The boom was deafening, and even from inside, the flash of light was blinding. The shockwave hit a moment later, and I heard the distinctive sound of shattering glass as every windowin the bar blew out and bottles behind the bar exploded in a cascade of alcohol and glass.
"Go, go, go!" Ravel urged, and we burst through the kitchen and then out the back door into the night.
More of Ravel's men appeared from the shadows, forming a protective perimeter around us as we ran. My legs felt like jelly from the shock, but Alar's hand holding mine kept me moving.
"He's dead," one of the men told Ravel. "He had secondary explosives strapped to him."
I tensed. What had happened to the men who had apprehended him? Were they dead?
"Any of ours get hurt?" Ravel echoed my unasked question.
"Superficial injuries," the guy replied.
I released a relieved breath. We hadn't lost any of ours tonight, but given how many men had been stationed at the bar and along the streets, Ravel had suspected that someone might try to kill me tonight.
"Who are these men?" Dylon asked. "I've never seen them before."
"Special Ops from ground forces."
My stomach twisted. How well did Ravel know these men? Was he certain that all of them were trustworthy? Perhaps one of them had betrayed us?
Otherwise, how did the suicide bomber know where to find us?
The explosion had roused the entire town.
People were streaming out of their houses, heading toward the bar to see what had happened, my parents among them.
Mom's sharp eyes found us first. "Oh, thank Elu, you're safe."
Dad took in our escort of armed men with a grim expression. "Let's go home."
"Is it safe?" I asked Ravel.
He nodded. "I have men stationed all around it."
Once we entered our house, Gran enveloped me in a tight embrace, and the adrenaline began to wear off, leaving me shaky and depleted.
"Thank Elu." She hugged Dylon.
"What happened?" Dad asked.
"Someone tried to blow up the bar." Dylon untangled himself from Gran's embrace. "We think that they were after Kailin, but they could have been after Alar."
Mom's face went pale, and Dad's jaw clenched so tight I could see the muscle twitching.
"Commander Ravel had it under control," Alar added. "His men stopped the attacker before he could get close."
"They got his detonator," I said. "But he managed to detonate a secondary explosive that was strapped to his body."
Ravel shook his head. "Someone must have detonated the main bomb that was in the backpack remotely, which means the assassin wasn't working alone."
Someone wanted me dead badly enough to send a suicide bomber. And they had a backup plan in case he failed to follow through with his mission.
Ravel's dark eyes found mine. "What we discussed earlier is even more critical now. Your abilities may be the key to uncovering who's behind this."
I nodded, too tired to speak.
I was just a cadet, and what was going on around me and because of me was so beyond my pay grade. The possibility of traitorous dragons that Ravel wanted me to spy on, the prospect of resuming the tea and suffering the consequences of shifting my consciousness to the minds of nocturnal animals, and possibly also to dragons, it was all daunting.
