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And in that very instant, the apartment exploded into a million different pieces.
Chapter 5
Heat hit me, a wave so fierce and strong that I was little more than dust before it, tumbling and twisting and burning as it blew me through the apartment, then out the window. Concrete and metal, glass and wood, and god knows what else surrounded me as I was flung from the building, the force of the blast throwing me over the street and into the park.
I hit the ground hard enough to bounce even in energy form, and tumbled several feet farther before I came to a halt. I lay where I fell for several seconds, winded and shocked. Every part of me burned with the force and the heat of the blast, and yet, incredibly, I was alive and not hurt. Being in energy form had undoubtedly saved my life.
Azriel? My mental tones were little more than a croak.
Here. His energy briefly ran across the edges of me, as if he were reaching out with one hand and clasping mine. I think that is what you would call a lucky break.
Yeah. But it also means Lauren was here after the police had investigated Jantz’s apartment—otherwise, it would have taken them out rather than almost getting us. And that meant it might be worth pulling up the security tapes to see who had entered Jantz’s apartment after he’d been reported missing. Unless, of course, Lauren had used magic to get in and out of the apartment. If she’d known Jantz well enough to either use his name and identity or employ him to pick up her parcels, then she would have been familiar with his place. Magicking in and out in that case certainly wouldn’t have proved a problem.
I shifted my still-tingling particles enough to see the building. On the seventh floor, where Jantz’s apartment had been, there was now a huge, gaping hole. The apartments above and below had sustained some damage, but not as much as I’d expected from the force of the explosion. Or maybe it just seemed huge because we’d been energy ourselves. Smoke and dust billowed through the shattered remains of the glass doors, though from where I was, I couldn’t see flames. Sirens were going off everywhere, and people were evacuating both Jantz’s building and the buildings on either side, running down the pavement, away from the destruction.
If that is the case, there might not be anything in that apartment to find. Maybe it was Jantz himself who was the danger.
Possibly. But we should—
—check what is left of that apartment, just in case any fires within destroy what the blast did not, he finished, resignation heavy in his mental tones. Are you sure you’re feeling up to it? It has not been an easy few days and your energy levels are yet to recover, despite both our revive session and the sleep you’ve had.
Revive session—what a nondescript way of putting great sex.
Amusement ran through his thoughts. Economy of words is always best when even the most descriptive of sentences could never do justice to what we share.
And if there’s one thing that’s been a constant since you arrived on the scene, it’s your economy with words. I forced myself upward. Pain slivered through my particles, but it was distant, dull. No major damage, I gathered, though I suspected I might have one hell of a headache when I finally regained human form.
We went back to the apartment, slipping quickly through the smoke and into the ruins of the once beautiful main living area. Everything that had survived was little more than broken, scorched bits. Even the marble floors were blackened and cracked. There wasn’t much hope of finding anything here.
I drifted into the bedroom. Though this room had sustained less damage than the living room, a fire was beginning to burn here, and it was catching fast. I did a quick look around but didn’t see anything more than the last time. I retreated and moved to the rear of the apartment.
There’s less damage here, Azriel commented. It does look as if the bomb had been positioned to take out whoever disarmed the security system.
And that suggests maybe Jantz disappeared of his own accord and this bomb was a security measure on Lauren’s part, just in case he came back.
Possibly.
I still think there has to be something here. Something we’ve missed.
If there was something to be found in the living area, then there is little chance of recovering it.
I know. Just as I knew the only way I might be able to feel something was to regain human form. I swung around, studying the floors and walls. There were no gaping holes and, aside from a few cracks, nothing to indicate that any of the walls in this area was in immediate danger of collapse. The smoke and the fire were both a threat, but if I was quick, it should be okay.
Let me re-form first, Azriel said, and immediately did so. I watched, body tense—or as tense as energy particles could be—waiting for something to happen. For the broken building to react in some way or for some spell or demon to materialize.
Nothing did.
He glanced at me and nodded. I
called to the Aedh, felt her sweep through me, and in very little time I was standing beside Azriel. A heartbeat after that, the air—thick with dust and smoke and heat—caught in my throat and sent me into a coughing fit. But as I half bent over, trying to get clean air into my lungs, I felt it—a sliver of dark energy. One I’d felt before, and which belonged to our sorceress.
“This is insane,” Azriel growled. “You shouldn’t—”
“There is something here,” I cut in hoarsely. “Some sort of magic.”
He frowned. “I cannot feel anything beyond your discomfort.”
“That doesn’t make it any less here.” I stood upright, but the minute I did, the sensation went away. All I could feel was the thick dust; all I could hear was the crackle of fire, the groan of broken walls, and the wail of sirens drawing close. I frowned, bent over again, and the sensation reappeared. “This way.”
