Magic Games (Dragon Born Serafina Book 2)

by Ella Summers

  “Shall I take it off now?”

  Sera blinked at him. Shit. Had she actually said that aloud? She needed to stop getting caught up in her own thoughts.

  “Nah,” she said, hopefully casually. “That group of women who have been checking you out since we entered the restaurant would probably faint.”

  He glanced across the room at the women in question. They burst into giggles. One of them began to fan herself. Sera distinctly heard the words ‘Mages Illustrated’ buzzing over their table.

  “You have fans,” she commented.

  He grunted. “I never should have agreed to pose for that dirty magazine.”

  “Mages Illustrated isn’t a dirty magazine. It’s a respected publication with thought-provoking articles and features.”

  “I’m surprised you got through that sentence without bursting into laughter,” he said.

  “So am I.” Now she laughed. “Oh, look. There’s the laughter.” She cleared her throat. “Why did you agree to pose for the magazine?”

  “Technically, I didn’t agree.”

  “You lost a bet, didn’t you?”

  “Yes.” He looked like he wanted to punch something. Or someone.

  She chuckled. “Just think of it this way. You made the world’s female population very happy.”

  His head snapped toward her, his eyes alight with magic. “Including you?”

  “Uh…well…that is…”

  “You have the magazine too. I saw it.”

  “I told you already. That was all Naomi’s doing. She gave it to me.”

  “And you never looked? Not even a peek?”

  His hand traced her brow, his touch feather-soft. He leaned in, his mouth so close she could practically taste it. She felt herself arching toward him, daring him to kiss her. His eyes were intense. Penetrating.

  “Maybe just a tiny peek,” she admitted.

  “I thought so.” Then, with a smirk, he tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear and pulled away.

  “You’re a bad man,” she growled at him, her heart thumping.

  “The worst.”

  “When I get back to my room, I’m going to set that magazine on fire.”

  “Please do.”

  “I might set you on fire too,” she added.

  “Interesting.”

  She threw up her hands. “Bah, dragons!”

  “Was that supposed to be an insult?”

  “Yes!”

  “That’s not very professional of you.”

  Neither was sleeping with him. Simmons would pee his pants if he found out about that. She was pretty sure ‘do not have sex with the clients’ was buried somewhere in her Mayhem contract. Sera didn’t say this to Kai. She didn’t say anything. That was probably smarter than her usual method of just shooting off the first sarcastic comment that came into her head.

  “For the record, Sera, I do think you’re more professional than most mercenaries I’ve met. And you actually care about people, not just the money. Even if Bethany Harrower thinks you’re an evil she-devil.”

  That ridiculous purple poodle lady again. Sera would never be rid of her.

  “Did she tell you that?” she asked.

  “Not me personally. She’s been spreading it around her circles.”

  Which meant every mage of consequence in the world—anyone from a distinguished magic dynasty—knew what the old lady thought of Sera. Bethany Harrower was a mage socialite of the highest order.

  “I don’t know what wild tales she’s spreading, but what happened was all on her,” she said. “That micromanaging granny mage was the one who nearly got herself—and me—killed. She jumped into the middle of my battle with her garden gnomes because she could not stand back and simply let the professionals she’d hired actually do their job. Do you have any idea how hard it is to play bodyguard and monster exterminator at the same time? Of course I told her off for being a moron.”

  “Rumor has it you did a lot more than just tell her off.”

  “Ok, I showed her my knives,” Sera admitted, adding quickly, “But just the really small ones. I didn’t want to give her a heart attack.”

  “She claims she was traumatized for life.”

  “And you believe her?”

  “No. Bethany was also ‘traumatized for life’ the day she saw her first pair of hot pants.”

  “Hmm,” she said, amusement tugging at her mouth. “Maybe I should have worn hot pants when I went to kill her gnomes.”

  “Then you might really have given her a heart attack.” His serious face dissolved into wicked bliss. He leaned in and whispered into her ear, “But I wouldn’t mind if you wore them the next time we went monster hunting together.”

