Illusion was one of these restaurants. It sat along the shore of the Presidio, the city kingdom for the magically inclined. And it was all ‘pretty’ magic here in the Presidio. No beasts in sight—well, not unless you counted the three-headed dogs and acid-spitting toads that guarded the gates of the magical elite. Truth be told, they weren’t half as bad as the monsters holding their leashes.
Kai led the way through the door, stepping foot into that restaurant like he owned the place. Which was actually a distinct possibility, come to think of it.
“Is this yours?” Sera whispered as the host walked over, his steps hurried yet smooth.
“Is what mine?”
“This restaurant.”
“No, of course not. Owning a restaurant would take all the pleasure out of eating there.”
“Mr. Drachenburg, it’s a pleasure to see you again,” the host said. He was wearing a tuxedo. And a spiffy watch that Sera could have pawned off to buy herself a pretty awesome pair of boots. “Your usual table is set and ready for you. Shall I show you and your companion there now?”
Sera had to give it to Mr. Fancy Tuxedo. He didn’t even blink at her dirty top and torn jeans. Maybe Kai came in looking like this all the time. Well, at least there wasn’t blood dripping from her sword or monster guts on her shoes.
At Kai’s nod, the host showed them into the dining area. Here, the name of the game was opulence. The floors were cherrywood, the tablecloths silk, and the guests sparkling with enough diamonds to send a Christmas tree into an epileptic seizure.
Those guests weren’t as courteous as the Illusion host. Not only did they blink, they gawked. Copiously. Every head in the room turned to watch Sera and Kai cross the room. She tried to ignore them—but only sort of succeeded. Disdain dripped from their faces like molasses. Apparently, they didn’t approve of the denim and leather invasion. Or maybe it was the dirt and dried blood.
“Are we here to meet someone about the case?” Sera asked Kai.
“We’re here to eat. It’s been a long day, and I’m hungry.”
He stepped in front of the host to slide Sera’s chair out for her. Sore, wounded, and plain worn out, she plopped down. It felt good to sit. She ran her hands across the seat. Mmm, leather. And not of the battle wear variety either. Sitting in that chair felt as good as sinking into a hot bubble bath. It was the most heavenly seat she’d ever met.
Across from her, Kai plucked a roll from the basket. Steam wafted up from it, the scent of freshly baked bread unfurling from its tasty flesh. Sera grabbed a roll for herself and made quick work of it.
“Butter?” Kai held out a tray, an amused smile light on his lips.
She took it from him, spreading the garlic butter generously across her second roll. After she finished her third, she hazarded a peek at the other guests in the dining area. They were still gawking. Geez.
She leaned forward, whispering to him, “Everyone is staring at us.”
“Let them stare.” He didn’t whisper. He projected his voice, its rich bass filling the room. “The vast majority of them have nothing better to do anyway. Our arrival is the most interesting thing that has happened to them in weeks.” He looked down at the bread basket, frowning when he found it empty. “Besides, if they don’t stop staring, I’ll roast them and eat them for dinner. As I said, I’m famished.”
Clothing rustled and silverware clinked as the gawkers hastily looked away.
“You cannot be serious,” Sera said as a team of waiters refilled their water glasses and set down fresh baskets of bread and other appetizers.
“Sure, I am.” He popped a cube of something lightly breaded into his mouth. “I’m a dragon.”
Ha! I knew it!
Except there weren’t any dragons anymore. “You look like a mage to me.”
“Ok, so maybe I’m not a
real
dragon, but I do shift into one.”
Sera’s knife slipped from her hand, clinking against her plate.
Holy-moly recycled zombie parts, that’s why he’s so powerful.
“You dropped your weapon.”
She righted the knife.
“What’s wrong? Haven’t you ever met a dragon shifter before?” His smile was smug, like he knew exactly where in the food chain he sat. Hell, he was flying so high above the food chain that it was only a tiny speck to him.
Sera forced herself to speak, to say anything. It wasn’t wise to let a predator know he’d stunned you. “No, as a matter of fact, I haven’t.”
