“No way,” Yuri said, shaking his head.

  Mikhail groaned. Of course he’d say no. Why stick his neck out? “Klara, I’m sure Zinaida’s friend will take us both.”

  “We’re not done here,” Klara said as she faced down Yuri.

  “Yes, you are,” Yuri said, taking a step forwards, a move that would have seemed threatening if Klara wasn’t half a head taller than him and broader in the shoulders.

  “Two days ago, you were berating me for not looking out for family. What happened to that?” Klara asked.

  “One, I ain’t a Sentinel. I got no code to follow about family. Two, he”—Yuri pointed to Mikhail—“ain’t my family. Three, he’s dishonoured.”

  Klara took a step forwards herself. “Well, Uncle Yuri,” she said, her voice barely audible to Mikhail, “how about I tell Father about your smuggling business on the side?”

  Yuri’s face might have been etched in stone for all the reaction he had to Klara’s statement. “I ain’t a smuggler.”

  “Of course not. Regular traders unattached to the Lobans or the Orlovs can afford a full stock of crossbows and those fancy gas rifles you keep in a bolt hole.”

  Mikhail winced.

  Fire burned in Yuri’s eyes as he glowered up at Klara. “What are you playing at, girl?”

  “You have one last chance to agree to help us.”

  “I’d rather be a guildless mucker than mess with Alchemists.”

  “Well that’s good,” Klara said. “Because you will be if you don’t help. I know you’re a smuggler, and I will happily let Father in on his brother-in-law’s little secret. How do you suppose the Sentinels will respond to one of their suppliers being an outlaw?”

  Yuri’s lips curved down. “You wouldn’t dare.”

  “Try me.”

  “Sergei was right,” Yuri said. “You’re nothing like him… but you are like your mother. Ruthless. Don’t ever tell Sergei it was her idea we start smuggling.”

  “So you’ll help?”

  A ghost of a smile flickered across Yuri’s lips. “And have Vera’s spark on board once more? Get in before someone sees you.”

  Mikhail needed no more encouragement. He lurched up the ramp and into the hold. The wind vanished as he passed the threshold and a sigh escaped his lips.

  Yuri raised an eyebrow. “Better get you lot warmed so you don’t die before you tell me what the depths is actually going on. I ain’t seen Sergei so mad since I told him he couldn’t marry Vera.” Yuri chuckled to himself as crew materialised and shut the hold doors. Yuri led the three past stacks of crates to a rickety brass stairwell at the rear of the hold.

  Mikhail glanced at Zinaida, who had removed her hood and half-mask. An icy fury glittered in her eyes, and Mikhail shivered. Should he have listened to her? No. Klara had actually offered to help him. He wasn’t a fool enough to turn down the first sign of warmth from Klara in years.

  If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  ***

  An hour later, Vera’s Revenge had left Borovsk nothing more than three circles far behind them.

  Mikhail sat with Klara and Yuri at a table in a large room at the front of the gondola. Zinaida stood slouched against the brass railing wrapped around half the room and stared out the huge windows, her fingers drumming a staccato rhythm on the brass. Yuri had given all three of them Sentinel watcher coats. Between the coat and the gas heater burning away in the corner of the room, Mikhail finally felt alive again.

  Outside, snow hammered the windows, and the full moon lit the giant mountains of the Gromadnyy range that brooded over the barren landscape.

  Mikhail lifted the glass of vloysh and tipped it back, sighing with pleasure as the alcohol burned his mouth and warmed his gullet.

  Yuri turned to him suddenly. “Why’s it so important that you reach Katavsk? I understand Elana is missing, but how does Katavsk contain the clues you need to find her?”

  Mikhail stared into the empty glass. So far, only Klara knew Dominik was in Katavsk. Thankfully she’d at least kept that secret. He didn’t want to consider all the lives at risk if people discovered why he needed to go to Katavsk. “Sorry. I can’t tell anyone. The fewer people know, the fewer can get hurt.”

  “Bein’ able to trust those close to you is the only way you’ll survive in this world.”

  “Perhaps,” Mikhail said. “But two wardens have already died. I won’t have more lives on my conscience.” Alarick and Irmina’s dead eyes still haunted him, staring at him from amidst a pool of ever-expanding blood. A shiver wracked Mikhail’s body. No matter what anyone said, their lives still ultimately rested on his shoulders.

  Yuri nodded. “Your choice is your choice. You’ll have two hours in Katavsk before I’m gone.”

  Zinaida pushed away from the rail and turned to glare at them. “See? I told you my option was better. Now you only get two worthless hours to do whatever the depths you need in Katavsk. Then we’re stranded.”

  “Zin, what is going on with you?” Klara asked, a hard edge to her voice.

  “What’s going on with me?” Zin asked, her voice rising. “You’ve no idea what I had to do to secure that flight for Mikhail. And for what?”

  “Calm down,” Klara said.

  “No! You know what? I’ve had it. You’re a pair of stubborn, self-centred, yutzi muckers.” Zin stomped from the room, slamming the door behind her.

  Klara rose to follow but Yuri held out a hand.

  “Leave her,” he said. “In my experience, when women explode like that they just want space.”

  Klara’s eyebrows arched high on her forehead. “You’ve never had a lady in your life, have you?”

  Yuri coughed and his face reddened a hint.

  “All right,” Klara said, walking to the door, “a tip should either of you have the good fortune of successfully wooing a lady: if she storms out like that, you need to follow her.”

  Mikhail and Yuri stared after her as the door swung shut.

  “Do you think she’s right?” Mikhail asked.

  Yuri sucked his teeth, a ponderous expression on his face. “Maybe.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Yeah.” Yuri reached for the bottle of vloysh. “Now I come to think of it, the lovely ladies I’ve courted did each end the relationship after I let them storm off.”

  Mikhail chuckled. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

  “Do. And, Mikhail…”

  “Mmm?”

  “Whatever business you have in Katavsk, be quick. If the warning gong sounds for a dragon attack, well, that’s not an event you want to be present for.”

  “Believe me, the less time I can spend around Sentinels, the better.”

  “I’ll drink to that,” Yuri said, raising his glass. “Here’s to less uptight, self-righteous snobs in our lives.”

  “So, stay away from Father?”

  “Hah!” Yuri shook his head and drank.