Magic Kingdom (Dragon Born Alexandria Book 3) (13 page)

“I was just playing,” Eva protested, but she followed Marek anyway.

“You don’t play with dragons.”

“She does.” Eva gave Sera a wicked look.

“She is Alex’s sister,” said Marek. “Need I say anything more?”

“Come on.” Naomi wrapped one arm around each of them. “Let’s get ourselves ready for a gala.”

They hurried off.

“Now, it’s just the four of us.” Alex looked down at the last open pizza box. “There are still two slices left. Who wants them?”

CHAPTER TEN

Abomination

ALEX AND LOGAN shared one piece of pizza while Sera and Kai shared the other. There was something undeniably romantic about licking pizza oil off your honey’s fingers.

Just as they were finishing off the last bites, Naomi, Marek, and Eva came downstairs, totally specced out for the ball. Eva had magicked her hair back to red, and she wore it pulled up into a high twist of cascading curls. Naomi wore her blonde hair in a similar style. The two cousins wore nearly identical midnight-blue evening gowns speckled with tiny stones that twinkled like starlight against the dark fabric. Marek stood between them, dressed in a sleek black tuxedo. Naomi and Eva linked their arms in his, and together the three of them promenaded down the long hallway to the exit.

“Marek looks dashing in his tuxedo,” Alex said when she heard the front doors echo shut. She shot Logan a sly look. “Do you happen to have one too?”

“I do, but I don’t wear it often.”

“You really should. I’d love to see you in a tuxedo. I bet you look absolutely delicious in it. Plus, tuxedos are black. That’s your favorite color.”

When Logan didn’t comment on her astounding logic, Alex decided to seek out a new victim. She turned to Kai and asked, “Do you also own a tuxedo?”

“Yes, but I also don’t wear it often.”

“Why not?”

Sera laughed. “Because it’s not jeans and a t-shirt.”

Kai bit off a piece of beef jerky. After the pizza had run out, he’d gone to the pantry to look for more food. He’d returned with a big jar of beef jerky and was slowly working his way through it. Eva would be glad to be rid of it.

“How do you get away with not wearing suits if you’re in charge of the world’s largest magical research company?” Alex asked him.

“That’s one of the perks of being the boss.”

“Do you ever dress up?”

“Only when absolutely necessary.”

“You know,” Alex said. “We should all get dressed up and go out together sometime.”

“You really think you can behave at a black tie event?” Logan’s lip twitched.

“Sure, as long as none of the guests try to kill me and monsters don’t crash the party. What do you say?” she asked Sera. “It will be fun.”

“A double date with my sister?” Sera clapped her hands. “Count me in. I don’t think we’ve ever done that.”

“I wonder why,” commented Kai.

Sera turned to him and said, “I know what you’re thinking, but Alex and I are a great team.”

“At creating chaos,” said Logan.

Kai snorted. “If your sister attracts even half as much trouble as you do, Sera, the night would end with the guests fleeing the party as monsters rained down from the crumbling roof.”

“He might have a point,” Alex told Sera.

“So do you still want to go for the double date?”

“Of course. You only live once.”

Logan shook his head at Alex’s reckless words. He shouldn’t have been surprised. He knew her by now. Kai merely looked amused. That or he was really enjoying his beef jerky. He’d nearly eaten through the whole jar.

“Does it taste good?” Alex asked him.

He shrugged. “It’s meat,” he said. As though that explained everything.

“Kai believes the best way to keep your magic levels at full power is to eat lots of meat.” A smirk tickled her lips as she turned toward him. “It’s the Drachenburg family secret.”

“Funny.” Kai offered her a piece of the beef jerky.

“I think I’ll pass. I don’t like dehydrated meat.”

“Suit yourself. More for me.”

“You’re going to brush your teeth before you kiss me,” Sera told him.

“Oh, yeah?” His eyes lit up in challenge.

She nodded. “Yep. And use lots of mouth wash. I have a nice pink one in my bag.” Her smirk widened. “It tastes like bubblegum.”

“I do not consume pink products, and most especially not ones that come in girly flavors.” He set his hands on her arms, his blue eyes pulsing with magic. “You will kiss me anyway, and you will like it.”

Sera froze, her smile crumbling. “I always do.”

