Abi and Peter climbed up and held onto Nash.
I think I know where the source of magic is coming from.Nash took to the air.
Two of his Dragon Skull brothers flanked him. The rest stayed to fight.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Fucking Mallor. Nash should have put two and two together. He never once wondered why Mallor had been in Emberreach all those years ago. Mallor, a warlock who uses mostly fire magic, was in a village filled with mostly fire magic users.
Gods damn it.
And Nash played right into their trap by calling Vaelis Solmere to stock the cabin and put up wards. The fuckers must have gotten to Vaelis somehow. Or Vaelis turned on Nash. Knowing Mallor, he probably had something on Vaelis.
He’d known Vaelis his entire life. They’d been childhood friends. Their parents had hung out on the weekends when work hadn’t taken up their time. Bonfires and cookouts. Playing hide-and-seek in the forest. Vaelis had made magic fire dragons for them. His stories had been the best.
If it wasn’t Vaelis turning on him, then Vaelis wasn’t in danger.
Worst of all, Nash had put Abi in danger. That alone made his stomach churn.
Stop it.Abi patted the scales on his neck.The warlocks injured you, not me. Thank you for saving my life.
I shouldn’t have put it in danger in the first place.
You didn’t. Mallor did.
Peter cut into their conversation, which he rarely did.Abi’s right. Your guilt is misplaced. Mallor has a wider reach than we originally thought. But I’m in his head now. He can’t escape.
Peter had a way of making everything sound just a little ominous. He must have been driving Mallor crazy even as he spoke to them.
The village didn’t take long to get to. It was just a few miles from the cabin.
Vaelis’s house was on the edge of the village, tucked into the trees. He’d painted it an olive green at some point since Nash had been there last. It blended into the forest as if it had grown up from the dirt.
Nash landed in the front yard.
Abi immediately shifted. He loved snakes.
Nash would have to ask him what type he was this time. He didn’t have to ask if Abi was venomous. Abi would have it no other way.
Peter slid off Nash’s back. He held a gray ball of light and wore a smile that held more malice than a smile should. “Mallor is inside. And six other bodies. One is dead.”
I smell blood.
Nash thought of Vaelis. Of what they might have done to him to get him to talk.
Nash roared, getting the attention of the warlocks inside.
“Shall we kill them all?” Peter met Nash’s gaze.
Nash shifted and then nodded. “Even Mallor.”
No. Not Mallor. You promised I could question and then kill him.Abi was adorable.
Nash couldn’t have dreamed of better if he had conjured him in his mind. The gods knew what they were doing when they made Abi.
“I know, baby. Mallor’s all yours. I promise.”
The door opened, and a warlock came out. He had just started working up a ball of fire when Peter threw his light at him. The man crumbled on the stoop.
