Mara hurried to Dash’s side. Her gaze bobbed in tandem with Piper’s excited flutter. She tried unsuccessfully to hide her apprehension. “How many Gromaches would that be?”
Dash stopped fumbling with the latch securing the cage and gave her a look that made her stomach clench. “Three hundred—at least.”
Holy shit. “What the hell are we waiting for? Let’s get out of here.”
“I’m trying.” Dash continued grappling with the latch. “He jammed the locking mechanism.”
“Why don’t you just whammy the cage with your magic? It got us out of the snare, right?”
“I had more room to work with back there. This cage is so small I might accidentally electrocute the sprite.”
Piper shook her head furiously. “Oh hell no. You are not frying me.”
Mara rocked on her heels and shot a quick look towards the shoe pile trapping the Gromache. “Why not just take the cage with us?”
Dash stopped his frantic jiggling. A reddened flush crept over the ridge of his cheekbones and he cleared his throat. “Yeah, I was about to suggest the same thing myself.”
Sure. She stepped back as he grasped the spike and tugged it free with a fierce growl. Clods of loosened earth tumbled to the floor.
The cage and spike swinging from his hand, Dash headed to a tunnel leading the opposite way they’d come. “This route should prove more direct and easier to climb from.”
She started after him but stopped after taking a couple strides. The thud of shoes falling from the tower gave her pause. I must be out of my mind. Tuning out the Gromache’s angry squeals, she raced to the chamber’s entrance.
“What the hell are you doing? Get your ass back here.”
Ignoring Dash’s bellow, she grabbed the two glow flutterbee cages, hugging their bulky weight with both arms. She stumbled back to Dash. He cocked his eyebrows and she juggled her heavy load. “We can’t just leave them here to die.”
He relieved her of one of the cages and shuffled down the tunnel. She traipsed after him. He knew his stuff. The new exit proved much faster to traverse and within minutes she shoved the mesh cage through the hole he’d cleared of debris and scrambled out after it.
Fresh air engulfed her nostrils. She sucked in a huge, wheezing lungful of the purifying stuff, not caring that she sounded like a hound with a bad case of hay fever. “Nothing smells better than this. It’s like pine needles and freedom all mingled together.”
“I agree.”
She looked up and met Dash’s smile. He held out his hand and she grasped it before lifting from her knees. Dirt splotches and leaf particles flecked his previously pristine white shirt. She imagined her appearance ranked no less scary.
“Speaking of freedom, how about we release our friends?” Dash leaned over the nearest cage and pried the hinge back. The top sprang open and the glow flutterbees burst out, winging towards the tree canopy with joyful abandon.
Heart overflowing with giddy happiness, Mara reached for the other cage and released its occupants. While the flutterbees reunited in the sky, Dash grabbed Piper’s cage and took off down the path he’d earlier blazed. Mara raced after him. Five minutes later, they reached the Cloud Chaser. She jumped in on her side and rested her head against the padded neck rest, gasping as she tried to catch her breath.
Dash slid in behind the wheel and tossed her another grin. “Next time, you’re holding it.”
It took a second to remember the reason she and Piper had been in the forest to begin with. She gave a self-conscious chuckle. “Yep, definitely keeping my legs crossed.”
He leaned forward, reaching for the key still notched in the ignition. The neck of his shirt slipped, revealing the back of his slave collar. She’d forgotten to reengage it after they’d rescued Piper.
A good part of her conscience balked at the responsibility foisted upon her. Damn Nalia to hell. Blinking back tears of frustration, she settled her fingers over the collar’s buttons. The metal’s coldness lanced straight to her heart.
Dash tensed. His gaze slid to her, dark and wary. “Remember how good it felt freeing the flutterbees? You could have that again, right here and now.” His soft words hammered against her resolve. “I promise I’ll even stick around and steal that damn rune for you.”
Her gut twisting, she tightened the vise around her heart. “I wish I could believe you.” Before she caved and ended up doing something monumentally stupid, she activated the collar.
