Page 21 of Wild Bond (Wild Bond #1)

R ake remained utterly, frustratingly professional during our flying lessons the next several weeks, even despite my taunting and teasing. Thanks to his unbending focus, I learned something new every day. Rake taught me how to fight while on a dragon, how to release and quickly strap myself in the saddle, even while flying. We worked on vertical take offs, handling tight spins and sharp turns, and how not to become sick while doing so. My favorite lessons though were the mock battles between Skye and Naasir. He was stronger and more experienced, but she was fast and cunning. We still had yet to beat them, but our skills were improving.

Rake had also taken my words in the market to heart about not having been anywhere outside of Dessin, and had begun taking me all over. He took me to visit nearby towns and cities as well as some of his favorite places in Baldor. One day we even flew for several hours seemingly just to visit a waterfall.

I’d never forget when we crested the hill after landing our dragons. The cool feel of mist brushing my cheeks as the thirty-foot waterfall, spilling into a crystalline pool, came into sight. Rake had confessed that he loved coming here while we sat on a sun warmed rock with our feet in the cool water, watching Skye and Naasir catch fish.

“Are you ever going to tell me who trained you to fly?” I had asked, alluding to that first flying lesson so long ago when he had told me someone had once volunteered to train him.

“Dembe,” he surprised me by answering.

“Dembe?” I repeated. “But he told me he was a weapons instructor before he became your second?”

His expression sobered slightly before he answered. “He was. He volunteered to teach me after the flight instructor at the time refused.”

My brow puckered in confusion. “Why would the instructor refuse?”

“We were still in the middle of a decades long war with Zehvi at the time, and he had a problem with the fact that I was part Zehvitian.”

Oh. Oh. My gut clenched. “That’s horrible.”

“Luckily, my combat instructor didn’t care where I was from and treated me fairly. Pierce, however, who was around my same age at the time, made sure that my classmates didn’t.”

I could only guess what training alongside Prince Pierce had been like, especially if he despised Rake so.

“Despite all that, I began to excel. Pierce hated the fact that I had bonded later, and therefore, had less training, but was just as good as he was. After we passed the trials and began fighting in the war, we were both quickly promoted. I was made a commander and he a general. He earned it too. He may be a prick, but he is a skilled dragon rider. We stayed out of each other’s way for the most part, fighting on different fronts. But then, a few years later, the queen made me her spymaster and appointed me to the Dragon Rider Council. She appointed Pierce a few months later, but he will never forgive me for being appointed first, or for the fact that I am part Zehvitian.”

It was fascinating to finally learn about the source of the feud between Rake and the prince, but I still couldn’t imagine what that must have been like. To grow up being seen as one of the enemy, your loyalty split between two warring kingdoms.

I swallowed hard. “If you don’t mind my asking, what made you decide to fight for Baldor, then? Especially considering how they treated you. Why not Zehvi?”

It was something I had been wondering for some time. Why had he fought so fiercely for Baldor, so much so that he gained himself the fear and respect of everyone in the kingdom? What had happened to make him so loyal?

He stared into the pool for so long I thought he wasn’t going to answer, then he finally said, “Apart from the fact that I was trained here and bonded Naasir here . . . it was because of my mother.”

“Your mother?”

“She was killed in a brawl started by Zehvitian supporters that broke out in the city square. She was stabbed simply for being Baldorian. It was the middle of the day . . . and she bled out in the street. All because that Zehvitian bastard they call a king wanted to claim our kingdom for his own,” he trailed off, shaking his head in disgust. “After I became a dragon rider, I vowed to help end this war in any way I could, and if that meant fighting in it . . .” He shrugged.

“I’m sorry,” I murmured. I remembered him saying he had only been eleven when she died. Eleven. No wonder he had become such an indispensable force in the Baldorian legion.

“It’s in the past,” was all he said.

We had flown back to Dessin shortly after that.

Rake sent me a summons several days later to come to his room in Rider Tower. And once again, I found myself climbing an ungodly number of stairs to reach his room on one of the upper levels.

Skye simply glided in the air above me with ill-concealed amusement before landing on my shoulder. When Rake finally opened the door after my knock, I spoke before he could even get a word out.

“What is it with you and stairs?” I demanded. “Seems like more of a punishment to put you on the top level,” I huffed, taking several deep breaths to ease the stitch in my side. “Those stairs are brutal.”

His lip twitched as he stood back allowing me inside. “Remind me to have a word with Dembe about your endurance training.”

I glared back at him as I entered, and a full smile lit his face, taking my breath away for a whole different reason. He gestured to the set of doors leading out onto a small balcony behind him, overlooking The Tower compound below. “I rarely use the stairs. That’s my doorway. Dragon rider, remember?”

