Where did he go? How did he leave so fast?
Leo set their drinks on the table. “Who were you talking to?”
Evelyn shook her head. “I don’t really know. Did you see where he went?”
“No, but it’s pretty busy in here. Was he bothering you?”
Yes, but not in a bad way.
“It was odd,” Evelyn said, hoping the room was too dark for him to notice her flushed skin. “He asked if I was with the prince, and then he called me Princess.”
Leo’s eyes widened. “Did he know who you are?”
“I don’t know. But…” Evelyn remembered something else. “He complimented myredhair.”
“That shouldn’t be possible. The blonde illusion is in place. I can’t even see your real hair.”
“Maybe he can see past illusions, too? I’m confused why he was asking about the prince?—”
“We’re leaving.” Leo grasped her hand. “This was a bad idea.”
Evelyn scanned the room but didn’t see Haydn anywhere.
Is he dangerous? Or is Leo just protective?
“Damien!” Leo shouted over the music.
Damien dragged his eyes away from the pretty bartender. Leo jerked his head toward the exit. Damien nodded and said his goodbyes to Angelina.
Leo and Evelyn hurried up the stairs and out onto the street.
“Did the man touch you?” Leo asked. “Did he use any magic?”
“No, he?—”
A deafening, roaring noise came from below. Leo pulled Evelyn into his arms a split second before the explosion knocked them to the ground.
The blast created a giant hole in the roadway. It was wider than the street itself, at least partially destroying several of the nearby houses. Flames poured out of the gash in the ground, bringing blood-curdling screams up with them.
The explosion was in the bar! All those screams are from people trapped down there!
Damien appeared at the top of the stairs, coughing and spluttering from the smoke.
He wasn’t far behind us when the blast happened. But what about everyone else?
Evelyn got to her feet, ignoring the pain in her hip and shoulder from hitting the ground. She limped toward the fiery pit. Leo jumped up after her and caught Evelyn around the waist.
“Stop, Princess, we?—”
“Let go of me!” Evelyn screamed.
Leo released her, startled by her reaction.
Rushing forward, Evelyn got as close to the pit as she dared. Heat like she’d never felt before radiated from it. She reached out and sent every ounce of her magic through her fingertips.
Evelyn commanded the fire to rise, and it did. The flames lifted out of the pit, out of the bar where she had been two minutes ago, and rose into the sky. She could feel her power draining with the effort needed to sustain control over the catastrophic fire.
A whole team of fae with Fire magic should be doing this, not just me… but there’s no one else here. I have to help those people in the bar.