  “I don’t know.” She gave him a crooked smile. “You’d have to make it worth my while.”

  “I’ll bring muffins.”

  “Sold,” she said immediately. “But only if they’re blueberry.”

  “I think that can be arranged.” He wrapped his arm around her, his hand brushing against her thigh. Magic dripped out of his fingertips, oscillating to every corner of her body.

  She slapped his hand away. “Stop that. I’m still mad at you.”

  “Does that mean you won’t be setting me on fire later?”

  “It was supposed to be a threat, something that sparked fear in your heart.” She frowned. “Not something that you’re looking forward to. You’ve ruined it.”

  “How about if I shriek and roll around on the floor in agony?”

  “Do you even know how to shriek?” she asked him.

  “I can roar.”

  She shook her head. “Forget it. I’ll think of some other way to get back at you.”

  He kissed her cheek. “Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help you with that.” His second kiss brushed past her lips. “In the spirit of cooperation.”

  She returned his kiss, catching his lower lip between her teeth. She gave it a rough tug. He groaned into her mouth, his tongue finding hers, his hands clutching her hips beneath the table.

  “Nice try, but that wasn’t a shriek or a roar,” she said, pulling back, teasing his mouth.

  He growled in frustration.

  “Getting closer.”

  “You are a wicked woman,” he hissed against her lips.

  If Sera’s phone hadn’t chosen that moment to buzz against the table, she didn’t know what would have happened. No one had kicked them out of the restaurant yet, but they were about ten seconds away from indecent exposure. She pulled back from him, fumbling for her phone. Her head was still spinning from that kiss. She was making out with Kai. In public. With tables full of people all around her. What the hell was the matter with her?

  “I blame the Games. They’re messing with my head,” she muttered.

  “What’s that?” Kai rested his arms atop the back of the bench. His posture said relaxed, but his magic was as intense as a speeding train. It pulsed in slow, intense beats, pounding against hers. She might need to slap him again—and herself while she was at it.

  “Nothing,” she replied, checking her phone. Another message from Finn. Great.

  “You’re frowning.”

  “Am I?”

  She looked up at Kai. He was frowning too. His magic surged, going from intense to enraged. Frost crackled and spread down her milkshake glass. Inside, her liquid dessert was fast approaching solid ice block territory.

  “If you ruin my milkshake, I’m going to make you order me another one,” she warned him.

  Her glass hissed, released from his arctic spell.

  “That’s better. Now, let’s just ignore Finn and go back to…eating.”

  Kai was already dialing the commandos. The man just couldn’t help himself. “Tell me where the photo of Sera in the pit was taken from,” he spoke before any of them could.

  “…looked around,” came Tony’s voice from the other end. “…one-fifteen…front…first five rows…”

  “Find him. This is gettin
g ridiculous,” Kai snapped, hanging up.

  For the next five minutes, he devoured his remaining burgers. She watched. She nibbled on her own burger and dipped a few fries into her milkshake, but she wasn’t feeling very hungry.

  “You should eat,” he said finally, wiping his hands down with a napkin. “You’ll need your strength.”

  She took a bite of the burger and a long slurp of milkshake.

  “I think you might be right about Cutler,” he said, watching her closely. “He was sitting right where one of Finn’s photos was taken from. Maybe I should have a few strong words with him.”

  Sera reached up, catching his hand as he stood. “Wait.”

  “Let go, Sera,” he growled. “I need to kill something.”

  She believed it. His magic crashed and churned, the beginnings of a storm brewing behind his eyes.

  “Don’t do that,” she said. “If Cutler is a part of all this, confronting him will only tip him off. And if he isn’t, attacking him will get you into trouble with his mother. Melinda Spellstorm can summon entire herds of unicorns. That woman is scary.”

  “You think this is funny?

  “No, it’s very serious,” replied Sera. “Don’t confront Cutler. Watch him. Use him to find Finn.”

