Lover Enslaved: Thieves of Aurion, Book 1 by Jodi Redford

it? Particularly with my magic disabled the way it is.” Turning, he spied a flash of regret in her eyes.
    A persistent moth dive-bombed Mara and she banished it with an impatient swat. The detoxification worked amazingly fast—no hint of paralysis remained in her limbs. “The drug obviously affected my reasoning.”
    Perhaps to a certain extent, but there was more to it than she was telling him. Unfortunately, his bone-tired weariness outweighed his desire to shake the truth from her. He pressed his shoulder against the wall and noticed Piper darting up the stairway.
    The sprite landed on the railing. “What’s going on? A crazy rumor is circulating downstairs. They’re saying someone was drugged.”
    “The server girl slipped creotizine into the wine. I’m okay, but poor Ronan’s a little worse for wear.” Mara rubbed the spot where the needle stuck her arm.
    Piper cocked her head. “What do we do now?”
    Mara gestured to the room behind them. “We all try for a decent night’s sleep and hope Borgander’s ready for sailing in the morning.”
    “Afraid that’s impossible,” the medic said, stepping into the hall. He tucked his bag beneath his arm before jutting a thumb over his shoulder. “Your friend’s in no shape for travel. In addition to the broken nose, his lower back is inflamed and his head trauma needs close monitoring.”
    Worry took up residence on Mara’s face. She plucked the hem of her top repeatedly between her fingers. “When can Ronan leave?”
    “End of the week, at the earliest.”
    Mara dropped her hands. “We can’t wait until then.”
    The medic tugged the end of his dark beard. “Don’t know what to tell you.” After promising to stop by in the morning to check Ronan’s vitals, he ambled down the stairs.
    Dash watched the indecision warring within Mara. Her shoulders lifted before slumping in tandem with her long sigh. She wore defeat like a horsehair cloak.
    “Guess we’ll leave him here.” Her weary blue gaze searched his. “We’ll manage fine without him, right?”
    He didn’t know what the hell waited for them in Mer’daca. Other than a shitload of his closest personal enemies. “You bet, babe.”

Chapter Six
    Mara tried not to be creeped out by the crazy-eyed woman staring at her from across the Sea Surfer’s lounge, but the string of bird claws hanging from her wrinkled neck made it damn difficult.
    She and the woman were the only ones occupying the room. Dash was brooding out on the observation deck and Piper was on another level of the ship, probably terrorizing small children.
    Darn it, should have taken my chances with Dash . He might be cranky enough to bite her head off, but he was still way less scary than bird-claw lady.
    The woman pushed up from her seat and approached Mara, her voluminous white cape flapping and the claws clicking.
    Oh crap . Mara jumped from her seat and hustled towards the door leading to the deck. The woman intercepted her with a bony-fingered grip around her arm.
    “I know what you seek.”
    Mara gaped at the woman, her heart thumping alarmingly fast. “What?”
    “The choices you’ve made haven’t been easy.” One crooked finger shook in Mara’s face. “Far more difficult ones are on the horizon, child. But choose wisely, and the deepest wish you carry will come true.”
    Right now, she wished the woman and her bird legs would venture back to the other side of the cabin. “I’ll…uh…keep that in mind.”
    The woman’s cloudy eyes returned Mara’s stare for several seconds. Abruptly, the claw-like grip slackened. Grabbing the opportunity, Mara plowed through the door and stumbled onto the deck. She rubbed briskly at the goose bumps covering her arms and ambled towards Dash. Her body swayed, fighting to keep balance on the mist-dampened deck.
    Dash eyed her approach but remained silent. Obviously he was still sulking. She settled beside him at the rail and watched the silvered fins of the porpoises plowing through