Chapter Nine
This was what he got for rescuing that damn sprite. Should have saved the heroics for the chumps stupid enough to fall for that lunacy. Gnashing his teeth, Dash peeled around a puttering Hove Cruiser out for a leisure drive.
“What a beautiful city.” Wonderment filled Mara’s voice. “Far cry from Hagee and the mountainside we left behind.”
“Looks can be deceiving.” He spotted the looming glass edifice of Tul’dea’s premier hotel, the Crystal Lodge, and swerved into their service drive. Outside the hotel’s front entrance, he slammed on the brakes and threw the Cloud Chaser into park. “Stay here while I get us checked in,” he bit out before storming from the vehicle.
Of course Mara didn’t follow his orders. She jogged up next to him and he sent her a hard glare. “Worried I might run off?” A harsh laugh bulleted from his mouth. “Wait, that’s right, I’ve got this choke chain around my neck tracking my every move.”
“Please understand this isn’t personal. It’s not my decision to keep that thing on you.”
He cocked an eyebrow and a heavy sigh skated past her lips.
“I know it seems like it, considering what happened back there on the mountain.” She threw her hands out in frustration. “But I really didn’t have a choice.”
“We all have a choice.”
Rather than argue, she stared at the black and gold veined marble beneath their feet. “You’re right.”
Her ready acknowledgement only marginally soothed the sting left by her decision to reengage the slave collar. One thing was certain—he wouldn’t make the mistake of mucking up his chance at freedom twice. Particularly when the last person he wanted to see might saunter around the corner at any moment. Unfortunately, that same someone happened to be exactly the person he needed to track down the rune.
Despite what Mara obviously thought, he hadn’t lied to her. He would have found the Rhyann rune eventually. And without Jerrick’s help. Now it seemed he didn’t have any choice in that regard. He glanced at Mara and noticed the regret swimming in those beautiful eyes of hers. Under different circumstances, he would have taken her upstairs, tumbled her onto one of the hotel’s big soft beds, and eased her worries away with some hot lovemaking.
Who was he kidding? He still wanted to do that. Craved it to the deepest depths of his soul.
He frowned as his fingers wrapped around the glass handle of the Crystal Lodge’s front door. Come to think of it, wasn’t that his original plan—seducing her? He never should have detoured off that particular path.
Screw the heroic bullshit. Plan A it is. He yanked the door open and gave an exaggerated flourish of his arm. “After you, Sher ’tian.”
Mara granted him a suspicious look, making him wonder if he’d perhaps laid the gallantry on too thick. She ducked inside and he strode after her, letting the door close behind them with a near-silent swish. Her head bobbed around, taking in the hotel’s grand décor. Hard to believe anything could impress her after Rulach’s rich splendor, but perhaps being the hotel’s guest rather than servant made all the difference.
They approached a massive glass fountain spraying alternating jets of purple, green and blue water from its delicate flutes. Mara’s steps slowed.
She extended a hand towards the spray, her palm facing upward. Water droplets beaded on her fingertips and she rubbed them together almost reverently. “The water inside the fountain is clear.” She glanced at him with delighted confusion. “Where in the world do the colors come from?”
He
had no idea. Up until now, he wouldn’t have given a flying frick. “Why don’t you ask the desk clerk while I check us in?”
She bolted towards the marbled reception counter, apparently game with his suggestion. Shaking his head, he ambled after her. With half an ear, he listened to the excited chatter Mara carried on with the clerk. He had to give the chestnut-haired woman behind the counter credit—she didn’t so much as bat an eyelash at his and Mara’s grubby appearance. Made him wonder what sort of clientele the Crystal Lodge hosted these days.
He disrupted the feminine chatter long enough to secure them a couple rooms and sign the compu-registry. With false identification, of course. Not that the majority of his enemies made a habit of hanging around hotel lobbies, checking their registries. Still, a little caution never hurt.
Leaving Mara in the care of the clerk, Dash exited the hotel and went in search of a parking spot in the spacious underground garage. He appropriated a spot near the stairway and began stacking their meager luggage on the ground.