  “Hmm.” He began writing out a message to the commandos. “Since when did you get so level-headed?”

  “It’s all part of my new and improved super professionalism.”

  At least that elicited a response from him, if only a slightly amused grunt. “Ok, Ms. Professional. How about you finish your lunch so you don’t pass out the moment you step into the fighting pit.”

  “Your confidence in me is inspiring,” she said, taking another long drink from her glass. After all, nothing went better with doom and gloom than milkshakes.

  24

  The Summoning Sisters

  “All three members of the Summoning Sisters are rated amongst the top ten summoners in the world,” Kai said as they walked down the now all-too-familiar hallway.

  Something big lay at the other end, and it wasn’t puppy dogs and daisies. It was the pit. The Pit of Insanity, the Destroyer of Dreams, the Breaker of Mages. If they’d had more time, Sera could have thought up a few more apt descriptors, but time was short. It was always far too short. In five minutes, she was going to be trapped inside that pit of a thousand titles, too busy to think up cutesy nicknames.

  “The Summoning Sisters can summon just about anything, so be on your toes,” Kai continued. “And there will be fairies again. I’m guessing stronger ones and more of them. Duncan’s mortal failing is his obsession with outdoing himself.”

  “I can think of a few more mortal failings,” she muttered under her breath.

  She knew he’d heard, but he didn’t let her words derail him. “The fairies will try to mess with your mind, feeding you illusions both beautiful and terrifying. They’re not real. Remember that.”

  She shrugged off his hand. “I’ll be fine. If the fairies annoy me too much, I’ll snap their wings off.”

  “Sera—” Something hummed. “I want you to know—” He looked down and growled at his pocket.

  “Your pants are buzzing,” she told him.

  He cursed.

  “Maybe you should answer that.”

  He dug his phone out, glancing at the screen. “I have to take this call.”

  “Be my guest.”

  He lifted the phone to his ear. “Drachenburg.”

  A voice—a woman’s voice—spoke from the other end. Kai turned and walked off down the hall, out of earshot.

  “He’s a fickle beast.”

  Sera pivoted around. Cutler stood inside the open doorway that led to the pit, leaning one hand against each side, pushing just hard enough to flex his muscles. Sera suppressed a groan. She didn’t have time for this shit. Not now. Not ever.

  “How did you get down here?” she demanded.

  “I walked across the pit.”

  “And the guards just let you?”

  He shrugged. “I bribed them.”

  Of course.

  Cutler looked past her, down the hall where Kai was talking on the phone.

  “Do you think his other girlfriend knows about you?” he asked, his face the picture of innocence.

  “It’s probably his mother. Or a cousin.”

  “Her voice sounded…” His mouth curled up. “…sultry.”

  “Then why don’t you go flirt with her. All you have to do is snatch the phone from Kai’s hand.”

  “There is no try, beautiful. If I want something, I take it.” He snapped his fingers. “Just like that.” A rose, blood-red and as big as a kitten, floated toward her. “And right now, I want you.”

  “Sorry, not interested.”

  The rose dropped into her hand. There was obviously something wrong with his hearing—or his head.

  “Have you ever made love with a telekinetic?” he asked, his voice as smooth as hot honey.

  No, but I’ve kicked one in the head.

  “It’s an unforgettable experience.” His eyes flashed. “I could bathe your body in pleasure.”

  Sera coughed, choking on the building narcissism in the air.

  “We could do it suspended in the air.”

  What girl could say no to a romantic line like that?

  “Or I could just strip you naked without ever lifting a finger.”

  Sera snapped her hand to her shoulder, pushing up her sliding sleeve. “Keep your hands—and your magic—away from me,” she said, deep and low, letting the menace simmer in her throat. Just like the dragon.

  Smiling, Cutler lifted his hands in the air, then tucked them behind his back. Magic flickered in his eyes like a rogue lightbulb.

