Magic Nights (2 page)

“Naomi?” Sera asked, staring down into the face of her friend.

“Oh, hi, Sera,” Naomi replied, jumping to her feet. She plucked a breadstick out of her hair.

“What’s going on?”

Naomi reached for her knives. “These vampires have kidnapped a child.”

“Child,” Kai repeated in a harsh whisper, his voice simmering with barely-controlled violence.

“Yes,” Naomi said darkly.

She launched two knives at the vampire making his way toward the exit. He screeched out in pain, then whipped around to glare at her with red eyes, his mouth open, his fangs extended. Naomi shot a burst of pink and silver Fairy Dust into his mouth. He let out a single dry gurgle, then collapsed unconscious to the floor. Naomi grabbed the sword she’d dropped when the vampires had knocked her across the room, then dashed toward her next opponent.

“I should help her,” Sera said, reaching for her sword too.

Kai stood with her. He wasn’t wearing any weapons, but he didn’t need to. Kai
was
the weapon. He grabbed a vampire and twisted his neck hard. Sera heard the sickening crunch of bone, and the vampire’s head popped off like a soda bottle lid. Kai tossed the broken vampire aside and grabbed the next, fury burning in his eyes, magic sizzling on his fingertips.

A vampire slunk around behind Kai, trying to get the jump on him. Sera swung out her sword and chopped off the fiend’s head. Decapitation was the only surefire way to instantly end a demonic vampire; they were too resilient to succumb to anything else. Even fire took far too long.

Fairy Dust did a decent job of putting them to sleep, though. Naomi had blasted another three vampires into dreamland. They lay at her feet, drooling blood. But there were just so many of them, and they were closing in on her. Sera ran for the ring of vampires around her friend. She hacked a sizable hole in their perimeter and broke through to join Naomi.

“Need some help?” Sera asked, turning so she and Naomi were back to back.

Naomi grinned at her. “Always.”

The vampires didn’t last long. In a blaze of magic and steel, Sera and Naomi cut through the ring of red-eyed fiends surrounding them.

As Sera tore her sword from their final opponent, Naomi gasped, “You have to stop him. I need that one alive.”

Sera spun to look at Kai. A graveyard of demonic limbs lay around him, victims of the dragon’s rage. His hands were clamped around the final vampire’s neck. As he lifted her into the air, dark scales slid down his arms. Ancient magic hung heavy in the air around him, crackling and rumbling like a thunderstorm about to be unleashed.

Sera stepped up to him and set her hand on his arm. “Kai.”

He looked down at her, menace snapping in his electric-blue eyes.

“Naomi wants that one alive.” She returned his stare calmly, though truth be told she was anything but calm. Kai without his brakes on pretty much scared her shitless. Hopefully, he was too incensed right now to register the fear in her magic.

He continued to stare at her, his magic scorching the air. Sera rose slowly to her tiptoes and kissed his cheek. His nostrils flared, inhaling her scent—and then his tense muscles relaxed. He didn’t let go of the vampire, though.

“Welcome back,” she said, clearing the dryness from her throat. “Where did you go?”

“Somewhere dark.”

She looked at him, at the torment burning in his eyes. “You lost control.”

“Yes.”

She didn’t ask why. He didn’t look like he wanted to discuss it. But he surprised her by speaking again.

“You once asked if I had any siblings,” he said, his voice hoarse and low, so that only she could hear him. “I don’t, at least not anymore. But long ago, back when I was a child, I had a little sister. She was kidnapped by people like these.” He indicated the dead and sleeping vampires. “They killed her before we could rescue her.”

The pure pain in his voice made Sera want to hug him, but she wasn’t sure if he’d appreciate that right now, not in front of all these people. Like Kai, the diners here were all part of the elite magic dynasties. He couldn’t afford to show weakness in front of them. So Sera released her hand from his arm and stepped back.

“Naomi, what do you want with that one?” she asked, pointing at the vampire struggling futilely against Kai’s hold.

“She’s the leader of this band,” Naomi said. “The only one who knows where the boy I’ve been hired to find is being held.”

“This is a job for Mayhem?” Sera asked.

“Yes.” Naomi glared at the struggling vampire. “But I’d have taken down these monsters for free.”

Kai’s hand clamped down harder on the vampire’s neck. “Agreed.”

“How do you want to get the information from her?” Sera asked Naomi. She had a pretty good idea of how Kai wanted to do it, but that would result in more pain than information.

