My chest tightened, and I looked up at him, mouth ajar.
“Happy Rend?—”
Just then, a crash and a flash of light outside.
“Saints,” he spat, running for the door, me on his heels. “What was that?”
I smelled the smoke before he yanked the door open.
CHAPTER 29
Smoke plumed in the air, and the courtyard’s western wall, near the stairs, was crackling with tongues of yellow flame.
A desperate yell climbed from my throat as I looked at Myth, standing beside the wreckage, sides heaving, wings folded.
At the bottom of the steps, Rush shot his arm out, blocking me. “Ari, no!”
I shoved his arm aside and ran toward Myth, tears leaking from my eyes from the smoke and scorching heat. Myth snorted and turned to me, a mixture of pride and confusion whirling in his emotions. Rush tried to grab my arm, hold me back, but I yanked free.
The heat pricked my skin; smoke burned my nose. Shielding my eyes, I approached Myth. He stood near the fire, unaffected, the gold in his scales aglow from the crackling flames. His snout bumped against my hand and stayed there, a strange feeling like reassurance coursing through me at the touch.
I heaved a breath, fighting panic. Someone would see this. We were no longer safe. Not to mention the damage he’d done, I could never repay.
Behind me, Rush approached, touched my elbow. “We need to leave.”
“Not without him.”
“I know. You need to leave with him. Now.”
“What about the fire?” I said, nearly choking as I looked at it again. Myth could officially breathe flame. And he’d nearly turned the entire townhouse into a pile of ash.
“The wall is brick; it’ll be a quick fire. Only the ivy…” He trailed off, hand tightening where it held my arm.
“What is it?”
The flames were dying down, the courtyard again growing dark, save for the dim light spilling over the wall from a nearby streetlamp. The courtyard was scarred black and the ivy was snapping as the fire curled down its twisting lines, but there was something at the base of the wall that caught my eye.
A dark shape.
My scream split the night.
Rush hurried forward, the heat already dissipating in the cold night air. Snow began to drift back into the courtyard, melting before it touched the still form on the ground. A man. His overcoat was splayed out at the edge of the black scar where the flame had scorched the wall of the house. Beside him lay a pistol. His arm was stretched out, the skin from his shoulder to his wrist gone, bone and muscle visible.
I gagged, covering my mouth with one hand.
“He’s dead,” Rush pronounced, stepping back. His arms circled my shoulders and I melted against him, shaking as I tried to breathe.
Myth hadkilled a man.
Against my hair, Rush said, “We need to leave. Before the police show up.”
“But that man, he’s…” I couldn’t say it.
“That man climbed over the wall, Ari. He was not here to make friends.” Rush’s breathing was slower than mine, but I could hear his heart racing beneath his ribs.
“This is why dragons can’t have their flame!” I bellowed, hitting Rush’s chest. He held me tighter. “They’ll never let him live now!”
“That man was likely here to kill me,” he said, voice steady, firm. “Probably followed me here. He wasn’t expecting a dragon to be here too. What happened here tonight proves Myth was trying to protect you.”
