by Nico Rosso
Cold fear swept through Anna as she rushed to the hole. The ship continued to break apart and any one of the three could’ve fallen completely out. She would not allow herself to think it was Jack.
Peering down, she saw all three of them were on the next deck down. A large central support ran through the room, wired to several large canisters which seemed to be the batteries that powered the ship.
Jack stalked toward the Man O’ War, whose bloody hand still held the cutlass. And Song was in his other hand. But not for long. The doctor quickly undid the front of his jacket and slipped out of it and the captain’s grip.
Before the Man O’ War could pursue his prize, Jack attacked. One blast from his shotgun sent a constellation of sparks off Charron’s metal shoulder. The captain stumbled backward and Jack pressed forward. Just as he pulled the trigger on his shotgun again, Charron slashed out with the cutlass. He caught Jack’s metal fingers with such force it knocked the shotgun to the ground.
A backhand from the Man O’ War sent Jack sideways, slamming into burning debris.
“Jack!” she called to him, drawing Charron’s attention. Her blood boiled. She felt like she could tear this ship apart with her bare hands to get to Jack.
The bastard of a Man O’ War smiled, relishing her fear for Jack.
Her answer was two shots from her pistol as she leapt down to the deck. Charron avoided the first shot, but the second sank into his thigh. He roared with rage and sped toward her with the cutlass.
Like living fury, Jack broke through the flames and slammed into the Man O’ War. Using his cut-off sabre, Jack countered the cutlass, driving its point away from Anna. She’d seen Jack fight with a gun, calm and precise. With a knife, though, he was brutal. He drove his knee into the wound on the Man O’ War’s thigh, and slashed with his blade. It seemed no force on Earth could resist Jack. Charron actually staggered backward. There was no trace of the son of a bitch’s smile anymore. Instead his face betrayed traces of confusion at being overwhelmed by a normal man. But she knew that Jack was so much more than that.
Behind their fight, Song climbed around on the ship’s batteries. He tore at wires, twisting them together again, jamming pieces of metal into certain areas. The batteries hummed with more life. That couldn’t be good.
Charron slashed at Jack, who blocked the blow with his half-metal hand. He was driven back by the enraged Man O’ War. Anna didn’t have time to reload. She lunged toward the fight, picking up Jack’s shotgun. It was damn heavy, and from the looks of the blasts, powerful as hell.
The Man O’ War pushed Jack away with an elbow and prepared for another attack. Anna lined up the shotgun with both hands and pulled the trigger.
The concussion was incredible. Her joints shook and her muscles strained to keep the weapon from flying out of her hands. Fire roared out the front. The shot slammed into Charron’s ribs, throwing him backward into the central batteries.
Jack cocked his hand back and slammed the Man O’ War in the face with the guard of the sabre. Charron was dazed, eyes trying to focus.
Turning to her, Jack nodded, impressed. “No one else’s been able to handle that weapon.” She handed him the shotgun and he holstered it at his back. “But then, no one else is Anna Blue.”
Song sprang out from behind the batteries toward Jack and Anna. “I tampered with their inlets. They’re drawing too much power from Charron.”
Anna and Jack just stared back at him.
The doctor spoke a little slower. “The batteries will explode.” He pointed toward a half-collapsed exit.
But Charron was coming back to his senses. She scanned the area, spotting a coil of braided metal cable. “We can’t let him out of here.”
Jack was right there with her, rushing to the cable and grabbing one end. She took up the other and they rushed Charron, pinning him to the batteries with it. He seemed to know what was happening and started to tug at the cable as they passed.
“Hurry,” Song urged. “The batteries are already past capacity.”
She and Jack were on the other side of the batteries from the exit. Exploding batteries were far beyond her experience, but if the way the Sky Train engine went up was anything like it, they’d all be small pieces scattered over the territory. “We have to secure this cable.”
Jack took the end from her and ran with all the slack toward the gaping hole in the side of the airship.
“Don’t jump.”
He turned back, like she was the crazy one. “I ain’t jumping.” Setting his feet, he swung ends of the cable out the side of the ship, toward the dangling propeller fan. The metal braids caught in the central spindle and wound tight. The whole ship groaned as the tension threatened to tear it all apart. Smoke started to pour from the fan’s motor.
Jack tugged his hat down. “Now we run.”
Charron yelled, clawing at the cable across his chest. When Jack and Anna passed, he lashed out, but couldn’t escape his bonds. Whatever foreign curses he spat wouldn’t help him either.
Jack glared back at him. “That’s the price.”
They left the Man O’ War behind and met up with Song at the exit. The doctor seemed rooted to the floor.
Frustrated, Jack gave Song’s shoulder a shake. “So you set this ship to explode but you don’t have a way out planned?”
She pointed down a collapsing staircase. “Tell me this is the way to the small boat.”
Song blinked, as if waking up. “In the hold above the keel.”
Jack’s hand on his back urged Song to lead the way. “It’s our best shot.”