“Fairy magic,” Naomi said and blasted the vampire with blue-silver Fairy Dust.

The particles twinkled like stars and sparkled like diamonds. It was so bright that Sera had to look away. A gentle, seductive warmth washed over her, inviting her to give up her secrets—and she wasn’t even the recipient of the spell. She knew that feeling. The fairies at the Magic Games had used something like that on her. Naomi might have only been half-fairy, but her magic was much more powerful than she thought. The vampire had stopped struggling.

“Where did you take the boy?” Naomi asked, her voice melodic.

A sappy smile crept up the vampire’s lips, and she stared at Naomi with utter devotion. Apparently, demon vampires weren’t immune to fairy magic. “Haunted Loop. The Castle.”

Haunted Loop was a section of the Presidio that was home to San Francisco’s ghost population. The Castle, which sat at the north end of Haunted Loop, was one of the former military batteries that the city’s supernaturals had renovated when they’d taken over the area. The building was elegant, large, and pretty much impregnable. Awesome.

“I recognize her,” Kai said, glaring at the vampire. “Claudine Evercast. The Magic Council is after her. She’s wanted for kidnapping, murder, torture, piracy, and spreading anarchy.”

In other words, disrupting the peace between supernaturals and humans, whether by drinking from unwilling humans or otherwise attacking them. Of all the crimes Kai had listed, it was the one that the Magic Council would take the most seriously. A war between humans and supernaturals would tear the world apart. Millions would die, and no one won in that scenario. Anyone with half a brain knew that. So as much as Sera disagreed with just about everything else the Magic Council did, she couldn’t argue with their determination to uphold the peace—even if they could be pretty draconian about it.

“You can have her,” Naomi told Kai. “I’m done with her.”

As if on cue, Dal, Callum, and Tony—the men Sera had lovingly dubbed Kai’s commandos—stepped through the shattered window, their boots trailing glass across the cherrywood floors.

“Hey, boss. We heard there was trouble,” Tony said, grabbing a hold of Claudine.

“Yes.” The fairy enchantment must have been wearing off because when the vampire met Kai’s dark glare, she shuddered.

“Sera.” Dal grinned at her. “I should have known you’d be at the center of this mayhem.”

“And Naomi’s here too. Wow, it’s like a party.”

“A trouble party,” Tony said. “That’s what we should call you. The Trouble Trio.”

“I thought that was you guys,” Sera shot back.

They grinned at her.

Sera shrugged. “What can I say, guys? We dare to kick ass.”

“Hey, asskicker, you’ve got blood on your shirt,” Callum told her.

Sera sighed. Not again. She looked down at her top, but there wasn’t a drop of blood in sight. Miraculously. She glowered at him. Dal snorted and gave Callum one of those congratulatory backslaps men were so fond of.

While those two checked the sleeping vampires—and Tony stood there looking big and tough holding Claudine—Sera turned to Naomi.

“Are you going after the child now?” she asked.

“Yes. I can’t waste another minute.”

“Why did they kidnap him?”

Naomi shook her head. “I don’t know. But I have to save him. He’s only seven years old. And…” Her magic hummed with determination. “He’s a fairy-mage hybrid.”

Just like Naomi. That meant this was personal for her. Which meant it was personal for Sera too.

“I’m going with you.”

Naomi clasped her arm. “Thanks.”

“It looks like our date is over,” Sera told Kai.

His gaze swept across the restaurant of overturned tables, broken dishes, and dead vampires. A cool evening wind blew through what remained of the window, biting at Sera’s bare arms. Every mage in the room was staring at the six of them in complete horror. Maybe the sons and daughters of San Francisco’s finest magic dynasties had vampire limbs in their soufflés and oysters.

“It would appear so,” Kai said, staring back at the mages until they looked away.

Well, most of them looked away. An elderly mage in a snow-white fur shawl turned her haughty scowl on Sera. With the air of a queen, she rose from her seat and strode across the room, her steps saturated with enough self-importance to drown the purple poodle inside her purse. Bethany Harrower. The purple poodle lady. Great. Just when Sera had thought this day couldn’t get any worse.

“Mr. Drachenburg,” her voice trilled. “You made this mess.” Jingling with pearls, her hand swept out to indicate the sorry state of the restaurant. “You will clean it up.”

