Nicholas was magically bound to keep secrets...and Sabrina was sorely in need of an ally if she hoped to carry out Gleason’s orders without harming the already traumatized female shifter with whom they’d shared a recent meal.
It was the perfect match. Now all she needed to do was to make Nicholas assume the alliance had been his own clever idea.
Chapter 9
After the third brush off, Nicholas gave up on speaking to his quarry while she had others to lose herself among. Instead, he hung back and bided his time until the captain said her good nights and dragged that strangely silent teenager back up the stairs to the empty rooftop. There, he waited in the cold stairwell for several additional seconds before easing his way out past the heavy metal door and homing in on the nearby ship.
“...want to stay in the Aerie for a little while?” Sabrina was asking her brother when Nicholas stepped out into the cold nighttime air. The duo stood partway up the long metal ramp that led into the Intrepid’s cargo hold, moonlight glinting off their same-colored hair and highlighting the familial resemblance yet further.
Watching the two together, in fact, Nicholas realized for the first time that family lay at the heart of the captain’s secrets. Because what had happened just before she’d closed down and given up on a crew who likely could have been convinced to return to their jobs had the captain just utilized a little additional bribery and persuasion?
The first mate had mentioned Sabrina’s father, that’s what. And instantly, the tall, proud captain had turned into a spineless, weak-kneed fool.
Well, not so spineless, Nicholas thought now, watching how the statuesque woman angled her body to protect her brother from unknown elements of the night. He could understand being struck down by the need to defend family. Despite himself, Nicholas took a single step closer, leaving the shadows behind.
Luckily, the siblings on the ramp were too intent upon each other to notice his arrival. Zach cocked his head silently, which prompted his sister to clarify her previous suggestion. “Not me—you. Think of it as a vacation. Wouldn’t it be nice not to have to worry that the ship will jolt at just the wrong moment and mess up your experiments? Wouldn’t it be nice to eat fresh meat and vegetables every day, not just when we’re in port?”
Now the boy’s head swayed furiously from side to side, his hands shaking as he pointed unerringly toward a port hole that Nicholas assumed was his own abode. But despite his apparent agitation, the teenager remained as mute as stagnant pond water.
“Zach, listen to me,” Sabrina said after a loaded pause. Her voice now took on that same commanding tone she’d possessed while Nicholas spliced together her ship’s damaged rigging. “The crew probably had the right idea. Not about....” She cut herself off and shook her head vigorously as if evading unwelcome memories. “Not about our business contacts. But about this mission. It’s dangerous. I’d feel better if you were on land.”
The two stood facing each other for one long moment after that, Zach matching his sister in stubbornness as well as in height. Only now the boy turned so Nicholas couldn’t see his face, and the silhouetted figure abruptly resembled someone else entirely.
Sam. Nicholas’s long-dead foster brother had cocked his hip to one side just like that while disgorging unwanted secrets over a decade prior. He’d been about Zach’s age at the time—too young to realize that his body wasn’t as invulnerable as his boundless enthusiasm tempted him to suppose. Too young to have the good sense to accept Nicholas’s mitigating influence...and at the same time Nicholas had been too young to figure out how to work around his own knack’s shortcomings in order to save his sibling’s impetuous life.
Suddenly, the older—and hopefully wiser—Nicholas was ashamed of himself for eavesdropping. This family drama wasn’t the secret he’d set out to uncover. He’d never before stooped to listening outside doors in order to feed his insatiable appetite for the unknown. He certainly didn’t intend to start now.
I’m here to find out about the gray dragon, the shifter reminded himself. With that goal in mind, Zach’s secrets became irrelevant. Nicholas might as well give the boy’s sister a little space to finish this one-sided conversation with a stone-silent sibling who refused to relinquish so much as a single inch.
