Lover Enslaved: Thieves of Aurion, Book 1 (33 page)

Piper’s expression turned sheepish. “Does this mean I’m not the bestest sidekick anymore?”

“No.” Starting up the ignition, Dash sped out of the alley. He pulled into the lot across the street and stopped next to the Air Racer.

“If you’d parked here to begin with, none of this would have—” Piper broke off with a squeak when Dash reached back and caged her in his fist.

Wings bristling against his palm, he tossed her outside and rolled up the window. She tapped on the glass, her voice muffled. Good, the last thing he wanted to hear was any more of her complaints.

Jerrick rounded the corner of Zupellos, his stride brisk as he headed towards the lot. A red haze of fury settled over Dash. Throwing his door open, he jumped out and met his brother halfway across the lot. “What the hell are you doing? Get back in there!”

The streetlamps suspended over the lot revealed the ashen pallor of Jerrick’s face. “Mara’s gone. And so is Baggins.”

Dash staggered like the ground had tilted beneath his feet. “
What
?”

“I looked everywhere for them. Even the kitchen and the back supply closet.”

A sour ball of fear congealed in Dash’s throat. “She wouldn’t leave with him without first ensuring you were right behind her.”

Jerrick remained quiet.

“
Fuck
.” Heart thudding, Dash raced back to the Cloud Chaser and jumped behind the wheel. Without waiting for his brother, he careened out of the lot.

~ * ~

Pain, dull and shadowy, dragged Mara from the dark void of unconsciousness. Moaning, she pried her eyes open and tried to make sense of her environment. Something hard pressed against her back, digging into her spine. She wiggled in an effort to ease the discomfort and discovered the bound state of her upper body.

Panic set in and she blinked, trying to chase away the fog clouding her vision. Images began shifting into focus. The rough, grainy texture of a seat back. A dome-shaped light. Baggins’ sneering face.

Baggins.

Mara’s mind raced back to Zupellos’ rear hallway and the agonizing burst of pain that had spread through her shoulder. “What did you do to me?”

He held up the metallic object he’d used on her earlier. Terror seized Mara and she jerked against her bindings. She realized her upper body wasn’t the only part of her trapped. Something secured her ankles to the bar beneath her feet. Escape seemed impossible, but she instinctually whipped her head around anyway, looking for any means that would get her far from Baggins. The fear escalated when she realized they were in the back end of a large vehicle.

“Relax, I’m not going to use the taser on you this time. I’m keeping you wide awake for what comes next.” Baggins’ voice was ripe with evil intent.

Mara stared into the cold depths of his eyes and knew with all certainty that he planned to rape her. Or worse. She needed to come up with a plan—
fast
. “Whatever happened to that cocktail you promised?” She licked her lips, stalling for time. “I sure could go for a stiff one right now.” The minute the words escaped her mouth, she bit back a groan.
Ugh, I would have to say stiff one
.

Anger hardened the harsh planes of Baggins’ face. “Stop the playacting, you stupid bitch.”

Taken aback by both his words and his fury, Mara blinked.

“Do you think fools make it far in my line of business?” Apparently the question was merely rhetorical, because he didn’t wait for her answer. “Finian Artronté tipped me off about Rhyder having a female with him. The second you accepted my offer of a drink, I put two and two together.” His gaze kindled with animosity. “Hot chicks like you usually don’t give me the time of day.”

Dread compressed Mara’s lungs in a painful squeeze. This wasn’t about rape—it was about Dash. And she had a bad feeling she’d suddenly gone from being the enticer to the worm dangling on the hook.

As if to verify her suspicion, Baggins reached out and tightened the bindings around her chest with a vicious yank. “Still, I’ll have to thank Rhyder for dropping such a luscious piece of tail into my lap.” Spittle fell from Baggins’ mouth and landed on Mara’s arm. “Maybe I’ll even give him a front-row seat when I fuck you. It’ll give him a nice memory once he’s rotting in hell.”

The image Baggins painted induced a wave of queasiness inside Mara. While she fought off the nausea, the bounty hunter hunkered to his knees and reached for a large steel container wedged against the vehicle’s wall. Flipping the lid up, he pulled out a small, oval-shaped wooden box and a micro-imaging processor.

