Page 11

Chapter

Six

DAIN

M orning light filtered through the trees as I scuffed my boot over the last of the campfire’s embers.

Helios had been the first to wake, loudly announcing daybreak just as the sun’s rays lightened the sky.

“A good day to break something ,” Nikolas had muttered as he lifted onto one elbow.

The sunsprite had shot him a dirty look before declaring he was “starved” and needed “better light” to break his fast. Before Nikolas or I could question him, he’d zipped off in a blurry streak. He’d returned shortly afterward, noticeably brighter but no less irritable.

Now, we prepared to break camp. Nikolas hummed to himself as he scattered the crumpled ferns.

My body did some humming of its own, the sweet ache of the previous night’s activities making me smile. When I glanced at Nikolas, he observed Bel with a speculative look in his eyes.

I knew the feeling, which had dogged me since Nikolas and I heard her sneaking away from the river last night.

She’d been quiet, but not quiet enough. The whisper of leaves had given her away. Possibly, others wouldn’t have noticed. But Nikolas and I had spent a lifetime on the streets. We’d stayed alive by honing our senses to detect even the slightest disturbance.

And we’d jerked our heads toward the forest at the same moment, both of us instantly alert as Bel moved away from the water. Nikolas had met my gaze, a mix of desire, amusement, and curiosity in his eyes.

Let her go, he’d mouthed.

I’d huffed my agreement. I wasn’t keen to chase after her in the buff and demand an explanation for her spying.

That didn’t stop me from being curious. She’d watched us—for how long I couldn’t have said. But I wagered she’d seen enough.

Did she like what she saw?

I looked her way now, studying her from under my lashes as she sat on a log combing her fingers through her dark hair.

Delicate, tapered ears peeked from the shining strands, which fell in loose waves to her waist. She bore no signs of yesterday’s dash through the forest and the night of sleep on the hard ground.

No, she was as lovely as ever, her golden eyes clear and bright. She paused her combing and stretched, putting her shoulders back and flexing her spine. The movement thrust her breasts forward, and she tipped her head back and let the sun caress her face.

She was like the sleek cats that prowled the streets of Saldu, their rich fur and jewel-bright eyes lending them a mysterious air. The creatures were quick and impossible to tame—unless they wanted to be.

I looked away even as the strange magic flared in my chest. The connection had started tugging the moment I woke. It persisted now, pulling my gaze back to Bel.

Nikolas hummed more loudly as he passed me with a bundle of unused firewood in his hands. He caught my eye, and the message in the soft brown depths was loud and clear.

You’re staring.

I stiffened. Am not.

His chuckle drifted over his shoulder as he tossed the wood among the trees.

Bel looked up, a slight frown marring her smooth forehead. “Is something wrong?”

Helios turned from where he’d been flicking embers from his fingers onto a pile of kindling. He gave a short laugh, then mumbled something that sounded like, “What isn’t wrong?”

“Nothing at all,” I told Bel, dusting dirt from my hands. “But we should probably get moving. These woods are more active during the day.”

She stood. “All right.” Pink tinged her cheeks. “I need a moment at the river.”

“I’ll go with you,” Helios said. “A walk to the river will do me good.”

“More like a float,” Nikolas said, gesturing to Helios’s lower half. “On account of you not having any legs.”

Helios gave him a withering look. “Try not to think too hard while we’re gone. Wouldn’t want you to injure yourself.”

As he and Bel left the camp, Nikolas rubbed his jaw. “If I had a big enough jar, I could trap that little ember in it.”

The magic in my chest flared, insistent and hot. Before I realized what I was doing, I took a step forward.

“Whoa.” Nikolas caught my shoulders, and his eyes were intense as he searched my gaze. “You’re still feeling it that much?”

“More than ever,” I rasped.

He studied me for a moment. Then he pitched his voice low. “Whatever she’s looking for, it must be valuable for her to risk staying in Andulum without her magic.”

Wariness filled me. I swallowed hard. “We don’t know what she’s looking for. And we don’t need any more trouble.”

He brought his face closer to mine, his breath fluttering over my lips. “We need something , Dain.”

“I know what you’re thinking?—”

“Do you?” he pressed, dark eyes glinting. “Because I thought we were in agreement. She fell into our hands for a reason.”

I shook my head. “You don’t know that.”

He squeezed my shoulder. “I know we’re out of options.” As I opened my mouth to respond, he tugged me against him, his mouth dangerously close to mine. “And before you lecture me on avoiding trouble, you have to admit it’s too late. The elf is trouble, but the very best kind.”

