Lover Enslaved: Thieves of Aurion, Book 1 (21 page)

Dash nodded at the bills crumpled in Jerrick’s fist. “You in the drug trade now?”

Blistering anger shimmered around Jerrick. “Didn’t I make it clear last night I don’t want to see your face again?”

“I don’t care what you want. We have business to settle.”

White-hot sparks flickered from Jerrick. Noticing the visible output of his hostile fury, he shoved the merca into his pants pocket and whipped his jacket on. “The only reason I’m not slamming you into the nearest wall is because I respect Fromona too much to trash her place.”

Dash curled his mouth in a mocking smile. “Yeah, I can see how much you respect her. Enough to give her a discount on the drugs.”

A rigid vein throbbed in Jerrick’s neck. “She has Grandix disease. The Scorshee dust is the only thing that relieves her pain, but it’s on the banned-substance list. Make of it what you will.” Without further word, he stormed through the exit.

The air vacuum sucked the door back into place. Dash turned and stared at the woman straightening the hem of a velvet shawl on the pulley system. A large tumor protruded from her right wrist.

His shoulders slumped. “Oh bloody hell.”

Chapter Sixteen

“We’ve been in Tul’dea a whopping three days and the only things I’ve accomplished are baring my soul and sticking my foot in my mouth. Repeatedly.” Mara shook her head as she picked out a skirt and top to wear to dinner.

Her fingers brushed over the soft knit of the pink scoop-necked sweater. How could she possibly feel both terrible and elated after baring her soul to Dash? The part of her psyche carrying around the burden of her responsibility over her mother’s death and Gideon’s imprisonment might be lighter, but it also felt naked and vulnerable.

“Okay, I’m officially out of my ever-loving head.”

“I could have told you that ages ago.”

Swiveling on her heel, Mara stared at Piper. She hadn’t heard her come in. That was the problem with these darn doors—they were maddeningly silent. Then again, they also provided Piper with easy access. It was rather nice, not having to let the sprite in and out a gazillion times a day. “You know, for someone who insisted on tagging along to
help out
, you’ve made yourself pretty damn scarce most of the time.” Which was weird. Back at the palace, Piper rarely took a break from her busy pestering schedule.

Piper landed on the dresser. Leaning close to the looking glass, she picked her lunch from her teeth. “How else was I supposed to give you alone time with Rhyder?”

Mara gaped at Piper’s reflection. “Why would you want to leave me alone with Dash?”

“Because you need to get laid.
Bad
.”

“Are you crazy?” Mara sputtered. She opened her mouth, trying to formulate a more articulate observation. Unfortunately, none were forthcoming.

“You both have an itch that needs scratching.” Finished with her teeth cleaning, Piper fluffed her hair. “So I say unlock your chastity belt and ride that bad boy ’til you’re both tuckered out.”

Gritting her teeth, Mara returned her attention to the sweater in her hands. “Just when I figure you couldn’t possibly be more annoying, you go and open your mouth.”

“Fake it all you want, I know you have a soft spot where I’m concerned.”

“These delusions of yours are getting out of control.”

Piper made a
pfftt
noise with her tongue. Apparently done grooming the upper part of her body, she flopped down on the dresser and pulled off her pink and orange striped leg warmers. She picked up a tiny nail buffer and began giving herself a pedicure. “Rhyder told me all about the hysterical breakdown you had when the Gromache swiped me.”

A laugh clogged Mara’s windpipe. Choking, she thumped her chest until her breath popped free. “Trust me, I was far from hysterical. Mostly I didn’t want to explain to Nalia how you became a tasty snack for a four-eyed toad.” She wrinkled her nose. “And please don’t leave your toenail clippings lying around this time. It’s gross.”

A knock sounded on the adjoining door.

“Come in,” Mara said.

The door slid open and Dash stepped into the room. In addition to the low-brimmed hat he’d gotten in the habit of wearing, he also wore the same buff-colored slacks from earlier in the day. Topping it off was a shirt in a gorgeous shade of midnight blue that clung to his torso in all the right places. Mara couldn’t take her eyes off him. “Where did you get that?”

