Prince of Spies (6 page)

Already he could feel their energies reaching for one another. They both needed this healing sleep more than anything right now and he was gratified to feel her begin to relax, her body finding its way into restful oblivion.

Waking hours later, Nico quickly scanned the area. Riki slept on, in the same position she’d been in when she’d fallen asleep. She was so peaceful in his arms, he hated to move, but he had work to do.

Nico knew it had been a risk for them both to sleep, but it was a necessary risk. The fatigue of the beating, then escape, coupled with the healing he’d done on her wrists had been more than even he could bear, and he had to be strong to get them both the rest of the way to safety, across the border to Draconia.

Judging by the sun’s position, it was mid-afternoon. Nearly perfect timing for what he had planned. Rising with more than a little regret, Nico stalked a short distance away where his dragon senses told him a rabbit was nibbling on succulent grasses near the bank of the stream. It wasn’t much, but Riki had been starved almost beyond bearing. When she woke from her sleep, he wanted to have food for her and this rabbit would do nicely as a start. The rest he would pick up in the town, if the Mother of All continued to bless their path.

Giving up a silent prayer to Her for providing the rabbit and watching over their safety, Nico pounced. Just a few minutes later, with the judicious application of sharp talons and a few puffs of dragon flame, the meat was cooked and ready.

The scent of roasting meat woke Riki from a blessedly dreamless sleep.

She hadn’t felt so good upon rising in years. Blinking open her sleepy eyes, Riki saw the provider of her well-being.

Nico.

He was even more handsome in the fading light of the sun than he had been in the dawn, and the smile he sent her way simply stole her breath.

“Breakfast is served, milady.” He bowed with a comical flourish, bringing over the sizzling meat, still skewered from cooking, though she didn’t see a fire.

“How did you cook that?”

“Riki,” he clicked his tongue at her with a teasing smile, “I’m a
dragon
.”

She had to laugh at that. It had been so long since she’d had anything to laugh about. It felt good to be carefree—or almost so—for the first time in years. And it was all thanks to this incredible man.

Riki reached out and took the skewer of meat from him.

“Thank you, Prince Nicolas.”

“Ah, it’s just Nico to you, my dear. Besides, we’re still in hostile territory. Nick the Spy is who I am when outside the borders of my homeland.”

Riki nodded gravely, realizing all too well how important it was that his true identity remain a secret. If Lucan ever got wind of exactly who and what Nico was, he would move heaven and earth to kill him. Not that Lucan wasn’t probably already moving heaven and earth to get her back.

She knew how important she was to his continued existence.

Without a healer at his beck and call, the skith blood and venom inside Lucan would begin to kill him, slowly, painfully, and terribly. She felt a slight pang for what he would suffer, but she relished her freedom. Going back was not an option. She’d die rather than be recaptured.

“Eat, sweetheart. It’s nearly time for us to make our move on the town.”

Riki bit into the perfectly cooked rabbit, enjoying her first taste of meat in months. Lucan hadn’t allowed

her to eat well, throwing her scraps from his table only rarely. Most often, she was fed by a slave who brought her gruel once a day from the palace kitchens. It was nearly unpalatable stuff, but she knew Lucan kept her weak on purpose so she’d be more biddable.

She wolfed down the portion, savoring each bite though she couldn’t help but eat fast. She was starving. Only now, with food in front of her, did she allow herself to feel the true extent of her hunger.

“Aren’t you going to have any?”

Nico shook his head, passing her the rest of the rabbit. “I’ll get something in town.”

He crouched down opposite her, smiling so kindly, it made her knees weak.

“Please, I feel like a glutton. Won’t you have some?”

She held the skewer out to him and he seemed to consider it for a short moment before leaning even closer. He snapped at it with his teeth, holding her gaze as he tugged a piece from the skewer in her hand. For some reason, his actions made her breathless, her gaze imprisoned by his as he chewed, swallowed, then licked his lips with a slow, sensuous glide of his tongue.

“Delicious.”

