“Looks can be deceiving.”
Without expounding on his cryptic comment, Dash strolled to the wall and pried back one of the rocks, revealing a recessed keypad. She stared, amazed, as the massive wall split in two, swinging open like a pair of doors. Upon closer inspection, she realized they actually were a set of doors.
“Oh wow,” she breathed, mystified.
Dash’s fingers squeezed hers. “You might want to pace your wows. We’re only getting started.”
Taking his word for it, she followed him beyond the rock doors. The vision greeting her made her gasp. They were standing inside a house.
An actual, freakin’ house.
Dash clicked on several of the jade and quartz lamps strewn about the room and Mara slowly pivoted, taking in the wood-paneled walls covered with enormous tapestries and oil paintings. A gorgeous chandelier hung above a mahogany dining table, its crystals fashioned to look like fat clusters of grapes.
Enchanted, she continued her exploration and journeyed into the spacious, well-equipped kitchen. Unable to resist, she opened the large cooler unit. A blast of artic air hit her. Rubbing her arms briskly, she surveyed the labeled containers stacked on the metal shelves.
“Not sure I’d eat anything in there,” Dash said, walking into the kitchen. “Might have been a while since Jerrick last cleaned it out.”
She closed the cooler unit and traipsed after Dash when he strode down another short hallway. The bedroom they stepped into resembled an opulent dream. Panels of champagne silk fell from an overhead canopy, flowing in a voluminous puddle around a massive sleigh bed piled high with sumptuous silk and velvet pillows.
The rich decadence surrounding her blew Mara’s mind. “How is this place even possible?”
“This is my grandfather’s land. He built the house, and later erected the cave around it when he decided to start up the family business.”
She could find no tactful way to word the question burning on her tongue. “You mean he was a thief too?”
Dash nodded. “He had ambitious plans of siring an entire line of his entrepreneur offspring, but alas, my mother wanted nothing to do with the business. That left only me.” He inclined his head. “And of course Jerrick, by default. Apparently blood isn’t thicker than water when you’re trying to string together a family of thieves.”
She strolled to the oil portrait suspended on the wall nearest the bed and cocked her head. “This is your grandfather, isn’t it?”
“How did you know?” Dash came up behind her and settled his hands around her waist.
“The resemblance is extraordinary.” Even the devilish twinkle in his dark eyes matched Dash’s.
“Ah, so what you’re telling me is he’s a blindingly handsome fellow.”
She couldn’t resist giving a sarcastic snort. “I wonder if he had difficulty fitting his ego through the front door too.”
“Why do you think he had those double doors put in?”
Laughter bubbled inside her. Swiveling in Dash’s arms, she gave him a tremulous smile. “Thank you for bringing me here. It’s incredible.”
“I wanted you to see it, so you’d understand the great lengths my family has gone to in the past to maintain our survival. It’s a tradition I plan on keeping.” He fingered one of her curls away from her eye. “I don’t want you to fear Baggins getting the drop on me.”
He might as well ask her to stop breathing. It’d be far easier. “I’ll try.”
“That’s my girl.” He leaned down and kissed her lightly on the lips. “Now what do you say we get out of here before the orgeel gets hungry?”
Chapter Twenty-One
Jerrick strode inside the Glasstisserie’s front dining hall, his dark scowl officially killing Dash’s appetite.
“So much for a quiet breakfast.” Dash rested his fork on the corner of his plate and waited for the inevitable bad news.
“The rune is being held at Baggins’ estate in Skalage.” Jerrick slapped down the computing printout, damn near toppling the cup of Jufferi sitting in front of Dash.
“Of course it is,” Dash said, his tone dry as he edged his cup towards safety. “It’s the farthest away. He wouldn’t want to make things too simple for me.”
“The distance is the least of your worries.” Jerrick slumped into the adjacent seat. Propping his elbow on the table, he rubbed wearily at the lines burrowed in his forehead. “According to my man Leo, Baggins has outfitted the place with all kinds of high-tech traps.”
“Only the best royalty can buy, I’m sure.”
