Prince of Spies (4 page)

“That sounds like heaven.”

Nico chuckled as he released her, slowly, as if to be certain her feet would support her. She stumbled toward the fresh, flowing water and sank to her knees on the soft bank. The water sparkled at her in the early morning light, beckoning her to drink her fill.

Riki didn’t know how long she knelt at the stream’s edge, repeatedly cupping water into her hand and bringing it to her mouth, but the cool freshness of the water roused her from her lethargy. She was aware of Nico drinking at her side. After a while, he moved off to rustle around behind her. Riki had no idea what he was doing, nor did she particularly care. No, at that moment all that mattered was the fresh, clean taste of the water against her tongue and the astounding feeling of freedom.

She hadn’t been outside the palace walls in more than a year and hadn’t seen the sun in months. Lucan kept her chained in his room and there hadn’t even been a window for her to see the outside world.

“Now to get those manacles off you.”

Riki looked up to find Nico standing at her side. She pushed back from the edge of the stream, but didn’t—couldn’t—rise. Her legs were numb. Nico crouched down next to her. He had two rocks in his hands. One was large and somewhat flat and the other was fist-sized with a sharp edge. He lay the rocks down next to her and took her hand, rubbing lightly at her sore wrists.

“I know these must hurt.” His hushed words spoke straight to her heart.

“But we’ll get them off one way or another.”

The manacle was welded shut around her wrist, with the remnants of chain trailing down her arm. Nico, in dragon form, had snapped the chains easily, but she realized why he’d left the delicate work ‘til now once she’d seen his wickedly sharp dragon talons. Still, his strength had astonished her and continued to do so as he inserted the forefingers of both hands into the topmost link of the chain and pried it apart.

“That’s amazing.” Those were thick iron links. No man should be able to bend them as if they were malleable lead. She blinked up at him.

Nico chuckled. “One benefit of my heritage. Some of the dragon’s strength remains even in human form. Now, let’s see if this will work as well.” He tossed the chain into the deep part of the stream and it was immediately swallowed up by the rocks below the surface. He then squeezed those same two fingers into the manacle, next to her sore skin. She couldn’t help but wince when he rubbed a particularly sensitive welt, and he immediately stilled.

“I’m sorry, Riki.” The look in his eyes spoke of anxiety over hurting her, however unintentionally.

“It’s nothing. Please, keep trying. I’d suffer almost anything to have these things off my wrists, and you really didn’t hurt me. I’m just a little sore.”

He continued after a moment’s pause, slower than before and twice as cautious. The idea that this big, strong man would temper his strength for her was humbling.

He pulled and pulled, but though the welded iron creaked a bit, it wouldn’t give. Riki could see the bolt loosening, but it refused to break off, even under Nico’s enormous strength. It was better than it had been, though.

“I think we need to try this another way.” Nico removed his fingers easily now the manacle was looser, then took her hand to the ground, laying her wrist on the flat rock.

“What are you going to do?” She thought she had an idea, but she wanted to be sure.

“The rock here is some of the hardest in the world,” he explained as he positioned her wrist just so. “I’m going to try to bust the head off that bolt and push it through, and then I should be able to bend the iron wide enough for you to wiggle your hand out. He lined up her hand, picking up the other rock in his fist. “Don’t move now.”

Riki held her breath as he swung the rock at her wrist, but his aim was true. The loud bang of rock against metal made her want to jump, but she knew how important it was to keep still. She’d learned every level of control over her body and emotions while being held by prisoner, so this was relatively easy to accomplish. Riki just kept the end goal in mind.

Freedom for her aching, bloody, bruised and welt-ridden arms.

With a few more well-placed whacks, Nico’s plan worked. The head came off the weakened bolt, and the shank fell through to the ground. Nico was able to wriggle his fingers inside and bend the iron wide enough for her hand to escape.

“One down.” He smiled at her and she felt tears of joy slipping down her face as he rubbed her poor wrist. Bringing her wrist up to his lips, he placed a tender kiss on the bruised skin and then placed it gently in her lap, only to lift the other hand and repeat the process of removing the iron chain, then the manacle.

