Lover Enslaved: Thieves of Aurion, Book 1 (13 page)

“You’re the most stubborn female alive.” He gave a low growl of frustration. “At least let me go in first.”

Relieved by his reluctant acquiescence, she moved aside and allowed him the honor of leading the way. He settled on his back and wedged his legs through the tight opening, wiggling his way inside. Once his shoulders and head cleared the gap, she copied his motions. Midway inside the hole, she felt his hands grasp her hips. Confident his grip secured her, she let go of the hairy roots providing a handle at the lair’s exit and plunged into murky darkness.

With Dash’s hands still wrapped around her, she blinked, trying to accustom her eyes to the lack of sunlight. She’d never been stuck hunched over in a dank, dark hole six feet underground before. If she had her way, this would be the one and only time.

“Watch your head,” Dash whispered, taking her hand.

He stooped and shouldered his way towards a tunnel leading from the small dugout they stood in. If you could call it standing. She stared at the dim outline of the back of his head. Boy, he was going to have a whopper of a crick in his neck by the time they got out of there.

The tunnel meandered several feet before taking a steep, downward slant. Mara risked a quick glance at the earthen ceiling. A fine spray of dirt granules dusted her nose and she whisked them away with an impatient swipe from her fingers. How far were they underground?

Dash halted abruptly. His hand released hers and she clutched the back of his shirt as she tried to see around his broad shoulder. A faint glow flickered beyond the bend in the tunnel. The noxious smell seemed intensified a thousandfold and she choked back the urge to gag.
Jeez, how can the stinky bastard stand being in the same room with itself?

She broke off her internal musings when Dash started forward again, his body tensed and measured steps wary. He reminded her of a large, stealthy Certurion panther creeping up on its prey.

They rounded the bend and the tunnel widened, allowing her to see more clearly. Glow flutterbees skittered inside two large mesh cages flanking the entrance to the chamber spread before her, their pale luminescent wings flicking in a desperate plea for escape. Several of the jar’s unlucky occupants lay in a lifeless mound at the bottom of the mesh prison. Turning away from the sad sight, she followed Dash inside the chamber.

Her mind boggled at the amount of time the Gromache must have spent carving out its primitive underground bunker. It wasn’t exactly spacious—her head still didn’t clear the ceiling—but an entire army of the ugly little buggers could easily camp out in the room. That’s if they could find space amongst all the odd paraphernalia stacked everywhere.

Mara stared at the veritable mountain of mold-infested fabric occupying a corner of the chamber. A patchwork sleeve draped limply on the ground, as if the jacket attached to the sleeve tried pulling free only to give up and accept its inevitable demise. The jacket hinted at the ill-gotten source of the rotting fabric pile. Either the Gromache had been raiding clotheslines, or she and Dash weren’t the first ones trapped in one of its snares.

Shivers of relief raced up her spine.

Talk about a close call. If not for Dash, her clothing might have found a home atop the pile. A flash of movement nearby preceded Piper’s familiar squeak. A mesh cage smaller in size but similar to the ones housing the glow flutterbees hung from a rusted spike anchored in the dirt wall. The sprite stood inside the cage, its sole occupant. Her wide eyes were trained on them.

The sprite pointed anxiously at twin towers of clutter stacked near the back of the chamber, both constructed from footwear.

A kidskin hiking boot launched towards one tower’s top perch, missed its mark, and rolled to a precarious stop at the foot of the pile. Dash stalked forward and grabbed the hiking boot. With incomprehensible speed and dexterity, he pitched it at the footwear towers. It slammed into the first one with an explosive force, sending an avalanche of shoes toppling into the second tower.

Boots, sandals and oddly enough a few high heels rained down, blocking out the grunts and angry squeals from the Gromache trapped beneath the tide of shoes.

“We don’t have much time.” Dash jogged to the cage holding Piper. “Sneaky little bastard will shovel his way out soon enough. When he does he’ll be pissed enough to trumpet a call to every Gromache within a fifty-mile radius.”

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.