Sera watched the Maserati driving in front of them. “Alex and I haven’t seen each other in months, and we got so little time together over these past few days. I just want to do something crazy. Like skydiving.”

“You? Skydiving?” Kai’s magic chuckled with amusement.

Sera had never been the wild, crazy one. That had always been Alex; her whole life was one long high-speed car chase scene.

“Yeah, skydiving,” Sera said. “These past few months have made me realize that life is so short, our moments of serenity so fleeting. Anything could happen tomorrow. Alden could kill me. The Magic Council could find out what I am and kill me.”

Kai’s magic expelled a puff of icy fire. The temperature in the car dropped ten degrees.

“Over my dead body,” he ground out.

She glanced out of the window. “A car crash could kill me.”

Kai said nothing.

“I want to feel each moment. I want to live, Kai. Because tomorrow, it could all be over. I want to spend as much time as I can with those I love. Alex and Riley. And Naomi. And you.”

Kai set his hand over hers.

“The commandos too,” she said. “I bet they know how to throw one hell of an end-of-the-world party.”

“You have no idea.” His hand stroked hers gently. “But we won’t see the end of the world. We will stop it.”

“We’ll certainly try, with everything we’ve got. But I’m still going skydiving. Or better yet, when I unleash my magic, when I can give my dragon side corporeal form, we can race. A flying race between a Dragon Born mage and a dragon shifter. All we need is a dragon summoner, and we can see which kind of dragon really is the fastest.”

“I can settle that for you right now,” he said. “I am the fastest.”

“You sound awfully confident about that.”

“Yes.”

Sera smirked at him. “Kai, the invincible.”

“If only.” His absolute confidence cracked, melting away. “But, Sera, I’ve never before been more aware of my own mortality. You’re right. At any time, any of us could die. And we shouldn’t put things off. I shouldn’t put things off. Not any more.”

“Great, so it’s agreed. You’re finally going to try the triple cheese thick crust special from Wizard House Pizza.”

He didn’t return her grin. His face remained perfectly serious.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“Nothing.” He squeezed her hand. “Sera, the two of us are part of each other’s lives. I want to see you more. I want to wake up each morning with you—”

Magic slammed into the car, cutting off his words. A chorus of explosions buzzed on the air, and for a brief second, time stood still, frozen in that moment. Then the car trembled and flipped over, drowning Sera in darkness.

CHAPTER TWO

There's No Such Thing as Paradise

SLOWLY, PAINFULLY, THE world faded back into focus. Well, sort of. Everything was still blurry, a watercolor canvas of hot splotches and burning strokes. Sera blinked down hard, trying to clear her vision. It didn’t help much.

The soft crackle of flames popped in her ears, accompanied by gurgling noises and a constantly cycling wet splat, like putty hitting hot pavement. A bed of tiny magical crystals lay all around her. She blinked. No, not magical crystals. Shattered glass.

The world was turned upside down, nothing was as it should be. Sera looked around, her scrambled mind slowly making sense of the situation. The car had flipped over.

Beside her, Kai wasn’t moving. His head was oozing blood. Red splotches flooded Sera’s vision. She gritted her teeth, willing herself to remain conscious. Her head was splitting with pain, pounding like someone had beat it bloody and was now piercing it with a knife. She leaned over, reaching toward Kai, relief flooding her when she felt a pulse. He was alive. Thank goodness.

She fumbled for her seatbelt, trying to free herself, but her hands were clumsy and numb, like she had big oven mitts taped over them. Finally, though, she managed to get free. She reached for Kai’s seatbelt, releasing it.

“Kai,” she whispered, tapping his face.

He didn’t move.

“Kai,” she said again, louder this time.

Her voice sounded awful, as dry and cracked as Death Valley.

“Wake up,” she pleaded with him.

But he did not wake up.

Slowly, she squeezed out through the empty window, her body so numb that she hardly felt the shards of glass scraping against her skin. As she rose to her feet, she almost passed out, but she pushed through the wooziness. She walked around the car, the world spinning with every step. A distant voice deep inside of her was telling her she had a head injury, but she didn’t have time to stop and listen. She had to move. She fought the bile rising in her throat, churning her stomach into a whirlwind of acid clouds and bloody rain. Nearby—and yet so far away—she saw Alex’s car, also flipped over. No one was moving inside. She had to get to them too, to free them.

She squatted down, reaching through a hole in the window to grab Kai. But he was stuck. She broke the rest of the window. As she pulled with everything she had, trying to free Kai, the Maserati exploded. Sera turned, gaping in horror at the burning black pieces raining down on the street.

Tears streaming down her cheeks, Sera kept pulling on Kai. She had to get him free before their car exploded too. Every heave of her muscles shot fresh pain across her body. Her heart was burning with anguish, her soul split in half, running crimson. Her magic popped beneath her skin like a storm simmering before the skies cracked open, unleashing devastation on the world. Everything tasted like ash sprinkled over thick poison soup.