A small subset of mages could shift their shape. These mage shifters were rare and usually stuck to human forms and the simpler animals, things like birds or mice. Some first tier mages could manage one of the big cats or even a bear. As far as Sera knew, there hadn’t been a dragon shifter in over a century. It took an enormous amount of magic to shift into the most magical of all beings: the dragon. Like mind-blowing amounts of magic.
She had to be careful around him—very, very careful. If he found out what she was, he would kill her, or at least bring her before the Magic Council. And she didn’t think she was strong enough to stop him. Not that she wouldn’t try.
“No? You haven’t met a dragon shifter before? Well, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. At the moment, there are only two of us in the world, and the other is a monk at a secluded Tibetan monastery.” He inhaled deeply, keeping his eyes fixed on her. “Uncommon as we are, we’re not unique. Not like you. I’ve never met anyone like you before. You are special.”
Sera knew he was trying to scent out her magic—again—and there wasn’t much she could do about it, except to stuff it down where he’d hopefully never find it. Too bad dragons had a nose for magic. She did too. That was just part of being Dragon Born.
Despite its name, the Dragon Born didn’t have much to do with dragons. In fact, Kai’s magic was closer to the dragons’ than hers was. The Dragon Born got their name from the unique circumstance of their birth: they were two souls born into one body, later separated by magic. Just like how the dragons were born.
Long ago, the Dragon Born were, if not common, at least a part of the world. A handful were born into each generation, and they were the most powerful mages of their time. It was an unexpected side effect of the separation spell. When the two souls were split into two bodies, their magic didn’t divide—it multiplied. Each new mage had the power of two.
Or so the legends told. Sera didn’t know if any of it were true. All she did know was that at some point in history, the rest of the supernatural world had turned against the Dragon Born, branding them abominations. They were killed at birth. And for those who escaped an early execution, a later one awaited them. The minute the Magic Council got word of their existence, they turned the world upside down to get to them.
Sera and her sister Alex were Dragon Born. As soon as their parents had realized that, they’d taken the whole family into hiding. And they’d been hiding ever since. Dad had died to protect them. And their mother… Well, Sera didn’t even remember her. She was probably dead too. Dad had never talked much about her, as though the memory of her hurt too much.
Sera didn’t know why the Magic Council had turned against the Dragon Born, but it probably came down to fear. They feared what they didn’t understand—and couldn’t control. The stories of the Dragon Born told of magic Sera couldn’t even begin to comprehend, let alone wield. She knew her and Alex’s magic felt different than other people’s, but it certainly wasn’t powerful. She could sense magic. She could hide it. And she could break it. None of that was especially spectacular, at least not as spectacular as throwing fireballs, shattering windows with telekinetic blasts, or shifting into an extinct magical beast. And the Magic Council hadn’t outlawed any of those kinds of magic.
Across from Sera, Kai was shaking his head. “I don’t recognize your magic. All I can say is that you’re definitely not human.”
She and Alex had spent their whole lives masquerading as human, and he was only the second person who hadn’t bought the act.
“You’ve gone quiet,” Kai said.
What to say, what to say…
“I didn’t think dragons liked bread.”
Ugh, definitely not that stupid comment.
Kai gave her a grin worthy of a fire-breathing predator. “That’s right. Dragons like meat.” He looked straight at the duo of waiters standing nearby, and they swooped in. “I’ll take the Kobe steak. Medium rare.”
As one of them hurried off, the other looked at Sera.
“Uh…” She flipped through the menu, searching in vain for something with a price tag under three digits. “…Ok, the mushroom soup.”
There wasn’t anything else on the menu she could afford. Honestly, she couldn’t even afford the soup, at least not without eating ramen for the next week. Oh, joy, ramen, the one thing even magic couldn’t make taste better.
“I hope you aren’t one of those women who starves herself to fit into a dress,” Kai said, his voice heavy with disapproval.
“My dresses fit just fine, thank you,” she replied.
All one of them.
He didn’t look appeased. Or amused.
“Fine, it’s because I’m broke. I have no money to waste on fancy dishes I can’t even pronounce,” she admitted. “Happy now?”
“No, I am most certainly not happy. You need to eat,” he told her. “Don’t worry about the cost. You’re on the clock. You can bill your meal to me.”
“In that case, I may just order a salad with my soup.”
