You think someone in a secret order would be so obvious? It wouldn’t be very secret if they ran around advertising their existence with tattoos or glowing brooches.
Jaxi, have I mentioned how endearing your logic is?
Never, but you’re young and irrational; you haven’t yet learned to appreciate my unerring pragmatism.
Uh huh. Is Ridge home? Sardelle’s library time had been interesting, and she intended to give this book a thorough reading, but she wanted to spend time with him before he left. She hadn’t figured out yet whether she was going to stay here or head over to Cofahre herself, but either way, she wouldn’t see him again for a while. That sense of loneliness that always lingered at the edge of her thoughts threatened to encroach. An image of a tousle-haired Ridge in bed with the sheets tangled around his bare chest did encroach.
He’s there. I don’t think he has amorous indulgences on his mind.
Why not? Whenever Sardelle had such matters in mind, she had yet to find Ridge in the mood to object to making them a reality.
Yes, yes, he’s as horny as you are. But right now he’s standing in the back yard, loading saddlebags onto a horse.
Er. Sardelle turned onto his street, jogged past the fountain, and cut into the side yard between Ridge’s house and the one next door. The soggy snow clinging to the grass licked at her boots and the hem of her dress, but she ignored it. She rounded the corner to find the situation Jaxi had described, with Ridge near the back door, tightening the packs on a sturdy mare. Horses weren’t an uncommon sight in the city, but there were stables at the back of the fort. The horses weren’t usually brought over to the residential streets.
“Does this mean you’re kicking me out because my sword and I went to do research instead of cleaning your house?” Sardelle asked, angling across the yard toward Ridge. She glanced through the kitchen window. Most of the mess had already been cleaned up. How long had he been home? She should have left the library sooner.
“If I were kicking you out, I wouldn’t supply you with a horse.” Ridge patted the mare on the neck, then stepped away from the creature to greet her. He smiled that roguishly charming smile of his, the one that made her insides melt like the snow beneath the sun. Then he took her free hand, pulled her to him, and lowered his head for a kiss.
After Jaxi’s warning, Sardelle hadn’t expected amorous indulgences, and she almost dropped her book. But she leaned against him, happy to return the kiss. His lips were warm next to the chill of the night, and it wasn’t long before she had forgotten the horse and was thinking of nothing more than ushering him inside.
When Ridge drew back, he didn’t push open the door for them. He merely slid his hands down her back and gazed into her eyes, his face scant inches from hers. “Yup,” he finally said, as if he were reaching some decision. “I want you with me in Cofahre.” No matter what his orders from the king had been.
He didn’t say that last sentence aloud, but this close, with his thoughts burning in his eyes, Sardelle felt the words ring in her head.
“Ridge,” she whispered, “I’m delighted that kissing me makes you want to take me on adventures with you, but I’ve already upset the equilibrium of your life.” She lifted a hand to the side of his face, running her thumb along his jaw. “I wouldn’t forgive myself if you jeopardized your career. I…” She thought of her earlier musings, the knowledge that she could make life simpler for him by leaving, but all she wished to do was tug him into the bedroom. She didn’t want to leave, that was certain. She wanted exactly what he was planning—whatever it was. She wanted to go with him.
“The kissing is nice,” Ridge said, “but it’s also the fact that you’re jabbing me in the gut with a book and a sword hilt that gets me excited about taking you places.” He grinned, unaware of or undaunted by her concerns. “That’s not a combination I’ve gotten from many girls.” As he spoke, he gazed into her eyes with a fondness that made her heart ache.
“I… oh.”
Well, it’s not your smooth, gilded tongue that has him excited.
Ssh.
Ridge cleared his throat and stepped back, though he only released her with one arm. The other seemed reluctant to leave her waist. The warmth of his hand seeped through her dress as he massaged her. “I’ve packed a horse for you, and if you’re willing to trust me, I need you to ride most of the night to the north, along the Pin-Kanth Highway. It’ll be dark, but it’s a smooth road. The horse won’t have any trouble following it. It’s about twenty miles to Monomy Bay, where you can wait for me to pick you up. You can sleep during our flight tomorrow. In fact, some people find sleeping makes flying with me more bearable.”
