Blood Charged

by Lindsay Buroker

  “That’s what I came to do,” Ridge told Tolemek. “Why don’t you let me handle the, ah, interrogation, Colonel? Your captains are already at the hangar. There was some debate over the packing list. They could probably use your advice.”

  Therrik glowered at Ridge, that long knife still clenched in his hand. “Sure, I’ll let you and him conspire, then come along on my mission to Cofahre together. That’s not insanity, not at all.”

  Ridge didn’t know whether to fight Therrik’s sarcasm with sarcasm of his own or to try to get to the bottom of it. What was the curmudgeon so worried about? It wasn’t as if Tolemek had been working for the Cofahre a month before. He had been estranged from his homeland for years. Besides, he would be surrounded by military officers out there.

  Therrik pointed at Ridge’s face. “You may have the king where you want him, but some of us know the truth and aren’t going to let you roam free much longer, not with some witch controlling you.”

  Uh, how had they jumped to Sardelle again? What exactly had Therrik been telling the king before and after Ridge had listened in on that conversation? And what did it have to do with Tolemek and the mission anyway?

  “You can’t be trusted any longer, Zirkander. It’s not your fault that you were so weak-willed as to fall for some witch’s wiles, but it won’t be a problem much longer.”

  “What does that mean?” Ridge whispered, eyes locked with Therrik’s. “You didn’t have something to do with the break-in this morning, did you?” He doubted it, but there were a lot of people gunning for Sardelle all of the sudden. Was it possible they were all part of the same organization? “Or the explosion?”

  Therrik managed to look confused and angry at the same time. “You’ll find out.”

  Ridge clenched his fists. A threat toward him, he could handle—it wouldn’t be the first. But threatening Sardelle? Oh, he knew she could handle trouble, too, but if some group of people—Therrik’s intelligence buddies?—knew what she was, they might be prepared and come up with ways to hurt her. After all, as powerful as her people had been three hundred years ago, they had been destroyed by soldiers with bombs.

  Therrik’s gaze lowered to Ridge’s fists, and a tight smile formed on his mouth. That challenge had returned to his eyes. Ridge knew it would be stupid to get into a fight with the man, but he was sorely tempted when Therrik stalked in his direction. He unclenched his fists and kept his hands at his sides. Therrik might be an ass, but Ridge doubted he would pummel a fellow officer without provocation. Just retired pirates.

  As suspected, Therrik didn’t lift a hand as he said, “See you in the morning, Zirkander.” He jostled Ridge’s shoulder as he angled toward the door. Even the simple brush was enough for Ridge to feel the mass of muscle beneath the colonel’s sleeve, and he had to take a step to the side to brace himself. “I trust I won’t see that thing—” Therrik jerked a thumb over his shoulder, “—standing next to your flier when I get there.”

  The guard in the hallway—who had doubtlessly been witness to this encounter—scurried out of Therrik’s way as the colonel strode out. The door slammed shut.

  “Actually he’ll be standing next to Lieutenant Ahn’s flier,” Ridge said. He supposed it was cowardly to wait until after the door was shut to respond, but he didn’t want to show his cards before he was ready to play them.

  Tolemek gave Ahn a hug and walked out into the open. He had lost most of his pirate clothing, including the shark tooth necklace, spiked bracers, and sleeveless vest he had been wearing when Ridge first met him, but he hadn’t cut his goatee or the thick ropes of black hair that hung about his shoulders. Still, he was presentable in the white lab coat and black and grey civilian clothing beneath. Mostly presentable. At the moment, a split lip leaked blood onto the white coat, and he was squinting out of his left eye. He had definitely taken a couple of punches. What was Therrik thinking? Was the man truly that unbalanced? It was hard to explain an officer with twenty years in the military acting so erratically.

  Ahn walked over to a sink and wetted a rag. “Healing salve?” she asked.

  “There are a bunch of finished vials in that cabinet.” Tolemek pointed.

  Ridge leaned his hip against a lab station. He would leave the ministrations to Ahn. “So, Tolemek. Are you interested in taking a trip to Cofahre?”

  “To get my sister?”

  “To analyze a secret Cofah lab that our spies found. They supposedly have dragon blood and are using it to make weapons.”

