by Ella Summers
Alex and Sera laughed, smiling down on their fiancés as they passed. The guys glowered up at them. An arm burst out of the ground, sending shards of solidified sand flying in every direction. Logan grabbed Alex’s leg and locked on. Alex tried to kick free, but he wouldn’t budge.
Sera stopped running.
“Go!” Alex shouted at her. “I’ll catch up.”
Sera nodded and started running again.
Meanwhile, Alex struggled against Logan’s grip. She couldn’t depend on her raw strength to break free of Logan’s grip because he was even stronger than she was. And he had already freed more of his body. This wasn’t going at all like she’d planned.
So she turned to her magic. She cast a mini wind spell under Logan’s nose. It twitched, he sneezed, and that’s when Alex broke free of him. She ran after Sera, catching up.
Sera was already blowing on the seashell. Stepping stones rose out of the ocean. Alex and Sera dashed across them, toward the tiny island.
But the guys were right behind them, running across the stones.
“Hurry, Sera,” Alex coaxed her sister. “They’re coming.”
“If I move any faster, I’ll fall into the ocean.”
“That gives me an idea.”
“Oh, no,” Sera said.
“Oh, yes,” replied Alex.
She hopped off the last stone, onto the island. Then she cast a wind funnel to scoop up Sera and push her over the final few stone steps. Once both her and her sister’s feet were firmly on the ground, she grabbed the shell and blew.
The stones disappeared. Logan and Kai dropped into the water with a splash. Sera laughed. The curses coming from the water were far less jovial.
“Congratulations,” Tony declared.
Alex turned around to find the three commandos on the island. “So that’s it? We’ve won?”
Tony nodded smoothly. “You have.” He set a plastic novelty crown on Sera’s head, then another one on Alex’s.
Alex lifted her hand up to Sera’s. “High five, sister. We make a great team.”
Sera slapped her palm against Alex’s. “We always will.”
Alex drew her into a hug. “It’s a promise.”
Two streams of water burst out of the ocean, setting Logan and Kai down in front of them.
“Well, it looks like we learned today who here are the biggest badasses,” Sera told them. “The unstoppable Dering sisters. The queens of San Francisco.”
Kai flashed his teeth at her. “Smile while you can, sweetheart.”
“We demand a rematch,” Logan added, wringing out his shirt.
“Fine, but can we stop for a snack first?” Alex asked. “Kicking your asses has made me hungry.”
“Famished,” Sera agreed.
Alex handed the seashell to Tony. “There’s an all-night diner nearby.”
“We could have pancakes,” Sera replied.
“With lots of whipped cream on top.”
“Let’s go.” Sera inhaled deeply. “I can smell the siren’s song of the processed sugar from here.”
11
Infighting
They’d squeezed into the shiny red booth—Alex and Sera, Logan and Kai, and the three commandos too. The diner smelled of the things dreams were made of. Hot vegetable oil and powdered sugar. Chocolate syrup and lots of deep-fried potatoes. Though the hour was late, the place was packed with people who’d come here for a midnight snack. Conversations hummed in the air.
Alex and Sera were each working their way through a high stack of pancakes topped with strawberries and loads of whipped cream. Logan and Kai had ordered a hamburger each. Alex and Sera kept stealing their fries and dipping them in the whipped cream.
The commandos weren’t eating. They’d ordered water, but the waitress thought they were sexy, so she’d brought them milkshakes instead. Alex was eyeing Dal’s milkshake now. Mmm, chocolate.
Dal placed his arm in front of his milkshake, shielding it. “Don’t even think about it.”
“But you don’t want it. You didn’t even order it.”
“Alex, if you wanted a milkshake, you should have ordered one,” he replied unhelpfully.
“Dal has a point,” Sera told her.
Alex raised her hand, calling the waitress over. She ordered a milkshake each for her and Sera. Chocolate for her. Strawberry for her sister.
“Another crazy one,” Alex commented, glancing at the television.