“My people will handle it,” he replied, indicating the commandos.

She was obviously unimpressed by the three muscular men towering over her. “No.
You
will handle it. Personally.”

He gave her a flat stare. “I’m busy.”

“Chasing after vampires?” The high-pitched screech of a laugh that erupted from her mouth would have made a harpy green with envy. “Leave that to these…” Her eyes darted to Sera and Naomi. “…these mercenaries.” She said the last word like it was seven shades of garbage. As though it was their fault that the city was full of monsters. “Mr. Drachenburg, as the ranking member of the Magic Council here, it is your duty to deal with disruptions of the peace. You will bring in those criminals.” She flicked her bejeweled hand at the napping vampires, then glared down at the pile of dead ones. “And you will dispose of the others. Above all, you will see to it that the restaurant is returned to its pristine state. I have a dinner party scheduled here for next week, and it would be terribly inconvenient to have to reschedule.”

That did it. “A child is missing. He’s in mortal danger.” Sera surged forward, pushing her face in the snooty lady’s. “And you’re worrying about dinner parties?”

Bethany Harrower met her stare without fear. She was wearing disdain like it was this season’s color, though. “Ms. Dering.”

Sera wasn’t sure if she should be flattered or worried that the old lady remembered her name. And she was too pissed off to decide. Or care.

“I wouldn’t expect you to comprehend such things,” Bethany Harrower continued. “I have been planning this dinner for two months. And I will not have some kidnapped child ruin it.”

Fury boiled inside of Sera. Her magic snapped out, raw and unchecked. It would have slapped Bethany Harrower flat on her bony little ass too if Kai hadn’t put up his magic to shield the lady.

“Go with Naomi. Help her,” he told Sera, his tone soothing.

She smashed her magic against his, trying to break through. He didn’t budge. Damn dragons. She’d have to use her magic-breaking powers to break through his shield. Shattering his magic would hurt him. It would hurt her too. The only person who won in that scenario was Bethany Harrower. Taking a deep breath, Sera pulled her magic back in.

“I’ll deal with this.” Kai kissed her softly, which made the old lady’s magic flare up in disgust. Her nose crinkled up like a shriveled potato too.

“We’ll have to reschedule,” Sera replied, brushing her nose against his.

“Of course,” he said with a wicked grin. “I’m not letting you get out of our date so easily.”

CHAPTER THREE

Haunted Loop

NAOMI HAD CHASED the vampires to Illusion on foot, so they walked rather than drove from the restaurant to Haunted Loop. The sky was dark, the air foggy, and the chilling wind particularly persistent tonight. In other words, perfect vampire conditions. For those people who still had a pulse, however, the weather was downright wretched.

“So, have you met with Simmons yet?” Naomi asked, rubbing her hands up and down her arms.

Sera mimicked the motion, trying to smooth down the goosebumps popping with arctic bite across her skin. “Not yet.”

“So you haven’t been reinstated?”

“Will that be a problem?”

“I won’t tell Simmons if you don’t.” Naomi shot her a crooked smile. “Though I don’t think the guild’s accident insurance will cover you if you get maimed during this job.”

Sera snorted. “I’ll just have to make sure I don’t let the bad guys get in a punch.”

“You’re good, Sera. You’ll be ok. I’m more concerned about your clothing.” Naomi smirked. “Your boyfriend seems to really like that top.” She winked.

Sera blushed.

Naomi continued, her teasing merciless. “If those vampires hadn’t crashed through the window, you two would still be ogling at each other from across your table.”

“Kai would take issue with your words. According to him, dragons don’t ogle.”

“Oh, sure they do, just like the rest of us.” A slow, sly smile slid across Naomi’s glittery pink lips. “Now, tell me when you’re going to meet with Simmons so you can be reinstated.”

“I’m meeting with him later this week to renegotiate my contract.”

“Should be fun.”

“Trying to get more money out of a penny pincher like Simmons? Yeah, it will be awesome,” Sera said drily.

“Simmons likes muffins.”

Sera nodded. “Apple cinnamon is his favorite.”

“Really? I’ll have to remember that,” said Naomi. “You have to come back, Sera. Soon. I miss my partner. I’ve had to work with Hadley on my last few jobs, and she’s just such a hard ass. No fun at all.”

“She’s not that bad.”

Naomi shot her a look of complete horror. “The woman bench-presses dinosaurs for fun.”