Read Online Magic Kingdom (Dragon Born Alexandria Book 3) by Ella Summers - Free Book Online Page A

peppered in splotches across the floor, she had a feeling that this was the vault room and their thief had burned everything to cover his tracks. He didn’t want anyone to find out what he’d stolen, and he’d destroyed a room full of valuables to make sure they didn’t.
    “This is different than all the other things that have happened tonight,” Alex said. “This wasn’t about monsters going wild or mages losing control. It was planned.”
    “Yes,” Logan agreed. “And the monsters were planned too.”
    “You think someone released all of these monsters tonight? On purpose?”
    “Yes, as a distraction. For this.” He indicated the melted vault.
    “What kind of supernatural could even do all of this?”
    “Whoever he was, he’s gone now,” Logan said. “And he didn’t leave a trail to follow. I can’t pick up any scents over the scorched concrete and melted asphalt.”
    Alex looked over the walls of the roofless building. Above, a full moon shone brightly in the night sky, a beacon of light in the darkness. This was a quiet street. All the surrounding buildings were either abandoned or shuttered up for the night. All except one. A coffee shop stood across the road, its sign lit up in welcome. A few of its patrons stood outside, steam wafting up from their coffee cups as they gawked at the ruins.
    “Come on,” Alex said, heading back over the melted walls.
    “What are you doing?”
    “I’m going to question those witnesses.”
    “You might want to put away your deranged smile for that.”
    She resettled her face. “Better?”
    Logan looked at her for a moment, then said, “Maybe I should question them.”
    “Funny.”
    The corner of his mouth twitched. The man did love to amuse himself.
    “Yeah, because assassins aren’t scary at all,” she said.
    “They don’t know I’m an assassin.”
    “You’re wearing black and are covered from head-to-toe in knives. They won’t think you’re Santa Claus.”
    “All right, Alex. We’ll go together.” He swung in front of her as they crossed the street. “Good evening,” he greeted the crowd outside the Magic Bean coffee shop.
    The witnesses gave them a wary look, their eyes widening. They were obviously taking in the black leather and steel. Or maybe it was the wood splinters in Alex’s hair. A few of the people began whispering to one another. Someone at the back of the crowd commented on the garlic smell.
    “We are with Monster Cleanup.”
    As soon as the words left Logan’s mouth, the crowd noticeably relaxed. The whispers died out.
    “Did any of you see what happened over there tonight?” Logan asked them.
    Most of the people shook their heads, but a man in a hooded sweatshirt and jeans stepped forward. He didn’t look older than twenty, the light stubble of hair on his face almost disappearing against his skin. He held a slim computer in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other.
    “I did,” he said. “About half an hour ago, some guy in a dark cloak walked up to the building and melted the walls with some crazy green fire. Then he disappeared through the hole he’d made.”
    “When did he come out again?” Alex asked.
    “He didn’t.”
    A few of the people nodded.
    “So what you’re telling us is that this cloaked, green-fire fellow burned a hole straight through solid concrete and then just disappeared into thin air?” asked Alex.
    “Yes.”
    “Monster Cleanup thanks you for your assistance,” Logan told them, then walked off quickly.
    “This is ridiculous,” Alex muttered as they returned to the melted building.
    “He wasn’t lying,” Logan said.
    “Are you sure your lie detection powers are infallible?” she asked. “Because that story was pretty ridiculous.”
    “He wasn’t lying,” Logan repeated. “He believes he saw what he described to us.”
    “And what do you believe?”
    “That I’ve never heard of green fire,” he said. “But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. Do you know anything about