“I’m from this side of the Atlantic,” Sera reminded him.

“Ah, good. Then we can skip right to the good part.” He winked at her.

“I can’t tell if he’s serious or simply messing with you,” Naomi said to her.

“I’m not sure if even he knows.”

Cutler gave them an easy shrug.

“But I am sure of one thing,” said Naomi. “He has a death wish.”

“Oh, please,” Cutler said. “Drachenburg needs all the allies he can get. He’s too responsible to kill me.”

“I wouldn’t be too sure. When it comes to Sera, he’s hardly the most rational person. Why are you provoking him?”

“Kai killed his dog when it went crazy. Cutler wants to make him squirm,” Sera told her.

“That’s rather childish.”

Cutler frowned. “Tell that to Blackfoot.”

“So revenge against Kai for your dead dog is the only reason you’re flirting with her?”

“Of course not. Sera is a stunning lady.” He flashed Naomi a playboy smile. “You both are.”

“Careful, Romeo,” Sera warned him. “Naomi’s Makani is like Kai. Except he’s not held back by the need to collect allies.”

“I was never one to back down from a chall—” He froze in his tracks, holding up his hands.

They stopped too, watching him. He pointed down at a splattering of blood drops on the leaves that lay across the trail. A few bunches of dark hairs clumped inside the blood. It looked like wolf fur.

Cutler pointed toward an opening in the trees, then led the way in silence. They walked for a few minutes, following a trail of fur and blood until they came to a pack of sleeping wolves. There were nine of them, fewer than Sera had expected considering the number of people who’d been kidnapped, but still more than enough to make putting them down no easy matter. The beasts outnumbered them three to one.

They drew their swords, creeping up on the sleeping beasts. They paused for a moment, swords raised over their first targets. Then they brought the blades down, stabbing the wolves through the heart. The beasts died with a yowl, waking the other six.

Sera spun around, slashing the one leaping at her, its mouth open, drool-dripped fangs exposed. Her sword cut through the wolf’s neck, and it fell dead to the dry grass. Sera turned to find her next target.

Cutler had two wolves suspended in the air, trapped inside his telekinetic magic. He bashed them together. Sera heard the sickening crunch of bone.

Past him, Naomi blasted Fairy Dust at a wolf. It burned bright, an electric-pink ribbon of tightly-packed power. Wow, her Fairy Dust was much more powerful now. Sera knew Naomi had been working with Makani on her powers. It looked like they were really coming along. The Dust smacked into the creature. It shot up high in the air, then hit the ground with a wet splat.

A wolf leapt over Naomi, running right for Sera. It opened its jaw, and a blaze of fire poured out of its mouth. The flames raged over the grass, setting the whole underbrush on fire.

Oh, shit.

You said it, agreed Amara.

Sera tried to summon forth ice to freeze the fire, but the magic wouldn’t come. The fire burned toward them, fast and wild.

“What’s wrong?” Naomi asked as Sera shook out her hands.

“Elemental magic is drawn from the elements present in the area,” Sera said. “The air is too dry here.”

She reached further out, her dragon helping her extend her range. Sera tasted the salty magic of the nearby ocean. If she could just draw it to her…

She exhaled in relief as rain drizzled down over the burning underbrush, putting out the fire. The remaining two beasts turned tail and ran, disappearing through the trees.

They took chase. The beasts were fast, outpacing them the whole way to a clearing in the woods. A picture-perfect cottage sat in the middle of the sunny field, like a scene out of a fairytale. The wolves disappeared through a doggy hole in the house.

“Well, that certainly bodes well,” Naomi commented.

Sera nodded. The house had just been downgraded from picturesque cottage to evil villain’s lair. She felt something inside. Something old, something familiar. Alden’s magic. Dread coiled into a hard ball inside her stomach.

“The mark of Alden,” she whispered. So much for a run-of-the-mill monster hunt.

“Alden is in there?” Naomi asked.

“His influence is. His magical footprint. Either he’s been there recently, or some of his followers are holed up inside.”

“Well, there’s only one way to find out,” said Cutler.

He marched toward the house. Proving how smart he really was past the playboy facade, he didn’t open the door himself. He slammed his telekinetic magic against it, blasting it open. Two beasts jumped outside. Cutler snapped out with his magic like a whip, breaking their necks. Wow, it was one thing to lift heavy things and shoot them at people. This delicate, fine-tuned use of magic was something few telekinetics could do. It required not brute force, but finesse—which wasn’t exactly what that branch of mages was known for.

The three of them moved toward the cottage. The wolves were all dead, but Sera could still feel Alden’s magic inside. Sugar poured over a rotting core, the stench was unbearable. As they stepped inside, a female fairy belched a dark cloud of Fairy Dust. Naomi slid in front of Sera and Cutler, casting a wall of pale pink Dust that dissolved the other fairy’s spell.

“How is this possible?” the fairy demanded. Her regal voice dripped agitation. “I have more magic than you could imagine.”