Shadow's Awakening: The Shadow Warder Series, Book One (An Urban Fantasy Romance Series) by Molle McGregor Read Free Book Online

and weeds, the house looked a little worse for wear. The bushes lining the porch sprawled in overgrown spikes of green. Mulch had worn away from the weedy beds. A few brave daffodils struggled for the sun, bright splashes of yellow against the neglected structure.
    The ground in front of the house had been rubbed bare by the rough-looking collection of SUVs and trucks parked haphazardly across what should have been the front lawn. Only one car was parked in the gravel drive, a well-kept sedan. A shutter hung askew, scraping dingy white paint from the siding. Tucked under the eaves, two windows on the third floor were secured with thick black bars. The only thing on the house that didn’t look about to fall to pieces, the sturdy bars were a jarring interruption in the facade of the farmhouse. It wasn’t hard for Conner to guess where the Vorati had stashed their prisoner.
    An hour earlier, Zach sent Conner the location of the captive Shadow. A few seconds later he had sent a second text saying, “GO NOW DON’T WAIT.” In the shade of the woods, Conner and Kiernan assessed their options. Kiernan broke the silence.
    “Unless you know how to turn us into earthworms, there’s no cover between here and the house.”
    “I can see that,” Conner said. “This would be much easier if we could wait until dark.”
    “The text said to go now.”
    “I know. I know,” Conner said. “I have an idea, but it’s not great. Do you remember that cloaking spell you used to use at the Academy when you wanted to sneak into the girls’ dorm?”
    “That spell sucked,” Kiernan said with a laugh. “I almost always got caught.”
    “Yeah. And neither of us is good at spell craft anyway. But it’s better than strolling across that field in broad daylight with no protection at all. Worst case it blurs us a little.”
    “We can do that one without any tools,” Kiernan said. “So then what? We knock on the front door and ask if they’re holding a Shadow captive and can we have her?”
    “Not exactly. How do you feel about blowing up one of the cars?”
    “I always feel good about blowing something up,” Kiernan said with a grin.
    Kiernan’s affection for explosives was a badly kept secret. Large or small, by mundane means or spelled, he loved to blow things up. Conner was sure he had everything on him that he might need for a small explosion. “Great. Here’s what we’re going to do.”
    With the ease of years working as a team, Conner and Kiernan planned their attack and began the cloaking spell. Tracing a symbol on two quarter-sized wooden discs, they slipped the discs into their pockets. As expected, the spell didn’t work well. They were both fully visible, but appeared to shimmer, as if viewed through waves of heat rising from hot pavement on a scorching summer day. If they moved fast, it might be enough. Leaning over to get as low as possible, they ran for the vehicles parked in front of the farmhouse.
    Kiernan reached a white SUV parked at a sloppy angle to the front porch. About twenty feet back from the structure, it was just far enough that it wouldn’t set the house on fire. Probably. Kiernan slid under the SUV as Conner crouched low beside the tailpipe. Conner heard Kiernan working quickly near what he assumed was the gas tank. He knew Kiernan preferred using human tools to have his fun, but Kiernan kept a few magical options on hand in case of unexpected opportunities. Only Kiernan would be absolutely miserable at every aspect of spell craft except that which related to fire. With a scrape and crunch of gravel, Kiernan rolled out from beneath the SUV.
    “Fire in the hole,” he shouted, grabbing Conner’s sleeve and pulling him toward the side of the house closest to the front door.
    Kiernan’s shout had alerted the inhabitants of the house. The door opened seconds before the SUV erupted into a fireball. The concussion knocked the Voratus at the door back into the house. Conner and Kiernan had already ducked