Shadow Magic (Dragon Born Alexandria Book 4) Read online

  This was not a new request—err, demand. Naomi had been sending Alex messages almost hourly, asking her to boot Marek from the planning committee. Messages Alex had tried to ignore. She had no intention of getting in the middle of their not-so-little spat. Marek and Naomi were fighting over everything. They came from very different backgrounds and therefore had very different ideas about what a wedding was supposed to look like.

  Naomi was a half-fairy, half-mage who’d grown up in a community of peace-loving, violence-shunning hippies. Her large, extended family lived on an island growing their own food and weaving their own clothes.

  Whereas Marek heralded from an old and dignified magic dynasty, just like Kai and Lara. The bookshelves of the magical elite were filled with volumes upon volumes of etiquette books.

  Alex asked Lara, “What are they fighting over this time?”

  “Chair covers,” Lara replied with a smile, looking positively delighted.

  “Chair covers?”

  “They’re kind of like straitjackets for chairs,” Sera told Alex. “People use them to make their wedding chairs look fancier.”

  “How is it ‘fancy’ to make a wedding chair look like a patient from a mental institution?” Alex asked, perplexed.

  Sera shrugged. “Apparently it’s very fancy. At least according to all those wedding magazines. You’d know that if you’d read the stack I sent you.”

  “Well, you know how much I love flipping through wedding inspirational collages…”

  Sera snorted.

  “But I’ve been a little busy,” said Alex.

  “Busy?” Sera smirked at her. “Do I want to know what you and Logan were doing up in that obstacle course?”

  “Now, that’s an idea.”

  Sera cast a speculative look at Kai. Good for her. She needed to kick back and let loose a little. Now more than ever, given all the wedding stress.

  But Sera was all business and no fun when she turned to address Naomi and Marek. “Tell me about chair covers.”

  “He wants boring old plain white chair covers. How original.” Naomi rolled her gold, catlike eyes.

  “And she wants off-white chair covers.” Marek looked positively scandalized. Even his spiky black hair sizzled with agitation—and a few sparks of lightning.

  “This is what you’re fighting over?” Alex laughed.

  “Yes.” Lara nodded happily. “It’s gotten pretty heated. Marek summoned a storm. Naomi threatened to sick her twins’ dragons on him.”

  Alex glanced over at the Dragon Born twin boys, who were bouncing on Makani’s and Eva’s knees, making happy baby noises as their tiny dragons hopped around them on the ground.

  Everyone here loved Naomi and Makani’s adorable twins. Alex especially, even though they’d set her favorite sweater on fire the last time she’d visited their house.

  “They’re arguing over shades of white. Really?” Alex shook her head slowly. “Now I’ve heard everything.”

  “Oh no you haven’t. You just wait and see what other arguments they’ve stored up.” Lara was bouncing on her toes.

  Alex arched her brows at Kai’s sister. “You really like stirring the pot and watching it boil over, don’t you?”

  Lara nodded, her lips trembling with excitement. She looked like her birthday, Christmas, and Halloween had all come at once, on the very same day.

  This place was a circus.

  Alex looked at Sera. “What do you think?”

  “I will defer the decision to you,” her sister replied, her voice pure innocence.

  “Awesome.” Alex let out a puff of exasperation. “So one of them will hate me forever because I didn’t pick their shade of white.”

  “No, not forever,” Sera assured her. “Just until the next wedding decision.”

  “Well, your scheme is thwarted, evil sister. Because I’m choosing neither.” Alex looked at Naomi and Marek. “You hear that? There will be no chair covers at all. The only things in straitjackets at my wedding will be the people crazy enough to crash the party.”

  Sera nodded. “I like the way you think, sister.”

  Alex dusted off her hands in victory. “Problem solved, disaster averted. This wedding stuff is easy peasy.”

  “Maybe you should give up fighting monsters and plan weddings instead,” Callum suggested.

  Alex stuck her tongue out at him.

  As Naomi and Marek stood down from red alert, Kai turned to Logan and asked, “Will you be ready on time?”