When he gave her a blank look, she motioned towards his shirt.

He glanced down before smiling at her. “Like it? I stole it from downstairs.” She gave him a shocked look and he laughed. “Good gods, you’re gullible.”

“I could have told you that ages ago,” Piper said from the dresser.

Mara tossed her sweater atop the sprite and glanced back at Dash. Her focus automatically returned to the shirt stretched over his exquisitely muscled chest. “Actually, I do like it. It really defines your…eyes.”

His mouth curled into a grin, as if he knew damn well it wasn’t his eyes she’d been admiring. She decided to change the subject before she dug a pit without any exits. “Did you happen to check the computing network again while you were downstairs?”

“Yeah. Same story as yesterday. Nothing.”

She took a deep breath and blurted the one thing she knew he didn’t want to hear. “There’s always Jerrick.”

Irritation glinted in his eyes. “I wouldn’t count on it.”

Bridling her frustration, she knelt and grabbed her high heels. After inspecting them for scuff marks, she tossed them next to the skirt resting atop the coverlet. “Maybe if you talked to him.”

A grunt sounded from Dash. “You saw the type of
talking
Jerrick’s interested in.”

Mara turned her head and caught him gingerly probing his jaw. The shadow of a bruise mingled with the dark stubble he’d yet to divest himself of. How crazy was it that her heart tripped over a fae thief who accumulated bruises faster than a bathing cubicle collected mold. Yep, Gideon would definitely label her clinically insane.

Shaking her head at her own idiocy, she plucked her sweater from the dresser. Piper barely took the time to stick out her tongue before resuming her nail buffing.

Mara scooped up the rest of her evening’s ensemble and marched towards the bathroom. “Well, you and Jerrick better not start throwing punches during dinner. You’ll end up getting us kicked out of the eatery.”

Dash’s harsh curse sounded behind her. “You invited him to dinner? What the bloody hell were you thinking?”

She stopped outside the bathroom door and dragged in a deep, fortifying breath before turning to face him. “That the two of you need to work this out.”

His face turned a dangerous shade of red as he stalked towards her. Gulping, she stepped back, cramming her spine against the doorframe.

He halted a hairsbreadth away from her. The heat radiating off him in massive waves actually caused a slight sheen of sweat to break on her forehead.
Oh man, is he ever pissed.

“Do you have any idea of the fire you’re playing with?”

Putting on a brave front, she nodded.

A low growl ripped from him. “Then you’re either the most courageous woman birthed to humankind, or the stupidest.”

Hugging her clothes tighter to her chest, she offered a hesitant smile. “I probably fall somewhere in the middle.”

“What the devil did you say to Jerrick to get him to agree to this?”

Mara cleared her throat with an awkward cough. “Um…that you wouldn’t be there.” Before Dash’s irate stare burned straight through her skull, she ducked inside the bathroom and locked the door. She did a quick clothes change, all the while ignoring the colorful swear words uttered on the other side of the thick metal door. By the time she stepped out into her room, Dash had fallen quiet but he still looked plenty cross with her.

“Ready to go?” Without waiting for her answer, he stormed into the hall.

“See,” Piper said, wagging a finger. “You should have given Mr. Cranky Pants some hot lovin’. Would have calmed him right down.”

Mara gritted her teeth before jamming her coin purse beneath her arm. Downstairs, she noted the name etched on the frosted glass door leading into the Crystal Lodge’s main eatery. Glasstisserie. Hopefully it was a play on words and didn’t mean the entrees actually consisted of glass. She wasn’t that adventurous of a diner. Then again, the direction this night was headed, eating glass might be a welcome respite.

Dash led the way inside, heading determinedly to a blue velvet tufted booth in the far corner. Fine by her. Less chance of him and Jerrick creating a public ruckus that’d get them all tossed out on their butts.

A woman sitting alone at one of the tables glanced up when they approached. Her expectant smile instantly fizzled to disappointment, but then her gaze shifted to Dash and her whole face lit up. “Are you stalking me?”

