Page 49 of Dragon’s Rogue

And then the balcony doors exploded outwards with a hot sulfurous wind like a taste of hell, and Rebel was flying off the balcony, half-conscious, tumbling inexorably toward the ground.

Thorne came down in a deep dive, magic and earthquakes and deep terrible voices rumbling through his brain. As he approached the back of the house, headed for the lighted French doors on the left side, the doors shattered outward with a huge booming crash.

He saw Zane get blown out in the aftershock, holding Blaze in his arms. His brother Changed, wings unfurling, and caught the wind.

Thorne blew out a fiery breath of relief. He was all right.

Thorne was turning to follow Zane when he saw a dark limp figure tumbling off the balcony, nearly invisible in the shadows. He furled his wings and dove, praying he’d get to her in time.

He barely made it. He caught the woman in his front claws six feet above the ground and backwinged furiously to keep himself from crashing. He landed hard, breaking a bone in his left back foot, but she was alive.

He laid her gently on the ground. She was dressed in all black, masked like a cat burglar. Thorne turned back to human and examined her for injuries, but she seemed to be okay, just stunned.

Thorne peeled away her ski mask and looked down at her. She had a strong face, not conventionally pretty, maybe—the mouth was too broad and the features too bold.

But there was something about her…

Thorne sniffed, not believing what he was scenting. A faint residue of magical tracking dust.

He sat back on his heels, wincing at the pain in the broken foot. This must be the woman Zane had met in the vault the other night. She’d returned for the idol.

She hadn’t caused that spell explosion, though. If she had enough power for that, he would smell it all over her.

Thorne glanced up at the balcony. He could sense movement in the room beyond, and feel strange magic. Attackers?

He leaped upward, Changing to dragon form, and flew up to the balcony with two great flaps of his wings, hovering in the air. The room beyond was a wreck, spell books and ingredients and candles all tumbled off the shelves onto the floor. In front of the far wall was a jagged black oval about the size of a doorway, and two black-robed figures were staggering through, supporting a third.

Thorne Changed to human and darted inside, but he was too late. The figures disappeared into the black, and the portal shrank and vanished, leaving nothing but wreckage behind.

Thorne gave one quick look around, but the intruders were gone. He flew back down to his mystery woman.

There was no one there.

Rebel stumbled through the woods, grabbing onto trees and underbrush to keep herself upright. She was still feeling woozy—all she knew was that all hell had broken loose, and she had to bail.

The last thing she remembered was the magical explosion knocking her off the balcony, sure she was going to die. And then waking up lying on the terrace, with barely a scratch on her.

What the hell had happened? She’d bet money none of those crazy-ass sorcerers would have saved her, even if they’d been in a position to.

Was it the witch?

If so, why? And then, why just leave her there?

She heard faint sirens in the distance. First responders, checking out the explosion. They might find Jack Harper’s van parked down the road from the house, but they wouldn’t find anything to link it to her.

She’d parked her own car two miles from here, at the head of one of the hiking trails that crisscrossed the ridge, and walked from there. She wasn’t hiking that far right now, though. Her whole body ached, and her head was still ringing.

Rebel stuffed her ski mask in her pocket and pulled off her gloves, shaking out her hair. She’d walk to the nearest well-lit house and call an Uber from the driveway, pretending she’d been visiting there. With her burner cell and an Uber account under a fake ID, no one would ever trace it to her.

She’d get as far away from this crazy mess as possible.

Then she’d figure out what to do about that damn idol. And how to keep that psycho sorcerer from coming after her and her sister.

Chapter 25

Blaze was flying. The lights of downtown Portland were spread out below her, shining in the night. And holding her was…

A dragon. She kept trying over and over to process that whole concept, as if it would suddenly begin to make sense.