It took a moment for Sardelle to wrap her mind around this proposed adventure. Possibly because she was distracted by what his hand was doing. “And the reason I need to meet you there is because your superiors would be upset if they saw you loading me into your flier?”
“Among other things.” He gave her a lopsided smile. “You’ll go? I want you to come. I know you’ll be amazing, and I promised Tolemek we would get his sister—I may need some help making that happen. We won’t have enough room to bring her back on the fliers.”
Sardelle wasn’t sure if he had magic in mind or was simply thinking of her as an escort who could bring the girl back on a civilian freighter, but she didn’t care, either way. He wanted her to come… and she wanted to go. Hoping she wouldn’t regret the choice later, she stepped closer to him again for another kiss.
“I’ll go,” she whispered after a moment. “Thank you.”
“Good,” he murmured, his lips against hers, and most of his body against hers too.
“It’ll only take a few hours to get to that bay.”
“About six, I’d guess, given the darkness.”
Lighting the way so the horse could travel at a faster pace than a walk would be an easy matter for her. “When are you leaving?”
“Early,” he said, then caught on to what she was asking and grinned. “Eight hours. Time for—”
She cut him off with another kiss. “Good.”
• • • • •
An icy wind was blowing in off the sea, and it was almost three hours before dawn when Ridge walked off the tram at the top of the butte, but the dim, cold conditions couldn’t dampen his smile, a smile he was still wearing when he strolled into the hangar and proclaimed, “Good morning, troops,” to the four officers who had arrived before him. Captains Nowon and Kaika were there, sitting with their backs against the wall and playing cards, as well as Ahn and Duck, who were loading their gear into the two-seaters that had been driven to the front of the hangar. Everyone turned or stood to give him a salute, but he waved them back to work.
“He’s been cheerier than a cock in the mornings of late, hasn’t he, Raptor?” Duck asked, not bothering to lower his voice.
“His archaeologist makes him perky,” Ahn said, no sly winks or special emphasis on the word archaeologist. She rarely joined in with the squadron’s banter, but when she did, her deliveries tended to be deadpan. She finished strapping her sniper rifle into the cockpit and climbed down.
“Where’s your perky-maker?” Ridge had assumed Tolemek would spend the night with Ahn and that they would arrive together this morning.
“I left him last night trying to make a grape-flavored pill.” Ahn was always on the grumpy side if she had to report to work before dawn, but she gave him a particularly irritated glare.
Which he deserved. “Ah. Well, you two will get to spend the entire day together at least.”
“Sure. With me flying and him in the seat behind me. That’ll be fun. Maybe he can braid my hair.” Ahn tugged at one of the short wispy strands framing her face. “Food and water is loaded in all of the planes, sir. Since we had extra gear to load—” she waved at the two elite troops, “—we were careful with our weight. We only took on enough to get across the sea with a little to spare. We’ll have to find more water in Cofahre.”
“I’ve
heard they have it there.” Ridge started to walk away, but paused, wondering if there might be another reason for Ahn’s grumpiness. “Did your father stop by last evening, by chance?”
Her eyebrows drew together. “No. Was he supposed to?”
“I might have suggested it. He knows you’re heading off on a potentially dangerous mission.” Ridge decided not to mention that Ahnsung knew about Tolemek too.
“So that means he came to see you.” Ahn managed to look wistfully toward the ceiling and like she wanted to punch something at the same time. “I’m sorry, sir. I don’t know why he can’t either come talk to me or just go away completely.”
“It’s all right. He hardly even threatened me this time.”