Amused at the idea of a family member who could beat Sabrina at her own game, Nicholas padded around to the far side of the ship where his glowing wings would go unnoticed. Then, flapping upward with three easy beats, he stepped onto the upper deck via the dragon-friendly access hatch the Intrepid was modern enough to provide. Finally, settling down into the shadows, he relaxed and prepared to watch for his prey’s imminent arrival.
Because Nicholas didn’t really need to dog Sabrina’s every move in order to arrange a one-on-one meeting. Not when his quarry was so inherently predictable.
Sabrina was a sister and a secret keeper...but, at her core, she was also a captain. As such, she’d never go to bed without walking every inch of her cherished ship.
And when the captain set foot on the top deck for one final check of lines and gauges, Nicholas would be waiting. Then, finally, his target’s secrets would all be revealed.
***
Her ship should have been empty save for one disobedient brother, but the air currents felt subtly off as soon as Sabrina stepped out onto the open deck. Whirling on her heel, the captain drew a pistol this time around instead of a sword.
After all, she’d require every asset at her disposal during a nighttime altercation. And it was easier to beg wind to carry one small bullet toward enemy flesh rather than counting on hand-eye coordination to take down an assailant she could neither see nor identify.
“I guess I deserve to be shot for boarding without permission.”
At the sound of Nicholas’s amused voice, Sabrina’s lips quirked upward into a reluctant half smile and she found herself tucking the expensive firearm back into its holster. Not that she should have been happy to see him—hear him, whatever. Not after spending the last four hours playing cat and mouse with the annoying shifter, a game that frustrated her unduly once she realized she wasn’t in her accustomed role of predator and was instead the skittish prey.
Still, the sight of that new female dragon, all terrified eyes and trembling hands, had shaken Sabrina more than she cared to admit. Frank Fairweather wouldn’t have possessed a single qualm about throwing Steph under a bus for the sake of his own financial gain, but Sabrina wasn’t her father. So she’d spent the last hour wracking her brain for an excuse to speak to Nicholas alone.
I guess he solved that problem all by himself.
Rather than letting Nicholas see her satisfaction, though, Sabrina thinned her lips back down into a firm line as she stared out into the darkness. Ah, there he is, she realized, sensing the way the breezes eddied as they danced around the furthest corner of the ship. Turning directly toward the spot, she acknowledged the intruder verbally at long last. “I should have known it would be you.”
For a long moment, the shifter chose to remain invisible. Sabrina could sense the power dynamic shifting between them as the seconds elongated, could feel the instant when Nicholas decided intimidation wasn’t worth his while. At last, murmuring a questioning “Hmmm?” he slunk out of the shadows to join her.
No, not slunk. Prowled. Like a lion pacing the borders of his territory, knowing he was the biggest, baddest predator around.
And, once the broad-shouldered shifter was fully visible in the moonlight, Sabrina seriously considered backpedaling and rescinding her recent decision. Because no matter what Amber had said, Nicholas couldn’t possibly be her best potential ally. Not this most dangerous of shifters, with the knowing eyes and the steady hand concealing a heart that must be made up of pure, sharp-edged steel.
And yet, Amber had seemed so certain....
The invader halted his relentless approach when they were a mere five feet apart, separated from each other by far more than empty air. In the interim, Sabrina found herself remem
bering the moment she’d lost her ability to fully trust another human being. The moment when Frank Fairweather’s death revealed the childish error in her analysis of her father’s character.
Since then, Sabrina had nurtured new friendships, of course. Well, she’d gathered a few good acquaintances around her at least. Amber was slowly achieving friend status, although there were still far too many secrets that the earth witch would never know nor guess. And Zach, the captain hoped, would one day become less of a ward and more of a friend.
At the moment, though, she could point to no one who fully plumbed the depths of her shielded heart. As a result, considering spilling her secrets to Nicholas felt like diving off the top of the Intrepid and hoping she’d grow wings before she smashed into the ground.
I don’t have to tell him everything, Sabrina reminded herself. Just enough to get the job done.
