“What?”

“We were here for ten minutes before you finally arrived,” Kai told him. “You’re supposed to be guarding the arena.”

“Yeah, not standing around the water cooler eating donuts and dishing gossip,” Sera added.

Kai spared her a brief I-thought-we-agreed-you-wouldn’t-be-talking look before returning his attention to the guards. “The Magic Council prides itself on always hiring the best and the brightest. I’m sure my colleagues on the Council would be interested to hear my report on your…unfortunate response time.”

Mr. Serious exhaled, some of the wind going out of his sails. “So this was a test?”

“That depends entirely on you,” said Kai.

Mr. Serious glanced back at the other guards, then at Kai. He stepped aside. “You can go. The Magic Games will be kicking off shortly.” Shifting his gaze to Sera, he pointed at a doorway at the corner of the pit. “Participants need to get to their designated rooms in the backstage area. Spectators and coaches must find their seats in the stands.”

“Go,” Kai told Sera, then walked around the guards to sit in one of the front row seats. He pulled out his phone. “I’ll be right here.”

She nodded and headed for the door. Mr. Serious and two of the guards followed her. The others walked up the stairs, spreading to cover every section of the arena.

“You’re Serafina Dering,” Mr. Serious said. It wasn’t a question. “The guys and I have a pool going about how far you’ll make it before you crack.”

Sera wasn’t sure if she should be flattered or worried that he knew who she was. She settled for sarcastic. “How nice.” She smiled at him. “You’ve already lost.”

“You don’t even know what my bet was.”

“It doesn’t matter. You bet that I’d break.” Panic was throwing a party in her stomach, but she kept her face neutral—and her magic buried deep. “I won’t.”

“Everyone breaks,” he insisted.

“I’m not everyone.”

His frown cracked into a sick grin. “We’ll see soon enough.”

“Is something funny?” she asked, stuffing her bag into the locker with her name taped on it.

“You’re up first, peaches,” he said and gave her one of those testosterone-charged man slaps on her back. “I bet the guys $100 that you’d make it through the day. Be sure to put on a good show.”

CHAPTER TWELVE

Monster Mixer

A ROAR OF applause burst through the open doorway that led to the fighting pit—until it was swallowed whole by a thunderous roar. The beast’s war cry boomed out, a shockwave of sound and magic. The ground beneath Sera’s feet rumbled and shook.

Light poured through the door, bathing the dark and dusty hallway in streams of red and blue. Ahead, somewhere inside the fighting pit, the beast was scraping its hard feet against the sandy ground. Hooves. It sounded like hooves. That narrowed down the list of possible monsters. Maybe it was a manticore. Or—Sera cringed—a dark pony. She couldn’t yet see the beast, but whatever it was, it didn’t sound friendly.

She walked toward the light. As she passed through the doorway, the magic barrier buzzed and snapped shut behind her. Inside the fighting pit, a large body was pacing around, its dark silhouette a blurred smudge against the bright background. Sera blinked down hard, and her opponent came into focus.

Her heart stuttered, then took an immediate nosedive into her stomach. An elemental bull. She had to fight an elemental bull.

Born of magic and rage, an elemental bull looked like a freakishly large bull—with one big difference. Magic, not hair, coated its body. A mixture of elemental magic, these glowing tendrils flared, sizzled, and swayed across the bull’s thick back. The beast’s dominant element shifted every few seconds, just like the magic barrier surrounding the pit. Green to red to blue to gold, the bull and the barrier were blinking like the lights on a Christmas tree.

Past the magic barrier, the stadium was packed full of spectators. Mages, fairies, and vampires sat in the audience, sporting binoculars and plastic glowing sticks. A few of them were snacking on hotdogs and pizza slices. Even more of them were drinking beer or magical cocktails served by the telekinetics walking up and down the aisles with mini concession stands hovering in front of them.

“Hey, pretty girl!” one of the mages in the audience called down to Sera, waving his beer can in the air.

Beside him, four other guys were singing silly songs and swaying in their seats. And they weren’t the only ones. It was barely the afternoon, and at least a third of the audience was already wasted. Kai was right. People came to the Magic Games to do more than just watch the fights.

“Girly!” the drunk mage shouted at her again. “Wanna go out with me?”

He was waving so wildly that the beer can shot out of his hand and smacked against the magic barrier. It dissolved instantly upon impact, but the low moan of dying metal lingered in the air for a few seconds longer.

The bull’s horned head whipped around. Its gold eyes found her immediately. It grunted at her, and lightning sparks spilled out of its nostrils. The bull’s magic was potent. Musk and magic hung heavy in the air, held inside the fighting pit by the magic barrier. Sera coughed, and the bull gave her an indignant, electrically-charged snort.

“What?” she demanded. “You have to admit that you really do stink.”