When both her hands were free of the heavy cuffs, Nico wet a square of linen he’d had in his pocket and washed her wrists with gentle pats and swipes, removing the grime and caked blood with the fresh, cold water.

The care in his expression warmed her, but the little zing of his energy had her pulling her hands back.

“You can’t!”

Nico sat back and looked at her. “I must, Riki. Please let me do what I can. I’m not much of a healer, but I can make you a little more comfortable at least.”

She shook her head. “I know how tiring healing can be. You need your strength, Nico. There’ll be time enough to heal after we’re out of Skithdron once and for all.”

But he scooped her hands up in his and pulled them into his lap, resting her palms on his knees. He held her wrists almost exactly where the manacles had been for so very long, but instead of hurting, Nico’s hands were gentle and healing, as he poured little zaps of his own energy into her.

She was weak, but she felt her own power responding, rising, mingling with his and multiplying.

“Stop!”

“No, wait. It’ll be okay, Riki. You’ll see.”

She tried to tug away, but it was too late. Their energies met and meshed, concentrating healing energy on her poor, abused wrists, but oddly, it wasn’t draining. Not much anyway. And her own energy seemed to be working on her injuries, which it never had before.

“What’s happening?”

Nico pulled back, letting her wrists go with a broad smile. They were healed. Completely healed for the first time in months.

“I thought this might work.” He blinked with fatigue, but she couldn’t see the bone-weary tiredness that always came after she performed a healing of this magnitude.

“What did you do?”

“It’s something that happened to me only once before. Riki, I’ve never been a strong healer, but when your mother was hurt, I tried to help and her energy rose to direct me, just as yours did a moment ago. Kelzy said it’s our blood recognizing each other. I would never have managed this level of healing on my own, but with your energy to guide me, it was possible.”

“I’ve never been able to heal myself before.”

Nico shook his head with a sigh. “Most healers can’t. You probably still won’t be able to do so, but if we mesh our energies, some of your skill guides and amplifies my own power. At least, that’s my guess as to what happened.”

“You did this with my mother, you said?”

Nico stood and tossed the rock away. “I did. She’d been clawed by a dragon, accidentally of course. Kelzy felt terrible about it, but it was the only way to save your mother’s life. At the time she was clinging to the top of a tree with a horde of skiths circling below. Kelzy had to grab for her, but it’s hard to be accurate with such sharp talons. She saved Adora, but wounded her in the process.”

Riki still couldn’t believe he was talking about her mother. Her mother!

Alive and living in Draconia, reunited with the dragon from her childhood who’d been like a mother to her. It was a dream come true, and Riki was almost afraid to believe she might be reunited with her mother and sisters—if they made it out of Skithdron alive.

Riki marveled at her healed wrists as she drank a bit more water from the flowing stream. Distracted by a whooshing sound, Riki turned toward the small pool off to her right. Nico smiled over at her, his face so handsome, it made her stomach clench.

“Your bath is ready, milady.”

Riki stared mutely, unable to move, until Nico came to her and lifted her by the shoulders.

“Are you all right?”

Riki nodded, unable to form the words for the feelings inside her.

Confusion, fear that this moment of freedom wouldn’t last, thankfulness to this wonderful, perplexing man, and more churned within her.

Nico put his arm around her shoulders and guided her to the small pool.

Incredibly, she could see little tendrils of steam wafting off its surface.

“It’s warm now and will stay that way for a while. I suggest you hop in if you want to bathe. I’ll turn my back if you like, but I won’t leave you. Not even for a moment.” He surprised her by placing a chaste kiss on her temple. “I won’t let anything harm you ever again, Arikia.”

The whispered words and the way he said her name caused a tremor to course through her. He let go and turned away, leaving Riki to decide her next move. The steamy water called to her and she realized she hadn’t bathed properly in far too long. Not even bothering to remove her thin dress, she stepped into the small pool and immersed herself in the shallow water.

It was heaven. Riki just lay there for a few moments allowing the warm water to surround her and warm her. Flying atop a dragon in the dead of night had left her chilled through and through, but she’d never complain.

