by Ella Summers
“This mage is still alive. The person responsible for your father’s death is alive,” he told her. “It’s someone powerful, someone on the Magic Council. I could tell you who it is. If…”
“If?”
“If you agree to join me.”
Sera was so tired of being hunted and hated. His words sang to her soul, swaddling it like a warm, comforting blanket. Vengeance. It took every shred of willpower in Sera to shake her head in refusal.
“You are strong, Sera. Strong and far too stubborn for your own good. You allow yourself to be hunted. No, that is not the proper order of things. The strong should hunt the weak. Your first act as my sentinel and hunter will be to kill this mage who sent the assassin that killed your father. You will wipe away the old and bring in the new. They don’t understand. The crime of even considering ending you is unforgivable. They are monsters. The members of the Magic Council are monsters.”
He had a point, one that she’d made many times before. There were monsters on the Magic Council, but not every one of them was one.
“No,” she said.
I’m Ready. My magic is synched with yours. It’s time for us to blast out of here, her dragon told her.
Sera stepped forward, magic charging on her, building up. Her arms shook, her pulse pounding hard and heavy. She’d never felt so much magic inside of her, screaming to get out. She wanted to let loose. She wanted to burn them all.
Hold your horses there, cowgirl. We’re strong, but we’re not that strong. Mr. Death there has too much power. Plow a path through his flunkies and run like hell.
“You don’t care about my pain or my family or even justice,” Sera told Alden. “You only care about your power, your magic, your order. In other words, yourself. You want to use me like you’ve been using these poor people here.” She swept her hand around, indicating the magic-drunk mages. “I won’t make people stop thinking of me as a monster by acting like one.”
“They will always see you as a monster.”
“Maybe some,” she allowed. “But not all.”
“You are naive. Take your new boyfriend, the dragon.”
Sera stiffened.
“If he found out what you are, he’d turn on you.”
“That’s not true.”
“Isn’t it?”
Magic flashed, and Sera shielded her eyes with her hands. When she opened them again, she wasn’t in the cavern. She was standing opposite Kai.
“Abomination,” he spat, igniting the air with his rage. “Vile creature.” Dragon scales rolled across his arms.
“I thought you’d understand. You said I could tell you anything,” she said, reaching for him.
He shrugged her hand off. “I thought you were dabbling in something benign. Like blood or demon magic. Not this.” His eyes burned with hatred. “You are a monster. I don’t know how you survived this long, but I will correct that mistake.”
Magic pulsed out of him, blasting her across the room. Her back hit the wall in a crunch of agony. Tears and blood slid down her face, blurring her vision. Kai was stomping toward her, ready to finish what he’d started.
It’s not real.
She wiped her face with the back of her hand, glaring at him, willing herself to fight the illusion. Kai kept coming. He wasn’t going anywhere. Not until she made him.
She pushed up from the ground, pain cutting across her body. She felt like she was being burned alive. Slowly—too slowly—she managed to get to her feet. Kai’s fist pounded her against the wall. The back of her head was slick with blood. It gushed down her neck, staining her body red. He swung at her again. Ignoring the explosions going off inside her head, she caught his fist and slammed him against the wall. As he shattered, the illusion broke as well.
She was back in the cavern, Alden’s forehead was pressed to hers, his fingers gripping the back of her head. She threw her head forward, butting him hard in the forehead. He stumbled back and fell on his ass.
“You’re the real monster,” she said, glaring down at him. “And I clean up monsters.”
Then she blasted him with her magic. His head hit the ground, and she didn’t stop to see how long it would take him to get up again. She ran hard for the doorway, hurling a second blast that sent mages and monsters flailing through the air. The centaur was down. She leapt over him, through the doorway.
“Get her!” Alden’s voice roared from the hollow chamber.
Sera kept running, barreling down the long hallway as fast as her feet could carry her, praying that it led somewhere. She didn’t dare look back to see what was following her, but she could hear them surely enough, a rumble of magic and brutality. Death’s Army.