His magic thumping in victory, he leaned in and kissed her. The heavy beat of his magic boomed louder as Sera wrapped her arms around him, drawing him in closer. Suddenly, he pulled away, annoyance washing away the victory song. Sera was laughing so hard that she couldn’t even sit up straight. Alex saw the reason for her glee a moment later. A tiny sliver of pink bubblegum was visible through Kai’s lips. Her devious sister had slipped it to him while they’d been kissing.

“It really is your color,” Sera teased him.

“I’ve killed people for less than that,” he muttered back.

“But you won’t do that to me. You love me too much.”

“I will think of something else to get back at you.”

“You do that,” Sera told him. “In the meantime, enjoy your gum.”

From the way Sera was looking at Kai, she was just as lovestruck as he was. It was good to see her like this. As Kai began to chew the gum, her smile grew even wider. The man sure did know how to make her happy. That made him good in Alex’s book.

“There’s another reason we came, Alex,” Sera told her. “I mean, besides the Magic Council summit. I need to talk to you. It’s about my magic.”

“You haven’t yet fully unlocked it.” Alex could feel her sister’s magic still crippled, trapped beneath a sheet of resistance.

“No, I haven’t. But you have. I was hoping you could tell me how that happened.”

“It was last month in London,” Alex began. “We’d snuck into a Convictionite building to steal back the Blood Orb and rescue some kidnapped hybrids. Eva, Naomi’s cousin, was one of those hybrids. We released them all from their prisons.”

“But someone is still kidnapping hybrids,” Sera said, her eyes drifting up in thought. “Or two someones. In San Francisco it was Darksire. In London, it was the Convictionites. Those poor people. They just can’t catch a break. I hope Naomi can save the people who went missing here. I hope she can stop whoever is behind it for good. And that she doesn’t get captured herself.”

“Marek and Eva have her back,” said Alex. “She’ll be all right. They’ve saved hybrids before. They will do it this time too. Naomi is strong, even if she doesn’t think so. I know she can do it.”

“Yes,” Sera agreed.

“Ok, London,” Alex said, returning to her story. “We had just grabbed the Blood Orb and were running back. We were surrounded by Convictionites. We’d fought through a lot of them, but I was hurt. My magic was at its limits. There was a Convictionite with enhanced abilities, a man called the Sultan. He could control Logan with magic. I was desperate, and then it just happened. I let go of my magic, embracing it. And that’s when I linked with my dragon. We combined our magic. Purple flames—dragon fire—shot out of me and burned the Sultan and his Convictionite guards to ashes.”

“I was put under strain in the Magic Games,” Sera said. “But it clearly wasn’t enough to unlock my magic.”

“You need to embrace your magic fully, without hesitation,” Alex told her.

Kai gave Sera a pointed look.

“Yes,” Sera said, sighing. “I know I’m supposed to do that, but after years of concealing my magic, it’s taking me awhile to get used to it. You’re different, Alex. It’s easier for you because you’ve always been willing to embrace any advantage, to do whatever it takes to be strong in a fight. To win.”

“That’s true,” Alex said, and she couldn’t help but think about what Stan had said.

Some of her turmoil must have shown on her face because Sera looked a bit torn up herself. “What’s wrong?”

“There’s this guy at Monster Cleanup. He runs the Disposal department. He said I’m a monster, a cold-blooded killer.”

“I told you not to listen to him. He’s wrong,” Logan said.

“I’m not so sure that he is.”

Sera took her hand. “Logan is right. Don’t listen to this guy. I know you. You are my sister in blood and in my heart, Alex. You are a good person. You are not a monster. We are not abominations.”

As Sera finished, Kai took her other hand. Logan took Alex’s.

“You do whatever is necessary to protect your family,” Sera said. “And to help others terrorized by monsters and supernaturals who feel the need to hurt people to prove they’re big and bad. Do you remember that job we had in Gilroy two years back?”

Alex nodded. “Two cowboy mages attacked the mall. They were driven back into an old warehouse, but they’d already taken two children hostage. They’d put up layers of magical barriers. No one could get into the building.”

“We went around to the back and broke a hole in their barrier,” Sera said. “We thought we were being sneaky, but they must have felt it.”

“We were never very good at stealth operations,” Alex commented.

“You jumped out, drawing their fire, so I could get the children to safety,” Sera said. “You were hit. Multiple times.”

“I knocked them out in the end,” Alex said.