Ridge had meant it as a joke, but Ahn only glowered, making him wish he hadn’t brought up the topic at all. He gave her a pat on the shoulder, then headed toward the lead flier, intending to secure his own duffel and double-check the guns and ammunition. The mundane routine would be good for his nerves. He might have left the bedroom in a good mood that morning, but his stomach was a tangle of knots, thanks to the deviation from the mission he had planned. Sardelle had left only a couple of hours ago, but had promised she would reach the rendezvous point in time without letting the horse hurt itself on the dark road. He had a feeling he could have named a meeting point a thousand miles into Cofah territory, and she would have found a way to get there first too.
As Ridge walked past the two captains, he caught a snippet of the conversation Kaika and Nowon were engaged in, mostly Kaika. Nowon didn’t seem to talk much unless he was delivering information in a briefing.
“…totally passionless. Here I am, heading off on a dangerous mission into enemy territory, and it was like he was thinking of someone else.” Kaika played a card. “I know I was. You seen that blond fellow who works at the tea and massage parlor across from the base? The one whose shirt is always unbuttoned? You think all those muscles are from massaging people?”
Ridge managed to keep from gawking, not so much because of the material of the conversation, but because it was hard to imagine Nowon as a confidant for tales of one’s sexual adventures. Indeed, Nowon merely played his card without responding. That didn’t keep Kaika from giving Ridge a friendly wave, then continuing with the game—and her speculation.
After he loaded his duffel, Ridge trotted over to his usual flier, climbed up, and unhooked his wooden dragon from its spot in the cockpit. He would need every scrap of luck he could scrounge up this week. Sardelle had been amused—or maybe bemused—by the large prosperity dragon now placed prominently on a shelf above the wood stove, but she hadn’t teased him about it. Later, he had caught a random smile on her face when she looked at it, but that was it.
The side door of the hangar opened, and Colonel Therrik strode in, a few snowflakes on his shoulders. His gaze darted around the hangar, lingering on Ahn for a second—was he looking for Tolemek?—before he turned to his own team. The captains abandoned their card game and scrambled to their feet, saluting him sharply. Therrik looked like he expected it. He returned the salute with snappy precision, two fingers touching the brim of his hat. Then he gave Ridge a challenging stare, as if he expected a salute from him too.
“Yeah, we’re the same rank, donkey ass,” Ridge muttered, turning his back to the man and climbing into the two-seater to hang his dragon. He did it quickly, not wanting some teasing remark from the colonel, though it was probably inevitable since they were riding in the same flier.
“Your people don’t salute, Zirkander?” Therrik demanded.
Oh, so that was his problem. Ahn was carrying boxes of ration bars, and Duck was dangling head-down into his engine compartment so he probably hadn’t noticed Therrik walking in.
“Not when they’re busy,” Ridge said.
“What an interesting style of leadership you practice.”
“Yes. Want to bring your gear over here so we can get you loaded up?” Not that he would actually need it… Ridge smiled amiably and climbed down the ladder pushed up to the cockpit.
Therrik dropped his duffel at the foot of the ladder, apparently expecting Ridge to load it for him. Before Ridge could decide if he wanted to comment, the side door opened with a gust of wind. Lieutenant Apex walked in, his face frostier than the winter air. The reason became apparent when Tolemek walked in behind him. Apex strode straight to his flier, snapping quick salutes to the senior officers and Colonel Therrik, but not making eye contact with anyone. Until he reached Ridge, at which point he gave an anguished you-betrayed-me-sir look along with his salute.
Ridge opened his mouth, an explanation on his lips, but he found himself rammed up against the side of his flier with his heels off the ground and fists tangled in his jacket. Therrik glared, his hard eyes no more than two inches away.
“What is he doing here, Zirkander?”
“Apex? He’s a solid pilot and knows a thing or two about dragons.”
“You know who I mean.” Therrik thrust him against the hull again.
Ridge was tall enough and solid enough that he didn’t usually get picked up and thrown around, but his attempt to loosen Therrik’s grip and escape was easily thwarted. They were about the same height, but the colonel had doubtlessly spent his whole life hurling people around. His smirk and dismissive snort said it would take a lot more than a wrist twist to elude him. He would probably be ready for groin attacks and eye gouges too. Aware of all the other officers watching, Ridge didn’t try again. He didn’t want to end up with his face smashed into the cement floor and Therrik on his back.