27
Death’s Army
Sera’s strength was fading fast. That blast had pretty much sapped her magic dry, and sprinting down an endless hallway to who-knew-where with a band of mages doped up on Grim Reaper magic on her heels wasn’t doing wonders for her stamina either. If she didn’t find the exit soon, she’d have to do something drastic.
More drastic than knocking Alden onto his bony little butt? her dragon sniped.
That wasn’t drastic. It was a calculated strategy. Too bad she hadn’t calculated an exit plan into her strategy.
The air feels better up ahead.
Define better.
Her dragon shrugged into her mind. Not as thick with cuckoo mage vibes. And maybe fresher. I think there’s a shaft leading up to the surface.
Sera pushed forward with renewed energy. If she could just get out of these tunnels, to where actual people were… Then what? Would Death’s Army scuttle off, their tails between their legs, at the sight of a few humans? Unlikely. Humans meant nothing to them. Their lives meant nothing. Alden would murder every one of them in the city—all those millions—just to get at her, to warp her into his instrument of death. But why? Why her?
A piece of wall exploded nearby, pelleting her with razor-sharp shards of rock speckled with metal. Right, priorities. She could torture herself with these questions all she wanted later. First, she had to make it out of here. A second blast erupted from the wall. Sera shot the telekinetic behind her a nasty glare, the only retaliation she could muster. She didn’t have enough magic to bathe the hallway in fire. Unfortunately. That telekinetic was none other than Olivia Sage. After the shit Olivia and her brother had put them through last month, Sera was salivating at the thought of payback.
But she had other things to worry about. Like the fireball that had just cruised over her head, singeing a few of her top hairs. Sera patted down her head. At this rate, she’d need to go buy a wig when she made it out of here. If she made it out of here.
A draft of cool air tickled her nose. The shaft! She could feel it. And, as she barreled around the corner, she could see it too. Magic and rock exploded at her heels, urging her to run faster. There was something else, something drawing her forward.
“Kai!”
Sera could feel his magic pounding out in hard, heavy beats. It poured down from the hole in the ceiling up ahead, searing the air with his scent. Hot and sweet and spicy—and most of all dragon. She burst forward with everything she had.
Behind her, Olivia’s snickers echoed off the walls with wicked glee. “He’s not here, little girl. Even he couldn’t find you, not with all the iron in the walls.”
Sera’s step stuttered. Olivia was right. Kai had no way to find her here. Her mind was just playing tricks on her. Or Alden was playing tricks on her.
She’d reached the hole in the ceiling and peered up. The shaft dripped darkness. She couldn’t see how far up it went—or whether it even led anywhere. One thing was for sure, though: there was no way she could climb up that thing. The mages would blast her right out of the ceiling. This was the end of the road. Sera spun around, drawing on every shred of magic left in her. A barrier of flames and lightning snapped up in front of her. Here she’d make her final stand.
“That won’t keep you safe for long,” Olivia snarled thr
ough the barrier. “Alden wants you, and Alden shall have you. But if you put away your magic and come quietly, I promise not to hurt you.” A saccharine smile slid across her full lips. “Not until we get back to Alden.”
A tendril of lightning-bound fire snapped out from the barrier like a whip, cracking the air in front of Olivia. The telekinetic jumped back, hurling curses.
“I think I’ll pass,” Sera told her.
“Fool,” Olivia spat, waving the other mages forward.
They raised their hands and blasted the barrier with their collective magic.
“Not…good enough,” Sera told them, wincing under the onslaught.
Satisfaction washed across Olivia’s face. “Oh, but we’re just getting started.”
The mages beat at her barrier. Again. And again. And again. Sweat beaded Sera’s brow, dripping down her neck. She wiped her slick palms on her pants.
“Sera.”
She ignored the voice. It called to her again.
“Go away,” she growled, keeping her focus on the barrier. It was all that stood between her and Alden’s army. “I know you’re not real.”
