Lover Enslaved: Thieves of Aurion, Book 1 (25 page)

“I hope you don’t think too poorly of me.” Worry pinched Avily’s face.

“You did what you needed to survive and take care of your family. Trust me, I know all about that necessity.” Saluting Avily with her cup, Mara took another sip of tea.

The lines of anxiety furrowing Avily’s forehead eased. “Okay, now that you know my deepest, darkest secret, I’m dying to ask you something
really
personal.” Avily leaned forward, her grin wicked and mischievous. “Does Dash live up to his legendary-lover status?”

Mara choked on her mouthful of tea. She lowered her cup, bumping the sturdy porcelain against the edge of the hutch. Her gaze flickered between Avily and Piper’s unblinking expressions. Jeez, talk about having an enthralled audience. “I…uh…have no idea.”

“You’re kidding.” Avily’s eyebrows risked getting lost in her hairline. “The way Dash kept looking at you in the terminal last night, I thought for sure the two of you were hitting it hot and heavy between the sheets.”

The cup tottered in Mara’s hand and she quickly set it next to the teapot. “Nope. Our relationship is strictly business.” She waited for the goddess of honesty to strike her dead. Her heart gave a little skip of relief when no truth-tipped lightning spears splintered through the ceiling tiles.

“Damn, and here I thought I was about to get the scoop of the century.” Avily gathered the crumpled napkins scattered on the hutch and tossed them into a small waste receptacle sporting a pattern of vining roses on its exterior.

Feeling like she’d missed a close call, Mara grabbed her teacup and drained its contents in a quick gulp. She absently scanned the assortment of antique books lining the hutch’s uppermost shelf. One title in particular stood out like a gold-lettered beacon.
The Legend of Rhyann.

Mara blinked, her mouth falling open in shock. “I don’t freaking believe it.”

Avily glanced up from her tidying and frowned. “Pardon?”

“That book,” Mara said, pointing. “Look at its name.”

Straightening her glasses, Avily peered at the title in question. “Huh, what do you know.”

“Surely it isn’t a coincidence.” Mara shook her head, refusing to accept the possibility. “No, it must be connected to the rune in some way.”

“There’s only one way of finding out.” Avily ducked around the corner of the aisle. Seconds later, she reappeared, carrying a cylindrical stepstool with tiny wheels bolted to its bottom. She deposited it in front of the hutch and made short work climbing up and fetching the small, leather-bound book. A thin layer of dust coated the upper edge of the binding.

“Ugh, obviously the cleaning fairy hasn’t paid a visit up there lately.” Grimacing, Avily tapped the book against the lip of the waste receptacle before handing it to Mara.

Fingers trembling with excitement, Mara stroked the book’s burgundy leather cover. She cracked it open to the first page. Piper flew onto her shoulder and leaned close to the yellowed parchment, her wings fluttering impatiently. “Come on, hurry up. What does it say?”

For once, Mara didn’t mind the sprite’s bossiness. “It’s a story about a goddess named Rhyann.”

“Never heard of her,” Avily and Piper said in unison.

Mara continued flipping through the book. An illustration of a beautiful redhead astride a winged horse filled the next two pages. She paused, tracing a finger over the flowing lines of Rhyann’s fur-lined cloak.

“Is that her?” Avily’s voice floated over Mara’s shoulder. “Just once, I’d love to see a bucktoothed goddess with bad acne and a disfiguring hump.” The stepstool’s wheels squeaked in protest when Avily nudged it away from the hutch. “So what does the book have to say about our sickeningly gorgeous Rhyann?”

The fine-grained parchment crackled when Mara turned the page. “Apparently she’s the bestower of magical wishes.” A weird sense of déjà vu settled over her.

“Wishes, huh?” Avily grunted. “Sure could have used her last night, when I was wishing for the ground to swallow me whole.”

Avily’s surly comment distracted Mara from the strange sensation poking at the edges of her consciousness. She tore her attention from the book. “What?”

“Nothing,” Avily said, waving her hand. “Does the book make any mention of the rune?”

