“Then you might really have given her a heart attack.” His serious face dissolved into wicked bliss. He leaned in and whispered into her ear, “But I wouldn’t mind if you wore them the next time we went monster hunting together.”
“I don’t know.” She gave him a crooked smile. “You’d have to make it worth my while.”
“I’ll bring muffins.”
“Sold,” she said immediately. “But only if they’re blueberry.”
“I think that can be arranged.” He wrapped his arm around her, his hand brushing against her thigh. Magic dripped out of his fingertips, oscillating to every corner of her body.
She slapped his hand away. “Stop that. I’m still mad at you.”
“Does that mean you won’t be setting me on fire later?”
“It was supposed to be a threat, something that sparked fear in your heart.” She frowned. “Not something that you’re looking forward to. You’ve ruined it.”
“How about if I shriek and roll around on the floor in agony?”
“Do you even know how to shriek?” she asked him.
“I can roar.”
She shook her head. “Forget it. I’ll think of some other way to get back at you.”
He kissed her cheek. “Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help you with that.” His second kiss brushed past her lips. “In the spirit of cooperation.”
She returned his kiss, catching his lower lip between her teeth. She gave it a rough tug. He groaned into her mouth, his tongue finding hers, his hands clutching her hips beneath the table.
“Nice try, but that wasn’t a shriek or a roar,” she said, pulling back, teasing his mouth.
He growled in frustration.
“Getting closer.”
“You are a wicked woman,” he hissed against her lips.
If Sera’s phone hadn’t chosen that moment to buzz against the table, she didn’t know what would have happened. No one had kicked them out of the restaurant yet, but they were about ten seconds away from indecent exposure. She pulled back from him, fumbling for her phone. Her head was still spinning from that kiss. She was making out with Kai. In public. With tables full of people all around her. What the hell was the matter with her?
“I blame the Games. They’re messing with my head,” she muttered.
“What’s that?” Kai rested his arms atop the back of the bench. His posture said relaxed, but his magic was as intense as a speeding train. It pulsed in slow, intense beats, pounding against hers. She might need to slap him again—and herself while she was at it.
“Nothing,” she replied, checking her phone. Another message from Finn. Great.
“You’re frowning.”
“Am I?”
She looked up at Kai. He was frowning too. His magic surged, going from intense to enraged. Frost crackled and spread down her milkshake glass. Inside, her liquid dessert was fast approaching solid ice block territory.
“If you ruin my milkshake, I’m going to make you order me another one,” she warned him.
Her glass hissed, released from his arctic spell.
“That’s better. Now, let’s just ignore Finn and go back to…eating.”
Kai was already dialing the commandos. The man just couldn’t help himself. “Tell me where the photo of Sera in the pit was taken from,” he spoke before any of them could.
“…looked around,” came Tony’s voice from the other end. “…one-fifteen…front…first five rows…”
“Find him. This is getting ridiculous,” Kai snapped, hanging up.
For the next five minutes, he devoured his remaining burgers. She watched. She nibbled on her own burger and dipped a few fries into her milkshake, but she wasn’t feeling very hungry.
“You should eat,” he said finally, wiping his hands down with a napkin. “You’ll need your strength.”
She took a bite of the burger and a long slurp of milkshake.
“I think you might be right about Cutler,” he said, watching her closely. “He was sitting right where one of Finn’s photos was taken from. Maybe I should have a few strong words with him.”
Sera reached up, catching his hand as he stood. “Wait.”
“Let go, Sera,” he growled. “I need to kill something.”
She believed it. His magic crashed and churned, the beginnings of a storm brewing behind his eyes.
“Don’t do that,” she said. “If Cutler is a part of all this, confronting him will only tip him off. And if he isn’t, attacking him will get you into trouble with his mother. Melinda Spellstorm can summon entire herds of unicorns. That woman is scary.”
“You think this is funny?
“No, it’s very serious,” replied Sera. “Don’t confront Cutler. Watch him. Use him to find Finn.”
“Hmm.” He began writing out a message to the commandos. “Since when did you get so level-headed?”
“It’s all part of my new and improved super professionalism.”
At least that elicited a response from him, if only a slightly amused grunt. “Ok, Ms. Professional. How about you finish your lunch so you don’t pass out the moment you step into the fighting pit.”
“Your confidence in me is inspiring,” she said, taking another long drink from her glass. After all, nothing went better with doom and gloom than milkshakes.