  Logan set his hand on Alex’s shoulder. “Yes.”

  Sera’s forehead crinkled in confusion. “Ready for what?”

  Kai summarized the mission to infiltrate the Convictionite base in Zurich and destroy the anti-magic weapon they were building. It would hopefully be the final battle, the end of the Convictionites.

  When he was done, Sera frowned at him. “You didn’t tell me about this mission.”

  Callum chuckled. “Uh-oh. Trouble in paradise.”

  Dal nodded. “And with the wedding happening in just a few days.”

  “You’re not helping,” Kai scolded his friends. Then he took Sera’s hands. “There hasn’t been much time. We’ve both been busy lately.”

  “Kai thought Alex would tell you about the mission,” Tony said.

  “You two sisters talk about everything,” Callum added.

  “Again, not helping, guys,” Kai growled.

  All three commandos chuckled this time.

  Sera looked at Alex, who shrugged and said, “We’ve mostly just been talking about wedding planning lately.”

  Sera turned to Kai. “You should have told me.”

  “You were busy.”

  “Going over guest lists and flower arrangements,” Sera sighed.

  “I didn’t want to worry you. Not now.”

  “Humph.”

  “I knew you wanted everything to be perfect for our special day,” he added.

  “Our special day,” Sera said. “Meaning you can make some of the decisions too. Or at least break up some of the fights.” She shot a pointed look at Naomi and Marek.

  “If you want me to step on someone, sweetheart, just point the way,” he declared solemnly.

  Sera snorted.

  Kai in dragon form was pretty damn scary. He had been known to stomp on villains.

  “You’re just so much better at this than I am. I’m so mesmerized, watching you work.” He set his hand on her cheek.

  Sera smiled, leaning into his hand, then she abruptly stopped. Her mouth flattened into a hard line. “I hate when you do that.”

  “Do what?”

  “Lavish me with compliments so I can’t get mad at you.”

  “My mother taught me that a doting husband is the cornerstone of a successful marriage.”

  “Your mother also has some choice things to say about you playing with tanks instead of helping with the wedding preparations,” Sera told him.

  “Does she? She hasn’t mentioned it to me.” His voice was as soft as crushed velvet. “She’s been too busy gushing about you.”

  Sera did her best to glare at him, but Alex saw only love in her sister’s eyes when she gazed upon Kai. Whether she wanted to admit it or not, Sera was a hopeless romantic.

  “Our wedding is important to you,” Sera said to Kai.

  “Of course.”

  “Then why aren’t you calling wedding vendors and freaking out about table runners?”

  “I don’t freak out,” he declared.

  “You would if you’d seen the table runners,” she told him. “They are bright pink. Pink, Kai.”

  His dark brows drew together. “How did that happen?”

  “I wish I knew. Alex and I specifically ordered the table runners in fuchsia.”

  “What did you say?”

  “Fuchsia,” Sera repeated. “It’s kind of a red-purple color.”

  “I know what the color is.” Kai’s voice was flat. “What I want to know is what the hell that color is doing at our weddi
ng.”

  Sera shrugged. “Well, that’s what happens when you let the brides do the planning.”

  He stood there for a moment in silence, watching her, then declared with complete confidence, “There are no fuchsia table runners. You’re pulling my leg.”

  “No, there aren’t any fuchsia table runners,” Sera agreed. “I told you that already. There were supposed to be fuchsia table runners, but the company sent the wrong ones, so now there are pink table runners. And I don’t pull legs. I catch dragons by the tail.”

  Danger twinkled in Kai’s eyes. “Careful, sweetheart.”

  Sera pretended to shiver. “I’m trembling.”

  Kai folded his arms across his chest. “Fuchsia is unacceptable. So is pink.” He turned to the commandos for support.

  “Pink is a fashionable color for guys nowadays,” Tony told him.

  “Says who?” demanded Kai.

  “Says some fancy magazine I read.”

  “I think it was the same magazine that did the photo shoot of you naked, Kai,” Callum added.

  “I wasn’t naked.”

  “You were from the waist up,” Dal pointed out helpfully.

