Page 41 of Wild Bond

The Hammer went limp in the man’s arms, and his head dropped forward.

Just like that.

Dead.

The throng erupted in raucous cheers.

I didn’t move, my mouth hanging open in shock. He—he had crushed that man to death. That shouldn’t be possible. No one was that strong.

Bear dropped the man to the ground, and as two people ran out to retrieve the body, I turned to Rake. “Is he a dragon rider?” Surely only a rider with their enhanced strength and abilities could do something like that. Even then, I questioned whether it would be possible.

Rake shook his head. “He’s not one of ours. And before you ask, no, he’s not from Zehvi or Halmar. I checked. His name is Borden Miller, and he grew up in Dessin. Used to be a drunk, but now he works with his brother, in a blacksmith’s shop on Tanner Row.” And even though no one could hear him over the noise surrounding our little place at the bar, Rake leaned forward, his voice lowering slightly. “That is, until a few months ago, when he went missing after being commissioned to create those chains.”

My eyes widened. “Then how did you know he was here?”

A sly look entered his eyes and his lips tipped up in a crooked grin that made my heart constrict. “Let’s just say that a . . .friend. . . of mine who knew I was searching for a man of his description saw him fight here last night. Apparently, he broke a man’s jaw and knocked him out with a single punch.”

I wanted to roll my eyes when he referred to what could only have been one of his spies as a “friend”. But I didn’t comment on that, my mind too engrossed with the other things he had said. He waited patiently as I thought it over. Finally, I asked, “So why would a blacksmith suddenly disappear for a few months, only to reappear in one of the seediest parts of the city and risk his life to fight random strangers, rather than return home?”

Rake grinned. “Exactly.”

Then I added, “Where was he for all that time? And what does this all have to do with the dragon we found?”

Rake’s gaze drifted to where Borden was being led out of the pit. The man seemed almost docile as he plodded through a back door. When his gaze returned to me, that sly gleam had returned as well.

“Why don’t we go find out?”

Smoothasadancer,Rake rose to his feet and slipped through the crowd toward the back of the establishment as I followed close behind him. I marveled at how, even though he was one of the largest men here, and taller than most, he moved so fluidly through the sea of people, barely making contact with anyone as he passed.

It only took a few minutes until we were at one of the holding room doors. The door wasn’t locked, and since another fight had already started, no one noticed as we slipped silently inside.

Rake shut the door behind us as I took in the narrow hall we now found ourselves in. It was dim and smelled of sweat and something sour and stale.

A noise came from the door at the end of the corridor, and the handle turned as if it was about to open.

Before I even saw him move, Rake opened another door to our left and pulled me inside. The room was dark and cramped, and I could only assume was a storage closet of some kind.

Rake left the door open just enough so that a sliver of the thin light filtered in. I heard a low grumble and the clank of metal, or possibly keys jangling, as a shadow strode past our hiding spot. I thought I caught a glimpse of the man who I had seen escorting Borden back here after the fight, but I wasn’t sure. A door opened and closed, and I guessed the man had exited back out to the main floor.

In my mind, I could feel Skye monitoring everything that was happening to me. Right now, she seemed more amused than anything that Rake and I were hiding in a closet.

“I think he’s gone,” I whispered, trying valiantly to ignore my body’s reaction to being this close to Rake and being surrounded by his citrus and sage scent.

He nodded, obviously not as affected by our closeness as I was. “Follow me,” he murmured.

Then, apparently knowing where he was going, he strode confidently down the passageway before stopping at the closed door the man had just come from. He paused, listening as if to determine if anyone was on the other side.

I stopped beside him, hearing nothing.

He then peered down at me as he pulled something from his clothing.

I realized what they were a second before he placed the set of lock picks in my hand. “Care to demonstrate your talents, little thief?” he taunted. “Or are you too rusty?”

I stared up at him and smiled. I couldn’t help teasing him as I replied, “This lock a little beyond your skills, Commander?” One glance told me the lock was about as simple as they came, and we both knew it.

The look he gave me in return was full of mock censure and so much unexpected heat I fought not to expire on the spot. “Just open it.”

As I stuck first one pin then the second into the locking mechanism, I couldn’t help but think of that heated look and how it was getting harder and harder for me to deny what I saw in his eyes. Not to mention near impossible to fight my reaction to it. Mentally berating myself that this was neither the time nor place for these kinds of thoughts, I was glad when the tumblers finally unlocked with a quietsnick.

---