“Is it true, Kai?” a vampire asked. “Is she Dragon Born?”

Kai took Sera’s hand. He looked at her, then back at the crowd. “She is.”

Outrage flared up in their magic. They backed away from Sera, disgust dripping off their faces. There were whispers of ‘monster’ and ‘abomination’. All the while, Finn was smirking like he had first row seats to some epic takedown at the Magic Games.

“Forget your prejudice, forget the old tales. They are not true,” Kai said. “Yes, Sera is Dragon Born. But she is not an abomination. Many of you know her.”

“Do we know her?” a mage asked. “Do we really? She is new to us. Untested. Unknown.”

“You know how Sera has fought for us, of the evils she has banished. Including a demon. She saved the city—no, the world. She is not an abomination,” Tony declared.

The other commandos nodded.

Kai dipped his chin to them. “She is not the enemy here.”

“It seems like you’re letting your feelings for her muddle your mind, Drachenburg.”

Callum stepped forward. “Some of you might not know Sera, but you all know Kai. You know his reputation. You know he never allows his own feelings to get in the way. He always does the right thing.”

“That was true once. But she’s bewitched him.”

Heads nodded in agreement.

“Alden is the threat,” Dal said. “We know what he has done. Sera has not hurt anyone. She’s saved more than a few of you.”

Sera could feel Alden’s forces priming their magic. They would attack soon, while Kai’s allies bickered. Kai set his hand briefly on her shoulder. He must have felt it too.

“Alden has used dark magic to boost his followers,” he said, stepping forward. “A cursed magic that cannot be contained. You saw it yourself tonight. So you now have a choice. You can stand back and let us fight them. Or you can help us. But if you get in our way—if you fight us—you will die. If not by my hand, then by theirs.” He pointed at Alden’s army.

The sight of the horrendous green magic on the hands of Alden’s soldiers seemed to sober them up. Sera could feel the collective shift in their magic as their survival instincts kicked in, pushing out prejudice—at least for now.

Finn looked at them all and sighed. “How disappointing.” He waved his hand.

The army advanced. Sera ran to meet them, slashing through the army’s ranks. A vampire jumped into her path. She stabbed him, shooting magic through him at the same time, then she moved on. She had only one target, and she wasn’t letting him get away. She glared across the mass of soldiers at Finn. This had all started with him, all those months ago. Everything that had happened was because of him. He’d freed Alden. He’d gathered Alden’s first worshippers of this era. He’d tortured Kai with the Priming Bangles. And now he’d outed Sera.

She cut her way toward him. A great roar tore through the chamber. Stained glass shattered from the enormous wave of magic Kai put out as he shifted into a dragon. He was stomping on people left and right. Alden’s forces had closed around him, bombarding him with the vile green magic. It bounced off his scales. He swept his clawed fist across the line of mages and fairies. They flew in every direction. His commandos darted in and out, dodging raining supernaturals and killing those still standing. Riley let loose a barrage of magic bombs. A series of booms thundered loudly. The chamber was humming, resonating, singing with the sounds of battle.

Sera had reached Finn. He tried to flee, but she grabbed him by the ridiculous purple cloak he was wearing. She pounded the heel of her hand against his chest, breaking his magic.

Sera dove to the side as magic exploded between them, hurling him backwards. She rose slowly, kicking a warped piece of some odd material out of her path as she approached Finn. One of Riley’s bombs? She glanced back at him, and he gave her a little wave before throwing a magic bomb at two of the vampires attacking Kai.

Finn was barely moving. His hand twitched. Blood saturated his shirt, streaming from the huge shard of glass buried inside his chest. Magic gushed out of him. He reached out, trying to hold onto that magic, but it evaporated through his fingers. He let out a pained gasp that seemed to have more to do with his fleeing magic than with the gaping hole in his chest.

“Alden, help me,” his voice cracked. Fear and shock swirled in his eyes.

Sera could feel that Alden’s magic had left Finn. “Your master has abandoned you.”

Finn was choking on death, the spells the bomb had contained eating through his body. Now that Alden was not feeding him magic, he could not heal. He was dying.

“Alden…”

“Alden only ever does what he intends,” Sera repeated his own words right back at him. “He knew you would die.”

Finn looked at Sera, death on his lips. “Indeed,” he said. “And now so will you.”

Sera felt the last of his magic leave his body with his life. She turned away from Finn. He’d been one crazy psychopath, but she did not enjoy watching people die.

She looked out across the chamber. Kai’s forces had defeated the Grim Reaper’s army. With their common enemy down, though, they were now turning their glares on Sera. Riley came up to her, standing by her side. She smiled at him. The commandos joined them, each one giving her a supportive pat on the back. Kai was in human form again, standing between them and the angry eyes of his allies.

“This fight is not over,” he told them. “The Grim Reaper is still out there. His full force is still out there. We need to stand against him. We need to stand together.”