Battle Bond: An Urban Fantasy Dragon Series (Death Before Dragons #2) - Lindsay Buroker Page 0,56

clothes. “And don’t go in without me. Whoever started it could still be there.”

“If they are there,” Nin said, her voice as hard and determined as I’d heard it, “I will shoot them.”

“Good, but wait until I’m there to do it. If you kill someone and get arrested, you’ll spend the rest of your life in jail, and your family will never get over here.”

She hesitated. “What if you kill someone and get arrested?”

“It won’t be the first time.” The address of the storage yard popped up on my phone. “I’ll be there in twenty minutes. Don’t go in without me,” I repeated.

“Thank you, Val. I will be there.” Nin hung up.

She hadn’t confirmed that she wouldn’t go in without me.

Cursing, I dressed as fast as I could, shoving my feet into my boots and grabbing my weapons. My gaze snagged on the military flak vest hanging in my closet, the supposedly bulletproof Kevlar still riddled with holes from magical projectiles and claws. I’d worn it consistently for a while, but as I’d found out during three encounters in a row, the sturdy material didn’t do much against magic.

Still, getting shot earlier in the day almost made me grab it anyway. No, I’d ask Nin to make me something magical if we both got through this. She’d mentioned something about branching out into armor, and with the way my month was going, I had a feeling I’d need some. Badly.

16

The address Nin gave me was on the southern end of town, near the Old Rainier Brewery. That meant it was a lot closer to her apartment than mine. Even with little traffic, it took me more than twenty minutes to get there from Ballard, and I worried that was enough time for Nin to have gotten in trouble.

Who had called her, anyway? Someone she didn’t know, she’d said. The police? The fire department? Someone laying a trap for her?

Plumes of smoke floated from behind the obscured security fencing of the compound, hazing the city lights as they rose to mingle with the cloud cover. Surprisingly, there weren’t any police or fire trucks at the front gate when I pulled up. How could this not have been reported? It wasn’t a residential area, and everything was closed for the night, but still. The smoke had to be visible from I-5.

As I parked my Jeep outside the gate and hopped out, the tingle of magic washed over my awareness. I couldn’t tell if whatever artifact or charm I sensed was keeping the outside world from knowing about the fire, but it was a possibility. I also sensed the aura of a magical being—several of them.

Nin’s pale blue Volkswagen Beetle was also parked out front, but she wasn’t inside. Damn it. She hadn’t waited.

Where are you? I texted her as I approached the front gate. It was ajar, not enough for a vehicle to drive in, but enough for a person. The lock had been melted off.

Val? a text message came in, but it wasn’t Nin. It was Dimitri.

Unless you’re in trouble, I can’t talk now. Nin’s food truck is on fire.

With Fezzik in hand and my ears and magical senses alert, I stepped inside. The crackling of fire came from beyond a large building, a commercial kitchen and bakery, the lit sign over the door promised. Twenty food trucks were parked in parallel spaces across from it and a few more were in the back where the smoke was coming from.

I opted for following the fence instead of going straight down the wide center aisle. One of the magical beings I sensed was close to the fire, maybe crouching atop the fence and looking down. The others—I picked out two more beings—were on the far side of the compound. Nin would have gone straight to her beleaguered truck.

When I stepped into the shadows between the commissary and the fence, I paused to summon Sindari.

Can you take me to Nin? I asked as soon as he materialized.

With only one-quarter gnomish blood, her magical aura was very faint. I wouldn’t be able to pick her up until I was standing next to her, but Sindari could smell her.

Yes. Are we going into battle?

My grip tightened on Fezzik. I hope so.

Excellent. Sindari continued along the fence, padding silently through the shadows. Is Nin in danger?

She may be. She didn’t wait for me outside like I told her to.

And she hadn’t answered my text. What if that shifter or whoever was looking down on the facility