The three of them stumbled and climbed their way down the stairway. It seemed to dissolve beneath each step. Some panicked crewmembers tried to keep their ship working, throwing water on the smaller fires. Song yelled at them in their language and they seemed to understand, rushing off in different directions.
At the bottom of the stairs was one more hatch, then a large cargo area at the belly of the airship. Crates and netting were jumbled everywhere. The ceiling sagged. Anna’s skin prickled. The batteries could explode any second.
Song stammered, “I … I don’t see the boat.”
Jack’s answer was to tear into the debris. He threw boxes and racks of equipment to the side. Anna hurried to him, tugging up a large rope grid. Together, they yanked back a huge sheet of canvas, revealing the metal boat. It rested on its side on top of cargo doors.
She waved the doctor toward the boat. “Get on the ether, Song. Jack you’re—”
An explosion thundered in the center of the ship. The batteries were going. Song scrambled into the boat. Jack leapt, carrying her into the craft. He gripped a seat with one hand, the other arm wrapped around her waist.
Another explosion tore through the structure. Wood burned and collapsed. She aimed her pistol at the cargo door release lever and fired. The lever sprang and the doors swung open.
The boat plummeted quickly from the ship. They were about five hundred feet from the closest peak. The rocks would tear them apart—if the burning ship didn’t crash down on them. A huge blast tore through the airship, splitting it in two.
Song operated the boat’s tiller, slipping them away from the debris. The ether kicked in, leveling their flight. The ball of fire that was the ship dissipated like a nightmare after waking. Broken shards fell to Earth. Drifting down more slowly were the remaining crewmembers, sometimes two or three of them clutching to the end lines of emergency parachutes.
“The army should be by to pick them up.” Song let out a long sigh.
The Man O’ War was nowhere in sight.
Jack loosened his grip on Anna. He sheathed his short sabre and she handed him his shotgun. After holstering it on his back, he pulled her into a kiss. The thrill of danger still shot through her veins, turned hotter by Jack against her. He tasted like the smoke of the burning ship, and a little blood from his lip.
They separated and she looked over the cuts and scrapes on his face. “You okay?”
/> He grinned. “The best.” He kissed her again. “You?”
“Better than the best.”
His husky laugh wound through her, unwinding the tension.
Jack turned to Song. “You owe us both a thousand dollars. Plus expenses.”
The doctor nodded enthusiastically. “Gladly. You two … Who else could’ve done what you did?” He peered at Jack’s half-metal hand. “And I could make some modifications to your already fine piece of hardware.”
“Deal.” Jack used his metal hand to shake with Song. He brought his gaze back to her, revealing a fearless honesty. “Nice work, partner.”
She’d felt the depth of his emotions. Last night, while making love, and afterward. But she hadn’t seen them until now. She could spend the rest of her life exploring inside him. But would she lose herself?
She answered, “We ain’t partners.”
He blinked, but did not back away. She wouldn’t lose herself. She would find all the pieces she hadn’t discovered. Anna curled her hand over his shoulder, leaned in and kissed him. She was as open as he, giving him all she was and could be. And together, they were unstoppable.
Parting, she whispered in his ear. “We’re more than partners.”
Epilogue
* * *
“LEFTY” UNGER’S EYE twitched. He seemed torn between scratching it or reaching for the .45 on his hip. Either move would get him killed. There was a hundred-dollar bounty on his head and Anna’s sight lined up square on his chest.
Hot wind sliced across the desert. Unger must’ve thought traveling over solid rock would obscure his tracks, but he’d never been hunted by Anna before. His little campsite was littered with the gear he was shedding for the next stretch. Standing a few yards away from them, his exhausted horse didn’t even have the energy to run away, its reins dangling on the ground.
Footsteps scraped nearby. Someone approached. Unger smiled, his teeth as jagged as the stone outcroppings around them.
She didn’t move the sight from his chest. “You got nothing to smile about, Unger. Unless you’re looking forward to facing a judge.”
The footsteps neared.
Unger let out a ragged laugh. “No law’s dropping a gavel on me.” He glanced to where the footsteps were coming from. His smile dropped when he saw who it was.
Jack stepped from the shadows of the rocks, pushing a crestfallen man before him with the barrel of his pistol. “Either a gavel or a hammer. One of them’s getting dropped on you.”
“Damn it, Theo.” The twitch sped up in Unger’s eye.
Theo whimpered, “But it’s … it’s Jack Hawkins.”
Jack added, “And Anna Blue.”
The twitch stopped altogether. Unger went still as death. Very slowly, he unbuckled his gun belt and let it fall to the ground.
She allowed herself a little smile for Jack. “It’s so nice when they behave.”
He pushed Theo toward Unger, then nudged a coil of rope with his boot. “Tie him up.”
“With all this rope?” Theo held up more than a hundred feet.
Jack raised his right hand, flashing the metal in the sun. With a quick twist of his wrist, Jack snapped a four-inch blade from between the iron knuckles. Theo flinched and Jack grinned with menace. He slashed out, cutting two lengths of rope. The terrified man collected them and tied up his partner in crime.
