Magic Kingdom (Dragon Born Alexandria Book 3) (11 page)

“Both?” Alex suggested.

“I think you’re right about that,” Tony said, sliding his final pizza into the truck.

“Six more pizzas? Just how many of you are coming to crash my castle?”

“You mean Naomi didn’t tell you?” said Dal.

“Tell me what?”

“I was still getting to it,” Naomi told Dal, then looked at Alex. Her magic was bubbling with excitement. “Sera and Kai are coming. They’ll be here any minute.”

CHAPTER NINE

Two Sisters

AN SUV DROVE up to the gate. Naomi pressed her remote and the doors parted, allowing the car to enter. Big, black, and badass, the SUV moved too smoothly for a vehicle of that size. It just boggled the mind. If the commandos’ SUV had aspirations to be a tank, this one
was
a tank. It was bigger and blacker. You know that shade beyond black, blacker than black? The color of the endless abyss. That was the color of this car.

It parked on the circle drive, right behind the commandos’ mini tank. It was like a dragon standing next to…well, anything else really. Like a pair of wings, the two front doors spread open, and Sera and Kai stepped out. Dressed in a red tank top and a pair of curve-hugging jeans, Alex’s sister moved with strong, assured steps toward her. She was wearing her hair down, her dark, gentle waves bouncing against her back as she walked. Her lips curled up into a mischievous smirk as her eyes met Alex’s.

“I’ve missed you,” Sera whispered as she embraced Alex. She pulled back to look at her, her brown eyes twinkling with magic. “It’s been far too long.”

“Absolutely. Look at all the trouble you’ve been getting into without me.” Alex glanced over her shoulder at Kai.

His hair was nearly as dark as his car. He looked like a tank too. With his fitted black t-shirt that hugged the smooth, supple muscles of his chest and his blue eyes glistening like an enchanted ocean, the man could have given Logan a run for his money when it came to eye candy. Raw, ancient power curled around his body like a second skin, saturating him from head to toe. A hot, volatile magic—more powerful than any Alex had ever felt—crackled beyond a granite wall of absolute control. If that wall ever crumbled, they’d all be in really deep shit.

“He looks even better than the magazine photo,” Alex teased.

Sera chuckled. Behind her, Kai folded his arms across his chest, which only made his enormous muscles bulge more. God, he was a beast. Alex had a feeling he didn’t pull any punches either. She would have hated to be at the receiving end of one of his strikes.

“You have to excuse Kai,” Sera told Alex. “He did that Mages Illustrated magazine photo shoot because he lost a bet. He had no idea it would become their most popular cover, and he’s just peeved that because of it people aren’t as scared of him as he thinks they should be.”

Alex looked at Kai. “I’m trembling,” she told him, extending her hand. “I’m Alex, the wicked sister.”

Naomi snorted.

Kai shook Alex’s hand, his lip twitching with the beginnings of a smile. “You and Sera are a lot alike.”

“A fantastic sense of humor?”

“No sense of self-preservation,” he said.

“Oh.” Alex laughed. “Well, what fun would that be?”

“Good God, now there are two of them,” gasped Tony.

Dal and Callum laughed. Sera joined in, her magic a calm, content hum. She looked happier than Alex had ever seen her since Dad’s death. Kai stood behind her, his hands on her shoulders. There was a protective gleam in his eyes—a gleam that said he would tear apart anyone who tried to hurt her.

“So, this is Alex,” he said, his thumbs massaging slow circles into Sera’s arms. Her eyelashes brushing closed, Sera leaned back against him. “I got your message,” Kai told Alex.

Sera’s eyes opened. “You didn’t tell me you and Kai were pen pals.”

“Naomi and I sent him an SMS from London.”

“A pair of drunk mages from Drachenburg Industries tried to hit on us,” Naomi explained.

“Tried to hit on you?” Sera asked.

“We hit them instead,” Alex told her. “After they tried to force the issue. Like I said, they were drunk. After we knocked them out, Naomi took a photo of them sleeping on the sidewalk, and we sent it to Kai. We thought your honey would appreciate seeing what his employees did in their spare time.”

Sera looked at Kai. “What did you do?”

“Nothing you wouldn’t do.”

She chewed on her lip. “You’re being unnecessarily cryptic.”

“Actually, it is very necessary, sweetheart,” he told her.

“I take it that means you did something bad to them.”

Tony chuckled. “He sent them to sensitivity training.”

