Free Crown of Cinders (Imdalind Series Book 7) by Rebecca Ethington Page B

worse than the burning he gave him.”
    Edmund.
    Dirty Drak … Sain.
    Burning.
    Something about that didn’t make sense. Sain doing something to Edmund and burning? I must not have heard him right.
    I moved as close as I dared, my ear toward the street as I listened, staring at Wyn who looked back at me with a mirror of confusion.
    We couldn’t kill them, not now. Something had happened, and we needed to know what. From the way my sight was squirming and burning inside of me, I already had an idea.
    These two had the piece I was missing.
    “The first one to capture wins,” Wyn whispered, her voice low as the power of her magic swelled, the two devils only steps away. “We just need one, after all.”
    “Did you hear that?” The deep gruff of the Trpaslíks voice had barely cleared the air before Wyn stepped out from the shadows of the alley, her hands sparking in warning.
    “Good evening, gentlemen.” She might have been greeting a new client with the honey in her voice. “Lovely night for a stroll, isn’t it?” She popped her hip out, pursed her lips, and flipped the short bob of her hair seductively. The motions were so practiced I knew at once what her game was, and I knew it would work, too. It was far too Charlie’s Angels not to.
    “Wynifred! The dirty traitor! Stand down and be killed, girl.”
    Well, okay, it would have worked if it weren’t for that.
    “Don’t go spouting out labels like that,” I said, trying to keep my voice as calm as Wyn’s as I walked out beside her. Try was the operative word there. I was certain I was shaking far too much. “My friend here has been plagued by the exact same ailment and the pain it causes … Besides, it’s rude.”
    “So rude,” Wyn added, careful not to touch me as I moved dangerously close to her. Our magic, which was already on high alert, sparked from the close proximity. “You’d think your master would have given you better manners.”
    I waited, convinced the anger-fueled tirade Edmund’s men usually met us with would fill the dark. Instead, there was silence mixed with shock, eagerness, and just the right amount of fear. Although, I was positive the fear was more from me. I had exploded most of them outside of Rioseco. Consequently, perhaps the fear wasn’t quite so one-sided.
    “Hello …? She insulted Edmund.” Wyn sighed, upset at the lack of banter. “Where is the growling, the grumbles?”
    “Lost along with their confidence,” I said, smiling as the first attack went free, a bright purple line of magic that flew from my hand and right into the man before me.
    His scream was loud as it hit him in the chest, sending him flying through the air to land about thirty feet away.
    His partner looked between the two of us, looked into the reality of the massacre he had walked into, and turned to run.
    Two steps in, and Wyn’s magic wrapped around him in a visible line of fire, the heat so potent he couldn’t move past it no matter how many times he flung his body against it. He screamed in pain with every impact, collapsing within his prison in a gasping heap of singed flesh, fear filling his eyes as he looked for a way to escape.
    “Can we not maim people we are hoping to get help from?”
    “Information, not help. And I wasn’t maiming.” Wyn’s focus didn’t leave the panicking creature she had captured. “Besides, didn’t you shoot someone through the air? Who’s not maiming now?”
    I thought my eyebrows disappeared into the flyaway bangs of my dark hair.
    Wyn sighed, the roll of her eyes making it clear I wouldn’t let her get away with killing the man. “Fine. No maiming. I already won, anyway.”
    “Only because I attacked instead of restraining,” I grumbled, taking a few steps toward my target. “I didn’t expect you to restrain.”
    “Well, I can play with him later.”
    I couldn’t help the disgusted wrinkle that moved over my face at that.
    “So it’s a win-win.”
    “Yeah, yeah,” I grumbled, turning