Mara thumbed through the remaining pages. There weren’t many—less than a couple dozen. And the majority of those only displayed illustrations. Her shoulders slumped. “No.”

“Well, so much for that.” Avily stooped and picked up the stepstool. “You can keep the book if you want. It’s just more junk left from the shop’s previous owner.”

The gold lettering drew Mara’s eyes again. Maybe she’d show the book to Dash, let him see if he could determine if it held any relevance to the rune. “At least let me pay you for it.”

“Don’t be silly. If you hadn’t spotted it on the shelf, it’d still be stuck up there, gathering dust.”

The shop’s front door opened and a horde of chattering females trooped inside. Mara tucked the book against her waist. “It looks like your expected crush has arrived.”

Avily peered towards the timepiece hanging over the payment desk. “What did I tell you? Right on time.”

“We should let you get back to work. But how about you meet up with us for dinner tonight?”

After gaining Avily’s promise to stop at the Crystal Lodge once she closed up shop, Mara and Piper ventured out onto the bustling street. Neither felt the desire to fight the rush of lunchtime traffic, so they headed back to the hotel. Once in their room, Mara belly-flopped onto the bed and reopened the book.

“Aren’t you done looking at that thing?”

“No. I barely peeked at it earlier.”

An irritated buzz sounded from Piper. “I’m bored.”

“Then go find something to entertain yourself.”

“Oh sure. Just like I have to do everything else around here!” After vocalizing several more of her typically outlandish complaints, Piper flew from the room.

Rolling her eyes, Mara flipped past the lavish illustration of Rhyann astride her horse. The next page showed the goddess cavorting with her favored lover, a devastatingly handsome…
human
?

Mara blinked at the unexpected word printed in bold-as-you-please script. “Jeez, no wonder she’s never been heard of. The fae bluebloods probably don’t want it leaked that one of their goddesses did the deed with a lowly human.” She flicked the page over.

The sound of arguing drifted through the door, breaking her concentration. Lowering the book, she cocked her head, trying to decipher the muffled conversation next door.

Frowning, she hopped to the floor and tiptoed to the connecting door. She pressed her ear to the smooth wood, sliding a hand towards the supporting frame. The surface proved slicker than anticipated and she lost her grip. Scrabbling for a hold, she grabbed the first thing her hand made contact with—the green button.

The door swooshed open. With nothing but air to break her fall, she landed face first at Dash and Jerrick’s feet. Anchoring her elbows in the plush carpeting, she slowly lifted her head and met equally amused grins.

“You do have an interesting way of making a grand entrance,
Sher
’
tian
.”

Ignoring Dash’s droll quip, Mara shoved to her feet. “About time you got back. I knocked on your door early this morning, but you were already gone.” She eyed Dash, trying to focus on anything but the quickening of her pulse when he looked at her with that dark, smoky, I’m-imagining-you-naked stare.

“Stopped by, did you?” Dash’s expression edged further into wicked territory. “Were you intending to start up where you left off last night? Damn, knew I should have stayed in bed a while longer.”

“I didn’t come by to…” She shifted her attention to Jerrick and caught the tail end of his knowing grin. Renewed heat scorched her face.

“We paid a visit to an old friend,” Jerrick said, apparently taking pity on her. At least
one
of the brothers possessed some decency. “He wasn’t much up for company, but we did gather some intel on the rune.”

The unexpected news caught her off guard. “That’s terrific,” she blurted.

A look passed between Dash and Jerrick, provoking a nervous flutter in her belly. “What is it?” she asked, her excitement rapidly fading.

Dash reached into his trouser pocket and pulled out what appeared to be a photograph. He handed it to her, his expression grim. She stared at the image of a small, white rock with a strange red symbol carved in its center.

It took her brain several seconds to assimilate what she was looking at. “Is this the rune?” She barely registered Dash’s response while she skipped to the words written at the bottom of the glossy paper. “I don’t understand. What is this?”

“Look at the back.”

Nerves prickling with apprehension, she flipped the photo over and read the name scrawled there in the same blood red ink. “Ortis Baggins?”