Flicking the blade back into his hand, Jack moved to stand next to Anna. “Never get tired of Song’s addition.”
They’d hunted down at least a dozen bounties since rescuing the doctor and sending the Man O’ War to whatever hell was reserved for those half-men/half-machines. She and Jack lived well together, with quiet understanding. In a gunfight, they covered each other’s backs. On the trail, they moved with the efficiency of a single predator. And when they were alone, they delighted in discovering new ways to pleasure each other. All the while, their trust increased, bonding them closer. Their intimacy was held strong by emotions neither knew the words for.
Jack fished in his inside vest pocket, pulling out an envelope.
“Another telegram for a bounty?” She couldn’t quite see the contents as he fiddled with it.
He shook his head and pulled two cards, covered with fancy engravings. “A night off.”
Some of the writing looked Italian. It didn’t make sense.
“Opera tickets.” He held them still so she could see. “San Francisco. Back row, of course, so there’s no one behind us.”
Even in the punishing sun she felt a quick chill, a ghost of her old life in the shadows. But it passed, and she warmed with Jack so close to her. “Thank you.”
The criminal was done tying up his partner and sat down on the ground, waiting for his next instructions.
Jack came close, planted a kiss on her cheek before whispering, “Thank you. Thought I’d seen it all until I found you, Anna Blue.”
She leaned into him, feeling his strength, and how they both held each other up. “You brought me a whole new world.”
He pocketed the tickets and put his hand around her hip. They still faced their bounty, guns drawn. As it should be.
But his voice was just for her. “You and me, together. We go anywhere we want.”
EXPLORE
THE ETHER CHRONICLES
If you loved NIGHTS OF STEEL,
don’t miss the rest of Zoë Archer and Nico Rosso’s smart, sexy Ether Chronicles collaboration
Available Now
SKIES OF STEEL
by Zoë Archer
The prim professor
Daphne Carlisle may be a scholar, but she’s far more comfortable out in the field than lost in a stack of books. Still, when her parents are kidnapped by a notorious warlord, she knows she’ll need more than her quick thinking if she is to reach them in time. Daphne’s only hope to get across enemy territory is an airship powered and navigated by Mikhail Denisov, a rogue Man O’ War who is as seductive as he is untrustworthy.
The jaded mercenary
Mikhail will do anything for the right price, and he’s certain he has this mission and Daphne figured out: a simple job and a beautiful but sheltered Englishwoman. But as they traverse the skies above the Mediterranean and Arabia, Mikhail learns the fight ahead is anything but simple, and his lovely passenger is not entirely what she seems. The only thing Mikhail is certain of is their shared desire—both unexpected and dangerous.
NIGHT OF FIRE
by Nico Rosso
Night of fire, night of passion
U.S. Army Upland Ranger Tom Knox always knew going home wouldn’t be easy. Three years ago, he skipped town, leaving behind the one woman who ever mattered; now that he’s seen the front lines of war, he’s ready to do what he must to win her back.
Rosa Campos is long past wasting tears on Tom Knox, and now that she’s sheriff of Thornville she has more than enough to do. Especially when a three-story rock-eating mining machine barrels toward the town she’s sworn to protect.
Tom’s the last person Rosa expects to see riding to her aid on his ether-borne mechanical horse. She may not be ready to forgive, but Rosa can’t deny that having him at her side brings back blissful memories … even as it reignites a flame more dangerous than the enemy threatening to destroy them both.
SKIES OF FIRE
by Zoë Archer
Man made of metal and flesh
Captain Christopher Redmond has just one weakness: the alluring spy who loved and left him years before … when he was still just a man. Now superhuman, a Man O’ War, made as part of the British Navy’s weapons program, his responsibility is to protect the skies of Europe. If only he could forget Louisa Shaw.
A most inconvenient desire
Louisa, a British Naval Intelligence Agent, has never left a job undone. But when her assignment is compromised, the one man who can help her complete her mission is also the only man ever to tempt her body and heart. As burning skies loom and passion ignites, Louisa and Christopher must slip behind enemy lines
if they are to deliver a devastating strike against their foe … and still get out alive.
About the Author
* * *
NICO ROSSO was a writer in search of a genre until his wife, Zoë Archer, brought romance into his life in more ways than one. Through her he learned the romance genre was filled with vast opportunities for storytelling. He created the sci-fi romance Limit War series, sweeping readers off Earth to an interstellar conflict. Closer to home, he set off the apocalypse with The Last Night. And starting with the Ether Chronicles, he gets to write more closely than ever with his wife. They created this steampunk world together and trade off telling romance tales that span the globe. You can find him on the web at www.nicorosso.com.
Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins authors.
The Ether Chronicles
by Nico Rosso
Nights of Steel
Night of Fire
by Zoë Archer
Skies of Steel
Skies of Fire
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Read on for a sneak peek at seven brand-new
e-book original tales of romance from Avon Books.
Available now wherever e-books are sold.
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SKIES OF STEEL
THE ETHER CHRONICLES
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TO HELL AND BACK
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