  “Yes, I got the gist of the dragon blood problem.” Tolemek scowled toward the closed door. “Who was that, anyway? He neglected to give me his name before he started hurling me against walls and lab stations.”

  Ahn returned to his side with the rag and a vial of greenish-gray gunk that looked about as appealing as thirty-year-old ration bars. She twitched a finger, and Tolemek lowered his face.

  “That, should you choose to join us on this mission, is our commanding officer,” Ridge said.

  Tolemek’s lips twisted into a displeased grimace. “Maybe I’ll stay here.”

  “Ahn’s going.”

  “Maybe I’ll go.”

  Ridge smirked. “I’d make a joke about the tractability of those newly in love, but…”

  “You’re too busy being tractable for Sardelle?” Ahn asked, then tacked on a belated, “Sir.” She was dabbing the green stuff on Tolemek’s wounds with far more gentleness than anything other than her gun usually received from her.

  “Oh, I’m way past being tractable and on the verge of doing something really stupid to make sure she’s safe.” Ridge was worried about Therrik’s words and worried about what had happened to Sardelle this morning. She was being targeted by people who seemed to know who and what she was. Leaving her here while he went away on an extended mission… he couldn’t do it. Nor did he want to simply send her to his cabin. For one thing, she might not go—he certainly couldn’t pretend to have any ownership of her or a right to give her orders. For another, these people already knew she was connected to him. His cabin wasn’t a secret, nor was it a long distance out of the city. They would figure out to look there. On the other hand, she was interested in going to Cofahre…

  “That woman can take care of herself,” Tolemek said. “If you think she needs you to engage in stupidity on her behalf, you’re delusional.” Something about the way his eyebrows rose suggested he thought Ridge was delusional anyway. Enh, he wouldn’t be the first to think so.

  “Possibly so,” Ridge said, “but I’m also thinking of the success of our mission. I’m a little concerned by the unpredictability of Fists as our team leader.” He tapped his fingers on the cool granite surface of the lab station. “Tolemek, do you have any potions that could cause a man to lose consciousness for a time?”

  “Potions? I’m not some witch stirring up a concoction over a cauldron, you know.”

  “Is that a yes or a no?”

  “He’s an expert at knocking people out.” Ahn gave him a fond smile.

  Ridge tried not to shudder at the double implications of the word. He knew Ahn wasn’t referencing Tanglewood, or anyone Tolemek might have killed with his potions, because she wouldn’t beam up at a man who could take pride in such things; she didn’t even approve of her father’s career, and he usually killed criminals and thugs who deserved it.

  “If you could give me something in pill form, that should work… extremely well.” Ridge smiled as a plan solidified in his mind.

  “A pill? Does this look like a pharmacy?”

  “Definitely a pill,” Ridge said, ignoring the sarcasm. “Maybe you could even give it an appealing flavor.”

  Tolemek made an exasperated noise.

  Ahn was squinting suspiciously at Ridge. “What exactly are you planning, sir?”

  “You two will both find out, providing you’re at the hangar before dawn.” Ridge smiled and headed for the door.

  “My sister?” Tolemek asked.

  Ridge stopped, his hand on the kn
ob, and looked over his shoulder. Tolemek might come along simply because Ahn asked him, but he would be a truer ally if there was something more concrete in it for him. “How far is she from Brandenstone?” he asked, naming the closest city to the coordinates he had been given.

  “A hundred and fifty miles.”

  Ridge hated to make promises he couldn’t keep, but if his plan with the pill worked, keeping it shouldn’t be that much of a problem. Keeping his career once he returned to Iskandia, that was more of a question.

  “We’ll get her,” he said and walked out the door.

  Chapter 4

  After showing her temporary visitor’s pass, Sardelle hurried through the gates of the army fort and toward the darkening residential streets that housed Ridge’s little cottage. She clutched a heavy book to her hip, a historical tome that held information on secret orders of the past. In truth, she had no idea if the women who had been spying on her belonged to something as ominous or sophisticated as a “secret order,” but the similar dress they all wore made her suspicious of organizational underpinnings. She wished she had seen one with her eyes, and not just her senses, so she could have spotted any pins or markings that might be used to identify them.

