Authors: Ella Summers
Magic Nights (11 page)
Kai met the old ladies’ scowls with a cool nod. “Mrs. Harrower. Mrs. Ravenhall.”
“Mr. Drachenburg.” Bethany Harrower’s nose kissed the clouds. “You are not wearing a shirt.”
“Indeed.” Still holding to Sera’s hand, he brushed the other against the floor, scooping up his shirt. “Good evening.”
Then he led Sera out of the elevator. As the doors closed on the old ladies’ grumpy faces, twin streams of high-pitched yaps erupted from the pink and purple poodles.
“This way.”
Sera turned away from the yapping elevator doors and looked at Kai. He stood in front of an open door. She took a deep breath, then followed him inside.
An enormous living room spread out before them—and beyond that, tall glass walls offered a pretty spectacular view of the city. She crossed the room, her boots clunking against the dark wooden floor, and stopped in front of the windows. Now that her magic was crashing, now that she was standing here, she remembered what she’d promised herself she’d do. What she
had
to do.
She turned slowly. Kai was sitting on a large brown leather sofa. He’d tossed his shirt over a nearby armchair. Much as she enjoyed the view—it was even better than the view of the city—she found herself wishing he’d put it back on. It was distracting her, making this even harder than it already was.
“Hungry?” he asked, watching her closely, as though he could see the inner turmoil in her eyes. He probably could. He’d always been able to read her.
Sera dropped her gaze from his eyes, looking down at the coffee table. Her heart thumped when she saw the pizza box she hadn’t noticed before. Wizard House Pizza. Her favorite. And he’d kept it warm with a slow-burn magic fire. A tear slid down her cheek. Kai was on his feet in an instant, rushing over to her. His arms wrapped around her.
“Are you all right?”
“Yes.” She wiped the tear away. “It’s been a long night. And I wanted to tell…” She glanced at the boxes. “You brought me pizza.”
“Friday is pizza night,” he said matter-of-factly.
“Yes.” She hugged him. “Yes, it is.”
“Shall we eat?”
Her stomach growled in assent.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” he said, leading her toward the sofa.
She sat down beside him and opened the box, inhaling the pleasant aroma of fresh crust, sweet tomatoes, and bubbling cheese. “Mmm.” She grinned at him. “You’re amazing.”
He leaned back, satisfaction sliding across his lips. “Of course I am.”
Sera snorted and extracted her first pizza slice from the box. “So, did the Council get our present?”
“Cloud Silverstride?” Kai grabbed a piece of pizza for himself. “Yes, Cutler called me once he knew your ship was on its way.”
“So he’s your inside source.”
“Yes. He’s still working off his debt to me.”
“For what?”
“For trying to talk you into his bed. Only some of that was faked for the sake of his mission. He likes you, Sera.”
“And that bothers you?”
“No.”
She smiled at him.
“Yes,” he admitted. “But I’ll try not to step on him.”
“How diplomatic of you.”
“Yes.”
Chuckling, she leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. “I’m not interested in Cutler,” she whispered against his hot skin. “Only you.”
He dropped his forehead to hers. “Good. Then I will make an extra effort not to attack him in a jealous rage.”
“Jealous?” She allowed her eyes to wander up his naked chest, following the ridges of taut muscle. “So that’s why you’re walking around without your shirt on. You’re trying to prove you’re the virile male.”
“As I recall, you were the one to relieve me of my shirt.”
“Oh. Right.” She grabbed another slice of pizza. “So, what is the Council going to do about Cloud?”
“We’re debating.”
“What’s to debate? That scum partnered with pirates to kidnap children so that he could steal Fairy Island from a peaceful commune of fairies and mages. And all because he wants to expand his drug-dealing empire.”
“That drug-dealing empire is the problem,” he told her.
“Because too many younger mages of the magic dynasties buy his drugs?”
“Yes. And some older ones too.”
“Politics.” Sera sighed. “Is the Council at least going to finally clean up Angel Island now?”
