It took a long, hot shower and a whole bottle of body wash to scrub off all the dirt and blood. It took even longer to tend to the myriad of cuts and scratches afterward. Her wounds screamed and burned when she doused them in antiseptic spray; they weren’t particularly fond of the bandages either. A healer could have fixed her right up in minutes, but Sera hadn’t bothered to ask the guard again for one of them. She imagined that after her spectacular display of no magic in the evening matches, the Game Architect was fuming. He’d have told the guards to just let her bleed.

So that left Sera to tend to herself. She forced herself to work slowly and thoroughly, even though all she wanted was to get the hell out of there. She was supposed to meet Kai for dinner, and she had no intention of arriving at the restaurant dirty and bloody. Her stomach gurgled.

She was positively famished. She pulled on the piece of fabric masquerading as a skirt and headed for the lobby. By the time she got there, it was dark outside, and Kai was nowhere in sight. She wasn’t surprised, considering how late she was, but she couldn’t help but feel disappointed.

“Hey, Sera!”

She turned to find Naomi walking toward her. She was wearing a black dress that hugged her curves and gold heels with tiny charms dangling from the ankle straps. Her makeup was perfect and her hair glittered as gold as her shoes. She looked like a supermodel. Sera, on the other hand, looked…well, at least she was clean. She’d gotten most of the sand out from under her fingernails. The trick was to cut the nails short.

“Hot date?” Sera asked her.

“Hmm?” Naomi looked down at her own outfit. “Oh, this. No, not a date. Riley and I are going to catch some dinner at the hotel, then we’re hitting the clubs. I’m going to find him a hot date.” She tapped her fingers together with mischievous glee.

“What does my brother think about your plan?”

“I haven’t told him, but why would he complain? It’s a grand idea. Everyone has been so tense lately with the Magic Games and everything else going on. We need to unwind.” She glanced at the sword strapped to Sera’s back. “You need to unwind.” She turned, her eyes panning across the lobby. “Speaking of which, where’s your boyfriend?”

“You realize he’s not actually my boyfriend, right?”

Naomi’s eyebrows lifted. “Does he know that?”

“Of course.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that.”

Sera didn’t know what to say to that, so she changed the subject. “Where’s Riley?”

“He already headed back to the hotel.”

“Maybe he caught wind of your plan and is hiding,” Sera said, smiling.

“No, he went back because I told him I wasn’t taking him clubbing the way he was dressed. I picked out something much better for him to wear when I went shopping before work this morning.”

“So that’s what you were doing while Kai was introducing me to his dragon.”

Naomi grinned.

“Did that sound dirty?”

“Maybe just a little.”

“I meant while we were training this morning. He didn’t pull any punches.”

“I know what you meant,” Naomi said, wrapping her arm around Sera’s shoulder. “So, if the dragon isn’t here, how about you join me and Riley for dinner?”

“I was supposed to have dinner with Kai.”

Magic sparkled in Naomi’s eyes. “Ah.” She grinned wider. “Like a date.”

“More like an after-battle refueling.”

“Sounds romantic.”

Sera snorted. “Well, Kai’s not here. I took too long getting myself cleaned up and changed after the fight. I guess I’ll just refuel with you guys then.”

“No.” Naomi shook her head. Her shoulder-length locks swayed, singing like chimes in the wind. “You should find him.”

“I tried. He’s not answering his phone. Or he’s just not answering my calls. Maybe he’s annoyed with me because I didn’t use magic in the pit.”

“Sera, if he were annoyed with you, you’d know it. Kai Drachenburg doesn’t ignore. He confronts.”

“I… Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

“Of course I am.” Her arm still wrapped around Sera, she walked toward the exit. “So, here’s what I’m thinking. You’re good at tracking magic, right? It shouldn’t be too hard for you to track Kai’s magic. I bet it’s potent enough to light up New York.”

She wasn’t wrong about that.

“Ok, I’ll give it a shot,” Sera agreed.

She reached out with her magic, searching for Kai’s distinctive aura, that mix of spice and dragon. That magic that ignited the air and crackled with power raw and ancient, power that hit hard and took no prisoners. She found his trail almost immediately. It was hard to miss. No one’s magic felt quite like Kai’s.

“He went this way,” Sera said, pointing down the street.

“Great.” Naomi released her shoulder, then linked her arm in Sera’s. “I’ll walk with you as far as the hotel.”

‘As far as the hotel’ wasn’t more than a couple minutes. Naomi gave her an encouraging wave, then disappeared into the building. Sera continued walking, following Kai’s trail down the sidewalk. She turned at the next block, then stopped. His magic had led her to the doorstep of the Empire State Building. Two mages stood on either side of the entrance doors. Guards, no doubt. They gave Sera a cursory look, then waved for her to enter.