“Let me try,” Naomi said.

Sera stepped back, giving her space. The vampire watched in amusement as Naomi shook out her hands.

“Going to punch me, sweet pea?” the vampire asked, smirking.

“Something like that,” she said, then hit him with a face full of blue-silver Fairy Dust. “Now, tell us where you took the children.”

The vampire’s eyes rolled back slowly—then he shook himself. “Was that supposed to hurt?” he asked, yawning.

“It was supposed to make you talk.”

“Try again, pumpkin.”

Naomi’s magic flared up. “What did you call me?”

“Temper, temper. Daffodil,” he added with a smirk. “You half-fairies are a hormonal mess.” He licked his lips. “Tasty.”

Sera caught Naomi before she could electrocute herself on the restraints. “Enough,” she told the vampire. “You’re going to answer the question now.”

He met her stare without fear. “Or what?”

“Or I’m going to hit you a lot harder than the last time.”

He snorted. “You do that, little mage. But you know what I think? I think you’re all bark and no bite. So why don’t we just cut straight to the end of this charade? We both know that no matter how much you tantalize me with promises of punishment, you’re too soft to go through with it.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes, it is. A little girl like you isn’t cut out for this. Why don’t you just turn around and scurry off home before you get hurt. Before we do to you what we did to those helpless, sniveling children over th—”

Magic erupted from Sera, slamming into the vampire. The concrete wall behind him sneezed dust and cracked with tiny fissures. Fury burned through her veins and simmered on her skin.

“Where are the children?” she ground out through clenched teeth.

Blood splattered against the magic bindings like fat hitting a pan of oil. The vampire’s eyes glowed with crimson rage.

“Where?” she said, her head swimming. Her magic pounded in her head, demanding to be unleashed. “You will tell me!” Her control crumbled, and her magic blasted out. It slammed into him so hard that she could feel his mind crack open.

The vampire’s shoulders slouched. “Two hours ago,” he said it a dead-tone voice, almost like a robot. “The others brought them to Pier 41.”

“Are they taking them on a boat?”

“No idea,” the vampire said. “That’s the meeting place where we’re supposed to hand them off to the Princes of Twilight.”

“Pirates?”

“Yes.”

“Sera,” Naomi said in a hushed voice. “How are you doing this?”

Hell if I know. She did not voice the thought. Instead, she pressed the vampire further. “What do the pirates want with these children?”

“I don’t know.”

His thoughts were slipping through her fingers. So was his life force. Whatever she was doing to him was killing him.

“I don’t know,” he repeated. “I don’t know.”

The sentence spilled out of his mouth, over and over again, each time faster. His magic bubbled like an awakened volcano; his body convulsed like it was caught on an electric fence. He shook a final time, then fell limp. His magic winked out.

“He’s dead,” Sera said quietly. “I…I don’t know what happened.”

“I do,” Yarran said, gliding up behind her. “I’ve seen it before. Mind Breaker.”

“Mind Breaker?” Naomi asked.

“Only the strongest Magic Breakers can do it.” There was a spark of recognition in the ghost’s eyes. This was the most lucid she’d ever seen him. “Only the Dragon Born,” he said in an awed whisper.

“Dragon Born,” Naomi repeated, gaping in shock at Sera.

CHAPTER FIVE

Secret

DREAD FLOODED SERA—a cold burn that froze her fear solid. Forcing down the rising bile in her throat, she turned her back on Naomi. Her friend hadn’t moved since she’d uttered those two damning words, and she didn’t look like she’d be making a move anytime soon. Sera figured she still had a minute or two to deal with the vampires. Pasted to the wall with her magic, they couldn’t move a muscle. Their magic, on the other hand, was crashing and whirling with the force of a hurricane. For the first time since she’d burst into the garage, fear speckled their auras. No, not fear. Complete and utter terror. They were afraid of her. Of what she was.

They were right to be afraid.

But not because she was Dragon Born. For some reason, the Magic Council considered her kind abominations, but Sera didn’t feel like a monster. At least not any more of a monster than any other mage in this world. Maybe the Dragon Born were the vampires’ boogie man. According to Alden, the Council had condemned the Dragon Born to death because of their magic. Because they were different. Of course, Alden might have been lying. He’d been trying to manipulate her at the time.

The whys and hows didn’t matter, though. Not here. What mattered right now was that her secret had been exposed. Sera drew her sword as she paced in front of the vampires. Damage control. That’s why the vampires should be afraid. She couldn’t let them leave to spread tales. Her life was on the line. The life of everyone she cared about was too. Still, she hesitated.

You have to do it, her dragon told her.