I Will Breathe (Forbidden Book 1) by Regina Puckett Page B

she fingered her father’s pocket watch.
    “Why do you keep that broken-down thing? It doesn’t even work.”
    Liberty realized Mender had noticed her nervous reaction to the possibility of bad weather. She pulled the watch out and flipped it open. “It belonged to my father. It makes me feel he’s still with me. Besides, I don’t throw things away just because they don’t work the way I want them to. Sometimes just their presence is all I need.” Her thoughts turned to Boy. What if he never worked again? She would never part with him - no matter what.
    Liberty closed the watch and slipped it back into her pocket. “What does it matter if the watch works or not? Time is all relative anyway. We’re born and then we die. Who needs to mark what’s in between with hours and seconds?”
    He looked up at the sky when Liberty gave it another worried glance. “Do you want to wait until the storm has passed before we go down?”
    She shrugged. “No. The ships are secure, and we could all use a good soaking.” Liberty nodded toward Justice. He was at that moment almost over the edge again, trying to get a better view of something that had caught his eye. “Besides, this kid’s going to break his neck if we don’t go now.”
    Mender laughed. “I guess you’re right. The truth is, I’m as excited as he is, so let’s go.”
    Justice scampered first down the ladder with Mender following and Liberty the last to reach the ground. She noted that the other two were a little more solemn now they were down amongst the rubble. She knew how they felt. The disquieting atmosphere was unsettling. The distant view from the airship had a way of separating you from what had happened all those years ago, during the Great War, but on the ground she felt that all the spirits of the city’s innocent victims still kept guard over the city.
    She turned to the now much more sober men. “The first rule is, no one, and I mean no one, goes off by themselves. The second rule is, we leave whatever we’re doing to get back onboard before it gets dark.” Liberty glanced over her shoulder. No matter how many times she came here she could never get over the feeling that someone was watching. She turned back and made certain to make eye contact with each of them. “If you take off and get lost then you can damn well find your own way back. This isn’t the kind of place you pussyfoot around. It will get you killed in a heartbeat.”
    Mender elbowed her and nodded toward Justice. “You’re scaring the boy.”
    “Good.” She elbowed him back. “You should be scared too.” She pointed at the chaos around them. “Hidden amongst all of this shit is a death trap waiting for you to make the wrong move. It’s been over eight hundred years since anyone has lived here. Don’t become so fascinated with the new and unknown that you forget to watch where you’re stepping. What looks like solid ground might not be.”

Chapter Twelve
    “Have you seen Justice?” Liberty set the crate of jars down and looked around the dilapidated warehouse. Most of the ceiling was now missing so she could clearly see that daylight was quickly disappearing. “Damn it to hell. How many times did I say not to wander off alone?” Her anger was all for show, so Mender wouldn’t know that Justice’s disappearance cared her half to death. What if the kid had gone off and gotten hurt? As soon as she found him, she was going to kill him.
    Mender lowered his crate of odds and ends onto the ground before pushing his hair out of his eyes. He looked as exhausted and she felt. They had already made several trips, carrying crate after crate to their airships. He glanced around the enormous cavern before repeating the same question. “Where is that damn kid anyway? I swear he was right behind me just a second ago.” He looked around the darkening warehouse once more before releasing a pent-up breath. “If he’s gotten himself lost, I’m going to kill him too.”
    She