The other vampires followed his lead, their eyes pulsing red. The air grew thick with hunger.

“I think they can see us,” Naomi whispered to her.

One of the vampires stepped forward, favoring them with a malicious smile. “Dinner is served, boys.” He slid his tongue across his extended fangs with relish. “Mage and fairy on the menu.”

CHAPTER FOUR

Mind Breaker

SERA HAD NO intention of being a vampire’s snack. She pulled out her sword as Naomi did the same. In response to their show of steel, one of the vampires slid his finger into his mouth and sucked on it. Another yawned loudly. They were all looking at Sera and Naomi like they were walking blood bags. Vampire mercenaries were about as subtle as a wrecking ball. That’s why Simmons didn’t hire them. Ok, so maybe Sera was also about as subtle as a wrecking ball. But at least she didn’t try to eat her opponents.

In a single fluid motion, the front vampire leapt into the air, drawing his sword and swinging it down as he descended on Sera. He was so fast that she hardly had time to lift her own sword to block his strike. Her blade met his, the force of the impact shooting ripples of pain down her arms. She slid to the side, spinning out of the way. The aftershock still buzzed through her body. Vampires were too strong. She wouldn’t be able to take many more hits like that.

Beside her, Naomi wasn’t doing any better. In fact, she’d already lost her sword. It lay halfway across the room. And she was too busy trying not to get filleted by the heavy swipes of her opponent’s whistling blade to go after it. Above them, Yarran fluttered around in dizzying loops, flinging juvenile insults at the vampires.

Sera drew two knives and launched one at the vampire in front of her. Pivoting, she threw the second at Naomi’s opponent. Both knives met their marks in the vampires’ foreheads. And it didn’t make a damn difference. They tugged the blades out of their heads and sneered at her. Their tongues darted out, licking the blood dripping down their faces. Behind them, the other vampires were stirring, making ready to charge.

“We need to try something else,” Naomi said.

“Yes.”

Naomi’s blonde brows crept up. “You have an idea?”

“Remember that time we chased those vampires down to Monterey?”

“Yes,” Naomi said slowly. Her body tensed. “But there are no torches here.”

“This time we don’t need torches.” Sera offered her an apologetic smile. “You ready?”

Naomi’s sigh was resigned. “Just do it before I change my mind.”

The vampires watched with perplexed curiosity as Naomi bent over and rolled up into a headstand. Sera grabbed her by the ankles and began to spin, twirling faster and faster until Naomi’s chest was parallel to the ground. Magic crackled in the air, and an explosion of pink sparkles split out of her fingertips, drenching the ring of vampires in Fairy Dust. Before they could brush it off, Sera released Naomi. As her friend shot through the air, Sera poured fire magic onto the Dusted vampires. The flames ignited the Fairy Dust, and the vampires went down. The mist spread out from them like a blanket of pink clouds, rolling toward Sera.

“It’s spreading fast,” Naomi called down. She was hovering above the mist—barely. Unlike a full-blooded fairy, she couldn’t fly. She could just drop really, really slowly. “What did you hit the Dust with, Sera?”

“Just fire. It ignited the Dust much more than those beach torches did.”

“Of course it did. Magic fire is more potent than regular fire.” Naomi’s feet had almost dipped to the mist. If she fell into the Dust-charged air, she’d be knocked out by her own spell.

“I’m going to try something,” Sera told her, looking out at the mist. It was almost upon her too.

She pushed down the fire bubbling inside of her—which was screaming to be unleashed once more, whispering seductive promises into her ear. Fire was a powerful but unruly ally; it wouldn’t help her here. In fact, igniting the air again would only make things worse. So she reached past the fire and found ice. Cold magic poured out of her, biting at her skin. It streamed toward the pink mist, a silver twinkling ribbon of magic. And like a gigantic set of icy jaws, it chomped down on the cloud, swallowing it whole. The air stilled for a second, then, with the crack of an avalanche, the frozen crust shattered and poured to the ground in a shower of pink-silver shards.

Naomi landed softly beside Sera. “When you said you were going to do something, you weren’t kidding. That certainly was something.” She looked at the pile of unconscious vampires. “Holy crap, Sera. Where did you learn how to do that?”

“Kai.”

A smile twitched on Naomi’s lips. “There’s a real beauty to the dragon’s magic.”

“Yes.”

“And yours too.”

“Thanks.” Sera drew her sword and stalked toward the vampires. “But now comes the not-so-pretty part.”

Naomi grabbed her own sword from the ground, her face as glum as Sera felt. Neither of them was looking forward to what they had to do next, but they couldn’t leave the vampires to come after them later, even if it meant killing them while they slept.

When it was done, Sera turned her back on the vampires and closed her eyes. She felt out with her magic. She shifted past groups of vampires, searching for the fairy-mage boy in this maze. She found a twinge of familiar magic, so like Naomi’s and yet smaller. Younger.