Darkfire Kiss Read Online Free PDF

laughed. “You thought the house was empty.”
    “I chose to accept your lure.” Rafferty smiled with confidence, letting Magnus think he might not be alone.
    Magnus moved like lightning to strike Rafferty again, sending the Pyr into one wall. That wall vibrated hard, but Rafferty barely felt the blow. He leapt after Magnus, locking his talons around his throat. Magnus shook free, the pair exchanging blow after blow as they moved down the corridor.
    “ You didn’t know ,” Magnus scoffed. “You couldn’t sense me.”
    “ No ,” Rafferty insisted, “ but I know you. I can anticipate you. ” He proved it by ducking a blow, feinting, and driving his head up hard beneath Magnus’s ribs.
    Magnus hissed in pain, then kicked Rafferty. “So, you stepped willingly into the trap. How…valiant.” Magnus emitted another mocking laugh, one that was cut short.
    Rafferty had quickly locked his tail around Magnus’s tail. He entwined their two tails, holding Magnus captive, then tugged hard. Magnus lost his balance and stumbled closer, just as Rafferty slashed at the Slayer ’s gut with one back claw. Rafferty’s golden talons cut deep, leaving four parallel wounds across Magnus’s gut—cuts that oozed black blood. The blood pooled on the floor, gleaming and slick. Rafferty slammed Magnus into the wall, and the entire house shook.
    Where was the woman?
    Rafferty strained his ears, trying to hear some sound that would indicate her presence. Nothing. He didn’t dare to glance away from Magnus to look for her.
    If she’d chosen to run, she wouldn’t get far.
    What if she was on Magnus’s side? What if she was preparing a trap? He struggled to hear some hint of her presence, alarmed when he could detect none.
    At the same time, he held fast to Magnus.
    He squeezed, letting his talons dig into the old Slayer ’s hide. Magnus cried out in pain and struggled for release. Rafferty held him, loosing dragonfire on his enemy.
    An elegant runner, rich with pattern, ran the length of the hall floor, and Rafferty regretted when the carpet ignited. It had been stained, probably irreparably, with the Slayer ’s blood, anyway. It burned quickly, and the light of the hungry flames danced high, illuminating the pale walls with orange.
    Rafferty spared a glance toward Magnus’s office, but there was no sign of the woman.
    The gun was gone, too. Interesting. Had she taken anything else? He suspected then that she wasn’t in league with Magnus at all.
    Maybe this thief was smarter than he’d thought.
    Magnus twisted in Rafferty’s grip, appearing to be more injured than Rafferty expected. He coughed and writhed, then moaned feebly. Rafferty held fast, declining to be fooled by this old serpent. He thrashed his opponent, then aimed his dragonfire at the scarred skin where Magnus was missing a scale.
    He would finish this now.
    Magnus cried out in pain, arched his back, then froze.
    He began to breathe slowly and deeply, his eyes narrowed to shining slits of malice. Rafferty had a moment to feel dread before Magnus’s dragonsmoke unfurled.

Chapter 2
     
    R afferty saw the tongue of dragonsmoke winding toward him before he felt it. He knew the silvery ribbon of smoke would make a conduit if it touched him, allowing Magnus to steal his strength.
    The dragonsmoke coiled, beginning to spiral around Rafferty. He had the sudden thought that it would strangle him, catch him around the throat, and milk him dry. He decked Magnus one last time and backed away, his blow making no difference to Magnus’s breathing.
    In fact, the old Slayer ’s eyes glinted brighter, shining like jewels even as his blood pooled on the floor and his carpet burned. The fire burned high, surrounding the old Slayer and illuminating his jade scales.
    His dragonsmoke wound ever closer.
    Rafferty struggled to evade it, even as Magnus breathed a longer and longer tendril of unbroken dragonsmoke. Rafferty ducked and weaved, aiming dragonfire at Magnus all the while, but