“You’re on leave.” His eyebrows scrunched together in suspicion.

“Not exactly. I have to pay back my Magic Games fees somehow. Not all of us were born with a magic money tree in our front yard.”

“Drachenburg,” Cutler said, frowning. “You’re working for Drachenburg. I saw him leaving Simmons’s office last month. What are you working on with the dragon?”

Ha. So she wasn’t the only one who called him the dragon.

“Hunting monsters mostly, just like I always do,” she said.

“Except with magic.”

She shrugged. “Kai is helping me.”

“Sera, that man is out of his mind. He ate my three-headed guard dog.”

“He ate your what?” Naomi asked, walking up beside Sera.

“My three-headed guard dog.”

“He did that as a mage?” Sera asked.

“No, as a dragon.” He frowned. “But that’s beside the point. He’s the same person, whether mage or dragon.”

“Was the three-headed dog in question terrorizing innocent people by chance?”

“He was only playing,” Cutler pouted. From the look on his face, he’d had this conversation before. Probably with Kai. “You need to stay away from Drachenburg. He’s not good people.”

She arched her brows. “And you are?”

“Of course, darling.” He gave her a dazzling smile, the kind you could bounce marbles off of. “I’ll protect you from him.”

“Are you so sure? You couldn’t even protect your dog from him.”

The arm he’d tried to wrap around her dropped to his side. “Blow him off,” he said, regaining his composure. He tried to sizzle her with another smile. “Come with me tonight. You’ll have more fun hanging out with me than sloshing through monster guts with him.”

“Sorry.” She shrugged his arm away. “Busy.”

“Tomorrow?” Cutler asked. He just didn’t get it.

“I’m busy every night,” she said, then grabbed Naomi’s hand and hurried toward the women’s locker room.

CHAPTER FIVE

Mages Illustrated

“DO YOU THINK he’ll follow us in here?”

Sera looked away from her open locker, meeting Naomi’s amethyst eyes. “No. As we walked away, Zan went to go talk to him. I heard something about ‘insurance premiums’.”

“Grace must have called Zan during the fight.”

“Likely,” Sera agreed, then tossed her shoes into the locker.

“So, what’s the plan?” She hitched her thumb over her shoulder, indicating the door that led to the gym. “You mentioned you wanted my help with something in there.”

“Yes. I need to practice for the Magic Games.”

Naomi’s rosy cheeks paled. “I’m not sure I can help you with that. I was never in the Games. It’s only for full-blooded mages. Thank goodness,” she added under her breath.

“Actually, I need your help because you’re not a full-blooded mage.”

Naomi’s indigo brows lifted. “Oh?”

“Kai says I need to prepare for all types of magic. Who knows what they’ll throw at me in the Games,” Sera said. “I want you to try to blast me with Fairy Dust. And any other tricks you might have.”

“Well, I do have a lot of tricks.” Naomi winked a pale blue eye, and when it opened again, it was chocolate-brown. “Just remember that my Fairy Dust isn’t as powerful as a full fairy’s.”

“You’re also half mage. That hybrid magic is special and strong, and I need to figure out how to fight it too.”

Naomi set her hand on Sera’s shoulder. “You’re really worried about this, aren’t you?”

“Yes.” Sera stared into the dark depths of her temporary locker; it was about as welcoming as a black hole. Maybe she should put pictures up. With pink flowered borders.

“I will do whatever I can to help,” Naomi said seriously—then, more playfully, added, “Though I have a sinking suspicion this girl power training session has as much to do with training as it does with avoiding someone.”

“Like who?” Sera asked warily, turning around to face her. She wasn’t surprised to see the wide grin on Naomi’s face.

“Kai Drachenburg.”

“That’s ridiculous. Kai is helping me train for the Games. It would be stupid to avoid him.”

“Indeed.”

“So I’m not,” Sera added. “…uh, avoiding him.”

The look on Naomi’s face told Sera her friend didn’t buy it for a second.

Sera tried again. “He’s working right now. I couldn’t have trained with him if I wanted to. Which I don’t,” she tacked on quickly.

“Because you’re avoiding him.”

“Yes. Wait, no.” Sera frowned at her. “You’re trying to trick me.”

“Am I?” Naomi asked, her face the epitome of innocence. Her magic, on the other hand, was as wicked as they came. It bubbled with delighted hiccups and smelled strongly of bubblegum.

“I’m not avoiding him. Not that I mind a respite from his attacks,” Sera admitted. “Kai is a tough coach. He hits hard. Like wrecking-ball-demolishing-a-building hard.”

“That’s to be expected of a first tier mage who shifts into a dragon. But that’s not why you’re hiding from him, Sera.”