Jerrick dropped his hand and stared at Dash, his expression glum. “Leo says he’s never come across anything like it. Baggins even had a gizmo recently installed on all the doors that’s impervious to magical tampering.”
“A type of magical blocker? Wonder what gave him that idea?” Dash fingered the collar around his neck and grimaced.
“You have any brilliant suggestions for how we’ll bypass the traps?”
“We? Let’s get something clear—you’re not stepping within a hundred feet of Baggins’ estate.”
“You stupid sonofabitch, in the past, I always had your back. So drop the overprotective-big-brother bullshit.” His shoulders hunching, Jerrick leaned forward and pounded the table, making the eating utensils rattle.
Dash steadied his cup of Jufferi. “Maybe one of these days you’ll tell me how you really feel.” Dash hooked his arm across the back of his chair and tried to conjure the words that’d placate his mule-headed brother. “Look, you know damn well Baggins won’t think twice about killing you if you get in his way. And I sure as hell won’t give him a shot at two of us for the price of one.”
“This is a two-person job, minimum. Unless you’ve got some contact I’m unaware of, who won’t hand you over to Baggins at the first sniff of a reward, you’re stuck with me.”
Dash stared at the stubborn line of his brother’s mouth and knew there’d be no appeasing the mule this time. “Fine, I’ll think about it.”
Snagging an orphaned slice of toast, Jerrick gave a cocky grin, as if he knew he’d eventually get his way. “You’ll need a better disguise once you hit Baggins’ home turf.”
Dash fingered the brim of his hat. “I suppose you’re right,” he said grudgingly. “Think one of your contacts can rustle one up?”
“Consider it done.”
While Jerrick helped him finish the rest of his breakfast, Dash glanced at the computing printout. “Baggins’ estate in Skalage isn’t far from one of my old contacts—Gordon Haslin.”
Jerrick stopped shoveling potato cake in his mouth long enough to shoot him a sizzling glare. “You planning to drop me for Gordon?”
Dash shook his head. “From what I can remember, he doesn’t have the steadiest hand, which pretty much rules him out for this job. I was thinking more in terms of his daughter.”
“Astor? When did she get in the business? I thought she still dabbled in—” Jerrick frowned, the fork slipping from his fingers to clatter onto the plate. “Okay, what the hell do you have up your sleeve?”
A noisy vacu-bot motored past their table, sucking food crumbs from the marble floor. Once it rumbled off, Dash continued. “Nothing yet. But I want an appointment with Astor—tomorrow at the latest. Think your man Leo can arrange it?”
“I’ll call him right now.” Jerrick pushed up from the table. After absconding with the last piece of toast, he strode towards the exit.
The annoying vacu-bot returned, nosing around the table.
“For gods’ sake, you already ate everything.” Dash’s grumble went ignored while the bot continued greedily sucking for nonexistent debris. When the contraption started attacking his foot, Dash threw down a tip for the server and bolted from the table. He half expected the damn thing to race after him. And wouldn’t that be ironic? Instead of a hired gun doing him in, he’d meet his demise courtesy of an overzealous vacu-bot.
Once he reached safety outside the Glasstisserie’s front entr
ance, he stopped and checked his right loafer. The lousy bot had run over the toe area, leaving a black singe mark.
“This is the problem with robots—they just don’t appreciate excellent Faltronian craftsmanship.” Jerking his hat low over his eyes, he stalked towards the glass lift. He glanced in the direction of the networking terminal as he passed by its opened doors, halting when he spied Mara inside, perched on a chair.
He walked up behind her, but her attention remained firmly focused on the data scrolling down the massive computing screen. Fingers drumming impatiently on the glass counter, she shook her head. “Come on, give me something, you bastard.”
“Good gods, don’t provoke that thing. The bloody machines around here are downright homicidal.”
Mara tipped the chair sideways, clanking its metal feet. Her stare looked like it should be reserved for the crazy fools who wrestled orgeels for sport. “Okaay.”
Clearly she didn’t believe him. Rather than make himself look any crazier in her eyes, he nodded towards the screen. “What are you looking for?”