On the screen, a mage in a really fancy shirt and a pair of designer jeans went into a rage and trashed his expensive, garish car. The subtitle under the mage read: Hugo Ballarin.
“Ballarin’s an overprivileged mage from a prominent family,” Sera said.
“Bet he sniffed one too many magic mushrooms,” Alex replied.
The sisters had been sent in to take care of way too many cases like this one back when they’d worked for Mayhem, a mercenary-for-hire company in town.
“Maybe we should call Simmons and ask if he needs help bringing in Ballarin,” Sera joked.
Simmons was the head of Mayhem and their former boss.
The reporter on screen moved on to another incident of a mage going berserk. But this time, the mage in question was an older one, the head of a magic dynasty. He wasn’t a young and reckless idiot, the sort Alex and Sera had to bring in after they’d sniffed too many magic mushrooms and went all apocalyptic on the city.
The reporter continued, her tone serious. Silvio Bullet, the offending mage, had attacked a different magic dynasty, one the Bullet dynasty was previously on good terms with. The attacked dynasty was now preparing for war. Tensions between the families looked like they might boil over.
Alex and Sera weren’t laughing anymore.
“Well, that’s bad,” Sera said.
“Yeah.” Kai stood up, then waved for the commandos to follow him. “We have to make some calls.”
As a member of the Magic Council, Kai was obliged to look into things like this. A dynasty head attacking another dynasty head was sure to create divisions in the supernatural community. Deep divisions. It could get ugly. What a terrible thing for Kai to deal with the night before his wedding.
“This is suspicious.” Logan was still watching the report on the television screen.
“What is?” Alex asked him.
“The attack.” He frowned. “First, Lauren Valentine hired an investigator to spy on her husband at work, an investigator it turns out is actually a spy for one of Drachenburg Industries’ biggest competitors. And now this. It seems like someone is trying to stir up tension between the old magic dynasties.”
“Divide and conquer?” Alex suggested.
“Indeed,” he agreed. “A well-loved Convictionite strategy.”
“So what you’re saying is…what exactly?” Alex asked. “That the Convictionites are trying to make their enemy—all supernaturals—weaker by turning us against one another?”
“The supernaturals are already weakened after the Grim Reaper ordeal. The divisions in the community run deep,” Sera said sadly. “The Convictionites might have seen that weakness and moved to exploit it.”
“Yeah, the supernatural leadership is weak right now,” Alex said. “But so are the Convictionites. They’ve lost a lot of supporters, mostly thanks to us.”
She and Logan had exposed the Convictionites’ hypocrisy to the world. The fact that they used magic to fight magic was no longer a secret.
“Everyone is weaker right now. And more aggressive,” Logan said. “Weaker, short-tempered, like wounded dogs lashing out at one another. This situation is a volatile one, just waiting to explode.”
“And when it does, the fallout will be catastrophic,” Sera declared, horrified.
Kai returned to their booth. “I made a few calls and managed to calm down both dynasties. At least for now. I just don’t understand what possessed Silvio to attack.”
Sera shared their theory that the Convictionites were trying to manipulate the supernaturals into fighting,
so they were weak enough to defeat.
“The Convictionites?” Kai’s forehead crinkled. “Sure, they have the motivation. But I doubt they have the means.”
“Perhaps allying with Nightstar has given them the means,” Logan suggested. “This all started happening after they freed him from prison.”
“But how is it connected?” Kai wondered.
“I do not know, Drachenburg. But I have a feeling that the Convictionites’ weapon to destroy the supernaturals does not literally kill them.”
“You might be right about that.” Kai drummed his fingers across the tabletop. “This isn’t an isolated incident. There are more, conflicts the Council managed to bury before the media could find out about them.”
“The Convictionites.” Alex shook her head. “They are making us destroy ourselves.”
12
The Wedding
The world wasn’t showing any signs of slowing down and growing less hectic. Sure, they could have delayed the wedding to deal with the Convictionites, but that problem might take years to resolve. And then there would be the next disaster. And the next. Life would always be crazy. It wasn’t getting any easier.
