He spread his hands. “Then, by all means, be my guest.”

Sera reached out with her magic, testing the boundaries of Alden’s spell over Kai. It snapped at her, dealing out an electric shock. She jumped.

Alden smiled. “Perhaps, with enough time, you could break my control over him. But there’s no need. I will release him to you now.”

Sera glared at him. “What’s the catch?”

Because with villains there was always a catch.

“You will join me,” he said. “You will pledge your life and magic to me. You will support me as the true leader of this earth.”

“As I told you so many times before, I’m not interested in being a mindless drone in your army.”

“Who ever said anything about being a mindless drone? My offer is simple: your allegiance, freely given, and in exchange, I will release Kai. I will not sway him or those you love. I will leave their minds free.”

Sera narrowed her eyes. “What are you planning?”

“My magic is…” He smiled. “Well, powerful. I will have the whole world on its knees within months.”

Sera rolled her eyes. “Yes, you’re so great.”

He dipped his chin in agreement, oblivious to her sarcasm. “But if I’ve learned anything in my long years, it’s that it’s a lot easier to force people to their knees than it is to keep them there.”

“Yeah, people have this pesky little thing called free will. And no matter how much magic you dope them up on, eventually they will realize they’re not in fact so overly fond of kissing your ass.”

Alden laughed loudly, the sound of roaring thunder echoing throughout the chamber. This place felt like an amplifying chamber for magic. It made his magic stronger. But it also made her magic stronger.

“You have such a refreshing personality, Sera,” he told her. “Yes, people do waver as the initial magic high wears off. Some defect, like your friend Ares and Kai’s sweet little sister Lara.”

Kai showed no emotion at the mention of his sister.

“Others are immune,” Alden continued. “Like you, Sera. Or they resist like Kai. The harder they resist, the more magic I need to hold them. It’s too costly.”

Translation: it was taking more of Alden’s magic to hold Kai in check than he was getting back in return. Sera couldn’t help but shout out a silent little cheer to Kai for that. Deep down, he was still fighting. And she loved him for it.

“But you, Sera,” said Alden. “You draw your magic from love. It is not forced. It is natural. A web of connections flows through the love that binds everyone in this world. You can draw on them all. On the whole world’s supply of love.”

“Thanks for the tip.” Too bad he’d cut her off from her loved ones with that barrier. And that Kai had no emotion to speak of right now.

“I can help you realize your power,” Alden told her.

“You? You who knows nothing of love, kindness, or any redeeming emotion? How could you possibly help me?”

“There is no one in this world who understands magic better than I do. I can help you, Sera.”

“And in exchange, you want me to help you conquer the world.”

“No, I told you already. I can conquer the world on my own,” he said with complete confidence.

He didn’t doubt himself for a second, and the scary thing was, neither did Sera. She knew he could do what he said. She’d seen too much of his power to doubt that.

“I want you to help me rule it,” he continued. “You can tap into those connections of love, boosting them to make everyone work together. Put an end to war. For the first time ever, the whole world can be at peace. Isn’t that what everyone wants?”

An end to hate? To war? To fighting? It did sound good. Too good to be true.

“If I learned to bind people with love, it would be no different than what you’re doing, Alden. Love is a drug. Flooding people with it would be taking away their free will.”

“Maybe just a little. But you would only be channeling what already exists, focusing it toward you.”

“And toward you?”

“You will need me to channel that much magic,” he replied. “Even a Dragon Born mage doesn’t have the capacity to channel that much power. But I do.”

“You don’t want me to work with you.” She frowned at him. “You want to usurp my power, to twist it to serve your own purposes.”

“I will not usurp anything. We will work together, Sera. Your ability to draw in the power of people’s love, my capacity to hold it all in. We will be a perfect team. Just imagine what we can do together. A world at peace.” His eyes drifted up and a smile kissed his lips, as though the possibility of peace were the greatest joy in his life.

He’s so full of it, Amara commented.

Yeah, Sera agreed. He really is.

“No,” she told Alden. “You don’t care about peace. You only care about power. Your power. See, that’s the thing about being able to sense magic and emotions. I can tell what people are feeling. And you don’t have any love in your heart. We are all tools to you, things to be used and then tossed aside as soon as you decide we’re a liability to you.”

Alden met her glare with a pleasant smile.

Kai set his hands on Sera’s shoulders, rubbing them. “I love you, Sera,” he whispered. “You know that, right?”

Her chest tightened. She knew Alden was controlling him, telling him what to say. That this was all Alden’s game. And a part of her didn’t care. She just wanted to be with Kai again. She turned around, facing him.