Blackbird Broken (The Witch King's Crown #2) - Keri Arthur Page 0,49

two cabins, cutting visibility and catching in my throat, making me cough. I tugged my sweater up over my nose, but it didn’t seem to make much difference. The heat was so fierce, the paint on the other cabin bubbled and peeled—though how it was even standing, given the force of the blast, I couldn’t say.

I raced around the front corner of the building and saw Mo lying in the middle of the road … and she wasn’t moving.

My heart leapt into my throat, and for several seconds I couldn’t breathe. I dropped heavily beside her, skinning my knees and sending pain shooting through the rest of me. I ignored it and tentatively touched her neck.

Her pulse was strong and steady. I closed my eyes against the sting of tears and sucked in a deep breath. She was okay … this time.

I ignored the ominous thought and quickly studied the rest of her. There were no obvious injuries—no broken bones or deep cuts—aside from the bloody scrape down her left cheek, which was no doubt a result of being flung onto the road. I pulled the first aid kit out of the backpack and grabbed a bottle of holy water to wash the wound.

The sound of running had me reaching for my daggers even as I looked around. Mia, rather than a stranger or a threat. Standing behind her on the balcony of their cabin were the elderly couple; the woman’s expression was unfriendly, and she had a phone clutched in her hand.

“I’ve rung the police and fire brigade,” she said, her voice a little too high to be forceful. “Don’t you be running away, because I have your photographs.”

“Could you also call an ambulance? My grandmother needs to be checked over,” I said, then glanced up as Mia slid to a halt beside me. “You okay?”

“I wasn’t anywhere near the damn blast—are you hurt? Is Mo?”

“No,” Mo said, her voice a little hoarse. “I’m fine.”

“Stay still,” I commanded. “I need—”

“I’m fine, Gwen, as I said.”

“You said that when you slipped down the stairs and fractured your damn leg,” I retorted. “You just got blasted five meters through the air. Humor me and do what you’re told for a change.”

She opened her eyes. The blue depths held hints of amusement and pain. “I’ve heard that tone before, but it’s usually mine rather than yours.”

“It’s your genes coming out in me again.”

“In more ways than one, I suspect.” She shifted her hands and pushed upright. Short of actually sitting on her, I couldn’t stop her, but the pain in her expression deepened, suggesting she really hadn’t totally escaped injury. She brushed her hands to get rid of the grit, smearing red. Her cheek wasn’t the only thing she’d skinned. “I gather no one ran out of the house after that blast?”

“No, but the Ford Estate parked at the cabin behind certainly got out of here in a hurry.”

Her gaze sharpened. “And you’re not following? Why not?”

I rolled my eyes, torn between amusement and exasperation. “It just might have something to do with my grandmother lying unmoving and bleeding on the roadside.”

She touched my cheek lightly. “I love you, you know that, but if you don’t get your ass in the air and follow that car, I will be peeved.”

I snorted, then grabbed my knives and quickly lashed them together. As the sound of sirens cut through the air, I pushed to my feet and handed Mia the medical kit and holy water. “Make sure she’s examined by the ambulance crew before you allow her in the car.”

“I hate to point out the obvious, but she can fly.”

“And if she’d been able to do so, she wouldn’t have ordered me after the Estate alone.”

“You are altogether too quick sometimes,” Mo murmured.

“That would be your genes again.” I swung the pack over my shoulders. “I’ll call when I get a location.”

Mo nodded. “We’ll use the tracker and follow in the car once we’ve dealt with this mess.”

I glanced across at the older couple—who were still watching with beady-eyed interest—then shifted shape, grabbed my knives, and hightailed it out of there.

It didn’t take that long to find the Estate—she might have driven out of the park at speed, but it appeared that once she was on the main road, she’d slowed down—no doubt to avoid attracting too much attention.

That was presuming, of course, this was Gianna and her son. Just because instinct said it was, didn’t mean it was right. While I could swoop