“You know how to woo a woman,” Tony said.

“I know how to seduce a woman into my bed, Tony. That’s not the same thing.”

“No, it’s not,” Tony agreed. “Sera is important. She matters.”

“She’s the only one who ever has.”

“You need to ease her into the idea,” Tony told him.

Ha, too late for that! Amara chuckled.

Shh, Sera said. I’m listening.

You mean eavesdropping.

Doing reconnaissance.

Amara snorted.

“I tried to ask her to come live with me,” Kai said.

“What did she say?”

“She didn’t say anything at all,” Kai told him.

“Maybe you didn’t ask right.”

“I don’t think she was listening.”

He’d asked? When? She thought back to the car ride in Munich. She’d been distracted. He’d been talking about waking up with her each morning. Then the car had tipped over and they were taken by Alden’s people.

But that wasn’t the only time. Earlier tonight at Kai’s office, he’d been talking about living with someone else. She’d thought he’d meant a roommate. But he’d been talking about living with him. Damn! He had been asking her, and she hadn’t noticed. She was such an idiot.

More like blissfully oblivious, Amara commented.

I’m feeling more stupid than blissful right about now, Sera told her.

“We’ve all been distracted lately. We’ve all had a lot on our minds, Sera included,” Tony told Kai. “Maybe wait until things have settled down.”

“Things will never settle down with us, and you know that.”

“True,” Tony agreed. “And you wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“No, I wouldn’t.”

They were walking toward the front door.

“See you tomorrow, Kai. I’ll set up guard shifts for the potential targets on the Council. I only wish we knew how much we can trust Lara and Ares.”

“The answer is not at all,” replied Kai. “Watch Bender and Middleton, but don’t divert resources from the meeting chamber.”

Sera’s heart was racing, thoughts flashing through her head at a million miles a minute. Kai wanted her to live with him. Shit, he wanted her to marry him. What did she even think about that? Her thoughts were whirling like a tornado, her heart skipping every other beat.

Before she knew it, Kai was walking back toward the bedroom door. She scrambled toward the bed and hopped back in. She pulled the blankets over her body, closing her eyes.

Kai stepped into the room. He lowered onto the bed, hardly jostling the mattress.

He kissed her cheek. “I love you,” he whispered against her skin. “And I will always be there for you.” Then he set his head on his pillow.

Sera didn’t fall asleep. She lay awake for hours, staring up at the ceiling. Only as the dawn crept in through the window did she finally fall asleep. Her last thought before she drifted off to sleep was that she had no idea about anything.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Graduation

WHEN SERA OPENED her eyes, the light was murky, even though the bedside clock read nearly eleven in the morning. A soft patter of raindrops tapped on the windowpane. San Francisco didn’t get that many rainy June days. It was just their luck that the sky had decided to open up and let loose on the day of Riley’s graduation.

Between waking up before dawn yesterday and her dreams last night, Sera was wiped out. Talking to the Grim Reaper was downright exhausting, whether he’d really been inside of her head or just a figment of her own overly active imagination.

Blinking back her sleepy eyes, she looked up. On the other side of the bedroom, Kai was getting dressed. He’d just pulled on a pair of fancy jeans and a smooth, fitted black dress shirt. The ceiling lights were turned on to compensate for the foggy, drizzling sky. He looked so good in the warm light, like he’d been soaked in sunshine to save up for these cloudy days. She wished she could soak in him.

Kai saw her admiring him, and a smile quirked up his lips. “Good morning.” He leaned down and kissed her.

Giving in to the temptation hammering through her blood, she pulled him toward her. As he fell onto the bed, she wrapped her legs around him, pulling his mouth against hers.

“Sweetheart.” The word buzzed against her lips. “You’re distracting me.”

She kept kissing him.

He growled into her mouth, a sound reverberating with raw need. It was absolutely erotic. She allowed her hand to drop lower, grabbing his butt, pulling him onto her.

“We’re going to be late,” he said, his hands tracing up her arm to lock around her wrists.

A little voice in her head reminded her that it was Riley’s graduation. She realized that the little voice was her dragon, and that Amara was actually shouting at her to get her ass out of bed. Sera sighed, dropping her hands.

“You’re right,” she told Kai and her dragon. “I’ve been waiting years for this day. I’m not going to miss it.”

She kissed Kai once more quickly, then tried to get up. He didn’t budge.

“Kai,” she said.

He brushed his hand down her cheek, then, with a soft chuckle, he stood. Sera followed, heading for the closet. The dress that Nelly from the Fairy Queen had picked out for her hung from the doorframe. It was a little black dress cut to a low v in the front. The dress had a short, flirty skirt and capped sleeves. After putting it on, Sera slid into a pair of black heels. They were surprisingly comfortable. She could even fight in them if necessary. Some people would have called that a pessimistic thought. Those people weren’t living her life. Those people didn’t need to bring a sword to their brother’s graduation ceremony. They didn’t need to worry about how they were going to hide six throwing knives under a tiny black dress. When they went to parties, they didn’t have to scan the room for all possible access points. They didn’t need to keep their magic primed, ready to pick up on any monster or other unfriendly activity in the area. They didn’t have the Grim Reaper after them. They didn’t have a secret that would mean their death if it were discovered.