Page 18 of Must Love Dragons
The lighthouse stood to the left, and he’d heard from Kinsley—who had nervously chattered the short drive, and he didnotfind that endearing at all—that the merman lighthouse keeper and his mate—who was a fairy and witch combination he’d never heard of—lived at the lighthouse and kept watch over the nearby beach and small marina with gas dock.
They walked down a path to the docks, the wood creaking under his boots, the air thick with fog.
His dragon paced under his skin, restless and agitated.He didn’t like being where his uncle had been abducted because he could feel faint magic in the air.
Mostly, though, he didn’t like that he wasn’t alone.
Kinsley walked a step ahead, her head turning slightly back and forth as she looked around the docks, searching for something.She seemed at ease, like the knowledge that dark magic users had been there didn’t bother her.
She knelt at the edge of the dock, her fingers brushing lightly over the damp wood as she whispered words he couldn’t quite make out but was very certain were a spell of some kind.Then with a little flare, she summoned fire.
It wasn’t wild, it was controlled, held in the palm of her hand, flickering yellow and orange.His fists clenched as he told himself he should look away and ignore the way the light reflected off her hair, turning the chestnut strands into molten copper.
But he didn’t.He couldn’t.
He was mesmerized.
He could summon fire in his dragon form, but she called to it and spoke to it in a way he’d never witnessed.She turned her hand over and the flame pulsed and expanded, moving along the wooden dock like it was alive.
Fucking magic.
But damn.
He could feel how powerful she was, like his dragon recognized it, and responded to it.
His gut churned.He shouldn’t respect her power, but seeing her wield it now, watching her control and concentration, he couldn’t deny she was strong.And strength was something he could relate to.
Kinsley’s brow furrowed.
The flames illuminated the dock where she knelt, and he could see something in the flames, but he didn’t know what it was.
He moved closer before he could stop himself.“What do you see?”
She glanced at him.“It’s not what I see, it’s what I feel.There were dark magic users here for sure, but we already knew that.”
“Is anything you discovered helpful?”he asked.
Her brow furrowed as she pressed her palm flat to the wood, the flames flaring brighter and then dimming.“Something’s wrong.”
“What does that mean?”
“The magic is cloaked,” she said, frustration in her voice.“Someone deliberately covered their tracks.They used dark magic, and it basically erased itself.I should have been able to follow the magic and get a vision of where they are, but I can’t.They wiped the evidence of their tracks like an eraser on a chalkboard.”
His stomach dropped.
Damn it.He needed her to track the warlocks so he could find his uncle.But after letting his guard down with her, they were back to nothing.
Kinsley moved her hand over the flames and snuffed them out.She stood, brushing her hands on her jeans.“I’m sorry, Zay.”
And then she swayed on her feet, her eyes flashing to copper for a moment.Before he could think, his hand shot out and he gripped her arm to steady her.
Her skin was warm beneath his fingers.
He let go fast, his dragon growling in protest.
“I’m fine,” she said.
His dragon pushed forward, wanting to be closer.He shoved down the protective growl in his throat.