“The wedding must go on,” Alex declared dramatically on the morning of the wedding.
Sera applied a layer of red lipstick to her lips. “That’s the spirit, soldier.” She turned once on the spot. “How do I look?”
Alex glanced at her sister. Sera was dressed in a red wedding dress, just like Alex, though Sera’s red was actually a shade of ruby and accented with real rubies. Alex’s gown was bright scarlet and just as shocking as that sounded. Both dresses were mermaid cut with high slits in the skirt. Sera’s slits weren’t obvious until she kicked up her leg, thanks to generous quantities of tulle. On the other hand, Alex flaunted her side slits with pride—and liked to imagine the shocked expressions on some of the more stately guests’ faces.
“You look very dignified,” Alex told her sister.
“Well,” Sera said, putting the finishing touches on her makeup. “We can’t all spill milk on our wedding gown.”
“In my defense, that cereal bowl was really, really full.”
Sera’s eyes twinkled. “Only because you filled it really, really high.”
“Well, no harm, no foul. Naomi fixed it right up, and now you can’t even see the spot.” Alex glanced down at the skirt of her dress. “Naomi has mad skills that extend far beyond banishing unwanted demons.”
Sera nodded. “Like banishing unwanted stains.”
“Exactly. We should get her to teach us some of those domestic skills.”
“I don’t know, Alex. I burn the water, and you’ve been known to set the kitchen on fire.”
Alex laced up her knee-high black leather boots, then tucked them under her skirt. “That just means we can only improve from here.”
Sera’s dark, beautifully-sculpted eyebrows peaked. “Or you could graduate from only setting the kitchen on fire, to setting the whole house on fire.”
Alex pumped her fist, then slipped it into a long, red glove. “That’s the spirit.”
Sera laughed, then frowned. “Alex, what are you doing?”
“Arming myself,” she replied, casually tucking a knife into her leather garter belt.
“It’s a wedding, not a battle.”
“You can never be too prepared, sister.”
Sera seemed to think about that for a moment, then said, “Do you happen to have another one of those leather garter belts lying around?”
“Sure thing.” Alex pulled one out of a bag and tossed it to Sera. “I knew you’d see things my way.”
“Well, either monsters will crash our wedding.” She giggled. “Or Kai will get a very pointy surprise when it’s time to toss the garter belt.”
“Stop it,” Alex laughed. “You’re making me laugh so hard, the knives are cutting into my ribcage.”
“The knives are on your leg, Alex, not your ribcage.”
“Oh, but those aren’t the only knives that I’m hiding.”
“Good idea.” Sera held out her hand. “Give me some more of those knives.”
By the time they were done concealing weapons, the door opened a crack, and Lara stepped into the lounge. Kai’s sister was dressed in a long, elegant green gown. Black gloves covered her arms all the way up to her elbows. Around her throat she wore a thick necklace, drenched in diamonds. She’d pulled her red hair up into a twist; cascading locks fell around her face.
“It’s about time for the ceremony to start,” Lara told them.
Sera nodded. “We’re ready.”
“I can see that.” Her gaze slid over them, her eyes twinkling. “How many knives are you each carrying?”
“A lot. How did you know?” Alex looked around to see if any of the knives were poking out—or, worse yet, poking holes in her wedding gown.
Lara laughed. “Don’t worry. They’re well-hidden. I can sense them because your magic is vibrating differently than usual. Must be all the metal you’re wearing.”
Sera closed her eyes. “She’s right, Alex.” She opened them again. “Do you think we should tone down the weaponry?”
“Na, the only people who will notice are the grooms, and they’ll like it.”
“True.”
“Ok, then, battle mistresses. I’ll tell them to start the music.” Lara ducked back out of the building.
Sera turned to Alex. “Ready?”
“You bet.” Alex heard the wedding march start to play. “Let’s do this.”