Dash made a sound that suspiciously resembled a groan. “Avily, how…great…to see you.”

The woman’s attention drifted from Dash and settled on Mara. Her grin widened, overtaking her face. “You must be Mara, the woman responsible for turning Dash into a dumb ass.”

A more pronounced groan slipped from Dash as the woman jumped to her feet and extended a hand. “I’m Avily.”

Slightly bemused, Mara returned Avily’s handshake. “Sorry, but how exactly did I turn him into a dumb ass?”

“Don’t ask her that,” Dash said with a horrified look. “It’ll only encourage her.”

Avily slugged him in the arm.

The action earned Mara’s instantaneous respect. You had to like a woman with a good left hook. She noticed Avily’s hot pink slippers and bent to get a closer look. “What cute shoes.”

“Thanks. At least some people know good taste when they see it.” Avily slid a sidelong glance Dash’s way. He made a grumbling noise but she ignored him and motioned towards her table. “Hey, why don’t you all join me? I could use the company, since my date seems to have stiffed me tonight.”

“We’d love to, but we’re meeting—”

“
Jerrick
.” Avily’s thin whisper cut Dash off.

For a second, Mara thought Avily was finishing Dash’s sentence—which would have been weird, since she couldn’t possibly have known Jerrick was joining them for dinner.

The color leached from Avily’s cheeks and she gaped at something beyond the next table. Mara looked over her shoulder and spied Jerrick blazing a trail across the marbled floor, his eyes shooting a red-hot laser of fury into the back of Dash’s head.

Oh man, what was I thinking putting them in the same room together?
Mara gave herself a mental head smack.

Jerrick’s gaze slipped for a second and roved to Avily. An expression of undiluted shock softened the hard planes of his face and his sure stride faltered. He quickly recovered and continued stalking forward until he halted approximately a foot behind Dash. “What the fuck is he doing here?”

Dash instantly stiffened. Mara opened her mouth, hoping to quell the upcoming firesparks, but surprisingly Avily beat her to the punch.

“Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?”

Folding his arms over his chest, Jerrick stared Avily down. “I recall kissing someone else with this mouth. Want to make a problem of it?”

A rosy hue crested Avily’s cheeks. “Um. No.”

The tension continued to hang thick in the air. Mara noticed the curious looks coming from the diners crowded around several of the nearby tables. She focused on Avily, hoping she’d receive her help-me-out-of-this-mess transmittal. “Is the offer to join you still open?”

“Not a good idea,” Dash and Jerrick said in unison.

While the two mule-headed brothers glared at each other, Avily grabbed Mara’s arm and tugged her to the other side of the table. “You’re sitting next to me.”

The silver eating utensils neatly aligned on the linen-draped table drew Mara’s eye. A premonition of doom flared to life. “Those knives look pretty sharp. Maybe it’s not such a good idea to let them sit beside each other.”

A dismissive snort broke from Avily. “Oh pooh. I don’t know what’s up Jerrick’s butt, but he’ll get over it.”

Mara blinked at Avily’s casual disregard.
Does she not know about the bad blood between Jerrick and Dash?
Weird, since she seemed to know the two brothers very well.

Avily pulled out the closest of the velvet-upholstered chairs and gestured impatiently. Mara gave the cutlery one last nervous glance and plopped onto the proffered seat. Hopefully emergency medical services weren’t too far off, in case Jerrick and Dash attacked each other with a steak knife.

The two brothers reached for the back of the same chair. After a ridiculously long stare-down, Dash jerked his hand away with a growl and grabbed the other chair. While Jerrick and Avily settled into their own seats, Mara gave an inward groan.
This is going to be the dinner from hell.
Her suspicions became confirmed when Piper fluttered onto the edge of the table and leveled a belligerent stare on Avily.

“Don’t even think of poaching on my territory.” Piper pointed an accusatory finger. “She’s
my
best friend and I’m not giving her up.”

“Possessive much?” Rolling her eyes, Avily spread out her napkin and tucked it on her lap.