He watched her for a few moments, silent, calculating. Finally, he spoke. “No. I don’t buy it. Finn is up to something. Something big. He wouldn’t be sending you messages for no reason.”

“Kai,” she said calmly, touching his hand. “Finn is a psychopath. Psychopaths do all kinds of things for no reason.”

He frowned. “Is that supposed to make me feel better?”

“I guess not.”

“You need to keep your mind in one piece, no matter what Duncan throws at you in the Games,” he told her.

“I thought you didn’t think I could do it.”

“I didn’t say that. I only said no one ever had.” He clasped her hand. “But you aren’t like anyone I’ve ever met.”

“Kai, I…I don’t know what to say.”

“Well, that’s a first.”

She punched him in the arm. She didn’t put too much power behind it—hitting dragons gave her bloody knuckles and bruised bones—but she couldn’t leave that comment unanswered.

“You can’t watch your back the whole time, Sera. Not if you want to beat Duncan at his own game.”

He had a point. The more things she had to worry about, the easier it would be for Blackbrooke to break her mind. And the most important thing was to keep the Magic Council in the dark about her forbidden origin. She could stomach a punch to her pride if it meant preserving that secret.

“Fine,” she said, climbing over to sit on his lap, facing him. “You can stay with me. Send your guards to babysit someone else. I want the very best.”

“Hmm.”

Stroking his ego was a dirty trick, but she wasn’t above dirty tricks. If she was going to have a guard on her, she at least wanted someone who wouldn’t fall to pieces in the heat of battle. Kai was someone who made other people fall to pieces. He was the logical choice. And that had nothing to do with the fact that he was nice to look at.

The voice in her head snorted.

“Ok,” Kai said, watching her. Maybe she got glassy-eyed when she was talking to herself. “I’ll talk to Duncan about letting me into the backstage area. You drive a hard bargain.”

“Thanks to my spectacular powers of persuasion.”

He snorted. “Stubborn woman.”

“That’s what you love about me,” she said, kissing him. “That and my uncommon wit. Admit it.”

“I can think of a few other things.” He returned the kiss, his hands stroking her thighs.

Someone tapped out three crisp, professional knocks on the door. Kai cursed.

“Your commandos are here,” Sera said. She could feel their magic humming on the other side of the door.

“Yes.”

Sera slid off his lap and walked toward the door, grabbing her sports bag along the way. When she opened the door, Callum’s brows lifted in surprise. Behind him, Tony grinned and nudged Dal in the arm. Dal winked at her. Great. So much for keeping her and Kai a secret. Sera stood there, trying not to look like she’d just been caught with her hand in the cookie jar. Apparently, she failed because Dal winked at her again. Kai wasn’t helping matters. He walked up behind her and set his hand on the small of her back, his magical aura growling like an overly protective dragon. The commandos took a collective step back.

“Oh, for heaven’s sake! Save it for someone who’s actually a threat, Kai,” Sera said.

Then she resettled her bag on her shoulder and squeezed out of the doorway. As she passed Tony, he handed her a new phone. It was identical to her old one. She blinked. Twice. Even the case was the same, pink engraved with flowers and bees. She swiped past a few screens. All her contacts were there. So were her messages and photos. Everything was exactly where it was supposed to be. It was magic. Black magic.

“Should I be concerned that your people were able to break into my account so easily?” she asked Kai as they walked down the hall.

“No. My people are competent.”

Behind him, Callum was smirking at her. So he was the tech wizard.

“Besides,” Kai added. “It’s not hard to guess a girly password like ‘PinkLily’.”

Lily was the name of Sera’s scooter, and she was pink. She also sparkled.

“Girly?” Sera coughed.

“You are very feminine,” Kai said calmly.

“I’ll just go get my sword and you can repeat that, dragon breath.”

Kai chuckled, and the commandos joined in. Sera glared at them, but that only seemed to amuse them more.

A few minutes later, they were walking across the hotel lobby. Naomi was standing at the reception desk, flirting with the staff. When she saw Sera, she swiped a cookie from the plate on the counter and hurried over.

“For you,” she said, handing Sera the cookie. It was chocolate chip and the size of at least three regular cookies.

Sera took a bite. “Thanks,” she replied, and she meant it. The cookie was soft and fresh. The chocolate chips were still gooey. There was enough sugar in there to kill most mortals, but Sera didn’t care. She would die happy.

Naomi grinned as she watched her take another bite. “Come on.” She linked her arm in Sera’s and walked faster, putting some distance between them and the guys.

“Where’s Riley?” Sera asked.

“He’ll be along soon. He slept in this morning. Last night’s field trip to Trove was a little too much excitement for him.”