“But it is efficient.” His face went neutral. “I wasn’t trying to intimidate you. I was annoyed that you still don’t trust me. I meant what I said. I don’t want to crack your mind. I want you to just tell me. I know you’re not a threat to the Magic Council—well, except maybe that smart mouth of yours—and I don’t want them hurting you to figure out what you’re hiding. Whatever it is, they don’t need to know. But I do.”

“Why?”

“People who work for me don’t get to keep secrets from me. Not big ones like this.”

“Well, then it’s a good thing we’ve already established that I won’t be working for you,” she shot back.

Kai frowned at her. Seriously, though, what did he expect her to say to a dumb comment like that? He opened his mouth, as though he wanted to say something, but he just shook his head instead.

“Can we just get back to the crisis at hand?” she said.

He leaned back and closed his eyes. “I’m not sending you to Atlantis. Callum, Tony, and Dal can handle the hunt for Finn.”

“They can’t sense magic like I can. No one can.”

His eyes opened. “Except your sister.”

Sera said nothing, afraid to clue him in on the fact that she and Alex were Dragon Born. He was already dangerously close to the truth.

“Alex is your twin,” he said. “So she must have powerful magic too. The only reason she’s not being called to test in the Games is because Gaelyn is protecting her. He still holds sway over the Magic Council.”

“Is he really as old as people say?” Sera said, deflecting.

The hard look Kai gave her told her he wasn’t fooled. Not for a second.

“Send me to Atlantis. I’ll just take a quick peek at the portal, then come right back.” She wiggled her pinkie at him. “I promise.”

He ignored her wiggling pinkie. “There’s no time for that, and you know it. The Magic Games start in sixteen hours, and we need every second we have to prepare you. Let’s start with getting you some sleep. Tired mages make for sloppy fighters.”

Sera sighed, suddenly feeling completely exhausted. Exhausted and not the least bit ready for the Games. Maybe she should have let people fight their own supernatural battles for a change today. She just couldn’t seem to keep her nose out of other peoples’ messes.

“Get some sleep, Sera,” he said. “I’ll come by at seven tomorrow so we can train.”

“Oh, letting me sleep in?” She tried to smile, but her face was too tired. So she just stood and headed for the door.

“Sera.”

She stopped in front of the door, looking back at him.

“You are getting better,” he said. That was high praise from Kai Drachenburg.

“Maybe. But will it be good enough?”

She opened the door and headed down the hall to the elevator. By the time she stepped into the suite she shared with Riley and Naomi, she felt like a zombie—except maybe a bit more dead. She dropped her purse onto her bed and changed out of her silly club clothes before hitting the bathroom.

When she returned to the bedroom, her phone was buzzing on her bed. She picked it up—and nearly dropped it again. There on her screen was a picture of her and Kai dancing at Trove, taken just a few hours ago. Below the picture were the words, “Look forward to seeing you again soon, Sera. Love, Finn.”

CHAPTER TEN

Wake the Dead

SERA DIDN’T SLEEP well that night. Visions of Alcatraz plagued her dreams. Finn stalked the shadows. Globs of semi-solid magic oozed off of him like molten lava, sizzling the ground with tears of malice. As his faceless minions pushed Kai to his knees, Finn stepped into the firelight. With a wicked smirk, he slapped the Priming Bangles over Kai’s wrists. The magic chomped at Kai’s flesh, and he roared out in pain.

Sera jolted awake, his tormented scream still ringing in her ears. She fumbled for her phone and brought up Finn’s message from last night. He was just trying to get into her head, to unnerve her.

He’d succeeded.

She set her phone back on her nightstand, then buried her head under her pillow, drowning out the thump on her door. Was it seven o’clock already? That meant she’d slept for nearly nine hours. It felt more like two. She wasn’t getting up. Kai would just have to find another victim this morning.

The knock thumped on her door again, louder this time. Sera clutched her pillow to her ears. The door shook with the force of explosives—or maybe that was just a really big dragon claw. Kai was so going to pay for this. She was going to pop the wheels off his tank—wait, no, she was going to paint the tank pink. With bright yellow flowers. And hearts. That would teach him.

“Rise and shine, sleeping beauty!”

That wasn’t Kai. It was Riley. And he didn’t have anything Sera could paint pink. Grumbling, she tossed one of the spare pillows at the door. Hopefully, he’d get the message.

“That’s nice,” he said. “But I suggest you save your energy for the fight. You’ll need it when Kai’s throwing you across the fighting pit.”

Someone snickered. It sounded like Kai. Sera threw a second pillow at the door, just for him.

“You wanted to have a look at the fighting pit before the Games,” Kai said. “Well, here’s your chance. We leave in half an hour—whether or not you’ve had breakfast.”

His words echoed in her empty stomach. She groaned a final protest, then dragged her body out of bed. She put on the first sports outfit she could find, not even caring if it was torn or dirty. After a few minutes in the pit with Kai, it would be ruined anyway. She was running out of things to wear, and her attempt at shopping hadn’t ended well.