“Yes, I managed to convince them to do that. A place like that would make the perfect hiding spot for the Grim Reaper’s people. We can’t afford having those hiding spots so close to us, not now.”
She nodded and looked down the pizza box. She sighed when she found it empty.
“Wait here,” Kai told her, standing.
He disappeared into the kitchen, returning with a cheesecake. A seductive aroma uncurled from the cake, promising of delights sweet and delicious. Sera tried not to drool all over herself as he set it down before her on the coffee table.
“Wait,” she said, her voice barely a croak. She set her hands on his before he could cut into their dessert.
He gave her a curious look.
“I want to talk to you.” She tore her gaze from the cake. “Actually, I’ve been wanting to talk to you for awhile, ever since New York. But then that thing with Alden happened. I let him get to me, let his false visions affect me. I was scared.” She looked up at him. “Truth be told, I still am.”
He took her hand.
“But I can’t let that stand in the way anymore. If we’re going to work together to take Alden down… And now Darksire the Destroyer is back too.”
Kai pulled out his phone. “Darksire is alive?”
“Apparently so. He’s the one who wanted the hybrid children. Is that significant?”
His fingers zipped across the screen, probably texting his commandos. “I don’t know. Maybe. He and Alden have a history.”
“What kind of history?”
“A bloody one. Sometimes working together, sometimes against each other.” He set his phone on the table. “I sent the guys to my family’s private library. It has a more varied selection of supernatural history than the Council keeps. The Council’s books are so…”
“One-sided?”
“Yes. They never made an effort to collect works from the more eccentric authors.” He took her hands again. “But we’ll worry about Darksire and Alden tomorrow. You wanted to tell me something.”
“Yes.” She looked at her hands—at his hands around her hands. “If we’re going to be together… Kai, I… I need to trust you.”
“And do you trust me?” he asked.
“Yes. I do.” Her heart thumped. “And I need your help. I need you to help me unlock my magic. You told me of a ritual that could do that. Something we could do away from others. Away from the Council. Will you help me?”
She watched him closely, but he didn’t pull away. His face was unreadable.
“Yes,” he said finally. “But you’re too strong. The Magic Games didn’t crack you. The ritual will only work if you don’t fight me. Your stubbornness is legendary.”
“Yeah,” she agreed, smiling. She poked one of the forks on the table.
“That’s not all?” he asked, watching her.
“No.” She slid the toe of her boot across the rug, displacing the decorative tassels. “There’s more.” She looked around the room—from the cheesecake, to the windows, to the kitchen. Basically, at everything but him.
Stalling won’t make it any easier.
I know,
she sighed.
Sera drew in a deep breath, collecting her courage. Finally, she looked at Kai. “You know I’m different. My magic is different. Because I was born different.”
He nodded, his face still painted that unreadable shade.
Sera looked down at her hands. “Because I am Dragon Born,” she whispered.
As the final word escaped her mouth, she looked up, meeting his eyes. His face was granite, his blue eyes as solid as the Arctic. He watched her for a few moments before he spoke. His voice was hardly louder than hers, hardly audible over her pounding pulse.
“I know.”
“How?” she gasped. “When?”
“I’ve suspected it for awhile. Your abilities, the combination of them, the power of them—it’s unique. But it wasn’t until you told me about your confrontation with Alden that I was sure. You broke his mind control. No mage has ever done that. No mage except the Dragon Born. You are the key to defeating him, Sera.”
She blinked at him. “So you’re not going to turn me in?”
He snorted, a hint of steam puffing out. “Of course not. That would be idiotic.”
“But the Council—”
“I don’t give a shit about some stupid rule the Magic Council of long ago made,” he snapped. “I care about you.” He took her hands, his hold possessive. Protective. “And if anyone on the Magic Council of today comes for you, they will have to deal with me too.”
“Kai, I…” Yeah, what? She kissed him once, gently on his lips. “Thank you.”