And Amber trusted Nicholas. That much was clear from the way the earth witch had said her brother-in-law’s name with a funny little lilt suggesting she found his hard-nosed intransigence amusing. Sabrina’s closest ally had never steered her wrong before...which was yet another reason to be courageous and push past her comfort zone rather than squander a possible friendship in pursuit of an end she didn’t particularly want to achieve.
And, in the end, it was the vision of her friend’s brows wrinkling together with regret that resolved the matter. Sabrina didn’t want to harm that poor, female dragon...but even more she didn’t want to disappoint her friend.
So, opening her mouth, the captain let her secrets roll.
Chapter 10
“I’m here to steal your sister.”
Nicholas wasn’t surprised, but the words still sent a gust of flame surging up his throat that threatened to shift him into his more aggressive form. Fire flickered along human skin and the cool night air warmed in sympathy. But he just barely managed to prevent his body from turning into a pillar of fire.
Any other human would have stepped back in dismay, but Sabrina’s eyes merely narrowed ever so slightly, her expression otherwise remaining impossible to read. “Hear me out,” she continued.
“I’m listening.” Two words were all Nicholas managed to push around the protective anger that clogged his throat and filled his lungs. But he did listen.
He listened to a story about a weaselly little blackmailer along for the ride to ensure Sabrina did his bidding. About a feral dragon who’d burned the captain’s ship as cover for relaying his instructions. And he listened to those orders as well, took in how Sabrina had agreed to finagle Steph aboard the Intrepid by hook or by crook then sail west until they were located far enough away from the Aerie for the enemy dragons to safely relieve Sabrina of their once and future prize.
“Gunnar told me there’d be a break in the blockade tomorrow at midnight and that they’d give you reason to want to take Steph away from here before that. All I have to do is be in the right place at the right time to land the transportation job...then make sure my ship heads in the proper direction once we take to the air.”
It was a paper-thin excuse for a plan, and Nicholas suspected there was more to the enemy shifters’ reasoning than Sabrina knew...or at least more than she’d felt comfortable sharing with a near stranger. After all, any dragon worth his salt would attack rather than retreat when danger struck. This feral shifter—Gunnar—must have something tremendous up his sleeve if he thought the events of the following day would turn Aerie dragons into midnight runaways.
But Nicholas would cross that bridge when he came to it. Sabrina appeared to possess no further knowledge of the enemy dragons’ plan, so there was no further reason to interrogate her in that regard.
On the other hand.... “What hold does Gleason have over you?” he asked quietly, lowering his voice into the purr eligible women seemed to find so irresistible.
Aerie women perhaps. Not Sabrina. Breaking the intensity of their joint gaze, the captain swiveled away to gaze out into nothingness in lieu of a reply.
A cloud had recently drifted across the moon and darkened the night to the point where human eyes would be hard-pressed to pick out a single detail. Nicholas, on the other hand, could sense more than see the blood running through his companion’s veins. Shifter eyesight caught the faintest heating of tanned skin, heard the stuttering rasp as easy breathing turned harsh.
Sabrina was more threatened by this question than she had been by admitting her own upcoming betrayal to a dragon who could snap her in half with a single bite. Interesting.
“This is about your father, isn’t it?” Nicholas asked softly. And his guess was confirmed when Sabrina indulged in an uncharacteristic display of emotion, her body quivering slightly as she turned further away.
The captain didn’t wallow in emotion for long, though. Instead, her voice was crisp and clear when her answer came at last. “That’s not relevant.”
“It is if we’re going to work together,” Nicholas countered, forcing himself not to soften despite his companion’s display of weakness. After all, Sabrina wasn’t a simple Aerie woman hiding her pregnancy from a not-so-significant other. No, she was a potent threat to his newfound sister...and to the safety of his entire family and home.