Anxious buzzing came from the mesh cage sitting on the backseat. Ducking his head inside the door, he scowled at Piper. “What?”
She batted her eyelashes and gave him a sugary smile. “Think you could speed things up and spring me out of here?”
“Sure. Not as if I’m busy or anything.” He hunkered next to the pile of bags and unzipped both his and Mara’s, looking for anything sharp enough to cut through the wire mesh. Thorough rifling coughed up nothing useful.
“Where the hell is a laser torch when you need it? Or a hacksaw? At this rate, I’d settle for a damn butter knife.” He growled and slammed Mara’s valise down.
“Are you done ranting?”
He plowed his fingers through his hair and looked at Piper. She tapped one booted foot against the floor of the cage and crossed her arms over her chest.
“Probably not,” he admitted.
“Grab the keys. They should do the trick.”
These smart females with their practical suggestions were making his ego shrink by the minute. He dug in his trouser pocket and extracted the key. While he sawed at the cage’s interlocking wires, Piper sat down and tucked her chin against her knees. Her eyes moved in tandem with the key’s serrated teeth.
“Guess I should thank you for saving my life. You know, other than being a thief, you’re not half bad.”
He paused long enough to give the sprite a wry lift of his eyebrow. “Thanks—I think. But it’s mostly Mara who deserves the credit. She was quite adamant about rescuing you.”
Piper’s head jerked up. “Really?” A beaming smile overtook her face. “I knew this nonsense about me driving her nuts was a bunch of bahooey. Seriously, how can anyone think such a thing? I’m freakin’ loveable.”
Her adamancy provoked his grin. “How long has this love-hate relationship existed between you two?”
“Twelve years. Ever since she first came to work at the palace.”
The key’s teeth slipped, losing their grip on the wire. Twelve years? He figured the math quickly inside his head. Mara professed to be twenty-five. That meant she’d come under Nalia’s employ at the tender age of thirteen. Under the terms of the human-slave ban, Mara couldn’t have legally acquired a work permit until she reached seventeen.
Which meant Nalia was guilty of her own shady dealings regarding the law.
Dash mentally filed the useful info before he pried the key into the wire mesh and continued chiseling away. “Mara never mentioned the fact she’s worked at the palace that long.”
“Doesn’t surprise me. In case you didn’t notice, the girl isn’t exactly the sharing type. Hoards details about her private life like they’re precious jewels.” Piper flashed her teeth in a cocksure smile. “See how I did that? Precious jewels…you’re a thief. Get it?”
Because the sprite was a source of possible information on Mara, he played along. “By the gods, you’re clever.”
“I know.” Piper giggled.
The wire started to give and Dash sawed harder until the threads snapped and a gap emerged. He worked the key inside and bent the threads away from each other. “So Mara wasn’t much more than a kid when she started working at the palace.”
“Yep. That’s why I had to take her under my wing.” Piper snorted. “Not that she ever appreciated it. Swore she didn’t need any help fitting in around there.” The sprite hopped to her feet. She planted her hands on her hips and paced the cage. “As if. That girl had a major chip on her shoulder from day one. Sure, it was understandable considering everything, but the other servants didn’t give a hoot about the unfortunate circumstances of a human teenager.”
Unfortunate circumstances? He opened his mouth, fully intent on asking her to elaborate. The tap of approaching footsteps cut him short. His muscles tightened reflexively, a condition honed by too many years eluding the enemy. Son of a bitch. Back in Mer’daca a mere twenty-four hours and already his nerves were getting the better of him.
“They’re tiny hidden filaments!”
His shoulders relaxed at the sound of Mara’s voice. He turned and took in the rosy flush in her high cheekbones, noting how excitement lent her face a youthful glow. “What the devil are you blabbering about?”
“The coloring in the water is supplied by tiny filaments fused in the head of the flutes. They release this special dye that disappears once it’s recycled inside the fountain. Isn’t that amazing?”
In that moment he could easily imagine her as a thirteen-year-old—inquisitive and full of life. What didn’t fit the image in his head was that same girl illegally employed to a conniving fairy queen.