“Really?” Sera asked him. “I didn’t think you were so…so…” She seemed to be struggling for words.

Alex helped her out. “Forward-thinking?”

“I was going for something a bit more diplomatic,” Sera said.

“Diplomacy to the old magic dynasties means dungeons and iron chains,” Alex said, grinning at Kai.

He laughed. “That sounds about right.”

“Come on inside,” Alex said, waving them toward the door. “Let’s get this pizza where it’s warm.”

“You said the magic word.” Sera linked her arm in Alex’s as they stepped inside. “Come on. I’m starving.”

“You had pizza on the plane,” Dal told her.

“Yeah, well that was on the plane, and this is here,” replied Sera. “Pizza doesn’t taste as good in the air as it does on the ground.”

“That’s Sera logic for you,” Callum said, his laughter echoing off the high ceiling.

“And yet she’s so right,” Alex said.

The hallway didn’t seem as long this time around. Marek and Eva, who were sitting on one of the sofas, looked up as their caravan entered the living room.

“You brought back more than pizza,” Logan observed. He was standing with his back to the wall, surveying the new arrivals as though any one of them could be a potential threat.

Callum set the pizza boxes on the coffee table. He and the other commandos sat down on the enormous sofa opposite Marek and Eva. Marek looked across at them, then glanced down at the stack of boxes.

“I told you we’d need more than four pizzas,” Alex said.

“Your power of foresight is truly magical,” replied Marek as the commandos grabbed one pizza box each. “If only you had foreseen that we would need more than six.”

“Oh, don’t worry. More pizzas are on the way,” she told him. “Marek and Eva, the friendly guys sitting across from you are Dal, Tony, and Callum. They work for—”

“Kai Drachenburg,” Marek said, standing. He extended his hand to Kai. “I’m a big fan of your work.”

“I wonder if he saw that Mages Illustrated issue too,” Naomi whispered to Sera.

Sera elbowed her in the side, which only made Naomi’s quiet chuckle erupt into a gleeful giggle. Alex joined in. Sera held out for a few seconds longer before she couldn’t fight the silliness any longer. Kai and Marek ignored them and shook hands like the dignified heirs to elite magic dynasties that they were.

“You’re Margery Kensington’s son,” Kai said, his tone all business. “I understand you can summon dragons.”

“Yes,” replied Marek.

Kai nodded, as though he’d deemed Marek worthy.

Dragons are very worthy,
Nova said.

Alex smiled. They really were. “Ok. So, you know Kai. And this is my sister Sera.”

“A remarkable resemblance,” Marek said.

“It’s almost like seeing double.” Eva’s gaze shifted back and forth between Alex and Sera. “Twins?”

“Yes,” Alex said. This was heading in a dangerous direction. Marek was already suspicious of why she’d hidden her magic. All he had to do was put two and two together, and he’d realize that she and Sera were Dragon Born.

Eva shook her hand. “Well, it’s nice to meet you, Sera.”

“Yes,” Marek said, obviously trying hard not to stare at Sera.

Alex had to move them past this awkward moment. Now. “Logan, Kai, I believe you know each other.”

“Slayer,” Kai said, his eyes burning with cold fire.

He was obviously upset about something—and whatever that something was, it was amusing Logan. His face was a perfect expressionless mask, but Alex could feel his chuckles hiccuping across the bond they shared. So much for moving past the awkward silence. Alex settled for grabbing a box of extra cheese pizza instead. She flipped open the lid, pulled out a slice, and passed the box down the line to Sera. She did the same, then passed the box to Naomi. When Naomi tried handing it off to Logan, he shook his head. Then he moved to sit beside Tony, where he helped the commandos devour the deep dish spinach pizza.

For a few minutes, everyone was so busy eating that hardly more than a few words were exchanged. Marek kept stealing covert glances at Kai, though.

“Ok, what is it?” Kai asked Marek after the tenth or so glance.

“Busted,” snickered Naomi.

Marek didn’t look embarrassed. Then again, he rarely did. A complete lack of shame was a common condition among first tier mages.

“You’re my hero.” He looked at Kai like he’d invented the world.

Alex pressed her lips together and tried really hard not to laugh. Beside her, Sera was doing the same. The doorbell rang, and Tony got up to collect their second pizza delivery.

“Your duel with the Wicked Witch,” Marek said. “Pure brilliance.”

“Wicked Witch? Who’s that?” Alex asked.