What is it with this guy and taking pictures?
Mara got her answer seconds later, when he trained the imager on her face and snapped off a couple shots.

“For my personal collection.” His chuckle made her skin crawl. He popped open the wooden box, revealing its contents.

Mara gaped at the white stone nestled against its tiny bed of velvet. Her pulse stuttered.

The Rhyann rune
. She stared at Baggins when he stooped over her and nestled the rune box between her breasts.

He focused the imager on her again. “Rhyder thinks he can best me? This photo ought to convince him who’s the real master of the game.”

The imager emitted another pop of luminescence and Mara blinked.

“Damn, but you’ve got the sexiest mouth.” Baggins returned the device to the steel container before running his pudgy hands up her thigh. She jerked, but the bindings didn’t allow her to move far.

“Gets me to thinking of all the uses I can put it to.” Hot breath beat against Mara’s cheek when Baggins straddled her lap and reached for the fly of his trousers. “Don’t worry, this will be quick and painless. I’ll save the good stuff for when Rhyder has a prime view.”

This can’t be happening. Please gods, don’t let this be happening.
Panting with fear, Mara squirmed against the bindings. She noticed the bulge in the bounty hunter’s jacket pocket, where the heavy weight of the taser rested.
Damn it, I just wish I could get my hands on it
.

Streams of light erupted around them, nearly blinding Mara. For a second, she thought the imager had accidentally gone off. Baggins jerked back, his head whipping around.

The absence of his weight canted Mara away from the seat and one of her hands dropped to her lap. Blinking, she stared at the freed hand. And the taser gripped inside it. “What the hell?”

Baggins turned back to her. When he spied the taser, his eyes went huge. He quickly recovered and lunged at her. Screeching, she jabbed the taser forward and it hit Baggins right in the groin. The look on his face was priceless. She might have laughed if she weren’t so damn scared and shocked. He fell backwards with a thunk, dead to the world.

Mara stared at his crotch. “Man, that’s going to hurt like a mother when he wakes up.” Not exactly certain how much time it would be before that happened, she freed her ankles and kicked off the bindings. The rune box tumbled to her lap and she stared at it. For the first time, she really paid attention to the red symbol carved into the stone’s surface. Wings—exactly like the ones that graced the horse the goddess Rhyann rode in the illustration.

Rhyann—the bestower of wishes.

The déjà vu she experienced in Avily’s shop came racing back with furious speed. One by one, the pieces started taking shape. “The crazy woman on the Sea Surfer, what did she say?” The words came to her through the murky depths of her conscious.
Choose wisely, and the deepest wish you carry will come true
. “Holy crap!”

Mara’s hands fumbled for the rune, nearly knocking it off her lap. She clutched it tight, her heart pounding. “I wish all this were done with and Gideon, Dash and I were forever free.”

Nothing. She tried again, uttering the words a little louder, just in case Rhyann hadn’t heard her so good the first time. Still nothing. Feeling slightly dejected, she tucked the rune back into its box. “Guess it only grants the single wish.” Not that she would complain. It’d certainly gotten her out of a close scrape with death.

She eyed Baggins’ inert body and shivered. “Thank you, Rhyann.” She lifted from the seat and hunkered over Baggins, dragging him towards the vehicle’s doors. After pressing the button to open the hatch, she hopped outside.

The vehicle was parked behind a screen of pines. Her heel sank into the spongy ground and she reached for the bounty hunter’s dangling arms. Anchoring her butt against a tree trunk, she heaved Baggins through the doorframe, twisting her body to give him room to land on the ground. His head banged into the rough bark of the tree. The sound gave her a certain satisfaction. Brushing off her hands, she surveyed his sprawled form. An idea came to her, making her smile, and she leaned over him.

“Don’t worry—this part will be quick and painless.”

~ * ~

Fear was a caged beast inside Dash’s chest. If anything happened to Mara, he’d never forgive himself.

He careened around the corner of the freeway, heading towards the country road leading to Baggins’ estate. Bright headlights shimmered in the rear viewing panel.
Jerrick
. His brother could flash him all he wanted. Nothing would deter him from getting to Mara.