“The king wanted him,” Ridge said. “You were at that meeting. You know that. You have a problem with his personnel choices, you go talk to him.”
“I’m in command of this mission.”
“I didn’t say otherwise.” Ridge might have thought it, but he hadn’t said it.
“Sir,” Captain Kaika said, walking up. “We’ve loaded all of our gear. Do you have anything except your duffel that needs to go in?”
Captain Nowon joined her, though he spoke to Ridge rather than his commander. “Sir, the Ramisen Arm Lever would be an appropriate way to extricate yourself in this situation. If you wish, I can demonstrate it for you when we are on our mission.”
“Thanks,” Ridge said dryly. And how was that supposed to help him now?
But Therrik grunted and released him. “Just the duffel, Kaika.”
Therrik stalked away, leaving it on the floor. Tolemek was standing back, a couple of small bags of his own in his hands, and he watched the colonel warily. He had left his white coat at his lab and was back in the hide vest he had been wearing when Ridge first met him, albeit he wore a brown long-sleeve shirt beneath it this time. His trousers were different, too, a dark, sturdy material with numerous pockets. A hand drifted toward one of those pockets now, but the colonel walked out the door without moving toward him.
“I suppose there’s no point in hoping he’s decided he doesn’t want to come,” Ridge said.
Kaika picked up the colonel’s duffel. “Which flier, sir?”
“Mine.” Ridge jerked a thumb toward the rear seat.
“That’s either noble of you, or you have a masochistic streak.” She climbed the ladder to secure the bag.
“Both,” Nowon suggested.
Maybe it was simply a reflection of what he desired, but Ridge thought their tones and presence here meant they might not be Colonel Therrik fanatics.
“Would you miss him if he didn’t come?” he asked. Ridge wasn’t one to try and get officers to badmouth other officers, but it would be useful to know how much trouble he would have with these two if Therrik… disappeared. He also wanted to know how mission-critical the colonel was. In going through with his plan, would Ridge be jeopardizing everything? He had a hard time believing Sardelle couldn’t more than make up for whatever Therrik could offer the team, but still…
“Not me,” Kaika said, her legs sticking out of the second seat as she strapped d
own the pack. “We have a troubled past.”
Nowon looked up at her wriggling backside, then lifted his eyes toward the ceiling. “Kaika has a troubled past with many men. As for the colonel, he is largely superfluous, assigned to go with us because the king believed we needed an officer with more rank and experience.” Nowon wrinkled his nose. “I’ve spent time in Cofahre, and I know their culture, their history. I can slip unnoticed into any city and disappear, gathering information along the way. Hemelt, the man who was fatally wounded getting the location and details on the dragon blood laboratory, was my brother. He died in my arms. We trained together, came up through the ranks together. This should be my mission, my command.” For a moment, his expressionless face hardened, and his eyes burned with the intensity of an inferno.
Kaika dropped down beside him, and he found his forgettable blandness.
Given this new information, Ridge could see why the king might not have wanted to put Nowon in charge. At best, it would be difficult for him to be dispassionate about the mission. At worst, he might risk the team for a chance to avenge his brother.
“What’s your role on the team?” Ridge asked Kaika.
Kaika rested an elbow on her comrade’s shoulder. “Nowon’s lover.” She waited for Ridge to arch his eyebrows before grinning and going on. “His wife, his mistress, his sister, his arms dealer, his bodyguard, his slave—I’m trying to forget about that one—and, oh, once we were circus performers together. That was fun. I’ve worked with other people, too, and on my own on occasion, but I like group projects.”
“She gets distracted when she’s on her own.”
“Gathering intelligence from the locals is not a distraction.”
“Even when it’s done from their bedrooms?” Nowon asked.
“Especially then.”
“Colonel Zirkander, Captain Kaika is also familiar with the Cofah culture and mannerisms. She can handle herself in a fight, but her true specialty is installing and disarming explosives.”