Page 86 of The Soul of the Dragon

“Just push.” She put her weight against the bars and they bent forward. She then jumped up on the ledge and slithered through the opening.

I hated to tell her, but I wasn’t as small as her. I was going to have to destroy that opening to get in. I only hoped it didn’t make as much noise as I expected it would.

As soon as she cleared the window, I pushed on the bars almost as hard as I could, and they gave way as easily as a piece of paper. “What the—?”

“Fake,” she whispered. “I made them years ago so I could go in and out.”

Shaking my head, I squeezed myself through the window and hurriedly put the bars back in place before the guard passed by.

We both blew out a breath of relief before I asked, “Where to now?”

“My room.”

I turned to her in alarm. “Are you kidding? That will surely be under guard.”

She shrugged. “Maybe. But that’s where we have to go because that’s where we’re going to find the amulet.”

“You had it all along?”

“Apparently. Although I didn’t know it and likely never would have if not for the message from my mother.”

“This is insane.” I grabbed her hand and laced our fingers together. “But I guess if we’re going to do this, then we’ll do it together.”

She narrowed her eyes and twisted her mouth. I didn’t blame her for her skepticism. We’d avoided talking about what happened once we had it in hand. And now was not the time.

Since I already knew the way to her personal rooms, I took the lead, making sure we avoided passing anyone who could question us.

When we got to her floor, she pulled me to a room on the opposite side of the floor. “Not here,” she whispered. “Just to be sure we need to enter from one of the adjoining rooms.”

I nodded, agreeing wholeheartedly with that plan. We crept along the walls, keeping to the shadows until we entered one of the rooms.

“This place is like a maze.”

“It is. But for a bored kid, it makes a great playground. Come on. My room is just through here.”

I could see a younger version of Kitra running and hiding all through this house. Ian and I had done something similar in our old home as well.

She pushed the door open, and with my focus on the area behind us, I failed to notice she’d come to a sudden halt until I crashed into her and nearly sent her flying across the room.

I grabbed her and steadied her.

My eyes widened and then narrowed on the man sitting on the edge of Kitra’s bed, as my dragon heat flared to life and a growl erupted from my chest.

“Now is that any way to greet your brother?”

Fucking Magnus.

ChapterThirty-Four

Kitra

What was going on? Besides Magnus sitting in the middle of the room, waiting for us, the room had been cleared of everything personal. Not a shred of evidence remained that I’d lived in this house for more than a decade.

“Where are all of my belongings?” I tried to keep my voice even, but it was impossible to hide the rising hysteria. Especially when I glanced at the corner where my treasured dollhouse had sat.

Magnus shrugged. “I have no idea. Probably given to the needy if I had to guess.”

Anger tightened my chest as I stepped forward. I was going to wipe that smug smirk off his face if it was the last thing I did.

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