I suddenly felt like an idiot. “Oh.” I felt Skye’s humor at my expense once again and shoved her off my shoulder in retaliation.

She let out an undignified squawk but caught herself easily, extending her little wings and gliding smoothly to the floor. She swiveled her head to glare at me then turned with her tail in the air and pranced over to investigate something “shiny” that caught her eye under Rake’s bookcase.

You deserved it , I said in the bond, but she didn’t deign to reply.

Rolling my eyes, I turned back to Rake.

He was smirking, flashing that crooked smile.

I took in the large bed, polished wooden desk, bookcase, armoire, and the unlit hearth with a leather chair before it. I noted that everything, including the weapons resting against the wall, and even the papers on the desk, were neat and organized. My study of the room was interrupted when Rake stepped close and pulled me in. His lips met mine in a kiss that was slow and deep as his big hands wove into my hair. It felt like a greeting and an invitation all rolled into one delicious meeting of lips.

When he pulled away, my eyes remained closed, and his forehead touched mine.

“You taste too good,” he complained.

My eyes opened, and his hands dropped from my hair. I breathed out slowly. I couldn’t help licking my bottom lip to savor his taste.

He saw the movement. “Be careful, little thief, or you will distract me from why I called you here.”

“You mean you didn’t summon me here to ravish me?” I teased, not sure where my sudden bravery had come from. It might have been the fact that we had done little more than kiss since that night in the bathhouse, and part of me had been hoping that he had summoned me here tonight to change that.

“Unfortunately, no,” he stated dryly, though his eyes were molten embers that told me he was seriously considering the idea.

My mind immediately went into the proverbial gutter, and I had to mentally beat away the images that look conjured up. I felt Skye’s humor and curiosity in the bond at my dirty thoughts and told her in no uncertain terms to mind her own business.

“Then why did you summon me?” I asked, hoping he didn’t notice the slight flush now in my cheeks.

He gave me a knowing look that said he knew exactly where my mind had gone, but thankfully didn’t comment. Instead, he said, “I found Lessa.”

A half hour later, Rake and I were entering a familiar part of the lower city as he explained, “One of my contacts informed me Lessa has been staying here.” He motioned to the dirty second story window above a small seamstress shop. I could just make out a small glowing light inside, visible in the quickly darkening twilight around us. “He wasn’t positive it was her at first, but then was able to confirm that she was here this morning. The shop is owned by an older woman named Una who has run it for several years.”

My heart thrummed with excitement that I was finally going to be able to see Lessa again after so long. I also felt an immense sense of relief that she was still alive after all this time. She had always been a sweet, somewhat fragile soul despite all she had already endured at such a young age. I had looked out for her as much as I could before being imprisoned. In fact, I had nearly saved up enough coin and had been planning to run with Lessa, and take her far away from Dessin and far away from Master Safan’s reach, before I was caught.

Skye and Naasir were once again keeping tabs on us from the air. Flying lazily in the sky far overhead so as not to draw attention or spook anyone on the street. I had warned Rake that the Lessa I knew was understandably skittish and to keep an eye out. We were both once again wearing dark cloaks. I wasn’t too worried about being recognized, but I would still rather avoid it if we could.

Rake held the door for me, and a small bell rang as we entered the little shop. Several dresses displayed on wicker dress forms were the first thing that caught my eye. There was a small counter in one corner, and I could just make out a light coming from the back room.

We both stepped inside and were greeted by total silence. We waited for several seconds, but no one came to greet us.

“Hello?” I called into the quiet, but there was no answer. I began to get an uneasy feeling. No one in the lower city would leave their shop unattended. That was a quick way to have all your goods stolen.

“Maybe someone is upstairs?” Rake ventured.

I nodded, and we both made our way to the back room where a small lantern sat lit on a side table next to what appeared to be a half-sewn dress. Rake led the way up the rickety curved stairway to the second story. The bedroom was small—more of an attic space—with a bed, a pile of blankets and a pillow on the floor beside it and a simple desk and chair. Rake had to stoop so as not to hit his head on the exposed rafters.

No one was here, either. But it was the knocked over chair and broken teacup on the floor as well as the second unattended lit lantern that really made the uneasy feeling grow to a pit of dread in my stomach.

“Something happened,” I said, stating the obvious, but unable not to.

Rake nodded. “She—or they—left in a hurry.” His eyes met mine. “Or they were taken.”

I forced myself not to think of that option. “Or Lessa realized she was being watched and fled.”

