“Well, I hope I fall into the former group rather than the latter,” I said, a little alarmed by the sudden fierceness in his tone. Something was very off, but I wasn’t sure what. Then my gaze flicked to his arm. Maybe his fierceness was understandable. With scars like those, survival must have been touch and go, even for a dragon who could heal far better than any human.
“Do it,” he said, “or I walk out of here now and you’ll never get your answers.”
I looked around the room, seeing no one looking our way or showing any undue interest. That might change given what I was about to do, but there wasn’t much I could do about that. Not if I wanted my answers.
If this guy could provide answers and wasn’t just yanking my chain.
I mean, the voice on the phone that had given us this lead had been oddly familiar, and that alone had raised questions. But Rainey had convinced me that we needed to take the chance if we were ever to get some answers. And now Rainey was dead and I was here talking to a stranger who might not only be connected to her death, but who might well be here to trap me—the one who had escaped from their little “accident.”
And while Leith and his people were doing the background check on Angus, I simply didn’t have the time to sit back and wait for the answers. Hence the reason I was here, taking this godawful chance.
I had no other choice if I wanted to save Rainey.
I pushed the Coke back then held up a hand, keeping it close to my chest so that there was less likelihood of everyone else noticing.
Then I reached deep down into that place in my soul where the dragon resided. She came roaring forward in answer, heating my skin and making it tingle. But she was all flame and no substance, as usual. I focused on the energy burning through my body, controlling and restricting it, until it was little more than flickers of fire that danced joyfully across my fingertips.
Few dragons could do that with their fire. Most had full flame or nothing.
I met Angus’s gaze. “Satisfied?”
He nodded, but oddly he didn’t seem to relax. In fact, the tension that was knotting his shoulders and arms seemed worse than ever.
“So tell me,” I added, “what you know about the cleansings.”
He laced his fingers together, then leaned forward. “I know where the bodies are.”
Moon Sworn is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.A Dell Mass Market Original