Read Smoke and Fire for Free Online

enough.
    â€œDragon magic is the strongest in the realm,” Ryder said. “Every Druid who tried to help Ulrik was killed. Then he met Darcy. Her magic was so powerful that she was able to touch our magic binding his. In the process, she saw into his mind and his memories. She also unbound his magic.”
    Kinsey was leaning forward in her seat now. “That can’t be good.”
    â€œIn the process, Darcy lost her magic. Ulrik has been relentless in trying to take his revenge against us. He’s teamed up with the Dark to help him in that quest.”
    She drew in a deep breath. “I don’t know that I blame him.”
    â€œHe tried to kill Darcy.”
    â€œWell, shit.”
    Ryder looked down at his hands for a second. “But he saved Lily.”
    â€œI think there might be more going on than any of you realize,” Kinsey told him.

 
    CHAPTER FIVE
    Ryder agreed with her. Even with his vast skills, there was less out there about Ulrik than there was about Con, which was nearly nothing. So finding something that could connect Ulrik to an individual or company was proving harder than Ryder wanted to admit.
    He hadn’t been able to discern more than a handful of aliases Ulrik used, and they didn’t garner anything useful. Ulrik had been very careful about hiding anything about himself.
    Ryder placed his fingers over the virtual keyboard and began to search through the top brass that worked for Kyvor to see if there were any connections to Ulrik.
    â€œThe problem,” he explained, “is that Ulrik is extremely careful and very cunning. He’s planned this out to the last detail, making it all but impossible for me to find anything.”
    â€œYou can’t find information? That’s hard to believe.”
    Her astonishment was evident in her tone, and it made him puff out his chest. “Ulrik is that good.”
    â€œWhat are you looking for?” Kinsey asked.
    Ryder glanced at her. “Someone has to be connected to Ulrik. I’m going to find them.”
    â€œYou do that. I’m going to see who placed the work order. They might have used my employee number, but the form didn’t originate on my computer. If I can find out what computer was used, I’ll know who set me up.”
    Ryder reached for a jelly donut and smiled. He had no doubt Kinsey would find what she was looking for. Because she was that good.
    It’s not like he’d gone looking for someone with the same skill sets as him, but it made being with Kinsey that much better because they had that in common.
    They spent several minutes in silence, each searching their respective items and watching the information pop up on the monitors. Ryder also kept an eye on the MI5 agents. More and more came each day.
    How much longer would it be before they demanded to enter the manor? But the Kings were prepared for that. They would turn to their magic and use it to hide the entrance to the mountain.
    There was no use 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.
    â€œSo 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.
    â€œNay,” he finally answered. “The Fae came to this