“I can do that.”

He gave her a hard look.

“What? I can be serious. See?”

He took one look a her ‘serious face’, then slowly shook his head. “Let’s just get down there and check out the fighting pit. We don’t have much time until they encourage us to leave.”

She followed him as he jogged down the steps. “Encourage us to leave? Or do you mean kick us out?”

He kept running, not even bothering to answer. Well, that said everything right there, didn’t it? Sera scanned the arena. There wasn’t a single person anywhere in sight, which was odd considering the hustle and bustle in the lobby. The Magic Games started in an hour, and the arena was abandoned.

“You didn’t get permission for us to check out the fighting pit, did you?” she asked him. “You paid those two guards to look the other way. And to keep everyone else out.”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

“The Magic Council would say it’s cheating.”

Kai didn’t appear moved by her words. “What are they going to do, kick you out of the Games?”

He had a point.

“Besides,” he added. “When it was their turn in the Games, you’d better believe that every one of them cheated.”

“You too?”

“We all did.”

She snorted. “Good. I was starting to wonder if the only rule you’d consider breaking was one related to parking.”

“Some rules are unjustified.”

“Such as the one against parking on sidewalks?” Sera teased, but she couldn’t help but wonder if he’d consider the death sentence for the Dragon Born one of those unjustified rules.

There was something encouraging in the smile he gave her as they reached the bottom—something that made her wonder if maybe Alex and Riley might be right. As they stepped into the pit, lights blared to life overhead and a magic barrier blazed up all around them. They walked across the pit, their feet kicking up a cloud of dust. Born of sand and magic, the dusty mist rolled across the ground, hovering just over the surface. When it reached the end of the pit, it dissolved against a fiery magic barrier.

“That’s meant to do more than just keep the stands free of sand,” Sera commented, watching the veil of fire shift into a web of lightning, then to ice.

The magic shifted every few seconds, so fast that her mind had barely identified the element when it switched again. This game of magical musical chairs was giving her a splitting headache.

“Huh,” said Kai, sniffing the air. “That’s something new.”

“It smells like a car exploded down here. And then someone took a flamethrower to the debris,” she added, plugging her nose.

“The barrier is there to keep magic inside the fighting pit,” a voice called down from above. “And also any supernaturals fighting there.”

Sera looked up the rows of seats. Cutler stood at the top level, smirking down at them. No, at Kai.

“Get yourself caught in a trap, Drachenburg?” he taunted.

Kai glared at him, his magic slamming into the barrier. The flames pulsed, gobbling up his magic like it was candy.

Cutler chuckled. “You’re not nearly as scary trapped inside that cage.”

“I’m not trapped.”

Kai hit the barrier again with his magic. And again. And again. It groaned under the strain. Fissures crinkled across the frosty face, splitting off chunks of ice. One of those chunks fell into the pit, dissolving into a puff of mist the moment it hit the sand.

Cutler’s grin faded. “There’s no need to get testy. I’m only trying to help Sera.”

“Since when is angering the dragon I’m stuck inside a pit with helping, Cutler?” she demanded, waving her hand toward Kai.

With the barrier’s ice magic shattered, he’d moved on to lightning. The entire arena echoed with the clash of magic. It wouldn’t be long before Kai broke through the barrier entirely. At which point he’d turn his magic on Cutler.

Dense as he was, Cutler seemed to have realized that too. He began walking down the stairs, his hands lifted in the air. “I am trying to help. Don’t touch the barrier, Sera. It packs enough charge to knock a mage unconscious.” His gaze shifted to Kai. “Even a dragon.”

“Oh, really?” Sera said. “Thanks for warning me. Because I was going to step up to the freakishly glowing barrier and lick it.”

If her sarcasm inched him in the direction of common sense, he didn’t show it. Seriously, pissing off a mage who shifted into a dragon who could—and would—step on him? What was he thinking?

“The barrier isn’t the only magic lurking in the pit.” Cutler pointed at the cylinders hammered into the ground in clusters. They looked like big metal salt and pepper shakers.

“What are they?” she asked.

“Nothing good,” he said. “Various mists come out of the tops. Sedatives, poisons, elemental mayhem. Basically, bad news.”

“Ok, I’ll watch out for them.”

“That’s it? You’re not going to thank me?” He looked disappointed.

“That depends,” she said. “Are you going to try to proposition me now?”

“No.”

“Thank you.”

“Funny, Sera.” A satin smile slid across Cutler’s lips. “That’s what I like about you.”

The lighting sliding across the barrier fizzled out. Another element down. Fire flared up in its place.