“You aren’t a monster,” he told her. “Don’t let anyone ever tell you that you are. The only part of you that’s a threat to the Council is your smart mouth.” His finger traced her lips. “You are powerful, but your heart is kind. Pure.” His gaze grazed her body, his magic sizzled her senses. He cupped his hands around her cheeks, pulling her face close. His lips brushed against hers. “I love you, Serafina Dering, and I will fight with you to the end.”
A surge shot through her body—whether magic or her own heart, she did not know. All she knew was the strong, pulsing need to be close to him, to be
with
him. She rose up to her knees, sliding onto his lap.
“I love you too.” She brushed her lips against his. “And I’m really glad I don’t have to kill you.”
She swallowed his roar of laughter, drawing him into her mouth. Swallowing his magic too.
“You wouldn’t…have a chance…against me,” his voice buzzed between kisses.
“Oh, but I know your weaknesses.” She rose, pulling him to his feet with her. “All of them.”
His hands rounded her bottom, sliding lower. Venturing deeper. Her body hummed in anticipation.
“Weaknesses?” he growled roughly against her ear.
It was getting hard to concentrate. But she had to. She had a point to prove, damn it. She brushed her lips against his hot skin, trailing kisses down his chest, darting her tongue out to trace the ridges of his stomach. He grunted roughly as her hand lingered on his belt.
“That’s right. Even you have weaknesses.” She opened the buckle, then slid his jeans down his legs with languid ease. She removed what remained of his clothing. “I have your number, Drachenburg.” Smiling, she moved lower.
As her tongue brushed against him, he surged forward, tearing at her clothes. They crumbled like tissue paper, shredding what little remained of her self restraint with them. Magic and desire poured over her breasts like a burning waterfall, dripping hot liquid fire down her body. His hands followed the trail his magic had blazed, stoking the heat even higher.
“Eating in,” she said, gasping as his hand caressed her thigh. “Fantastic idea.”
“Yes,” he said. “No interruptions.” His hand slid with liquid ease between her legs. “No monsters. Just the two of us.” His eyes traced her body, his grin widening. “Beautiful. I should have known I could only have fallen for a dragon.”
As magic flared in his eyes, the burn of it pure intoxicating pleasure, Sera pushed him down on the sofa, the dessert completely forgotten.
Author's Note
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If you enjoyed
Magic Nights
, I’d really appreciate if you could spread the word. One of the best ways of doing that is by leaving a review wherever you purchased this book. Thank you for your invaluable support!
What's coming next in the series?
Blood Magic
, the second book of
Dragon Born Alexandria
, which features Sera’s sister Alex, is coming soon. And Sera’s next adventure will play out in
Rival Magic
, the fourth book of
Dragon Born Serafina
, coming in 2016.
Books by Ella Summers
Dragon Born Serafina
4
Rival Magic
[2016]
Dragon Born Alexandria
2
Blood Magic
[2016]
Sorcery and Science
2.5
Menace
3.5
Revelations
4.5
Masquerade
5
Ensnared
6
Shadowstorm
[2016]
And
more books
coming soon…
Reading Order: Dragon Born Series
The
Dragon Born Serafina
and
Dragon Born Alexandria
series can be read together or independently. There is some crossover between them. I recommend the following reading order:
Mercenary Magic
(Dragon Born Serafina, Book 1)
Magic Edge
(Dragon Born Alexandria, Book 1)
Magic Games
(Dragon Born Serafina, Book 2)
Magic Nights
(Dragon Born Serafina, Book 3)
Blood Magic
(Dragon Born Alexandria, Book 2)
And more books coming soon…
More information about the Dragon Born books
here
.
About the Author
Ella Summers has been writing stories for as long as she could read; she's been coming up with tall tales even longer than that. One of her early year masterpieces was a story about a pigtailed princess and her dragon sidekick. Nowadays, she still writes fantasy. She likes books with lots of action, adventure, and romance. When she is not busy writing or spending time with her two young children, she makes the world safe by fighting robots.