“Something—anything—on Rhyann.”
He settled his hand on the back of her neck and absently stroked her nape. “Sher ’tian, why waste your time? We’ve tracked down the rune.”
“I don’t mean that Rhyann.” She reached for the leather-bound book sitting next to her elbow and opened it to a richly detailed illustration of a female surrounded by a group of smiling peasants. Mara tapped the page. “Notice anything?”
Two things, to be precise. But he doubted she was referring to the female’s bountiful bosom. “There’s a white light shooting from her forehead. Not exactly normal, but I suppose it keeps her from stubbing a toe when she’s in a dark room.”
Several beats of silence passed and Mara rolled her lips, visibly holding back a laugh. Finally, she chuckled. “Only you could come up with something that weird.”
Thank the gods I didn’t mention the humongous breasts. “I give up. What is it I’m not noticing?”
“Her name.”
He scanned the page again. “Ah, now I get it. So she and the rune share something in common.”
“Avily and Piper swear it’s only a coincidence.” Hope glistened in her irises. “Do you think they’re right?”
“More than likely. I’ve never heard of a goddess Rhyann. There’s a good chance she’s just a fabrication.”
“Or maybe your ancestors don’t want any of us knowing about her.”
Dash frowned. “What gives you that idea?”
“Apparently Rhyann was making time with a human.”
“Hmm, can’t say I blame her.” He traced a finger over her lush bottom lip. “Some humans are too tempting to resist.”
She twitched her nose. “And some faes are too distracting for their own good.”
Grinning, he folded his arms over his chest. “I stand properly chastised. Now what’s with this crazy assumption about my ancestors hiding goddesses?”
“Don’t you get it? Goddesses aren’t supposed to consort with humans. We’re the lowest on the creation list—somewhere between fungi and rocks.” She held up a hand when he started to refute her statement. “Before you tell me I’m being overly dramatic, let me point out the fact that I didn’t come up with that ranking.”
“The faes who think along those lines are snobbish fools.”
“It doesn’t change the fact we’re not equals.”
Her solemn admission stunned him. “Mara, I’m a thief. In the eyes of most, my profession puts me lower than rocks and fungi.”
A wrinkle furrowed the center of her brow. “Surely you’re not implying I think of you in such terms?”
“You said yourself I use my skills for a low purpose.”
He watched the emotions play across her face—recognition, remorse, shame.
Her fingers scraped the edge of the counter, worrying it much like the stress-relieving stones for sale in Avily’s girly shop. “It doesn’t excuse anything, or take the words back, but I want you to know I didn’t mean them. They were a convenient way to convince myself I did the right thing in trapping you.”
The hope budding inside his heart was almost painful. “I…” He stopped and cleared his throat, struggling to find composure. His emotions felt raw. Too close to the surface. “You’ve no idea the blessing you’ve just given me.”
Mara smiled. “Good. I’m glad you feel better.”
For a minute, he considered telling her he felt something far beyond better, but his emotions felt overexposed as it was. Sex he knew. Hopeless yearnings of the heart? Not so much.
A brisk knock rapped against the terminal’s doorframe. Dash jumped. Swiveling, he met his brother’s amused grin. More than likely the little shit had been eavesdropping. “You get a hold of Leo?”
“Yep. Might take him a while to line up the meeting with Astor.” Jerrick flicked his jacket open and tucked his micro-communicator inside the interior pocket. “Apparently some moneybags commissioned her to do some work at his house all week. But the disguise is pretty much a done deal.”
“Disguise?” Mara peered at Dash, her expression perplexed.
He didn’t want to talk about the rune heist in front of her. She’d only have further cause to worry.
“Hopefully it’ll keep him from being recognized when we’re in Skalage.”
Dash sent Jerrick a glare that should have incinerated him on the spot. “We don’t need to discuss this now.”
“Why? Because I’m here?” Mara’s indignant tone whipped out and lashed him. “You know, that’s so typically male. Always thinking a woman can’t handle the tiniest amount of stress.”
“She’s got a point,” Jerrick quipped.