Sabrina’s effortless deceptions, when it came right down to it, were just as dangerous as the secret that had sent Sam running to his death. And Nicholas had resolved never again to become complicit in brushing important matters under the rug.
Taking a small but significant step backwards, the shifter reminded himself what he would have told any of his brothers in a similar situation. Forget her beauty. Forget her strength. Remember that our family’s cohesion begins with putting each other first.
His attempts to think of Sabrina as an outsider didn’t really work, though. Because Amber was his sister now every bit as much as Zane was his brother. And that meant Sabrina was...something more than a traitor who had entered the Aerie with the sole purpose of personal gain.
“Is that the line you really want to draw in the sand?” his companion asked after a pause that wasn’t quite long enough to allow the shifter to rebuild his shattered equilibrium. “If I don’t spill my guts about ancient history, then you won’t help me find a way out of this mess without harming either of our siblings’ lives?”
And now Nicholas’s treacherous feet were carrying him forward instead, his body making a decision that his divided loyalties couldn’t yet support. But before he could answer aloud, two things happened at once.
First, the creak then slam of a metal door marked another person’s entry onto the formerly deserted rooftop. Then the moon once again emerged from its shadowy bower, bringing his companion’s face fully into view.
To Nicholas’s dismay, he realized he’d lost all of Sabrina’s attention as soon as that damn door creaked. Now her gaze was glued on a squat little man striding on the double toward the Intrepid’s shadowy bulk.
Gleason didn’t look like much. Still, the blackmailer’s power was evident in the way formerly relaxed tendons strained along the sides of Sabrina’s neck. In stark contrast to her earlier spunk, the captain stood frozen as if caught with her hand in the cookie jar...or perhaps caught spilling her guts to one of the dragons she’d been expressly forbidden to take into her confidence.
Which—okay—was exactly the truth. But looks could be deceiving. In fact, Nicholas planned to ensure Gleason quickly changed his mind about what he’d recently seen.
Because what other reason could a man and a woman have for sneaking away and speaking so heatedly in private? For lovers, they needed no reason at all.
So bending down ever so slightly—yes, that really was only about thirteen degrees—Nicholas did what he’d dreamed of for weeks on end. He reached one broad hand around to cup the back of Sabrina’s skull...then he pulled his captain into a passionate embrace.
***
The kiss was just a decoy.
No matter how many times Sabrina told herself as much, she couldn’t prevent the
ghost whisper of Nicholas’s lips from burning against her own. The memory of his strong fingers cupping her scalp woke her from a fitful sleep far too many times over the course of the endless night that followed. And now she found herself blushing—blushing like a starry-eyed schoolgirl—when the object of her fixation strode back up the ramp and onto her ship in broad daylight.
Leaning against the upper railing by her side, Zach glanced between ramp and sister quizzically. And for the first time since she’d found her brother wandering homeless and lonely in a southern port, Sabrina was glad that the teenager refused to speak.
Because if Zach didn’t voice his questions aloud, then she didn’t have to answer them. And Sabrina couldn’t explain this situation to her brother...not when she failed to fully understand it herself.
“I should leave before Gleason gets suspicious,” Nicholas had breathed against her swollen lips the night before after giving her no more than a taste of his delicious fire. “But I’ll be back tomorrow to help you choose a replacement crew.”
And, sure enough, here he was, pounding up the final set of stairs that stood between Sabrina and possibly the worst mistake she’d ever made in her life. Because, damn her weak womanly instincts, she hadn’t just allowed Nicholas to kiss and run the night before. No, she’d reached up to run her hands through the spiky stubble of his buzz-cut hair, enjoying the sensation of soft and sharp tweaking her oversensitive nerve endings. Then...she’d kissed him back.
The second kiss had been worse than the first. Worse in the sense that it sent heat pooling into spots that had been frozen for many long years and had made her wonder if there was more to life than nurturing a ship and a brother at the expense of her own wants and needs.
Cerulean Magic: A Dragon Mage Novel Page 6