Energy whisked across my skin. It was the barest caress, little more than a hint of darkness, but it nevertheless made my skin crawl. Amaya's hiss began to flow through the back of my thoughts.
"Why would someone do that?" Jak asked. "I mean, anyone could spring it."
I didn't get the chance to reply, because at that precise moment all hell broke loose.
Chapter 3
The air exploded, filling the room with a tidal wave that was both heat and magic. As it stormed toward us, I swore and spun, wrapping my arms around Jak and calling to the Aedh.
"What the fuck —"
The rest of his words were abruptly cut off as my magic ripped through us both, shredding skin and blood and bone with quick efficiency, until there was nothing left but two streams of tremulous smoke, separate but entwined.
Then the wave of energy and magic hit, and the doors, walls, and ceiling all around us disintegrated. I very much suspected the wave would have done the same to us had we been in flesh form.
The wave rolled into the kitchen–dining area, its progress trackable through the pulverization of everything it touched. Not just walls and ceilings, but the half-built kitchen as well as the old remnant. But the force behind the wave obviously began to fade as it neared the far wall, because while some of the plaster fell, most remained intact.
I turned, peering through the dusty gloom, wondering if that explosion was all there was to the trap. Wondering if it had been aimed at me, specifically, or just anyone who entered this room. That brief caress of darkness before the explosion certainly seemed to suggest the former rather than the latter, but if that was the case, why not create an explosion that would do damage to an Aedh? Whoever had set this trap – be it the dark sorcerer or Lauren – had to know what I was.
But then, why would they want me dead? The final key still had to be found, and I was the only one who could do that.
Maybe this trap had been set more out of spite and emotion than levelheaded thinking, and that suggested Lauren more than the dark sorcerer. If the argument I'd interrupted between Lucian and her had been any indication, Lauren hadn't been happy about my presence in his life. And she certainly had to suspect my part in his death.
Maybe destroying any possible evidence had been the main intent of the blast. Damage to me, if I hadn't been quick enough, might have just been a bonus.
Which made me wonder if the reaper who'd replaced Azriel would have stepped in to save me had my life truly been in danger.
Or wouldn't it have mattered to him? Or to any of them?