And so they emerged from the renovated barn they’d used as a dressing room. The ceremony was taking place outside, in the open space between Alex’s and Sera’s houses. They stepped into what could be described as nothing less than an enchanted forest. All around them, beautiful trees blossomed, enchanted by hired earth elementals whose specialty wasn’t fighting, but instead crafting scenes that delighted the senses. A sweet scent danced on the wind. Alex licked her lips. It reminded her of cotton candy.
Alex and Sera, arms linked as they were giving each other away today, passed under a beautiful flower arch before entering the petal-strewn aisle. The flowers were colorful, vibrant. They smelled of chocolate and strawberries.
On either side of the aisle, the guests sat in wooden chairs which, indeed as Alex had wanted, had no cloth covers. Instead, a bundle of flowers was tied to the back of each chair, secured with a red ribbon.
The decor was indeed a very beautiful black-and-white mixture, accented with red. The reception would take place right here, outside, just after the ceremony. A few telekinetics would quickly rearrange the furniture.
The food was nearby. Alex could smell the appetizers from here. In particular, the mini pizzas. It was making her hungry. But she could not snack in her wedding gown, and certainly not before the ceremony. The pictures would come out horribly if she got pizza sauce on her gown. Red sauce…that sounded much harder to get out of fabric than milk.
The aisle was very long. Very. Alex thought it might never end. With each step, she and Sera passed lots of people she didn’t know—and thankfully a bunch of people that she did know. The mystery faces belonged to members of the Magic Council and their families. Alex just focused on her friends.
She found Naomi in the crowd, dressed in a pale pink dress and matching jacket that made her look quite distinguished. Her blonde hair was pulled up and secured with a sparkling butterfly clip. The butterfly clip matched her butterfly jewel brooch, which Angel, one of her twins, was currently trying to pull off her jacket.
Draken, her other twin, sat on Makani’s lap. The Prince of the Pacific was wearing a black-and-red tunic and loose pants, both with dragon patterns sewn in. He truly looked like a prince. His dark hair was down and loose, falling to his shoulders. The top tip of his dragon tattoo peeked out from his tunic.
Marek was there too, dressed in a dark suit, seated beside Naomi’s cousin Eva. She wore a black, strapless gown, showing off some generous cleavage. Eva w
as sure living up to her sultry half-fairy reputation. Marek didn’t stand a chance against her charms.
Alex spotted the commandos next. Indeed, they were dressed in nice black suits, not their funny costumes from last night’s scavenger hunt. Lara sat with them at the front, her eyes on Riley.
Alex’s brother stood at the end of the aisle. He’d received his wedding officiant license off the internet so he could perform this ceremony. His suit was a perfect match for the commandos’, which was appropriate since the guys had adopted him as the fourth, honorary commando.
And, finally, Logan and Kai stood on either side of the aisle, waiting at the end, their eyes following their brides. Logan’s suit was a sleek tuxedo, perfectly fitted, so he could lift his arms and the jacket didn’t bunch up at all; it slid with his movements. Kai was dressed in a very dark, black dragon-scale suit. The suit’s scales shimmered subtly, like Kai’s scales did when he was in dragon form.
The wedding march ended with a dramatic flourish, exactly as Alex and Sera reached the end of the aisle. Alex grinned at Logan as he took her hand.
“You’re packing a lot of steel today,” he whispered to her.
She winked at him and whispered back, “Admit it. You like it.”
The flash in his eyes was all the answer she needed.
“My sisters have always been there for me,” Riley spoke loudly, his voice carrying across the crowd. “After our father died, they raised me, sacrificed for me, loved me with everything they had. And so I couldn’t be happier than I am today, to be able to officiate their weddings. Alex and Sera always did everything together, and so it is only fitting that they would get married in the same ceremony.”
Chuckles rumbled from the audience.
“In marrying Kai and Logan, I know my sisters will take care of their husbands as they always took care of me,” Riley continued. “And I know that Kai and Logan will take care of Sera and Alex. And maybe even keep my sisters out of trouble.”