The cold flight meant freedom and that was too precious to complain about.

After a few minutes of warm bliss, Riki looked around to find a plant she was familiar with from her youth growing along the pond’s edge.

Scrubweed, it was called. It didn’t lather like soap, but the sinuous blades, when wound together, made an excellent sort of sponge and emitted a slippery substance that cleaned almost as well as soap.

Looking to make sure Nico’s back was turned, Riki pulled the wet dress over her head, letting it soak in the water for a bit. First she wanted to get clean herself. Then she’d wash the dress. Riki grabbed handfuls of the scrubweed blades and wound them into hand-sized pads. Sweeping the slightly abrasive plant fibers over her skin had never felt so good. The warm water, the soothing green scent of the scrubweed and the heady feeling of freedom combined into a sparkling moment of happiness.

Riki giggled as she washed herself, uncontrollably happy and giddy as a child.

“Sounds like you’re having fun.” Nico’s voice floated to her as he sat on a rock, facing away from her. He was being quite the gentleman and she was touched by his chivalry.

“I haven’t taken a bath in so long. And not in warm water since I was a child.”

“Sometimes it’s handy to be a dragon.” His tone teased.

“I bet.” Riki started to work on her dress, cleaning it as best she could. It would be soaking wet when she put it back on, but it couldn’t be helped.

Unless…

“Nico, can you produce enough heat to dry my dress?” Her words were hesitant and shy, but also curious.

“Throw it over here and I’ll see what I can do.” His wry chuckle sounded as she rolled the thin dress into a ball and took aim.

Unfortunately, she smacked him right in the head with the wad of sopping fabric, but he only laughed as he unwound the mess from his neck and laid it out over the rock he’d been sitting on. He touched the rock with both hands, and within moments, steam started to rise from the wet material.

“That’s amazing.”

Nico looked over at her and winked. Riki was glad she was still immersed in the water, but the look in his eyes was teasing, not predatory. Still, she was relieved when he turned back around so he couldn’t see her. After a few more moments, he lifted the dress by the shoulders and it looked mostly dry.

“I think that’s about as good as I can get it.” He tilted his head as if considering the simple dress, then squared his shoulders. “I’m turning around now.”

Riki gasped as he turned, his gaze traveling over what he could see of her naked body beneath the water. She crossed her arms over her breasts though Nico didn’t seem threatening. No, his hot gaze was more admiring than dangerous. Still, there was fire in his eyes, heat in the way he stalked closer to her, holding her dress out before him.

“It will do you no good to have a dry dress if you put it on over wet skin.”

His voice was a sultry rumble. “Come out of there, sweetheart, and let me dry you.”

Gathering her courage, Riki tried to decide what to do. This man was tempting in the extreme. He’d saved her, he’d taken care of her to this point, but could she trust him not to try to take more from her than she was willing to give? If she lost her virginity, she lost everything—her power, her safety, and most probably her life if Lucan ever found her. But this man was temptation itself.

Handsome, thoughtful, kind and incredibly strong, he was appealing on every level. He’d suffered Lucan’s torture with a dignity she’d never seen before and a courage that put her to shame. He was such a noble, brave being, and such a magical one. She had to keep reminding herself Nico was half dragon. It was incredible. Even after riding on his strong back for hours in the inky night sky, she could hardly believe it was all real.

“Come on, sweetheart. You know I’d never harm you. It would kill me to see you hurt in any way.” He shook the dress invitingly, his dark, hazel eyes watching her reactions carefully.

Riki couldn’t deny him. Tucking away her self-doubts and her fear, she rose hesitantly from the cooling water to stand before the man who had quite literally saved her life. Without him, she would still be back in Lucan’s palace. She owed him so much, yet he treated her as if she were precious. The thought humbled her. Nico was proving himself to be a man of honor in every way. She just hoped she could resist his charm enough to retain her virginity and with it, her power. Without that, she was too vulnerable. It was the only thing of value she had and it would be suicide to allow it to be lost.

Yet something inside her yearned for this man. She wanted to know him—to know what his lovemaking would feel like. He stirred things in her she’d thought long dead and curiosities better left alone.