  Kai frowned at them. “Remind me again why I hang out with you guys?”

  “Because there is no one better to have a beer with at the end of a long, hard day of work?” Tony suggested.

  “We shall see.” Kai looked at Logan. “Let’s get a beer together later.”

  “I know just the place,” Logan replied.

  For the longest time, Kai and Logan hadn’t been on friendly terms. After their time in the Shadow World, however, things had changed. The two of them had come to a new understanding.

  Not that they got along perfectly. Kai was still sour that Logan had once stolen something from him as part of a job, ages ago.

  But when the shit really hit the fan, the two of them could put their differences aside and work together. They’d done that recently when demons had threatened the world, and they were doing it now to take down the Convictionites. They also seemed to be bonding over the double wedding.

  “Guys, I think we’ve just been replaced,” Callum said to Tony and Dal.

  Dal grimaced. “By the assassin, no less.”

  “Oh, how we mighty have fallen,” Tony lamented, setting his hand over his heart.

  “Don’t worry, boys,” Alex told them. “If you’ve been banned from the bachelor party, you’re more than welcome to join us for the bachelorette festivities.”

  “What, so we can wear feathery costume crowns as we embark on a silly treasure hunt for chocolate?” Dal made a face.

  Alex laughed. “Sera and I are planning the bachelorette party.”

  “Meaning?” Tony asked.

  “Meaning there will be more monsters than costume crowns. But, yes, there will be chocolate. It’s not a party without chocolate.” Alex glanced at Sera. “Speaking of which, did you manage to rent a chocolate fountain for the wedding?”

  “Of course. Took care of that ages ago. Top priority, you know. It’s going to go near the pizza table.”

  The commandos perked up.

  “There’s a pizza table?” Callum’s whole face lit up.

  “No,” Kai declared, right as Sera said, “Yes.”

  “No,” Kai said again.

  Sera snickered.

  “What?” Kai asked her.

  “You voted for pizza,” she told him.

  “I did nothing of the sort.”

  “Don’t you remember those little opulent pizzas?”

  “No.” He looked uncharacteristically confused.

  “And what precisely is an opulent pizza?” Logan asked.

  “Those pretentious mini pizzas that waiters sometimes carry on trays,” said Alex. “Of course, they call them something else. Probably something French and therefore totally unpronounceable.”

  Sera nodded vigorously. “There’s going to be a whole table full of them at the wedding reception. They’re really good. I ate like twenty of them at the food tasting. You liked them too, Kai.”

  “So did you,” Alex told Logan.

  Logan glanced at Kai. “I have no recollection of these opulent pizzas.”

  Kai said, “Neither do I.”

  “You know what’s also really good?” Alex said to Sera. “Those mini chocolate cheesecakes.”

  “Oh, yes. I ate about twenty of them too.”

  “So did Logan. They were delicious.” Alex glanced at Logan. “Weren’t they, honey?”

  “Yes. Surprisingly.”

  “Why didn’t we get to go to the food tasting?” Callum asked Kai and Logan. “We’re always up for some food.”

  “You were fighting that herd of three-headed horses that day,” Kai reminded him.

  “We missed a herd of three-headed horses? Bummer.” Alex sighed.

  “The three-headed horses probably don’t taste as good as the mini chocolate cheesecakes,” Sera told her.

  “Undoubtedly not,” Alex agreed. “Nor do they taste as good as those chocolate pudding desserts in the little shot glasses. The ones with a fancy peppermint leaf sticking out of the top. I ate tons of them.”

  Sera licked her lips. “They were so good! The pudding, not the leaves, that is.”

  Amusement twinkled in Tony’s eyes. “Just how long did this food tasting last?”

  Sera looked at Alex. “I don’t know. About an hour, I think?”

  Alex shrugged. “We left when they ran out of food.”

  “Luckily, there was a twenty-four hour breakfast place across the street,” Sera said. “All that food sampling made us hungry.”

  “Speaking of which, I’m famished,” Alex declared.

  Tony pulled some paper food delivery bags out his backpack. “We’ve brought sandwiches for everyone.”