Somehow she got the impression he was talking about more than just the meat. His hand lifted, covering

hers gently and guiding the skewer back towards her mouth as he watched her.

“Eat up, sweetheart. We need to get moving soon.”

Nico jerked back suddenly, his head cocked toward the road a short distance to their left, behind the towering rocks. Nobody could see them from the road, nor could Nico and Riki see much unless they climbed a bit higher on the rocks, but they could hear pretty well. Sound carried over the barren landscape of this part of Skithdron.

Fright shivered through Riki as she became aware of frightening noises.

The jingle of tack meant horses, and the galloping sound of their hooves indicated they were traveling fast. Metal clanks made her think of the swords, shields and light armor favored by some of Lucan’s guards.

Riki said not a word as Nico straightened. He climbed just high enough to see over the rocks to the road while Riki sat still as stone and worried. Her ragged fingernails bit into her palms as she clenched her fists in fright, every muscle in her body screaming silently in terror they would be discovered.

Nico dropped down on nearly silent feet. His face was grim, but his stance seemed mostly relaxed. “We’re safe for now, but those were palace guards, which can’t be good for us. They’re heading for the town. That means you can’t be seen there, Riki, but we badly need supplies.”

“Then what can we do?”

“I’ll go in alone. There’s less chance they’ll recognize me. I have ways to blend in and I can fight them

off better than you if they do catch me. But that means we’ll have to stash you someplace safe first.” “You make it sound so easy.”

“It’s anything but, sweetheart. But we’ll make this work. Never fear.”

Riki caught movement out of the corner of her eye. It was slithering and it was huge.

“Nico!”

Her terrified whisper had him turning even before the last syllable left her lips. He faced the giant skith sliding toward them from across the small pond and morphed quickly and cleanly into his dragon form. Nico put himself between Riki and the deadly creature.

Nico breathed in a lungful of air and let loose with a torrent of flame that warmed her even from ten feet away. He advanced on the skith, giving no quarter as the giant creature tried to evade and spit its deadly venom at him. But it had little immediate effect on dragon scale. Riki knew Nico could stand against a single skith for some time before the venom would eat through even his tough dragon hide. One on one, dragons were usually stronger than skiths, or so the bards said.

But still, he had to be in some pain from the acid on his scales. The skith was wily, but Nico advanced, not allowing it to retreat or get in more shots than he could handle. With a final blast of powerful flame, he roasted the creature until it stopped moving, dead.

Nico, in dragon form, used his talons to stab through the carcass to be certain of its demise. Skiths were dangerous and hard to kill, even for a dragon. When he appeared satisfied the creature was dead, Nico immediately rolled his sleek black dragon body into the nearby stream, washing off the venom as best he could.

“Are you all right?”

I’m fine, sweet. The venom just stings a little. The water will wash it
away and I’ll be good as new in a few minutes.

Riki found her feet and scurried over to help him, splashing water from upstream, where it was clear, onto his glistening scales as he wallowed in the shallow stream. She saw rough spots where the venom had begun eating away at his remarkably tough but flexible hide and concentrated her work on those spots first. After a few minutes, Nico stood from the stream, shaking off the last of the water.

“How do you feel?”

Nico transformed before answering. “Good as new.”

And he did indeed look unharmed as he stood before her, dressed once again in his leather breeches and shirt.

“That was amazing.”

Weak now with relief, Riki began to sag, but Nico caught her in his strong arms and hugged her close for a moment.

“I’m sorry to have scared you, baby.” His words whispered into the hair by her ear. “I’m so sorry to have put you in danger.”

She pulled back to look into his pained eyes. “That wasn’t your fault, Nico. We’re in Skithdron. Skiths are a common enough hazard in this cursed land. You can’t be blamed for that. But I can thank you for saving my life, yet again.”

She reached up, daringly, and kissed his lips. She so wanted his kiss after what they’d just been through. He was such a good, brave and courageous man, yet so gentle with her. If she wasn’t much mistaken, she was half in love with him already.

Oh, this man was dangerous indeed.

