Page 47 of Cast By Flames (Dragon's Breath)
I drew my sword since he was technically mine. Freya grabbed his oily brown hair and lifted him enough to give me a clear angle. I took a deep breath, trying not to think about the innocent human inside who was already lost, and cut through the man’s neck in one stroke.
That was only the first step. We worked together to relocate the two pieces outside to a burn pit usually reserved for trash. The shifter blew flames to incinerate them since one could never be too careful with dark magic, rather than us lighting a normal fire.
By the time we finished, we only had a few minutes to clean up before the other two would wake. Thankfully, the jailhad a bathroom and running water for us to use. Then, we waited for our prisoners to rise while standing outside their cells. At least the sense of malevolence had gone away, and only despair remained.
Rayna’s woke first, foggy eyes opening where he lay sprawled on the ground. His fingers twitched, and then he rubbed his face as he moaned. We hovered a few feet away, watching as he took in the three of us and his surroundings. A shudder ran through his body. We gave him another minute as various expressions ran across his face, including shock, horror, and fear. I could only imagine what he’d been through.
A moment later, he pitched to the side and threw up in the bucket set in the corner.
He wiped his mouth with his shirt sleeve after he finished, turning to meet my gaze. “What’s going on?”
Rayna handed him a bottle of water.
“You were infected with dark magic,” I said, guessing he chose to ask me because I was the easiest to recognize from our group. “We got it out of you, but it will be a few days until you fully return to yourself.”
He took a drink. “My friends?”
“The skinny guy should be waking soon, but the big, tall one didn’t make it,” Rayna said, giving him a sympathetic look. “We did what we could. Sorry.”
He didn’t need the gory details, so I was glad she left those out.
The man shook his head. “Nigel was always a little off, but lately, he was acting extra crazy. I don't know why I stayed around him since I didn’tlike him.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Well, some of us aren’t fans of dragons—any kind.” He scowled at Freya since her yellow eyes gave her away. “But I’d never hurt humans to make a point. The next thing I knew, I was following Nigel to do exactly that, and it didn’t even bother me. How is that possible?”
I gave him a brief explanation about dark magic and what it could do to people. Time was running out since we couldn’t know if another attack might be imminent. The other guy was waking, so Freya and Rayna went to handle him. I kneeled next to my prisoner, trying to show him a little kindness since I could tell he was starting to panic.
“Look, I get that this is scary. You’re going to be stuck here for a few days until we’re certain the dark magic is clear, and you’re back to full health.” A couple of times, the removal on people hadn’t held, and the dark magic reemerged ten times worse. We didn’t take any chances since then. “But we need you to tell us who else you worked with and if they have more attacks planned soon.”
“There’s ten more people in our group,” he said, running his fingers through his hair. “We had another bombing planned for…what day is it?”
I answered him.
His eyes rounded. “It will be tonight.”
“Where?”
“The Sooner Mall.”
Shit, I swore inwardly. It was one of the places we’d designated for storing supplies we’d need when the Kandoran attacked. There was extra food, ammo, medicine, and a lot ofother helpful items. We had sealed off all except two entrances to the mall, making it easier to guard. At the current time of day, there might be at least half a dozen people between those adding provisions and those pulling security.
“What time?” I asked.
“Seven.”
That’s when the shifters were scheduled to bring more food from the fortress, spelled to preserve it. We expected the war to last weeks—if not months—and wanted to ensure there’d be a way to feed our combatants during that whole period. It sounded like this group was working to destroy our supplies, along with some of the dragons on our side. That would undermine everything. I had to give the Kandoran credit for trying to weaken us in every way they could before fully striking.
I ground my teeth. “How do they plan to do it?”
“All three bombs are already in place there. They’re just waiting for the best moment to…” he shrugged.
“Kill some shifters as well?”
He cleared his throat. “Uh, yeah.”
“It’s gotta be a big explosion to destroy the supplies and take down the dragons,” I pointed out.