~ * ~
Mara cinched the belt of the cloud-soft robe swaddled around her freshly scrubbed body and padded from the bathroom. A monogrammed garment bag was draped over the bed’s sky blue silk coverlet. Curiosity aroused, she ventured to the bag and examined the ornate scrolled letters stamped across the opaque silver plastic. Crystal Dreams.
“It’s from the shop downstairs,” she said to no one in particular. Dash was sequestered in his room, doing gods knows what, and Piper was still out exploring the city. Amazing she had the energy, considering the excitement with the Gromache and all.
She pushed back the sleeves of her robe and reached for the zippered closure on the bag. Inside was the slinkiest little black dress she’d ever seen. A note dangled from the hanger. Wear this tonight—D.
“Who the heck is D?” Her irritation percolated when it finally dawned on her. “Talk about presumption.” The last time someone handpicked her clothes for her she’d been crawling around in diapers.
Fisting the bag tight, she stalked to the door adjoining the next room and rapped hard. It was tempting to just bust into his room. His scruples certainly hadn’t stopped him from sneaking into hers. “What am I thinking? He has no scruples.”
Seconds later, the door slid open and disappeared inside the wall. Dash stepped into the empty space where the door used to be, looking far too yummy with his torso bared and gleaming with a light sheen of sweat.
It took a few minutes to find her tongue. “Why are you so sweaty?” The second the words escaped, Mara wished she could reel them back in. Oh jeez, could I be less subtle?
“You caught me in the middle of doing sit-ups.” He ran a hand over his chiseled abdominals in a lazy fashion. “Can’t have myself going to flab.”
Like there’s the remotest chance that’ll happen. He was built like a god. An extremely well-endowed god, no less. She swallowed, moistening her suddenly dry mouth. Would she ever be able to look at him half naked without remembering the night he’d stood in the inn’s bathroom fully naked and sporting the mother of all erections?
Anxious to lure her mind away from that particular memory, she held up the garment bag. “Mind telling me what this is about?”
His hand dropped from his abdominals. “You needed an outfit.”
“Not to sound ungrateful or anything, but I have plenty of clothes in my valise.”
“Not the kind you’ll need for tonight.”
She scrunched her forehead. “What’s tonight?”
“Our first meeting with Jerrick.”
Hope and trepidation fluttered in her chest. “You found him?”
Dash shook his head. “Hence the reason you need to wear the dress.”
Her attention dropped to the garment bag and the sinful creation tucked inside. “I don’t understand. What does this have to do with anything?”
A slow smile tipped Dash’s mouth. “Trust me, you in that dress will draw Jerrick out of the woodwork.”
Indignation, sizzling hot, whipped through her. “Are you saying you’re going to use me as bait?”
“What’s the big deal? You did it with me and look how that turned out.”
Yeah, look how that turned out. “But you were planned—quite thoroughly, I might add. It took me months to gather intel on you, and even then I still had to rent the gallery, put together the invitations to the opening, hire the couriers for delivering said invitations, coordinate the transportation with Ronan—”
Dash held up his hand, saving her brain from short-circuiting courtesy of the enormous amount of wordage spewing between her lips. “There’s a big difference this time. You’ve got me on your side.”
“Seriously, how do you carry that ego around without rupturing something?”
“Practice, babe, practice.” He pried the hanger from her grip and pushed it through the bag’s opening, popping it free. His hand smoothed over the front of the dress, fingers tracing a swirl over the silky knit.
Her nipples puckered against the softness of her robe, as if secretly wishing he’d drop the dress and start up with them instead. Traitorous little buggers.
“I know Jerrick…his tastes.” Dash hooked the dress’s straps over her head, leaving the hanger to dangle down her back. “If there’s one thing he can’t resist, it’s a gorgeous woman. Especially one poured into a hot number of a dress.”
He spread the fabric out so it hugged the front of her robe. For a breathless second, she waited for his fingers to move over her breasts. They didn’t. But his gaze did. It lingered on them for several heated moments before roving up to her flushed face.
Lover Enslaved: Thieves of Aurion, Book 1 Page 10
