ─── L. Castellan

lxxxvii. i am allowed no peace to go on my date night

"Beckendorf." Luke stood up, putting our stuff away as he and Beckendorf said hello to each other. 

"Would you-" I turned to Luke, who was already nodding and handing me Riptide and a spare dagger. My armor was in the car, and I was quick to pull it on. "Thank you."

"I'll see you at home." I leant up, pressing a long kiss to his lips as Luke tightened his hold on me. 

"Stay safe. Don't die." He whispered, taking one last moment to memorise my face before I pulled back.

I nodded, before vaulting on Blackjack's back in front of Beckendorf. I sent Luke a soft look, before we took off into the sky.

"So," Beckendorf said, "You two seem happy."

"Thanks. How's Silena?"

"Don't." I shot him a grin, both of us chuckling to each other.

It was almost dark by the time we spotted our target. The Princess Andromeda glowed on the horizon. Seeing the ship again twisted my gut into knots. I'd almost died twice on the Princess Andromeda. Now it was heading straight for New York.

"You know what to do?" Beckendorf yelled over the wind.

I nodded. We'd done dry runs at the dockyards in New Jersey, using abandoned ships as our targets. I knew how little time we would have. But I also knew this was our best chance to end Kronos's invasion before it ever started.

"Blackjack," I said, "set us down on the lowest stern deck."

Gotcha, boss girl, she said. Man, I hate seeing that boat.

Three years ago, Blackjack had been enslaved on the Princess Andromeda until she'd escaped with a little help from my friends and me. 

"Don't wait for us," I told her.

But—

"Trust me," I said. "We'll get out by ourselves."

Blackjack folded her wings and plummeted toward the boat like a black comet. The wind whistled in my ears. I saw monsters patrolling the upper decks of the ship but we zipped by so fast, none of them raised the alarm. We shot down the stern of the boat, and Blackjack spread her wings, lightly coming to a landing on the lowest deck.

Good luck, boss girl, Blackjack said. Don't let 'em turn you into horse meat!

With that, my old friend flew off into the night. I took my pen out of my pocket and uncapped it, and Riptide sprang to full size—three feet of deadly Celestial bronze glowing in the dusk. Reaching up, I touched the necklace that Luke had gotten me for Christmas, kissing it as Beckendorf stared at a picture of Silena.

Both of us were saying our final goodbyes to our loved ones just in case we didn't make it back.

"Let's go blow Kronos back into a million pieces."

Beckendorf led the way. We followed a narrow corridor to the service stairwell, just like we'd practiced, but we froze when we heard noises above us.

"I don't care what your nose says!" snarled a telkhine. "The last time you smelled half-blood, it turned out to be a meat loaf sandwich!"

"Meat loaf sandwiches are good!" a second voice snarled. "But this is half-blood scent, I swear. They are on board!"

They continued to argue, and Beckendorf pointed downstairs. We descended as quietly as we could. Finally we came to a metal hatch. Beckendorf mouthed the words "engine room."

It was locked, but Beckendorf pulled some chain cutters out of his bag and split the bolt like it was made of butter.

Inside, a row of yellow turbines the size of grain silos churned and hummed. Pressure gauges and computer terminals lined the opposite wall. A telkhine was hunched over a console, but he was so involved with his work, he didn't notice us. He growled and muttered as he tapped on his keyboard.