Dash’s lip curled in distaste. “He’s a bounty hunter. Quite adept at it too, judging from his illustrious reputation.”

Cold fear spread through Mara’s chest. She stared at the photo clutched in her trembling hand. “Are you saying this is some kind of calling card of his?”

“Basically,” Jerrick said, peeling off his jacket.

Mara’s eyes widened when she spied the weapon holstered to Jerrick’s shoulder. Bounty hunters, laser guns…she didn’t like where things were leading. “He has the rune?”

“Looks like,” Dash said, his tone flat.

The fear surged upward, threatening to choke her. Surely they hadn’t come this far, endured countless setbacks, only to be stopped dead in their tracks. Or was fate really that cruel of a bitch? “Why?”

“To draw me out.”

She blinked. “But that’d mean he knew…”

Dash nodded before finishing the sentence for her. “He knew I came here to fetch the rune.”

“How is that even possible?” The photo paper crackled when she tightened her grip in an effort to still the trembling of her fingers.

Gently, Dash pried the photo from her hand before stroking her clenched knuckles. “Jerrick and I talked it over. The most likely culprit is Finian.”

Mara stared at him, confused. “
Finian
? Why would he hire a bounty hunter to catch you? Technically, he already
has
you.”

Resignation settled over Dash’s face. “
Sher ’tian,
he didn’t hire Baggins to catch me. He hired him to kill me.”

Chapter Twenty

The fear threatening to overtake Mara finally exploded in her chest. She shook her head, desperate to refute the possibility of anyone wanting to murder Dash. He might be annoying as hell sometimes, and he possessed the irksome habit of stealing things that didn’t belong to him, but he didn’t deserve to die because of those things. “I thought bounty hunters were supposed to bring their quarry in alive.”

“Not always,” Dash said with a calmness that made her question his sanity. “Which perfectly suits Baggins’ other trade—hired gun.”

“
No
. Finian has no reason to want you dead.” Her emotions got the better of her, making her voice break on the last word.

Dash’s gaze slid to Jerrick. Some unspoken communication must have passed between the brothers because Jerrick reached for his jacket. “Meet me outside when you’re ready to pick up your vehicle. And don’t forget the computing printout. We’ll need it to track down Baggins’ property holdings.”

Once Jerrick vacated the room, Dash tucked her into his arms. His warmth enveloped her, a bittersweet distraction, and she curled her fingers into the soft cotton of his shirt. “Finian couldn’t want you dead,” she whispered, as if repeating it would banish the ludicrous idea. “He needs you to get the Rhyann rune.”

“Not anymore,” Dash pointed out gently. “It wasn’t his idea to send me after the rune to begin with. You saw the level of hatred he feels towards me. It’d be the ultimate slap in his face if I returned with the rune and began warming his wife’s bed.”

Mara lifted her head and stared at him. She didn’t want to acknowledge the logic of his astute assessment.

His fingers smoothed behind her neck, comforting her. “If you keep looking at me with those teary eyes, I’ll be forced to make love to you, making all this hard work transforming into the first decent Maddoc in history a total waste. Do you really want to shoulder that kind of guilt?”

He succeeded in pulling an anemic smile from her, but too soon, reality sank in its stubborn claws. The uphill battle facing them had suddenly become an insurmountable mountain. “What are we going to do?” She hated the weak note in her voice. Hated even more feeling shackled by helplessness.

“There’s only one answer. I have to steal the rune from Baggins.”

She jerked out of Dash’s hold and gaped at him. “Are you out of your freaking mind? If you’re right about everything, he plans on killing you. That’s not the answer I’m looking for.”

The corner of his mouth tilted upward. “Hmm, we’re in complete accord for once. Good thing I plan on doing everything in my power to stay alive.”

She knew Dash’s attempt at humor was his way of trying to bring levity to the situation and allay her fears, but it didn’t make her like it. Not one damn bit. “You do realize that if you try to steal the rune, you’ll be walking straight into his trap.”