Magic ripped through Sera’s body and the walls of the illusion melted like water washing away a chalk sidewalk drawing. Slowly, she came to, her eyes focusing. She was inside a dark room. No, a cell. With concrete walls. She lay on a hard, cold bench, its icy surface seeping through her thin clothing, as chilling as the illusion had been hot. She shivered, rubbing her hands across her bare arms as she sat up.

“Are you all right?” Kai asked.

He sat right beside her. His forehead was caked with dry blood, but he was alive. Sera threw herself against him, opening up her arms to hug him to her. He sat still, his hand rubbing slow, soothing circles through her hair.

“I’m so glad you’re all right,” she said, giving him one final squeeze before drawing away.

They weren’t alone in the cell. Alex was pacing from one end to the other, her movements restless, her magic agitated. Logan stood perfectly still, his back against the wall, his eyes taking in everything, probably looking for a weakness, a way to escape.

“Where are we?” Sera asked.

“We don’t know,” Alex said. “We were all unconscious when they brought us here.”

“The Grim Reaper.” The words frosted Sera’s lips. She rubbed her skin, trying to warm up. It was no use. There was ice in her soul. Heat could not reach her.

“How did you know?” Alex asked.

“He’s been trying to mess with my head, to convince me that he’s a victim in all of this, framed and hated by the Magic Council.”

“That victim has killed tens of thousands of people over the centuries.” Kai’s words snapped like a dry whip.

“I know.” Sera stood. “Let’s get out of here.”

“If only it were so easy,” said Alex.

“What is it?”

“When Alex woke up, she tried to break us out with magic. It bounced back,” Logan told her.

“Bounced back? Like iron?”

“No, iron bounces the magic vibes back at you, overloading your senses. Whatever is in these walls, it reflects magic itself.” Alex rubbed her red and blotchy hand, which was suffering from a pretty severe case of windburn.

“It bounced your wind spell back at you?”

“Yes,” said Alex. “Kai managed to dissipate most of the bounce-back, but some of the spell still hit me.”

Great. “We need to come up with a plan to get out of here without using magic.”

Kai glared at the cage door, as though he were debating the consequences of breaking it down.

“The bars are too strong,” Sera told him.

“Not for a dragon.”

“If you shift in here, you’ll bring down the stone roof on all of us.”

“I know.” He glared at the bars like he was considering punching them anyway. “That’s why I haven’t shifted. In dragon form, I could survive the rockfall. You could not.”

“I would put up a magic barrier to protect us, but the falling rocks would just bounce my magic back at us,” Alex said.

“I’m impressed you thought of that,” Logan told her.

Alex grinned at him. “I sometimes bother to look before I leap.”

Logan let out a noise that sounded like a cross between a snort and a grunt. A set of tools appeared in his hands, as if by magic, and he began picking the lock on the cell door.

Sera had been completely disarmed. She patted herself down. Alden’s lackeys had certainly been thorough, right down to removing the knives in her boots and taking all of her jewelry, a gift from Alex. The necklace and bracelets and earrings could be assembled together to make a knife. Alden’s lackeys hadn’t missed it. But they had somehow missed Logan’s tools.

“Where did he hide them?” Sera asked Alex.

Her sister shrugged. “I have no idea. He says a magician never shares his secrets.”

Logan swung the door open. “If we survive this, love, I might just share that one with you.” He tucked his tools into his belt, then pulled out a knife.

“That must have been difficult to hide,” Sera commented. Maybe it really was magic.

Logan chuckled. “Indeed.”

He slipped out of the now-open cell, and they all followed, moving quickly and quietly down a rocky hallway. Maybe they were trapped inside of a mountain. There was another locked door at the end of the hall, but Logan made short work of it. He pushed open the door, and a rush of sunlight flooded in, setting the rocky walls ablaze with a rainbow of magical notes.

Blinking back bright splotches, Sera rushed outside, eager to be free of the creepy tunnel, which was indeed part of a mountain. A lush green carpet of vibrant grass spread out before them, rolling and dipping in a series of gentle hills. Overhead, the warm sun shone in a clear sky. The breeze, as soft as a whisper, wafted across the fields of swaying grass and flowers, spreading its sweet perfume. It was an aroma of nature and flowers, of warm fuzzy blankets just out of the dryer, of summer picnics and lazy strolls. It was hard to believe the Grim Reaper had set up camp in this peaceful paradise.

“I don’t recognize this place,” Kai said.

Logan nodded curtly. “Neither do I.”

Their eyes panned the scene, clearly not sharing in any of the wonder that Sera felt.

“It’s beautiful,” said Alex.

Well, at least someone saw it too.

“Paradise,” Sera told her sister.

Logan gave them a cool look. “It’s in the middle of nowhere. Isolated.”