Gnashing his teeth, Dash stared his brother down. “Last time I checked, you’re a male. Might want to remember that.”
“True.” Jerrick flashed a smile. “But I’m far from typical.”
“Good, then you won’t mind giving me the lowdown,” Mara said, tapping her foot.
The cocky grin skipped from Jerrick’s face. “Shit.” He stared helplessly at Dash.
“Don’t look at me. You opened your damn fool mouth.”
Jerrick scratched his jaw. “Uh—”
Dash leveled a warning glare on him. “Want to live long enough to see your thirty-fourth birthday?”
“Stop it.” Mara stalked forward. A mix of irritation and hurt swirled in her eyes. “Yes, I’ve freaked out on more than one occasion. It’s my forte. But please don’t treat me like I’m made of porcelain.”
She’d backed him into a corner and blocked all the exits. Sonofafairy, she’s good. Dash pushed out a sigh of defeat and dropped his head. Staring at the floor would only work so long. Might as well spit out the basics. “Baggins stashed the rune at the estate he owns in Skalage. The place is riddled with traps, and it’s going to be a real bitch getting past them. That’s about all we know for now.”
Mara remained quiet for a long period. Dash scratched the back of his neck. “This is why I didn’t—”
Her hand shot up, silencing him. “I’m thinking.”
From the corner of his eye, he caught Jerrick’s smirk. Yeah, just wait ’til you’re saddled with a bossy woman.
“What if I got entrance to Baggins’ house ahead of time and let you in?”
Dash’s full attention swung back on Mara. “Hell no.”
“Why not?”
Good gods, do I really need to point it out? “Because he’s a cold-blooded killer. And what gives you the idea you can jaunt right into his estate in the first place?”
“Because I have a secret weapon. These.” Mara reached up and bounced her breasts.
For a brief second, all potential argument deserted Dash. All he could do was fixate on her hands. Or more precisely, what she grasped within them.
“Again, she has a point,” Jerrick muttered, his tone ironic.
Dash scrubbed his jaw. “Would you please let go of those? I can’t bloody think while
you’re doing that.” Mara accommodated his request and the oxygen returned to his brain. He lifted his gaze to safer quarters. “My answer is still no.”
She scowled but thankfully she didn’t grab any more body parts. “You’re being ridiculous. There’s no reason why my plan won’t work. In fact, I think it’s pretty damn brilliant.”
“Care to fill me in on the details?” Dash shoved his arms over his chest and squared his chin. “Or does it pretty much consist of you strolling up to Baggins’ front door and flashing him some boobage?”
“I’m thinking that’d do the trick.”
“You be quiet.” Dash shot a look in his brother’s direction. “And stop ogling her breasts.”
“Of course I won’t be able to walk right up to his door. But surely the man goes out once in a while. It comes down to me being at the right place at the right time.” She gave a small gasp. “The sleeping potion the vendor gave me! I could use it to knock Baggins out.”
Dash flattened his lips. “No.”
“Why are you being such a bullhead?” Thunderclouds brewed in Mara’s eyes. “I don’t need your permission.”
Glaring, he stepped forward, but Jerrick elbowed his way between them.
“Her idea has merit. And it might very well be the only way we’ll get our asses inside the estate.”
Damn Jerrick for even entertaining the idea. “I’m not putting her in that kind of danger.” Dash spit the words out like they were rancid. Refusing to humor them a second longer, he turned and stalked from the terminal.
He blocked out Mara’s outraged reply and strode for the lobby. His face must have displayed the fury on the brink of eruption because everyone he passed gave him a wide berth. Outside, he let the sun soak into him, fueling the heat sizzling in his veins.
How could she expect him to allow such a thing? Didn’t she remember his pledge back at the hideout? He’d meant it—he’d sooner die than put her in the path of danger.
Heavy footsteps sounded behind him. “What the hell was that about?”
He stubbornly continued giving Jerrick his back. “Don’t talk to me. I’m two seconds away from kicking your ass.”
Lover Enslaved: Thieves of Aurion, Book 1 Page 20