Excerpt: She exhaled in a series of blue rings, one after the other fading into the air. The captain turned half-lidded eyes on me and I tried to hold my chin high. “I never did get your name,” she said idly. I could feel the two men’s hands on my shoulders, nearly engulfing them. “Anthony Westlake.” “Anthony.” She drew the word out like she was savoring it, stretched out each syllable into something more. “I’m going to call you boy.” I felt color flood up into my cheeks. Kidnapping was one thing, but this was just undignified. “Excuse me?” The captain turned her piercing gaze on me and I shut up. I could feel the hairs on the back of my neck prickle as she held that cigar between two fingers, smoke curling lazily upwards as she just looked at me. When she spoke her voice was soft and deadly. “Do you have a problem with that, boy?” “I,” I was suddenly very aware of the smallness of the room, of the door shut behind me, of the men at my back. There was nowhere to run, and even if I managed to escape these rooms I was still trapped onboard this airship, miles and miles in the air. “…No, lady.” She barked a laugh at that. “Oh, that’s adorable. I’m no proper lady, boy. I’m a tigress.” She stood in one long graceful movement, stretched- and then sat back down. Normally, this time, with one long leg crossed over the other. “You know why you’re here, I’ll wager.” I had an inkling, yes. But I didn’t want to be right. I stayed silent. “To entertain me,” the captain said grandly, her cigar cutting a wide blue arc where she waved her hand. “You do know how to entertain, don’t you?”