  She sighed. “What do you want?”

  “To talk to you,” he replied.

  “So talk. And make it fast. My match is about to start.”

  “Sera…” His gaze darted past her shoulder. Whatever he saw there washed all color from his face.

  She glanced back. Kai was coming down the hall. Every time his foot touched down, the floor shook. Rage, pure and undiluted, boiled inside his electric blue eyes, which had Cutler locked in their crosshairs. Magic lashed out from Kai like a whip, snapping and hissing as it electrified the dust in the air. The door to the pit quivered and quaked—then ripped from its hinges, smacking the ground with a resounding thump.

  “Watch yourself out there,” Cutler said, giving her arm a soft pat before turning tail and escaping into the pit.

  Kai stopped beside Sera, his steps surprisingly light and springy for someone who had basically just set off an earthquake in the hallway. “What did he have to say?” His eyes, still seething, followed Cutler’s progress across the pit.

  “Nothing much. He just came by to hit on me.” Sera shrugged, aiming for indifferent.

  Kai punched the wall, crunching concrete. Obviously, she needed to work on ‘indifferent’.

  “I’m fine,” she assured him.

  She rubbed the dust from her eyes, wishing that she’d never even brought up her suspicions about Cutler working for Finn. It had accomplished nothing except to make Kai grouchy. And they probably weren’t even true. Cutler, plotting and scheming for Finn’s evil organization? Unlikely. He couldn’t plot out anything more complicated than his next clubbing ensemble. And he couldn’t scheme his way out of an unlocked room. Cutler was harmless. Crude—but harmless.

  Inside the pit, a gong echoed.

  “That’s ominous,” she commented as the crowd’s voices cheered and stomped.

  “Are you ready?” Kai asked her. The angry light in his eyes had gone out.

  “Se-ra! Se-ra! Se-ra!” The voices poured through the doorway; their stomps shook the stands. Apparently, they liked her. Or at least liked the way she brutally took down her foes.

  “I’m ready,” she told Kai, taking a step toward the pit. She threw a playful wink over her shoulder. “I’ll be right back.”

  “I�
��ll be here,” he said, planting himself in the doorway.

  She nodded, then entered the pit.

  Sera’s opponents stood on the opposite end, three female mages positioned in a wide triangle pattern. The one at the front wore a black leather crop top with long, bell-shaped sleeves made of red chiffon; they rippled in the magical breeze wafting off the magic barrier that surrounded the pit. Her pants were also leather, the bottoms tucked into her knee-high boots. The heels on those boots looked hard enough to hammer through a vampire’s skull.

  Her ‘sisters’ were dressed…well, differently. The mage to her right wore a long and fluffy white gown that strongly resembled a wedding dress. A veil draped from the sparkling tiara on her head. She even held a bouquet of flowers in one hand. Oh, boy.

  The third summoner wore a skin-tight fuchsia bodysuit with a thick gold zipper down the front. She had it unzipped halfway to her navel, exposing shimmering bronze skin. There wasn’t a tan line in sight. A big pink-and-white lily was tucked behind her ear, and her long, dark braid hung over her shoulder like a whip.

  A row of fairies lined three sides of the pit. They were dressed like Tinker Bell’s entourage, the kaleidoscope of garish colors and fabrics making Sera’s eyes bleed. Their magic, thick with sugar and seduction, lapped at her like a gentle tide, singing like the ocean at sunset. She could feel them nudging her defenses, trying to find a way into her mind. They were still only teasing. Only playing. As soon as the match started, the sweet lie of their illusion would crumble into dust. They’d tear at her with everything they had.

  Ahead of her, the three mages were smirking like they had some grand secret. Whatever it was, they didn’t care to share it. They shot monsters at her instead. A glittering silver cloud rolled across the pit at Sera, a storm of stampeding ponies carrying it forward. Their thick bodies, coils of tightly woven magic, glowed like crystal. Their galloping hooves thundered against the sandy ground.