“You risked your life for those children. Because of you, they are safe. That’s the sort of person you are. A good one, not a monster. Don’t forget that. You have always been strong, Alex. That strength helped you embrace your magic. Whereas I…well, I’m always too worried about losing control.”

“When it comes to linking with your dragon, you really can’t hold back.” Alex sighed. “Even so, I wish I had a little of your control. The magic I unleashed was…disturbing.”

“The purple fire?”

“Yes, I used it to defeat the Convictionites and then the assassin.”

“What assassin?” Sera asked.

“His name was Shadowstalker. He was stalking me in London.”

“Shadowstalker tried to kill Alex to get revenge on me,” Logan told Sera, guilt punctuating the steady beat of his aura. “He found out about her when I started digging into the Nightshade incident.”

“Nightshade? Another assassin?” Sera asked.

“Yes,” Alex said. “Nightshade was the assassin who came looking for us eight years ago. The one who killed Dad.”

“And then we killed him,” said Sera.

“Nightshade was hired by the Magic Council via Margery Kensington. Marek’s mother. She sits on the Magic Council,” Alex added, looking at Kai.

“I have dealt with her often,” Kai said. “Her family and mine have been competitive over the years, but we do respect each other. She is an honorable woman.”

Sera dropped his hand.

“She thinks the Dragon Born are abominations and that she’s maintaining order and keeping people safe by hunting you. But if she knew the truth about you and your sister, she wouldn’t think you’re abominations,” Kai told her.

“I’m not so sure,” said Alex. “But I’m not going to kill Margery. We need her support to take out the Convictionites. No one else on the Magic Council is taking the Convictionite threat seriously.”

“No, they aren’t,” Kai agreed. “They are arrogant. They don’t understand that humans could be a threat to them. They think that only supernaturals are dangerous. It doesn’t help matters that we’re all really busy with another threat right now: the Grim Reaper.”

“The Convictionites are a threat,” Alex said. “They have magic too. Worse yet, they have hate—and are quite accomplished at spreading it.”

“The world is in danger from two fronts,” Sera said. “That’s why I need to link with my dragon. So I am strong. Like you. Tell me about the dragon fire.”

“It eats right through people, turning flesh and bones to ashes in an instant.”

Sera’s magic gasped. “It sounds gruesome.”

“Yes, but you don’t realize it when you’re in the heat of battle. The horror only comes later.” Alex swallowed hard. “I haven’t been able to make the dragon fire again since that night. Logan and I think it might be my ‘final attack’ so to speak, the magic I can only do when I’m at my limit. Maybe I can find something more in the Dragon Born book.”

“Dragon Born book?”

Alex stood up. “Come on. I’ll show you.”

Sera followed her into the library. It was just past the living room, past an archway decorated with white plaster flowers. It didn’t really fit the Gothic style of the rest of the house. The library was timeless. Tall wooden bookshelves covered every wall from floor to ceiling. There was no free space on the shelves. They’d been filled entirely with books. Books with leather spines. Books that were brown or red or black. Books from every era, thick and thin. The whole room had a rustic, earthy scent—the scent of wood, old paper, and ink.

“This is beautiful,” Sera said, her eyes widening with awe.

“It’s pretty cool,” Alex admitted as Logan and Kai joined them in the library. “Even for someone who doesn’t care much for books.”

Sera grinned at her. “I seem to remember you enjoyed a certain series featuring pirates and assassins.”

“It was research,” Alex stated.

“You hate research.”

“I don’t hate research about pirates and assassins.” Alex winked at her, then turned toward the bookshelves. “Just let me get the Dragon Born book out of its hiding spot.” She plucked a book with a dark brown spine from the shelf. “Here it is.”

“That is your secret hiding spot?”

“It doesn’t need a better one,” Alex said, handing her the book.

Sera stared down at the cover. Though there were a few decorative swirls and other whimsical, vague designs, there was no title. Sera opened the book. All the pages inside were blank.

“What is this?” she asked.

“Tap one of the symbols on the cover,” Alex told her.

Sera brushed her finger across a pink swirl. Awakened to life by her Dragon Born magic, the symbols and swirls began to glow. They slid across the cover, rearranging into a vibrant tapestry of magical pictures. A dragon curled around the center as the title finally appeared. Dragon Born.

“Masked by magic,” Sera whispered. She flipped through the pages, which were now filled with text.