Desire shot to my groin. Nikolas sensed it right away, and a wicked spark entered his eyes as he trailed his hand down my arm.

“She liked watching us,” he murmured, walking his fingers to my dick. Leaning closer, he brushed his lips over mine. “And you know something else?”

Blood pounded to my cock. Still, I heard the exasperation in my voice as I grunted, “I have a feeling you’re going to tell me.”

He cupped my erection with a practiced hand, and his mouth made another pass over mine. “You liked her watching,” he whispered.

I dragged in a breath. “Nik?—”

Crunching leaves made us spring apart. Nikolas went to one of the logs we’d used for seating and tossed it into the trees. As he went for another, Bel and Helios appeared.

“Ready to go?” Nikolas asked, sending the log spinning into a thatch of brush. A second, unspoken question hung over the campsite.

Where are we going?

Bel held her skirts above the ground as she made her way over the leaves. As she neared me, magic flared hot in my chest. For a split second, a bright spark sizzled in the air between us.

We both froze. The magic yanked, and I couldn’t resist it. I faced due east, where a faint path was worn into the ground between the trees. Bel turned with me, and we stared at each other. She looked as startled as I felt.

More leaves crunched, and Nikolas and Helios moved in front of us. For once, the sunsprite was silent, although he didn’t hide his concern as he looked between me and Bel.

Bel sighed, an air of resignation settling over her as she met my eyes.

“I’m looking for something extremely important to my family,” she said finally.

“It’s a…piece of jewelry. I don’t have the first clue where it is.

But when I’m near you, I feel like I could find it.

” She glanced at the path. “I feel like I know where to go.”

I followed her gaze to the barely-there trail. The magic pulsed in my chest, and I knew she was right. Whatever magic connected us, it wanted us to go that way . I’d never been more certain of anything.

I turned back to her. “All right.”

She blinked. “All right? That’s it?”

I lifted a shoulder. “You saved my neck. I pay my debts.”

She absorbed this. Then she looked at Nikolas, who offered one of his dimpled smiles.

“It’s like I said before, my lady. Dain and I are a package deal.”

She flushed, and I didn’t need magic to be certain of something else. She liked what she saw at the river.

We finished erasing the campsite. Then we started down the trail, following the faint track between the trees. The magic in my chest tugged me forward, guiding me like someone had anchored a tether in my bones.

Bel walked at my side. Nikolas and Helios brought up the rear.

The magic guided me, its certainty filling me with an odd sort of lightness.

I didn’t have to think. I only had to put one foot in front of the other.

It should have been comforting, but my conversation with Nikolas remained.

An argument brewed there—and I couldn’t avoid it for much longer.

For the moment, however, all I had to do was walk.

The certainty lasted until we rounded a bend and came face to face with a large piece of parchment tacked to a tree. Nikolas spotted it first, and he darted around Bel, blocking the parchment with his body as he guided her away from it.

“I think the path leads this way,” he said, steering her.

She ducked under his arm and went to the parchment, which displayed a sketch of two men standing side by side. Bold lettering appeared under the drawings.

Facing us, Bel hooked a thumb over her shoulder. “These men look like you.”

Nikolas drifted forward. “Really?” He squinted at the wanted poster. “I don’t see it.”

Bel looked between him and the drawings. “The resemblance is uncanny.”

Nikolas flung his hands up. “Well, it’s a terrible likeness. Dain looks all right, I guess, but they gave me a double chin.” He turned to me. “I feel like they did it on purpose.”

Helios folded his arms, his muttered “gods” laced with scorn.

Bel peered at the poster. “Two hundred gold pieces for the capture of Nikolas Taniakes and Dain Zostas, wanted for theft of royal property and assault on the king’s guard.” She faced us with wide eyes. “You assaulted the king’s guard?”

“A misunderstanding,” Nikolas said, waving his hand.

She frowned. “I thought your bond was twenty gold pieces each.”

Nikolas moved in front of the poster. “ That bond was. This bond is a little different.”

Bel narrowed her eyes. “Did you plan on mentioning it? Just how many crimes have you committed?”

“The poster is misleading,” I said. “The king owns most of the land in Saldu. Steal something, and the Crown will come after you for theft no matter who you took it from.”

“Whom,” Helios murmured, studying his fingernails.

Anger snapped in Bel’s eyes as she planted her hands on her hips. “So you are thieves. Experienced ones.”