  “I thought Kai was making hamburgers?” Alex said.

  “I can make them for dinner,” Kai offered.

  “More time with my sister?” Sera beamed at Alex. “Awesome.”

  “Absolutely.” Alex looked at Tony. “Do you have grilled cheese?”

  “Of course.” Tony looked almost offended. “I know you.”

  Tony handed the grilled cheese sandwiches to her and Sera. The guys got the meat sandwiches. Then they all sat down around a wobbly wooden table on the porch.

  Alex brushed her finger across the pink details that accented the paper sandwich bag. “These sandwiches are good. We should order them for the wedding afterparty. The pink even matches our table runners.”

  Sera snorted.

  “There will be no pink,” Kai declared. “The wedding of a Drachenburg requires some semblance of dignity.”

  “So does the wedding of an assassin,” Logan told the sisters. “Red would be a more appropriate color choice.”

  Alex set her hand on his arm. “We don’t want to deck the halls with the blood of our enemies, my love. That’s not the ambience we’re going for.”

  One blond eyebrow arched upward. “Well, which color would you choose?”

  Alex thought about it for a second. “Black. And white. Maybe a black-and-white damask pattern. With…yes, red rose accents.”

  “That’s an ingenious idea,” Sera agreed.

  “The line between genius and madness is a fine one.”

  Sera beamed at her. “Speaking of important wedding decisions, do you have any idea which wedding gown you want?”

  “I…uh…”

  “You haven’t gotten around to choosing it yet, have you?”

  “Not exactly. No.”

  “Did you even look at the dress catalogue I sent you from the Fairy Queen?”

  Alex blinked.

  Sera let out a heavy sigh. “You lost it, didn’t you?”

  “I don’t think so?”

  “It’s under the stack of empty pizza boxes in the barn,” Logan told her.

  “Thanks, darling.” Alex smiled at Sera. “See? Not lost. Safe. I’ll get around to it eventually.”

  “The w
edding is only two weeks away. What are you going to do, wait until midnight before the wedding?”

  “Is the Fairy Queen open that late?”

  Sera was shaking her head. “Just because you’re my sister, that doesn’t mean I won’t set you on fire.”

  Alex chuckled.

  “Repeatedly,” Sera added, her eyes narrowing as she held Alex’s gaze.

  When the chortles finally died down, Kai said to Logan, “I also like red for the table runners.”

  “You two are still going on about the table runners?” Alex laughed.

  “This is important,” Logan told her. “We don’t want the wedding to turn into a circus.”

  “Too late for that,” Lara said, teeming with delight.

  The guys ignored her glee in the face of anarchy.

  “Red is a color that people can’t help but take seriously,” Kai said.

  “That’s what the bullfighter said to the bull,” Tony muttered to Callum, who snorted so hard that he almost choked on his sandwich.

  “Red,” Logan agreed, the word breaking through the loud beat that Dal was drumming on Callum’s back, trying to dislodge the stuck sandwich chunk.

  “We will fix the table runner debacle,” Logan declared.

  Kai nodded in agreement.

  “Great,” Sera said immediately. “I’ve already sent you both a message with the wedding supply shop’s contact info.”

  Kai blinked in surprise. “You already sent it?”

  Sera’s face was the picture of innocence. “Yes.”

  “We knew you two would want to be on the ball,” Alex added. “After all, table runners are very important to you.”

  Kai glanced at Logan, frowning. “I do believe we have been played.”

  Logan’s brows drew together. “Indeed we have.”

  “So, since you two will be helping out with the wedding planning now, some time has opened up in my schedule for kicking some Convictionite butt,” Sera declared.

  “As you yourself just pointed out, Sera, the wedding is in two weeks,” Naomi said. “How exactly are you planning on taking out a worldwide terrorist organization in that time?”

  “Easy,” replied Alex. “The Convictionites’ numbers have dwindled since Logan and I exposed their hypocrisy to the world via that internet recording. They’ve gathered the bulk of their forces in Zurich, in one building. They’ve put all their resources into their magic-ending weapon project.”