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The rest of his sentence was cut off by a hugewhoomph. Then the whole building exploded, and a wave of power knocked us off our feet and sent us tumbling backward. I hit the ground several yards away and slid into a tree hard enough to elicit a grunt. I rolled onto my back, only to see a thick wave of metal, wood, and God knows what heading my way, and immediately curled up into a ball, my hands over my head in an effort to provide as small a target as possible. The deadly rain fell all around us, and several chunks of wood or metal hit me, cutting deep enough to draw blood on my legs and across my shoulders.
Had we been any closer, had we not been semi-protected by the trees, the wave would have been deadly.
Oh fuck,Aiden…
The second the rain eased, I scrambled to my feet. Monty was several yards away and also rising. There was blood on his face and a deep gash on his arm, but he seemed okay otherwise. I tossed him my backpack and said, “Use the first aid kit,” then raced back to the tree line.
There was nothing left of the bunkhouse, other than the remains of a few wooden stumps and, rather incongruously, the three steps that had led up to the door. Debris lay scattered all around the place, and dust rose, a thick curtain of brown that made visibility difficult.
There was no immediate sign of Aiden.
I swore and raced around the tree line, avoiding the brown curtain and the lingering threads of magic that still hung in the air.
Saw him, halfway down the hill, struggling to get back onto his feet. As I raced toward him, his form shimmered, switching to wolf, then back to human again. That he’d had to suggested he’d been hurt far worse than either Monty or me.
He glanced around as I approached, his gaze quickly sweeping me, then coming up relieved. I all but threw myself into his arms, hitting him so hard that he grunted.
“I’m okay,” he said, traces of amusement and relief riding his voice. “Aside from that wound on your leg, it appears you are, too. How’s Monty?”
“He’s got a few cuts, but otherwise, he’s fine.”
“Good.” He briefly hugged me tighter, then released me. “What the hell happened?”
“Either Roger triggered an explosive spell, or we did.” I shrugged. “Hard to be certain.”
“And Roger?”
“No idea.”
He slid his hand down my arm and twined his fingers through mine. “Then we’d best get over there and check.”
As we headed toward the destruction zone, Monty appeared out of the trees. He was carrying my backpack, and his arm was roughly bandaged. There was also a smear of brown antiseptic across his cheek, though the cut still oozed blood.
He stopped just shy of the few still-lingering threads of magic and glanced around as we approached. “I’m not seeing much in the way of human remains.”
“Would you, after such a powerful explosion?” I asked.
“Surely there’d be at leastsomeevidence—the odd bone, smears of blood, random bits of body parts. That there’s nothing suggests there was no one inside—at least at the time of the explosion.”
“Icansmell blood,” Aiden said, “although certainly not enough if there were seven or eight people inside when this thing went up.”
“Roger wouldn’t have arrowed into the building like he did if he believed the place was empty,” I said.
“Which leads to another important question,” Monty said. “What the hell happened to Roger? Is it his blood Aiden is smelling?”
“Good question—and one we can get an answer to straight away.” I dragged my phone out of my pocket and discovered I’d smashed the screen when I’d landed on my butt and slid into the tree. Luckily, despite the damage, the thing still worked.
Maelle answered my call almost before it had a chance to ring.
“What has happened?” she growled. “I’ve lost contact with Roger.”
Thatwasn’t good. “There was an explosion—is he dead, Maelle?”
“If he was dead, I would not be answering this call.”
She would be out, and hunting. “Have you got a way of tracing him?”
“Again, if I could do that, I would not be talking to you.” There was a brief, angry pause. Maybe I was reading too much into it, but I very much suspected she was battling to remain calm. To control her bloodlust and need for revenge. “You have not answered the initial question—what happened there?”