“She’s delusional. Probably dehydration coupled with severe exhaustion,” Dal’s voice said.
Sera licked her cracked lips. It felt like scraping sandpaper over an open wound.
“Have a look at that barrier!” exclaimed Callum. “It’s eating their magic!”
“There have got to be at least fifty mages down there. She’s holding off the magical onslaught of fifty mages,” Tony said.
Since when had the commandos become figments of her imagination?
“Sera, I’m coming,” Kai called out.
Another figment of her imagination. An illusion. But she wasn’t falling for it, not this time.
“The drop is too big,” Callum said. “We need to set up the ropes and rappel down there.”
Sera stole a glance up into the hole. Flashlights beamed down, blinding her. She blinked and returned her attention to her barrier.
“No time,” said Kai.
Wind howled out of the hole, and a second later, Kai dropped down on the wings of magic. Sera didn’t even look at him. She didn’t have time to talk to herself—or Alden, if that’s who was really behind the illusion.
“Sera, we have to go.”
A boulder exploded against her barrier. Tiny fissures split across its orange-pink surface. She poured magic over the barrier, trying to seal the cracks, but a second explosion fractured it again.
Can’t hold it…any longer, her dragon said, then winked out of her mind.
Sera fell to her knees, broken rock scraping her exposed skin. But the pain in her legs was nothing compared to the agony in her head. Spots danced in front of her eyes.
Arms, hard and rigid, grabbed her from behind, pulling her up. She struggled, her feet kicking uselessly against the ground.
“Stop…” Kai grunted. “…fighting me.”
She clamped her hands down on his arms, shooting lightning through him. The bastard snarled but didn’t budge an inch.
“What’s the matter with you?” he growled.
“You’re not real,” she coughed, her tears burning her cheeks. She’d hit him with everything she had, but the illusion hadn’t shattered. Her barrier, on the other hand, was on its last legs.
Kai shifted his grip so that he was only holding her with one arm. Magic had failed her, so she tried brute force. She pushed against his hold, but he had her arms pinned to her sides. She threw a wistful look at her dying barrier. As it whispered its final breath, a new barrier blazed up in its place, breathing fire at the mages. Sera looked down at her hands, then up at Kai. Her mind was trying to tell her something, but she couldn’t make it work long enough to do that.
“You…” She coughed, blood splattering his cheek.
“It’s ok. You’re safe now.”
She slumped against him, not even caring anymore that it wasn’t real. His lips brushed against her forehead, his breath warm against her icy skin. She shivered. When had it gotten so cold?
“Let’s get you out of here,” he said. His arms wrapped around her back, hugging her to him.
She nodded and nestled up to his chest, a stupid smile on her lips. She inhaled deeply, drinking in his thick, masculine scent. As far as illusions went, this one was pure rapture. A blanket of wind enveloped them, carrying them upward. They slid through the shaft and landed softly in what appeared to be an old abandoned subway station. The commandos were there, dressed in black and steel. Someone else was there too, standing back a ways and cloaked in shadow. She hoped it wasn’t Alden.
“How many?” Tony asked.
Kai shook his head. “Too many…have to get her out of here.”
The words echoed dully, as though spoken underwater. Sera’s head spun, and her feet collapsed out from under her.
When she opened her eyes again, she was in Kai’s arms, and he was carrying her toward the light.
“Just rest now,” he said softly against her cheek.
Warmth embraced her, and she surrendered to the darkness.
28
Knight of the Occult
Sweet and blissful dreams cushioned Sera’s sleep like a bed of frothy clouds. She dreamed that she and Kai soared the skies on dragon wings. They dropped down to a field of giant yellow daisies, dragon scales fading to human flesh as they landed. Kai’s eyes blazed with blue fire as they slid over her. Magic crackled on his skin. And when he touched her, it crawled up her arm and jumpstarted her heart.