Rake shook his head. “My man wouldn’t have been seen,” he said confidently, but a small frown marred his expression.

With one more glance around as if to make sure we had missed nothing, he turned and bent his large frame to gracefully descend the stairs. I followed after him. He didn’t pause as he made his way through the empty shop and outside onto the street and then across to the side alley of a building there.

The wind had picked up while we were inside the shop, and I was one step behind him as he came to a halt. He let out a low whistle that I could barely make out over the wind.

A man materialized from the shadows before us. He tipped the cap he wore in Rake’s direction. “Sir,” he greeted.

The man was short and thin and younger than I had first thought, probably around my age. The cap covered a mop of dark hair, and he was dressed in nondescript clothes. Nothing about him would stand out in your memory if you passed him on the street, and I was reminded of the man I had met at the tavern after Borden had died. D, I think Rake had called him. This was yet another of Rake’s contacts, no doubt the one assigned to watch the shop.

“Report,” was all Rake said.

The young man didn’t seem bothered by the brusque order and merely began to rattle off a list of facts. “All was quiet, then about an hour ago two men entered the shop, and I heard a cry and what sounded like quite a scuffle inside. Few minutes later they come out with the older lady—the shop owner, and the girl. The woman was knocked out, slung over one guy’s shoulder, and the girl was gagged and bound. Put up a fight the whole way as they drug ‘er off.”

Fury raced through me. “Why didn’t you do something to help?” I demanded.

He looked at me. “My job wasn’t to interfere, only to watch.”

“Why wasn’t I informed?” Rake asked, cold irritation in his voice.

“I sent T to let you know what happened right away. He must’ve missed ya.”

“Did you follow them?”

The man looked insulted. “Course I followed ‘em. They took ‘em both to an alley a few blocks north. A third man was there waitin’. He was tall, wore a cloak. Thought I caught a glimpse of light hair and possibly a beard. Couldn’t be sure. I was too far away ta tell. Cloak was nice though, and he carried himself like a wealthy chap.”

“What happened to Lessa?” I insisted.

“The third man gave the girl something that made her pass out. I climbed up on the roof to get a better look, but by the time I got up there they were gone. Sorry, sir. I searched the surrounding area but couldn’t find nothin’. I just got back when you showed up.” He looked annoyed that they managed to give him the slip.

I was frustrated as well, but there was nothing I could do about it now. Worry for Lessa was like a hot brand in my gut, and concern for the poor woman who had apparently taken her in, or at least given her a place to stay.

No emotion showed on Rake’s face in the shadows, but I could tell he wasn’t happy either.

“Anything else?”

The young man nodded. “Just before they disappeared, I recognized one of the two goons who kidnapped the girl. Seen him playing cards at the South End Tavern. Never got his name, but I’m pretty sure he’s one of Safan’s enforcers.”

A jolt went through me at his pronouncement followed by a familiar sense of dread. Hearing my old master’s name spoken so casually threw me. I felt Rake’s eyes shoot to me at my reaction.

Misunderstanding our silence, Rake’s contact continued to explain, “You know, the crime lord who operates out of Rosalina’s brothel?”

“I know who he is,” Rake intoned, his eyes never leaving me.

I barely heard him as the man kept speaking.

“Word on the street is that several other children have gone missing from the lower city in the past several months. No one knows where they are being taken or why. Maybe Safan is involved.”

“Thank you, J,” Rake said. “Keep watch on the shop for another day or so in case anyone returns.” It was a dismissal, and J took it as such, nodding once and disappearing into the night without a backward glance.

“Did you know about the other disappearances?” I finally asked, needing to distract myself from the fact that I was shaking slightly.

“A few of my contacts had informed me about the disappearances, but none have been able to witness one or find the man responsible. Looks like tonight he finally got sloppy,” he said watching me closely. “Who is Safan to you? As soon as J mentioned his name you went white as a sheet.”

“I-I worked for him before I was caught,” I admitted, trying to make my voice sound nonchalant. “Lessa did as well.” I swallowed hard. “I shouldn’t be surprised that Master Safan is mixed up in this. He always did have his hands in all kinds of dirty pies.” I snorted in contempt. “He fancies himself a king of sorts in the lower city.” For a moment neither of us said anything as memories and events from my past, that I would rather forget, tried to swamp me. Memories of that evil twisted man who now had Lessa. I forced myself to shake them off.

“But I don’t understand why he would kidnap Lessa. Unless something’s changed since I’ve been gone. And why kidnap those other children?”

Rake gazed down at me, his perceptive eyes still assessing me. “What do you say we pay your old master a visit and ask him?”