They’d reached the Games lobby again, so the time for small talk was over. Blackbrooke was there, snooty and dignified in his custom-cut suit. The mages Sera and Kai had saved from death by vampire were there too, standing in a cluster surrounded by Magic Games security personnel. Their clothes ruffled and singed by fire—oops—they looked considerably less dignified than the Game Architect.

“Pass me the body,” Sera muttered to Kai as they crossed the lobby.

He raised a quizzical eyebrow but did as she’d asked. Sera carried the body, which was a lot heavier than the mage’s scrawny figure suggested, over to Blackbrooke and dumped it at his feet.

“What is that?” Blackbrooke asked, turning up his nose at the bloody body.

Sera snatched the white silk handkerchief from his breast pocket and used it to wipe the blood from her hands. “That there is your criminal mastermind, the mage who was controlling the vampires using the Blood Orb.” She tossed the handkerchief back to Kai, so he could use it too. “It turns out he’s a brainwashed Convictionite agent who planned to murder the Magic Council in the hopes of starting a war between supernaturals and humans. We thought you could scrape his mind for secrets.”

Blackbrooke blinked.

“Yeah, that was the plan anyway before he committed magic suicide,” she said. “Now we’ve just brought him here so you can clean up the mess.”

Appalled, Blackbrooke’s eyes shifted from her to Kai. “Is she always this impudent?”

“She saves it for special people.”

Blackbrooke frowned at him. “You have blood on your shirt.”

“Do I?” Kai looked down. He dabbed the bloody handkerchief once against his sleeve, then tucked it back inside Blackbrooke’s pocket.

“This isn’t funny,” Blackbrooke said, his magic freckled with indignation.

“Sure it is. You just haven’t figured it out yet.” Sera turned to Kai. “Lunch?”

He nodded. “What would you like?”

“At this point, as long as I don’t have to kill my lunch myself, I don’t really care.”

* * *

Kai picked hamburgers for lunch. It was a cute place around the corner called Magic Burgers. It was clean, colorful, and didn’t smell like vampires. What more could a girl ask for?

“This is good food for replenishing magic,” Kai said as they waited for their food to come.

“Pizza is plenty good for that,” she teased, raising her voice to be heard over the lunch-hour bustle. The sizzle of grilling meat. The pop of deep-fried potatoes. The hum of the milkshake machine. The clink of plates and glasses.

He shook his head. “You’re just going to have to trust me.”

“Oh?” She leaned against him.

They were sitting side by side at the booth rather than across from each other. That was because neither one of them could stand to have their back to the door. Yes, that was totally messed up—and yet comforting. It was nice to be with someone who understood. Someone who was just as paranoid as she was.

“Between the fighting pit and the vampires, you’ve expended massive amounts of magic today,” he said. “You need to trust my experience in this area. I know the most efficient means to recharge.”

“Let me guess. Meat.”

“Yes.”

She laughed. She was still laughing when the waitress came to their table, her arms stacked with plates. Most of them were for Kai. Magic Burgers had a legendary burger called ‘the Emperor’, two thick beef patties on a kaiser roll stuffed with grilled onions, honey pickles, sliced cherry tomatoes, and spinach. It was so big that half the people who ordered it couldn’t even finish it. Kai had ordered three. Crazy dragon.

Next to the parade that was Kai’s lunch, Sera’s single plate of a standard burger with fries felt…small. On the other hand, she had a milkshake, which was worth at least two burgers.

“That’s a lot of food,” she commented, nodding at his burgers.

“That’s a big milkshake.”

“Yes.”

She picked up a fry and dipped it into the thick, liquid ice cream. The shake was lumpy—just as it should be.

“There are two straws,” she told Kai. “The waitress must have thought we’re on a date.”

“We are.”

Hmm. “Do dates with you always involve killing monsters before sitting down to eat?”

“No.”

“Good.”

“Sometimes the monster-killing happens after the meal,” he said.

She snorted. “Well, as long as it doesn’t happen during the meal.” She rolled the second straw across the table to him. “Want to share?”

“You’re offering to share your milkshake with me?” Kai asked, picking up his second burger. Wow, he was fast.

“Yeah, it’s a big deal to me too,” she teased.

He peered over the top of the tall glass. “It’s liquid dessert.”

“Yummy.”

“I don’t know, Sera. A milkshake? Drinking that might ruin my image.”

“As a badass dragon?”

“Yes.”

“If any stuffy mages make fun of you, I’ll show them my sword,” she promised.

“You’d show them your sword anyway. You enjoy making them uncomfortable.”

“Who me? No, you must have me confused with some other mercenary. I am always completely professional.”