“Hold on now, before you do something really crazy.” He looked at the waiter. “Scrap the salads and soups. Bring her a steak.”
“Now just
you
hold on. I am perfectly capable of ordering on my own,” she protested.
“No, you’re really not. You need real food, not rabbit food. I can’t have you passing out in the middle of a fight.” He waved the waiter away. “It’s not healthy the way you live. And it doesn’t make any sense. You have magic. A lot of it.” He held up his hand, stopping her emerging protest. “With your magic, you could make so much more money, and yet you do everything in your power to make sure you remain a bottom of the barrel mercenary. Why? You’re clearly hurting for money, and there’s a definite path open to you to alleviate this problem. I’m familiar with Mayhem’s payment tiers. All you’d have to do is march into Simmons’s office and fess up that you have magic. Once you were tested, your pay rank would jump from the bottom right up to the top. That I can guarantee.”
“Why do you even care? My money—or lack thereof—is my problem.”
An agitated wrinkle formed between his eyes. “You’re being absurd.”
“Then let me be absurd. It’s
my
problem. I don’t want to talk about it,” she said. “And you have a very overinflated view of my magic.” She nudged the roll across her plate, putting on a cheery smile. “I’m a mushroom, remember?”
“No.” Kai reached forward and seized her hand, freezing it before she could continue fiddling with her food. His skin was hot, like it had been forged in a volcano. He looked her right in the eye. “You’re not.”
Sera wasn’t sure how to respond to that, but the waiter saved the day. He’d returned with two plates, an enormous steak upon each. And by enormous, she meant this-could-feed-a-small-mercenary-team enormous. She drew her hand away from Kai’s and picked up her silverware. Eating was a good way to avoid talking. Kai was already eating; he’d met the arrival of his dinner with great enthusiasm. But through it all, his eyes never left her. He stared across the table at her, as though he was plotting something. They ate in silence.
When he’d devoured the steak, he waved over the waiter so he could order dessert. The waiter turned to her, but she just shook her head.
“I’m full.”
“Bring a second slice of cheesecake,” Kai told him, and the waiter scurried off.
Sera resisted the urge to draw her sword. “I said I was full.”
“You did.” He didn’t get it.
“Why are you such a control freak? What gives you the right to decide what’s best for everyone?” She tried to keep her tone level, but, yeah, he was really starting to piss her off.
He met her glower with a calm smile. “When the cake comes, and you still don’t want it, then I’ll just eat yours too.”
Whatever. This was all a game to him, and she would not play along. The waiter returned with their dessert: two slices of cheesecake with a chocolate crust and raspberries on top. It looked good—maybe even good enough to make her forget she was stuffed. But she wasn’t about to give Kai the satisfaction. He was already watching her with a smug smirk on his face, like he knew she wanted it. He leaned in toward her, magic rolling off of him, flooding her, filling her with heat…
He froze, and the magic snapped back into him. His eyes looked past her shoulder. “Our man has arrived.”
“What?” She shivered. The sudden withdrawal of his magic had left her cold.
“Harrison Sage,” he said. “Olivia’s brother. He’s just sitting down. Five tables behind you.”
Sera didn’t look. She didn’t need to. She could feel him back there; his magic felt very similar to Olivia’s. He wasn’t a telekinetic, but their magic shared that same familial undercurrent.
“I thought we were here to eat,” she said.
“We can do both,” he replied as he stood. “Come on. Let’s go pay him a visit.”
She followed him to Harrison’s table. This time, no one gawked at them as they crossed the room—at least not openly. What thoughts were spinning around in their heads she didn’t know but could easily guess. She’d tromped across their fancy restaurant in muddy shoes and jeans cut off at the knees. Her lower legs were wrapped in bandages, her arms tattooed with scratches. Dirt, sweat, and dried blood were competing for prominence on her top, and her hair looked like she’d jammed her finger into an electrical socket.
“Harrison,” Kai greeted the mage. “Fancy meeting you here.”
He dipped his chin in response. “Kai. How are things? How’s business?”
“Profitable.”
Harrison’s smile was perfect, his tone practiced. “Really? I’d heard you were having problems. A series of break-ins?”
Yeah, the two of them totally despised each other. Maybe they’d once fought over the same magical toy.