Prince of Spies Read Online Free PDF

push it through, and then I should be able to bend the iron wide enough for you to wiggle your hand out. He lined up her hand, picking up the other rock in his fist. “Don’t move now.”
    Riki held her breath as he swung the rock at her wrist, but his aim was true. The loud bang of rock against metal made her want to jump, but she knew how important it was to keep still. She’d learned every level of control over her body and emotions while being held by prisoner, so this was relatively easy to accomplish. Riki just kept the end goal in mind.
    Freedom for her aching, bloody, bruised and welt-ridden arms.
    With a few more well-placed whacks, Nico’s plan worked. The head came off the weakened bolt, and the shank fell through to the ground. Nico was able to wriggle his fingers inside and bend the iron wide enough for her hand to escape.
    “One down.” He smiled at her and she felt tears of joy slipping down her face as he rubbed her poor wrist. Bringing her wrist up to his lips, he placed a tender kiss on the bruised skin and then placed it gently in her lap, only to lift the other hand and repeat the process of removing the iron chain, then the manacle.
    When both her hands were free of the heavy cuffs, Nico wet a square of linen he’d had in his pocket and washed her wrists with gentle pats and swipes, removing the grime and caked blood with the fresh, cold water.
    The care in his expression warmed her, but the little zing of his energy had her pulling her hands back.
    “You can’t!”
    Nico sat back and looked at her. “I must, Riki. Please let me do what I can. I’m not much of a healer, but I can make you a little more comfortable at least.”
    She shook her head. “I know how tiring healing can be. You need your strength, Nico. There’ll be time enough to heal after we’re out of Skithdron once and for all.”
    But he scooped her hands up in his and pulled them into his lap, resting her palms on his knees. He held her wrists almost exactly where the manacles had been for so very long, but instead of hurting, Nico’s hands were gentle and healing, as he poured little zaps of his own energy into her.
    She was weak, but she felt her own power responding, rising, mingling with his and multiplying.
    “Stop!”
    “No, wait. It’ll be okay, Riki. You’ll see.”
    She tried to tug away, but it was too late. Their energies met and meshed, concentrating healing energy on her poor, abused wrists, but oddly, it wasn’t draining. Not much anyway. And her own energy seemed to be working on her injuries, which it never had before.
    “What’s happening?”
    Nico pulled back, letting her wrists go with a broad smile. They were healed. Completely healed for the first time in months.
    “I thought this might work.” He blinked with fatigue, but she couldn’t see the bone-weary tiredness that always came after she performed a healing of this magnitude.
    “What did you do?”
    “It’s something that happened to me only once before. Riki, I’ve never been a strong healer, but when your mother was hurt, I tried to help and her energy rose to direct me, just as yours did a moment ago. Kelzy said it’s our blood recognizing each other. I would never have managed this level of healing on my own, but with your energy to guide me, it was possible.”
    “I’ve never been able to heal myself before.”
    Nico shook his head with a sigh. “Most healers can’t. You probably still won’t be able to do so, but if we mesh our energies, some of your skill guides and amplifies my own power. At least, that’s my guess as to what happened.”

    “You did this with my mother, you said?”
    Nico stood and tossed the rock away. “I did. She’d been clawed by a dragon, accidentally of course. Kelzy felt terrible about it, but it was the only way to save your mother’s life. At the time she was clinging to the top of a tree with a horde of skiths circling below. Kelzy had to grab for her, but it’s hard to be accurate with