That was Sera’s cue to get moving. She glanced back at her team—Riley, the commandos, Naomi, and Makani—then ran toward the base. They slipped past the ruined barrier, sneaking toward the turtleshell building. Salt and sand crunched and slid under Sera’s boots, a soft and soothing rhythm within the cacophony of battle.

Two of Alden’s guards came around the corner. Before Sera could attack, Makani had them on the ground. His power crashed against them like a wrecking ball, breaking their connection to Alden.

“I’m going to break the magic on as many of Alden’s people as possible,” Makani said. “That will weaken him. Not a lot, but it might make all the difference.”

He was right. Distance played a big part in Alden’s power. He drew more power from those followers closest to him.

“It might slow him down enough for you to push him into the spirit realm. You need to do that as quickly as you can,” Makani told her. “The longer you wait, the more magic you use, the weaker you will be when you face him there. As long as he’s here on earth, connected to his people, he recharges. You do not. If you are already weak when you face him in the spirit realm, you will not last long.”

Sera nodded. “I understand.”

Makani met Naomi’s eyes for a moment, setting his hand on her cheek. Then he ran off to join the knights. As he moved, his dragon split from him, a magical mist melting off of his body, solidifying into a beautiful golden dragon. The dragon soared overhead, pouring down fire on Alden’s soldiers.

“Come on. Time to go,” Sera told her team.

Every guard out here was focused on the knights—and on that gigantic dragon. They didn’t even see Sera’s team enter the building.

Unfortunately, Sera’s luck didn’t hold long. A stream of Alden’s soldiers poured around the corner, flooding the hallway. The commandos moved into action. Dal cast an invisible barrier, and the first row of Alden’s people bounced right off. The barrier stuck to them, gluing them to the wall. Callum cast a storm of elemental magic as Tony and Dal charged, their swords slashing through Alden’s ranks. Naomi drew spirit magic, using it to fuel her Fairy Dust attacks, which burned pink and powerful. More powerful than Sera had ever felt from her. Alden’s people were dropping to the floor. Riley threw bombs, laughing as lightning bolts and earthquakes exploded in the halls. Sera used her sword, trying to conserve her magic for the later fight against Alden.

The skirmish in the hallway was surprisingly short. And far too easy. That unsettling feeling returned.

Alden is playing us, Amara said.

Yes.

So what do we do?

The only thing we can, Sera told her, zigzagging around Alden’s fallen followers as she continued down the hallway.

A surge of familiar magic called out from ahead, drawing her forward. Kai’s magic. Automatically, Sera’s feet kicked off into a run.

“What is it?” Naomi asked.

“Kai is here.”

“I can sense his magic signal too.” Callum held up the device that tracked individual magic signals, the one the commandos had used to find them in Munich. “Now that we’re on this side of the salt barrier, it sees Kai.”

“Careful, this could be a trap,” Tony warned.

Sera slowed. Hope fought it out against despair inside of her. “You’re right. If we’ve found Kai, then it’s only because Alden wanted us to find him.”

“That doesn’t mean we can’t win,” Naomi said.

“Up ahead, the hallway opens up into a large central chamber,” Tony said, his Seer magic brushing past Sera. “Let’s take this slow.”

They moved in silent steps down toward the hallway. Chances were Alden already knew they were there—if not from their approaching magic, then from the full-scale battle raging outside.

As Tony had said, the hallway led into a large chamber, an elegant room with glowing tiles on the walls and chandeliers dripping from the ceiling. It looked like a throne room. And Alden was there, sitting high on his gold throne, exuding the amused arrogance of a king—or, as he probably thought of himself, a god.

Kai stood at Alden’s side. Sera’s momentary joy at finding him disappeared as soon as she saw his eyes. Those beautiful eyes, which had once shone with electric blue magic, now were hard and cold. His magic was snapping around him, the most painfully beautiful thing Sera had ever felt. But it was tainted now with Alden’s magic. Kai had been broken. His mind was Alden’s now.

A heavy gale sucked Sera into the chamber. As soon as she was inside, a magic barrier slid across each of the six open archways that led into the room. She was trapped in this bubble, cut off from her allies, alone with Kai and Alden. The Grim Reaper, the most powerful and demented mage in the world, stared down at her, magic flaring up in his eyes.

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

More Powerful than Magic

“WELCOME, SERA. I have been expecting you.” Alden’s voice—and his magic—echoed off the walls, the sheer power of it positively deafening.

Sera couldn’t stop looking at Kai. She tried to shift her attention elsewhere, but she just couldn’t. The sight of him like this was horrible, heartbreaking, but she couldn’t look away. It must have been human nature to gawk at horrible, tragic things. She couldn’t believe it. She refused to believe it. Alden hadn’t broken Kai. Kai was too strong, too stubborn. This had to be a trick.

Alden smiled pleasantly at her. “You look ill, Sera. Would you care to lie down?”