“You don’t know the Wicked Witch?” Marek asked, shock streaming down his face.

“Unless that’s my latest nickname that I haven’t heard yet, then no,” said Alex. Hmm, Wicked Witch. It had a nice ring to it. It was much better than the Black Plague. Though the Paranormal Vigilante would kick the Wicked Witch’s ass any day of the week.

“It happened about ten years ago,” Marek began. “There was this mad mage calling herself the Wonder Witch. She got her thrills terrorizing big cities in Europe, demanding that the local populations worship her as a goddess.”

“She was a first tier telekinetic whose power went to her head. And then she went nuts,” Callum said.

“Aren’t telekinetics pretty much always nuts?” Sera commented.

Alex nodded in agreement.
 

“This particular telekinetic was
really
crazy,” said Dal. “She was so crazy, in fact, that people started calling her the Wicked Witch.”

“Oh, I bet she loved that,” Naomi said.

“Surprisingly, she was flattered,” Dal replied.

“Even so, she continued her rampage,” Marek said. “In fact, she redoubled her efforts, determined to live up to her new name. She targeted humans, believing them to be easy, weak prey who would bow before her. Her powers were further boosted by a number of artifacts she’d collected. No one the Magic Council sent could take her out. And then they sent him.” Marek looked at Kai with pure wonder. “He gave her the full elemental treatment. He opened up a hole in the earth beneath her feet, trapping her with a ring of fire around the edge of that hole. Then he froze the flames around her like a cage, blew that cage into the ocean, electrocuting her as she hit the water.”

“Wow, now that’s stringing spells,” Sera said.

“It was perfect,” Marek said. “Pure textbook. In fact, that battle
is
in the textbooks we read at school. And that’s not even the best part. He performed all that magic while he was in dragon form. His dragon scales kept him resistant to all her spells.”

That was indeed impressive. Kai had shifted and used elemental magic. A lot of powerful mages had more than one ability, but few of them could access more than one branch of magic at once as Kai had done. Maintaining a beast shape required an enormous amount of magic, especially the shape of a dragon. Until now, Alex had never met a mage who could shift into a dragon.

“How many dragon shifters are there in the world?” she asked.

“There’s apparently only one besides Kai, a mage living in some monastery in Tibet,” Sera said.

“I’ve never heard any stories about that mage. He is not a living legend, not like him.” Marek looked at Kai in complete awe. “Not only did he maintain dragon form, he also had to use magic to maintain his magical defenses that blocked the Wicked Witch’s spells. Every time she hit him with magic, he needed to funnel more magic into his defenses to keep them up. She threw everything she could at him. Cars, parts of buildings she’d torn off—”

“Radio towers,” Dal added.

Marek nodded. “And yet he withstood all this. No, he more than withstood it. He stood alone against her, without any drugs or artifacts to boost his magic. He had more magic than she did with all her borrowed power. He used that magic to hit her with not just one element, but a symphony of six. Beautiful. The spells worked together in a seamless blend. And do you know what he said in an interview after the battle? He said the best defense is a good dragon defense coupled with an explosive offense.” Marek grinned. “Perfect.”

“I think he’s a fan,” Eva told Kai, smiling.

“Yes, well, I was young and foolish,” said Kai. “No one in their right mind would go after a powered-up, drugged-up mage alone. But I was fresh off my Magic Games assessment, feeling quite full of myself. I had a couple new number one titles under my belt, and a reckless need to prove I deserved them.”

“And you did.” Marek smiled at his hero.

“I was inexperienced. I got lucky. I could have just as easily ended up dead.”

“I’m glad you didn’t,” Sera said. “And thanks to your magic, you didn’t. That sounds pretty cool. I wish I could do all that.”

“Practice your magic and you will be able to. You can’t always depend on your sword.”

Sera sighed. They’d obviously had this conversation before. “I know.”

“On the other hand, you would never be reckless enough to do what I did,” he said.

Sera smirked at Alex. “Alex would be.”

“Yes,” Kai agreed, inhaling. “There’s a reckless spice to her magic.”

Sera looked at Logan. “But you keep her from throwing herself into danger.”

“That’s impossible,” Logan replied. “But I do try.”

“He does,” said Alex. “Logan is patient and cautious and…”
 

Logan arched his eyebrows at her. “Everything you’re not.”

“Yes. You wouldn’t have run out and confronted the Wicked Witch. You would have tried to sneak up on her and kill her before she knew you were there.”