  You think someone in a secret order would be so obvious? It wouldn’t be very secret if they ran around advertising their existence with tattoos or glowing brooches.

  Jaxi, have I mentioned how endearing your logic is?

  Never, but you’re young and irrational; you haven’t yet learned to appreciate my unerring pragmatism.

  Uh huh. Is Ridge home? Sardelle’s library time had been interesting, and she intended to give this book a thorough reading, but she wanted to spend time with him before he left. She hadn’t figured out yet whether she was going to stay here or head over to Cofahre herself, but either way, she wouldn’t see him again for a while. That sense of loneliness that always lingered at the edge of her thoughts threatened to encroach. An image of a tousle-haired Ridge in bed with the sheets tangled around his bare chest did encroach.

  He’s there. I don’t think he has amorous indulgences on his mind.

  Why not? Whenever Sardelle had such matters in mind, she had yet to find Ridge in the mood to object to making them a reality.

  Yes, yes, he’s as horny as you are. But right now he’s standing in the back yard, loading saddlebags onto a horse.

  Er. Sardelle turned onto his street, jogged past the fountain, and cut into the side yard between Ridge’s house and the one next door. The soggy snow clinging to the grass licked at her boots and the hem of her dress, but she ignored it. She rounded the corner to find the situation Jaxi had described, with Ridge near the back door, tightening the packs on a sturdy mare. Horses weren’t an uncommon sight in the city, but there were stables at the back of the fort. The horses weren’t usually brought over to the residential streets.

  “Does this mean you’re kicking me out because my sword and I went to do research instead of cleaning your house?” Sardelle asked, angling across the yard toward Ridge. She glanced through the kitchen window. Most of the mess had already been cleaned up. How long had he been home? She should have left the library sooner.

  “If I were kicking you out, I wouldn’t supply you with a horse.” Ridge patted the mare on the neck, then stepped away from the creature to greet her. He smiled that roguishly charming smile of his, the one that made her insides melt like the snow beneath the sun. Then he took her free hand, pulled her to him, and lowered his head for a kiss.

  After Jaxi’s warning, Sardelle hadn’t expected amorous indulgences, and she almost dropped her book. But she leaned against him, happy to return the kiss. His lips were warm next to the chill of the night, and it wasn’t long before she had forgotten the horse and was thinking of nothing more than ushering him inside.

  When Ridge drew back, he didn’t push open the door for them. He merely slid his hands down her back and gazed into her eyes, his face scant inches from hers. “Yup,” he finally said, as if he were reaching some decision. “I want you with me in Cofahre.” No matter what his orders from the king had been.

  He didn’t say that last sentence aloud, but this close, with his thoughts burning in his eyes, Sardelle felt the words ring in her head.

  “Ridge,” she whispered, “I’m delighted that kissing me makes you want to take me on adventures with you, but I’ve already upset the equilibrium of your life.” She lifted a hand to the side of his face, running her thumb along his jaw. “I wouldn’t forgive myself if you jeopardized your career. I…” She thought of her earlier musings, the knowledge that she could make life simpler for him by leaving, but all she wished to do was tug him into the bedroom. She didn’t want to leave, that was certain. She wanted exactly what he was planning—whatever it was. She wanted to go with him.

  “The kissing is nice,” Ridge said, “but it’s also the fact that you’re jabbing me in the gut with a book and a sword hilt that gets me excited about taking you places.” He grinned, unaware of or undaunted by her concerns. “That’s not a combination I’ve gotten from many girls.” As he spoke, he gazed into her eyes with a fondness that made her heart ache.

  “I… oh.”

  Well, it’s not your smooth, gilded tongue that has him excited.

  Ssh.

  Ridge cleared his throat and stepped back, though he only released her with one arm. The other seemed reluctant to leave her waist. The warmth of his hand seeped through her dress as he massaged her. “I’ve packed a horse for you, and if you’re willing to trust me, I need you to ride most of the night to the north, along the Pin-Kanth Highway. It’ll be dark, but it’s a smooth road. The horse won’t have any trouble following it. It’s about twenty miles to Monomy Bay, where you can wait for me to pick you up. You can sleep during our flight tomorrow. In fact, some people find sleeping makes flying with me more bearable.”

