She clenched her fists, but she didn’t respond to him. She spoke to Kai instead. “Kai, please. Don’t give up.”

Kai looked at Alden, who, still smiling, flicked his wrist, waving him to go to Sera. Like an obedient dog, Kai descended the stairs, each step a slap against Sera’s battered heart. She couldn’t bear to see him like this, on the Grim Reaper’s leash.

Kai stopped in front of her. He was so big, so powerful. He towered over her. Alden couldn’t have broken someone so strong. Sera reached up and touched his face—his hard, emotionless face.

“You promised you wouldn’t give up,” she said, her voice breaking as surely as her heart.

Kai set his hand over hers. He took it into his hands, looking it over. Then he met her eyes. “You insisted. I never promised. I told you it hurt.”

The truth of his words slammed into her, a solid punch to the stomach. It hadn’t been a dream after all.

“How?” she asked him. “How did I connect to you through the rocks? They block out magic.”

“We’re connected, Sera. No rocks can keep us apart.”

He was right. They were linked by something more powerful than magic, something that couldn’t be blocked by salty sand or special rocks. Her mind had reached out and connected to his. Which meant that Alden had spoken to her too. She’d never truly been safe, never hidden.

Sera intertwined her fingers with Kai’s. He let her do it, but there was no emotion in him, no feeling. He just stood there and watched her. That hurt more than anything, like a glass vase had shattered inside of her heart. She’d pictured their reunion many ways—fighting with each other, fighting against each other, kissing—but none of those scenarios had involved him being the ice man, here in body but not in soul.

Sera glared at Alden. “What have you done to him?”

This was different than what he’d done to his other followers. They still had their emotions. Kai had been completely stripped of his.

“Just a precaution,” Alden said.

A crazy laugh burst from her lips. “A precaution? Against what? Feeling something?”

“Just that,” he confirmed. “I had to block that part of him. It was getting in the way. He loves you terribly much, Sera, you know.”

Sera felt one of those glass shards bury itself deeper into her heart. A tear slid down her cheek as she looked at Kai. “What is so terrible about that?”

“I told you love is a powerful magic.”

“More powerful than your magic.”

Alden laughed. “In most people’s hands, love is an accessory, something to give them a little kick, a little motivation. But you’re different. In your hands, love isn’t an accessory. It’s a weapon. It doesn’t enhance your magic. It is your magic. Love is the source of your power, Sera, what gives you your magic. You feed on love, on the love that you share with people. It strengthens you, nourishes you.”

“Love conquers all?”

“Not all.” He was still smiling. “But in your hands, it can conquer much.”

“You are an odd duck,” she told him.

He laughed. “So I am.”

“You’re not the typical mustache-twirling villain, are you?”

His eyes danced with amusement. “I don’t have a mustache.”

“Eternal youth must be such a burden.”

“I do hate being carded at bars.”

“Then it’s a good thing you have so many minions to beat up the bouncers.”

“Indeed.” He braided his fingers together, watching her closely, as though he expected her to explode into a mad rage at any moment—and welcomed it.

Well, she was done dancing to his tune. “You’re afraid of my magic.”

“Not afraid. Intrigued,” said the Grim Reaper. “And unlike many of my fellow mustache-twirling villains, I embrace rare and powerful magic.”

“No, you’re not embracing it,” she countered. “Not really. You turned off Kai’s emotions. If you weren’t afraid, then you wouldn’t have done that.”

“As I said, it’s merely a precaution. I have never come across anyone like you, Sera, not in all my centuries on this earth.”

“Perhaps I’m more powerful than you are.”

Alden laughed again, as though she’d just said the funniest thing in the world. “No, not more powerful. Just unique, one of a kind. I knew you were special. You defeated Finn and expressed such remarkable magic. But it wasn’t until I felt your magic firsthand that I realized how very special you are. When I first felt your magic, your resistance to me, back when we first met in New York, it was nothing short of an epiphany, Sera. You are the key.”

“The key to what?”

“To a better world. A happier, safer world,” he declared. “You know of my power.”

“You feed off of people’s devotion for you. You seduce them with magic. But it doesn’t always work. And then you resort to torture.” She looked at Kai.

“Torture is such a harsh word, Sera,” Alden said. “Such a misleading word. I alleviate their pain.”

“Pain that you caused.”

“Horses have to be broken.” He indicated Kai. “Dragons too.”

Sera put herself in front of Kai.

“It’s too late for that, Sera. He is mine.”

“No, he’s not. I could break your control.”