“What about the humans?” she asked.

“Are you so concerned for them?”

“I pretended to be one of them for twenty-four years, so yeah, I’m kind of invested in their well-being.”

“But you were never truly one of them,” he said. “Pretend as you might, you never will be. Just as they can never be one of us.”

“That’s no excuse to annihilate them.”

“Sera, my dear sweet Sera, you misunderstand. I am not going to annihilate them.”

“Then what are you going to do to them? Why did your fairies experiment on them?”

He smiled. “A topic for another time. Goodbye, Sera. I’ll see you soon.”

She woke with a start, jumping up in bed. She pulled the blanket to herself, wondering if Alden really had gotten into her head or if that dream had just been her own fears manifesting. She’d always had too active of an imagination.

She turned, looking for Kai. He wasn’t there, but the door to the bedroom was open just a crack. Voices spoke in Kai’s living room. Kai and Tony.

“I got a message from Lara with a name of a Council member Alden will be targeting at the Summit. Mace Bender,” Kai said.

“That’s a different name from the one Ares gave us,” Tony replied.

“Yes.”

“I’m already sending someone to watch him,” said Tony.

“We’re spending far too much time chasing Alden’s tail.” Kai sounded agitated. “We need to strike first.”

“We don’t know where he is. And even if we did, he’s too well-guarded. Some even say he cannot be killed.”

“Anyone can be killed,” Kai stated. “We just have to exploit his weakness.”

“He draws his power from a constantly growing pool of supernaturals who worship him. How do we exploit that?”

“I don’t know. We have to cut him off from that magic. Somehow.” Kai fell silent.

Sera pushed back the blanket and slid off the bed, walking to the door. She needed to be a part of this conversation.

“Sera could do it,” Tony said. “She could break his magic.”

At the mention of her name, Sera stopped walking.

“Alden’s bonds to his followers grow back almost immediately,” Kai said. “We’d have only seconds at most to kill him.”

“Then we just have to hit him with everything we’ve got in those few seconds.”

“We’d need to get Alden alone. Sera says that the further he is from his supporters, the longer it takes for the connection to reform. But he never goes anywhere without his entourage nearby. They’re like his portable magic battery.”

“We could draw him out, act instead of reacting, just like you want,” said Tony.

“What do you suggest?”

“Alden wants to turn Sera. He’s obsessed. We haven’t been able to find him because he’s too rational, too calculating. But he just might want Sera enough that we can draw him out. If we arrange it right, we can cut him off from his followers. Two teams. One team takes care of his followers, cutting them off from Alden. The second team, consisting of Sera and a few others, goes for Alden. Sera breaks his magic, and then we kill Alden before he can reestablish the connection. If his people are far enough away, we might just be able to do it before he returns to full power.”

“No,” Kai said immediately.

“It’s the best plan we’ve got,” Tony told him. “The only plan we’ve got that has any chance whatsoever of working.”

“When Sera met Alden face-to-face, back in New York after the Magic Games, the encounter nearly killed her.”

“Except this time, we’ll be in control of the situation,” Tony said. “We all love Sera. None of us want to see her hurt. Sooner or later, Alden will go for her. All the glaring and huffing in the world won’t change that, Kai. But we can control how it happens.”

The scent of a burning volcano wafted through the apartment. Kai’s magic. “No,” he said, his tone frightening calm. “We are not using my future wife as bait.”

Sera was about to go out into the living room to support Tony’s idea, but Kai’s words stopped her. She peeked through the door crack.

Tony laughed. “You dragons are always so melodramatic.”

Kai gave him a hard look.

Tony blinked, clearly taken aback. “I wasn’t aware that you’d asked her yet.”

“I haven’t.”

“Then when?” Tony asked.

“I’m not sure. Sera is…complicated. She freaks out easily.”

“God, you are actually serious,” Tony gasped, his eyes wide.

“Of course. Am I not always serious?”

“Yes, but ever since you met her, you’ve been more…whimsical.”

Kai snorted.

“But still…I’ve never heard you talk like this before. Is this why you’ve been trying to get her to come work for you?” Tony asked.

“No, I’ve been trying to get her to come work for me because she is competent and trustworthy.”

“But you wouldn’t mind seeing more of her,” Tony suggested.

“Yes,” he agreed. “Don’t say anything to Sera. She will panic. And when she panics, she draws her sword.”

“Or runs away.”

“Exactly. I don’t know what to do. Flowers?” Kai looked oddly lost. “Chocolate? Pizza? It is all so insignificant.”