  It took a moment for Sardelle to wrap her mind around this proposed adventure. Possibly because she was distracted by what his hand was doing. “And the reason I need to meet you there is because your superiors would be upset if they saw you loading me into your flier?”

  “Among other things.” He gave her a lopsided smile. “You’ll go? I want you to come. I know you’ll be amazing, and I promised Tolemek we would get his sister—I may need some help making that happen. We won’t have enough room to bring her back on the fliers.”

  Sardelle wasn’t sure if he had magic in mind or was simply thinking of her as an escort who could bring the girl back on a civilian freighter, but she didn’t care, either way. He wanted her to come… and she wanted to go. Hoping she wouldn’t regret the choice later, she stepped closer to him again for another kiss.

  “I’ll go,” she whispered after a moment. “Thank you.”

  “Good,” he murmured, his lips against hers, and most of his body against hers too.

  “It’ll only take a few hours to get to that bay.”

  “About six, I’d guess, given the darkness.”

  Lighting the way so the horse could travel at a faster pace than a walk would be an easy matter for her. “When are you leaving?”

  “Early,” he said, then caught on to what she was asking and grinned. “Eight hours. Time for—”

  She cut him off with another kiss. “Good.”

  * * *

  An icy wind was blowing in off the sea, and it was almost three hours before dawn when Ridge walked off the tram at the top of the butte, but the dim, cold conditions couldn’t dampen his smile, a smile he was still wearing when he strolled into the hangar and proclaimed, “Good morning, troops,” to the four officers who had arrived before him. Captains Nowon and Kaika were there, sitting with their backs against the wall and playing cards, as well as Ahn and Duck, who were loading their gear into the two-seaters that had been driven to the front of the hangar. Everyone turned or stood to give him a salute, but he waved them back to work.

  “He’s been cheerier than a cock in the mornings of late, hasn’t he, Rap
tor?” Duck asked, not bothering to lower his voice.

  “His archaeologist makes him perky,” Ahn said, no sly winks or special emphasis on the word archaeologist. She rarely joined in with the squadron’s banter, but when she did, her deliveries tended to be deadpan. She finished strapping her sniper rifle into the cockpit and climbed down.

  “Where’s your perky-maker?” Ridge had assumed Tolemek would spend the night with Ahn and that they would arrive together this morning.

  “I left him last night trying to make a grape-flavored pill.” Ahn was always on the grumpy side if she had to report to work before dawn, but she gave him a particularly irritated glare.

  Which he deserved. “Ah. Well, you two will get to spend the entire day together at least.”

  “Sure. With me flying and him in the seat behind me. That’ll be fun. Maybe he can braid my hair.” Ahn tugged at one of the short wispy strands framing her face. “Food and water is loaded in all of the planes, sir. Since we had extra gear to load—” she waved at the two elite troops, “—we were careful with our weight. We only took on enough to get across the sea with a little to spare. We’ll have to find more water in Cofahre.”

  “I’ve heard they have it there.” Ridge started to walk away, but paused, wondering if there might be another reason for Ahn’s grumpiness. “Did your father stop by last evening, by chance?”

  Her eyebrows drew together. “No. Was he supposed to?”

  “I might have suggested it. He knows you’re heading off on a potentially dangerous mission.” Ridge decided not to mention that Ahnsung knew about Tolemek too.

  “So that means he came to see you.” Ahn managed to look wistfully toward the ceiling and like she wanted to punch something at the same time. “I’m sorry, sir. I don’t know why he can’t either come talk to me or just go away completely.”

  “It’s all right. He hardly even threatened me this time.”

  Ridge had meant it as a joke, but Ahn only glowered, making him wish he hadn’t brought up the topic at all. He gave her a pat on the shoulder, then headed toward the lead flier, intending to secure his own duffel and double-check the guns and ammunition. The mundane routine would be good for his nerves. He might have left the bedroom in a good mood that morning, but his stomach was a tangle of knots, thanks to the deviation from the mission he had planned. Sardelle had left only a couple of hours ago, but had promised she would reach the rendezvous point in time without letting the horse hurt itself on the dark road. He had a feeling he could have named a meeting point a thousand miles into Cofah territory, and she would have found a way to get there first too.