Torn from sleep, Sera jumped up—and immediately tripped over something twisted around her ankles. A blanket? Heaving in labored breaths, she pushed herself off the floor. She was on a plane. Kai’s plane. She looked around, finding him sitting on the sofa she’d just so gracefully fallen off of. His eyes were quiet, his magic withdrawn.
“Where the hell are we?” she croaked out. Her voice was dry and her throat raw.
“Somewhere over Wyoming.”
He reached over to the side table and handed her a glass of water. She chugged it down and asked for more. Then she hightailed to the bathroom. She couldn’t even remember the last time she’d answered nature’s call, but it had been a while. It was a miracle that she hadn’t peed her pants during the whole Alden ordeal.
And now she was safe? A vague jumble of mismatched images—her running, fighting Alden’s mages, her barrier falling, Kai sweeping her up—flashed through her mind. It had been real? This was all real? Her mind felt clear now. It didn’t feel like she was trapped in an illusion. She splashed her face with water just to be sure.
Someone had cleaned and healed her wounds and dressed her in a snuggly sweatsuit. Cold. She’d been cold. And her dragon…
Are you there?
Yes, a voice said in her head, and Sera’s heart leapt with joy. She didn’t know when she’d become so attached to the snarky dragon, but she was glad her other half was all right.
Snarky, Miss-Pot-Calling-the-Kettle-Black? Indeed! Her dragon snorted. Then, her tone softening, she added, I’ve become rather attached to you too, mage.
Sera leaned her hands against the sink counter, slouching in relief. We made it.
Yes. Thanks to me. And maybe a little help from Sexy Shifter.
Are you going to stick with that name?
Her dragon smirked into her mind. If you call him that, I bet he’ll do that thing with his tongue you like so much…
Sera jumped, her head smacking against the low ceiling. Damn airplanes. Her cheeks flushed, she hurried out of the bathroom, her dragon’s snickers trailing her all the way back to the sofa. She plopped down and hastily threw her blanket over herself. She wasn’t cold—not anymore—but she had the sudden and irresistible urge to hide under something. Unfortunately, she couldn’t hide from herself, but after their delightful conversation in the bathroom, her dragon had gone silent again. She was probably still tired from their battle against Alden’s people. Sera sure wished she could doze b
ack off into oblivion. But first things first. She had to figure out everything that had happened.
“Kai.” She turned toward him, trying not to blush at the magic lighting up his eyes. “I was a little out of it when you found me. I hope I didn’t hurt you.”
“Sera, you’d have to hit me a lot harder than that to hurt me.”
“Still, I’m sorry. I thought you were an illusion. My mind wasn’t all there. I didn’t think it could be you, not there. You couldn’t have found me.”
Kai was watching her very closely, as though he thought she’d pop. “You disappeared in the fighting pit, right before my eyes. I saw you check your phone, then the portal swallowed you up. I knew Finn had you.”
Alden actually, but Sera didn’t interrupt him. She did, however, happily take the bowl of pretzels he was holding out to her.
“Sofia, one of the Magic Council mages we saved from the vampires, is an expert on portals, so I found her,” he continued. “By the time we got back down to the pit, it was too late to follow you through. Sofia said the portal was a fast-fading one. Limited range, no matter how much magic you pour into it, but virtually untraceable.”
“Then how did you find me?”
“The portal was virtually untraceable, but not impossible. Sofia got a fix on a general location of where the portal had taken you, a section of a few city blocks.”
“New York doesn’t have the smallest blocks.”
“It was a large area to search,” he agreed. “But it was better than all of Manhattan. Or the whole city for that matter. The commandos and I went to the area to start our search, but I couldn’t feel your magic anywhere.”
“That’s because of the iron in the walls bouncing magic like a house of mirrors.”
“Yes,” he said. “We had to search manually. We weren’t making any progress. And then Cutler showed up.”
“Cutler?” she gasped in surprise. “What was he doing there?”
“He said he was there to help.”
“And you believed him?”
