“We will not ally with an abomination,” one of the mages said, spitting on the ground. “The Dragon Born are worse than Alden.”

“You don’t know that, Seth,” said Cutler. “In fact, you know nothing of history. You’re forgetting all the people Alden has killed and the minds he has enslaved.”

“I know more than a dumb delinquent who can’t even read.”

“I can read better than you apparently, and we delinquents have access to something you stiffs don’t: free thought. That and restricted books. Books that tell the truth.” Cutler went to stand beside Sera. “I know the right side. Do you?”

He and Kai exchanged looks, and for the first time respect shone in Kai’s eyes. A few disgruntled mutters came from Kai’s supposed allies, but no one else came to their side. Sera should have known it would come down to friends versus strangers—that only those people who loved her would stand by her side.

“We can’t get in the middle of this,” Blake, the mercenary captain, told Kai. He looked at Sera, sadness in his eyes. He liked her. She was pretty sure he would have fought for her, but Mayhem’s rules were holding him back.

“I understand,” Kai replied.

The mercenaries turned and left the chamber. Half of Kai’s allies followed right behind them. Sera tried not to be disappointed. It could have been worse. They could have stayed to fight against her and Kai.

“She has brainwashed you, Kai,” one of the remaining fairies said. “Her magic is too dangerous. We must end her.”

“Over my dead body,” Kai snarled.

“If need be,” the fairy replied.

Kai’s lost allies swarmed him. They knew that the only way to take him down was with sheer numbers. A collective storm of elemental and telekinetic magic blended with Fairy Dust and lightning-quick strikes from the vampires. Their magic threw him across the room, far from Sera and the others.

Pain cascaded through his magic, bombarding her senses, overloading her. Blood. Torment. Fury. All rational thought melted from her mind. Before she knew what she was doing, she was sprinting across the room, blasting away anyone who stood in her way. She saw the blood dripping from a gigantic gash in his head. The metallic scent burned down her nose. Panic kicked her into a rage, pain and love flooding her, the need to protect taking over.

As she ran toward Kai, her dragon split from her. Amara launched into the air, her scales iridescent blue-purple, shining like the inside of a seashell. Her wings spread out wide, glistening in the light of the magic lanterns.

Sera cleared the path to Kai. Her magic surged to powerful new heights, unchecked, fueled by her anger. Fireballs, blizzards, earthquakes, and tornados blasted out of her in merciless succession.

We can’t kill all these people or we’ll become the monster they think the Dragon Born are, Amara spoke to her.

They attacked Kai. The scent of his blood lingered in her nose. They are trying to kill him. They deserve no better a fate.

He’s not dead yet, Amara said.

Nearby, Kai moved. He was getting to his feet. Sera shook her head. Amara was right. She had to help Kai, not allow vengeance to consume her. She ran faster, breaking through the line of attackers to reach Kai.

“Are you all right?” she asked him.

“Yes.” He looked out at the people who had betrayed him.

“Let’s get out of here,” she said, holding Kai back as magic began to sizzle on his hands.

Amara dove deep, swooping up Riley, Cutler, and the commandos. Their once-allies stood motionless for a moment, mesmerized by her beauty. It was no wonder that supernaturals and humans alike had once, long ago, worshipped the dragons. Well, until they’d learned that the dragons were really Dragon Born, people with both a mage and a dragon side.

Amara looped around, a rush of magic rustling their hair as she passed. Sera and Kai jumped onto her back, then they all flew off into the night.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Hunted and Haunted

THOUGH FINN HAD died, Alden’s control had only grown in the few weeks since the battle at Witching Point. The news of Sera being Dragon Born spread like wildfire across the supernatural world. Alden had planned all this, down to the last detail. When he’d realized he couldn’t turn her, he’d exposed her. He was watching and waiting, convinced that, hunted and haunted, she would eventually cave. He had admitted as much when he’d visited her in her dreams the night of Finn’s death. He wasn’t even trying to cover it up.

He thought she would come around to his side, that she was defeated. He obviously didn’t know as much about dragons as he thought.

When she’d awoken from that dream, she’d told Kai that Alden could find her, that he was watching her. Kai had gathered his allies, bringing them all to a base in the southwest, a place deep inside a mountain. He’d said the rocks that made up this mountain would block out magic from the outside. It must have been working because Alden hadn’t visited her dreams again.

Ever since they’d come here, Sera had been stuck below ground. She wasn’t even allowed to go out for fear that Alden could tune into her mind. It was killing her to see Kai go out and fight Alden’s forces while she was stuck down here. Apparently, no one else had the magic Alden could tune into from a distance. Not until he’d made them his. Sera was the weak link. She hated being the weak link.

Even though Alden wasn’t visiting her dreams, that didn’t stop the nightmares. Being stuck down here in this underground base was making her stir crazy. Sometimes Kai and the commandos were gone for days, gathering more allies. That’s when the nightmares were the worst. On those lonely nights, her mind filled the hole inside of her by playing out scenarios of what would happen if Alden managed to capture Kai and the others. Even Riley went out with Kai’s teams. And Sera was stuck here. Stuck waiting, stuck watching, helpless to do anything. Just what Alden wanted.