Smoke and Fire: Part 4 by Donna Grant Page A

were being watched. Not even their dragon magic could do that.
    “Ryder?”
    He blinked and found Thorn looking at him with concern. A glass of whisky was set in front of him. Ryder swung his head around to see Dmitri take Kinsey’s chair.
    “I brought a couple of bottles,” Dmitri said. “I think we’re all going to need it.”
    Thorn took his glass and drained it. “Con already left for Paris. We’ve got until tomorrow evening to sort this out.”
    Ryder’s gut clenched. Thorn was right. If Con were here, Ryder knew he’d want Kinsey interrogated immediately.
    He ignored the glass of whisky and read the next few e-mails. They didn’t say anything of importance, just listed how often he’d been seen with Kinsey.
    It wasn’t until six e-mails later that he felt as if he’d been blasted with Dark magic. He reached for the whisky and tossed it back. No sooner had he set the glass down than Dmitri refilled it.
    Ryder drank that one as well before he could face the screen again and take in what he’d read.
    “We’ve made contact with KB. She’s receptive to our offer. Will proceed with the plan.”
    “You doona know what the offer was,” Thorn said.
    Dmitri grunted. “It’s obvious they’re using her to get to Ryder.”
    Ryder didn’t know what to believe. He knew what his heart told him, but his mind was telling him something else entirely. Was he so in love that he hadn’t seen he was being betrayed?
    Just like Ulrik.
    Thorn refilled all three glasses. “Keep reading,” he urged.
    Ryder wanted to destroy the entire room with a round of dragon fire, but he found himself clicking on the next e-mail instead.
    For the next several, the focus was on him and his movements. His watcher seemed irritated that he’d not seen Ryder doing anything magical nor had he witnessed Ryder shifting.
    Ryder noted the date of the next e-mail he was to open. It was a month after he’d left Glasgow. In all his life he’d never felt nervous about anything, but the emotion was filling his gut now to the point he felt ill.
    Dmitri shoved the glass of whisky into his hand. It must be that bad for them to prepare him ahead of time. Ryder took a deep breath and opened the e-mail.
    “ We’ve a perfect opportunity with KB. She’s distraught and easily convinced right now. I’m pushing things ahead of schedule. ”
    From then, his watcher focused entirely on Kinsey. He was the one taking pictures of her and filing daily reports of her comings and goings. But these second reports were going to the group Ryder had yet to discern.
    Thorn pointed to the screen. “You can skip the next ten. The e-mails don’t say much other than he miscalculated the depth of her hurt. Whatever his plan was got pushed back.”
    Ryder still went through each e-mail. He didn’t want to miss anything. It could be a single word usage that gave him a clue to something later.
    When he came to the e-mail Thorn had told him to skip to, Ryder didn’t hesitate. He opened it immediately.
    “ KB has taken the bait. ”
    That’s all the e-mail said, but it left Ryder cold. It was dated nearly fourteen months after he’d left. He’d been watching over her all that time, but only checking in to make sure she was all right. He hadn’t watched her every move.
    Ryder stared at that single sentence for several minutes. He’d truly believed Kinsey was innocent. Even Dmitri had said her reactions were those of someone not hiding anything.
    Could they’ve been so wrong?
    “Ryder, you may no’ want to hear this, but I think we should have someone watching Kinsey,” Dmitri said.
    He nodded, knowing Dmitri was right. “She’s in my room,” Ryder said.
    A moment later Dmitri said, “Anson is standing outside the door. If she wakes, he’ll bring her straight here.”
    Ryder looked at his two friends, neither of who would hold his gaze for long. Ryder had staked his life on Kinsey’s innocence.
    The only thing that kept him seated was knowing that none of