Riki pulled away before either of them could deepen the kiss, knowing it was for the best. She couldn’t give up her virginity for anything. Not yet.

Not until she was safely away from Skithdron and out of Lucan’s reach.

Nico watched her as if he would say something, but shrugged and let her go. He made a show of surveying their surroundings and gauging the time from the sun before turning back to her.

“We’d best be going. Anyone who sees this will know a dragon was responsible. And the smell will carry. Luckily the wind is blowing away from the town, or we’d be done for.”

She hadn’t thought of that, but realized he was right. “All right then, let’s go. The sooner we get this over with, the sooner we can get out of Skithdron.”

“Truer words have never been spoken, sweetheart.” Nico winked at her as they walked into the sparse trees that lined the road. “We’ll walk parallel to the road, but not on it. We don’t want to be seen until after I’ve found a place to stash you, then I’ll double back and enter from the road so any townsfolk who see me won’t be suspicious.”

“Good plan.”

“Hey, this is what I do, Arikia. It’s my job.”

“And I see you’re very good at it.” She smiled at him, truly glad for his presence on this journey. Without him she wouldn’t have made it three feet outside Lucan’s door. For that matter, she would never have escaped at all. She’d still be chained to Lucan’s bed, serving his perverse pleasure.

They arrived near the outskirts of the sizeable town before long, just as the sun made its journey toward the distant horizon. The sparse trees gave way to cultivated fields closer to town. Rows of tall corn stood against the pink and orange sky. Rays of the setting sun silhouetted Nico’s strong features against the bright orange and red horizon.

He was so handsome, she had to catch her breath every time she took a moment to think about how beautiful he was—both inside and out. So far he had been all that was kindness to her and his valor was unquestioned.

Nico had faced down Lucan’s torture, his guards, and just now a deadly skith, without any weapon except his amazing ability to transform into a dragon.

Riki trusted him with her life and knew, deep down, she would give him her heart as well, with little protest, if he but asked. Still, she had to guard against letting him know how easily he could make her fall in love with him. Nico was a rogue. Worse than that, he was a prince of royal blood and no matter that he said she was some long-lost noble of Draconia, Riki would always be nothing more than a runaway slave. She could never have Nico in her life. Nor would he, in all probability, want her for more than a

few precious days.

Better they remain friends and comrades. Better for her physical safety and the safety of her fragile,

untried heart.

“This ought to do,” Nico mused as he looked at their surroundings. “It’ll be dark soon and these fields

are probably your best bet for concealment, but I want you to have an escape route should you need it.

If a skith comes along—”

“I’ll run like hell.”

Nico chuckled softly. “I like your attitude, sweetheart. That’s good. But skiths are pretty fast. Even your

lovely feet won’t carry you fast enough. But what you can do is climb.”

“Climb what?”

“See that tree over there?”

They were on the edge of the cornfield now, closest to the town. In fact, the field backed up to the walls

of the town, which were formed by the backs of barns, houses and sheds with planking between to keep the skiths out. The tree Nico pointed out was just on this side of the wall, right next to a barn with a slightly sloping roof.

“I see it, but I should warn you, I haven’t climbed a tree since I was eight years old.”

“If a skith is chasing you, you’ll climb all right. Fear for one’s life is a wonderful motivator.”

That sobered her. She had lived the last years in nearly constant fear for her life. And Nico was

right—fear was a good motivator. He must’ve seen her expression in the dimming twilight because he

scooped her into his arms and hugged her for a quick moment. “I’m sorry, sweetheart.” He kissed the crown of her head softly, almost apologetically, and his tenderness made her want to cry. But this was no time for hysterics. They had to get in and out of here as quickly as possible.

“It’s all right, Nico. Really. So, you want me to climb that tree?”

He let her go with a final kiss to her hair. “Yes, but only if you need to.

Climb the tree, then scoot back

onto the roof as close to the peak as possible. No skith will be able to get you there, and you should be

out of spitting range.”

“Then why don’t I just go up there now, while you go into town?”

“Because you might be seen. Even at night, people travel the road and farmers keep odd hours to bring