The exit loomed and Dash rocketed down the off ramp, pushing the Cloud Chaser to its limits. Turbulence and excessive speed shook the vehicle’s chassis. “Don’t you conk out on me, you piece of shit.” Apparently heeding the threat, the Cloud Chaser found a smooth air pocket and accelerated a few martronetics faster. Behind him, the Air Racer’s headlights dimmed.

Pine trees formed dense clusters of shadows that hugged the roadway. Dash barely registered them as he remained focused on the dark landscape stretching beyond the windshield. Up ahead, someone darted across the street. He stomped on the brake and the Cloud Chaser bucked, screaming in protest. At the last minute, he remembered Jerrick and veered to the right to avoid getting creamed from behind.

Dash eased off the throttle, steering the vehicle into a downward slide that took him dangerously close to the line of trees. Finally the Cloud Chaser groaned and stuttered to a stop. He shoved open his door just as Jerrick coasted up next to him.

“Are you out of your mind?” Jerrick roared, jumping out of the Air Racer. “You nearly got us all killed.”

“There’s someone out here.” Dash slammed his door shut and jogged down the road. “I saw a flash of gold. Might have been shoes.”

“
Mara
?”

“Not certain. But I’m damn well checking it out.” Dash didn’t slow down, just kept loping towards the trees. He heard Jerrick huffing behind him. As they neared the pines where he’d seen the darting figure, he caught another sparkle of gold. There was no doubt in his mind now that the person rustling around in the trees was Mara. He’d recognize those shoes from anywhere. “Mara, honey, are you okay?” He listened, heart in his throat. When no answer came, he scrambled down the crumbling slope.

“Stay back, you sons of bitches. I’m armed.”

Dash skittered to a halt, almost wiping out at the base of a tree. The gruff baritone shooting from the foliage most definitely didn’t belong to Mara.

Jerrick’s hand gripped Dash’s elbow. “It’s Baggins.”

The red haze returned to Dash’s head and he jerked from his brother’s grasp. Ignoring Jerrick’s shouted warning, he hurtled towards the lone flash of gold within the green plumage. If Baggins did have a weapon, he wouldn’t have time to use it. The bounty hunter would be dead before his finger wrapped around the trigger. He tackled the man from the side, the propulsion of his body sending them both tumbling to the ground.

An
ooff
popped from Baggins’ mouth, right before Dash plowed his fist into it. He straddled the man’s chest and pulled his arm back, prepared to deliver another vicious blow.

“Uh, bro…”

Dash grabbed a fistful of Baggins’ greasy hair, yanking his head back. “I’m busy right now,” he growled.

“Too busy to notice you’re sitting on a naked guy?”

Jerrick’s droll inquiry breached the wall of fury surrounding Dash. Blinking, he shifted his knee and glanced down. Sure enough, Baggins didn’t have a stitch on. He noticed the appendage hanging limply between the bounty hunter’s legs and grimaced. There was something he never wanted to have inches away from his ass again. He jerked his gaze back to Baggins’ face. Leaning down, he bared his teeth. “Where the hell is Mara?”

“The bitch took off in my Range Hover after tasering me.”

Dash slammed his fist into the bounty hunter’s nose, slanting it further off kilter. A howl erupted from Baggins.

“I’m not lying.” Flecks of blood flew from Baggins’ mouth while he sputtered. “That’s what happened.”

“I believe you.”

“Then why’d you break my nose?”

“You called her a bitch. That really ticked me off.”

Jerrick’s boot came into view and settled hard against Baggins’ chest. Dash looked up and noticed his brother’s amusement.

“Why don’t you go after Mara? I’ll take care of cleaning up the trash.”

Part of Dash wanted to stick around and take care of Baggins himself, but he wanted to find Mara and ensure she was okay a whole lot more. Giving the bounty hunter a final disgusted glare, he shoved up from his knees. His attention fell on the sparkly high heels. For a chubby guy, Baggins sure had some tiny feet. “Why the hell are you wearing Mara’s shoes?”