Read Smoke and Fire: Part 1 for Free Online

hiding the various dragon relics, paintings, and such. Dreagan meant dragon. It was the first thing Con told MI5 when they arrived. To try and say they didn’t know anything about dragons would only make them look guilty.
    So Con had told them the video was an elaborate prank by some competitor that wanted to knock Dreagan whisky off as the top-selling Scotch in the world. For the time being, MI5 was buying that lie.
    “So the Dark factor in because of Ulrik?” Kinsey asked, her gaze on her screen as her mind worked not just on her search, but on everything he’d told her about the Dragon Kings.
    Ryder sat back and let his gaze run over the rows of monitors that surrounded him. It felt right to have Kinsey near him again, but he knew it couldn’t last. She might have listened to his story with interest, and even felt something for the dragons. But there was still fear in her violet eyes.
    “Nay,” he finally answered. “The Fae came to this realm a verra long time ago hoping they could force us to leave in order to have the mortals to themselves. That was the Fae Wars. The Dark have been our enemy since. The Light vary, but most times they side with us.”
    Kinsey turned her head to him. “And Glasgow?”
    “It wasna just Glasgow,” he said. “It was Edinburgh, Inverness, Oban, and countless other cities throughout the U.K. The Dark wanted to take over. Dragon Kings were assigned to each city to protect as many mortals as we could from the Dark.”
    She turned back to the monitor. In a tight voice she said, “I see.”
    Was it his imagination, or did she sound upset at his response? “Doona travel to Ireland. That’s where the Fae live.”
    “Well, that’s good to know,” she commented as she typed something.
    Ryder focused on his search. One by one, he went through the top executives at Kyvor. When nothing came up, he widened his search and found the smaller companies Kyvor was parent to and repeated the process.
    He was running searches on three computers simultaneously. Every so often he looked at Kinsey. She was so absorbed in what she was doing that the outside world fell away. It was how she had always worked, and Ryder found it endearing.
    Minutes turned into hours. The longer he went without discovering anything on Ulrik, the more frustrated Ryder became. If there was anything out there, he’d find it. Which just proved there was nothing.
    That, however, wasn’t possible.
    Not with today’s smart phones with cameras for pictures and videos. Then there was social media where even the most skilled people sometimes got caught out at a restaurant or crossing the street.
    Facial recognition software had been searching for Ulrik’s face for the past three hours, and had come up with absolutely zero from all social media outlets.
    Ryder pushed back from the table and rolled his head from side to side. Kinsey hadn’t moved other than her fingers over the keyboard.
    Suddenly, the door opened and Dmitri filled the doorway. He met Ryder’s gaze and shrugged before he stepped aside. Ryder then found himself looking into black eyes.
    Con.
    “I hear we have a visitor,” Con said as he walked closer to the monitors and looked over them to Kinsey. She was too intent on her work to notice Con.
    Ryder said, “This is how she works. She doesna even hear you.”
    “Perhaps you should get her attention.”
    “No’ yet,” Ryder said.
    Con stared at him for a stretch of silence. “Dmitri filled me in on Kinsey Burns. I’d like to hear it from you now.”
    “There isna much to tell,” Ryder said. He hadn’t wanted Con to know of the time he and Kinsey had been together in Glasgow, but it was inevitable.
    “I knew you were seeing someone during your stay in Glasgow. I gather the woman was Kinsey.”
    Ryder nodded. There was no such thing as privacy in the world of the Dragon Kings.
    Con’s gaze moved to Kinsey where he studied her for several minutes. “We’ll talk more about that later. Catch me up on