Is it bad?
Not at the moment, she said. It depends on how soon the fire brigade gets here as to whether the damage will spread.
Didn’t your grandmother teach you a fire prevention spell?
Yes, but the key word is prevention rather than restriction. I’ll try and adapt it.
I stopped in front of the stranger, reached up, and pulled the charm from his neck. Energy burned across my fingers even as it whispered its secrets to me. The spell that had been bound to the agate was powerful—possibly more so than anything I could conjure—but the practitioner had made one mistake. He hadn’t protected it against physical assault.
I dropped it onto the rooftop and smashed it under my heel.
“Who are you?” I demanded. “And why the fuck are you trying to kill us?”
He spat at me. I sidestepped the globule and then said mildly, “Try that again, and the magic that holds you will rip you apart, just as it ripped your gun apart.”
His gaze darted sideways, and a trace of uneasiness entered his expression. He remained mute, however.
I sighed. “Okay then, we do this the hard way.”
I flicked my wrist and the wild magic responded, pulling his legs further apart. The minute he screamed, it stopped.
“Right, shall we try this again?” I crossed my arms and studied him. And was aware that, over his right shoulder, the flames consuming our building were reaching even higher. I clenched my fists and fought the instinct to lash out at him. It was an instinct that was as much Katie’s as mine. “Why are you trying to kill us?”
Sweat was now rolli
ng down his face, and his expression was one of agony. But then, it was a rare man who could comfortably do the splits without hurting himself.
The sound of fast-approaching sirens broke the silence. I hoped like hell they could stop the fire before it destroyed the building and most of our belongings.
“You have one minute to answer. If you don’t, I’ll make you pay for shooting at me and destroying our café.”
He didn’t speak.
“Fifty seconds,” I said, then, “Thirty—”
The wild magic stirred, and his legs were very briefly pulled wider apart.
“Okay, okay,” he all but howled. “It was revenge. I was sent here for revenge.”
I raised an eyebrow. “By whom?”
“The Fitzgeralds over in Pike’s Peak.”
Meaning Belle had not only been right, but my misreading of them had very nearly gotten us both killed.
Hey, neither of us really expected those bastards would have the courage to hit back like this, so don’t you be heading down guilt road.
Easier said than done when I could still see the flames of destruction leaping high.
I’ve managed to corral them to the top of the stairs and the kitchenette. Everything else is safe, and the smoke is being funneled out the hole in the roof.
There’s a hole in the roof?
From the explosion. She paused. Aiden’s just appeared.
And?
He’s pissed you went after the shooter without waiting for him. She paused again. Ashworth said he’d put out the flames. It’ll save us from water damage, at the very least.