Magic Kingdom (Dragon Born Alexandria Book 3) (10 page)

“Hey, love birds, if you knock over the tea, you have to clean it up,” Alex told them.

Eva stopped struggling. Still trapped on top of Marek, she turned to look up at Alex and Logan. Magic slid across her brown eyes, turning them blue.

“How long have you been standing there?” she asked Alex.

“Long enough to witness your epic takedown of Marek.” She looked at him, then at the awakening fairy on the television screen. “Nice boots. But I think I like the hat even more. It really brings out the color in your eyes.”

Marek’s fairy had red eyes, just like his hat. His leather shorts were red too. He wasn’t even wearing a shirt, just two leather straps across his bare chest.

“Thank you, Alex. I killed a particularly ghastly demon to win it,” he said, sitting up.

Eva’s gaze widened as she got a better look at Alex and Logan. “It appears you two killed a few demons of your own tonight.”

“Not demons.” Alex set her sword down on the table. “Just monsters. But what are you two doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be on a date tonight?”

Eva sighed. “We had to fight some monsters of our own. A herd of dark ponies attacked the restaurant. By the time we had defeated them, there wasn’t much left of the restaurant. Dishes broken. Tables split apart. The wait staff fleeing for their lives.” Her magic rippled with excitement.

“You had fun, didn’t you?” Alex asked her.

“Oh, yes,” replied Eva. “Though I do wish the ponies had waited to attack until after we’d had something to eat. I’m famished, and there’s nothing in the cupboard but
beef jerky
.” She said it like it was a dirty word.

“The whole city is swarming with monsters tonight.” Alex swiped Logan’s phone from his pocket.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“Ordering pizza. Come hell or high water—or monster apocalypse—Wizard House Pizza always delivers. Any requests?”

“Something with pineapples,” Eva said.

Marek made a funny face.

“Don’t you even dare, Marek Kensington. If you insult my pineapples, I’ll tell you what I really think of your salami.”

Marek shot her a devilish smirk, then looked at Alex and said smoothly, “Order one with salami please.”

Alex began dragging pizzas into the pizza truck. The Wizard House Pizza ordering system was a work of pure genius. It was as addictive as any video game.

“Logan?” she asked.

“Spinach.”

“The one with the spinach in the crust?”

“Yes.”

“Ooh, going deep dish style, are you? I thought you said that was a crime against pizza.”

“I have reassessed my opinion since the last time we ate pizza.”

“Ha! I knew you liked it!” Grinning, she finished filling her pizza truck. “Ok, one pineapple pizza, one salami pizza, one spinach deep dish pizza, and one cheese pizza. Good?”

“You want to order four pizzas for four people?” Marek asked.

“Good point.” She dragged a few more pizzas into the truck. “I added a couple more cheese pizzas, just in case. You can’t go wrong with extra cheese.”

Marek’s dark brows lifted. “What army is going to eat all this food?”

“You guys said you were hungry. And we’re hungry. Better to order too much than too little, right? If there are leftovers, we can eat them for breakfast.”

Marek looked at Logan. “She’s your problem.”

“I know.” He winked at Alex.

“When will the food arrive?” Eva asked.

“They always deliver within fifteen minutes,” said Alex.

“You ordered from Wizard House Pizza?” Marek asked.

“Yes.”

“Why does it always take over half an hour when I order from them?”

She shot him her most innocent look. “Because you’re not Slayer.”

“Neither are you,” Marek pointed out.

“No, but I called them from Slayer’s phone using Slayer’s account.”
 

“I’ll have to try that sometime.”

Logan gave him a cool look. Alex had gotten pretty good at deciphering his expressions. This one said, ‘Touch my phone, and I’ll cut off your hand.’ Or maybe it was ‘Touch my phone, and I’ll kill you.’ She was still working out the finer points of the Assassin’s Nonverbal Code of Communication.

Marek must have gotten the gist of Logan’s message too because he turned his eyes toward Alex instead. “My mother called.” Marek’s mother had a seat on the Magic Council—and a very prominent seat at that.

“Oh?” Alex asked.

“She wants to see you,” he said.

A few months ago, that news would have been an omen of Alex’s very own impending apocalypse. Nowadays…well, maybe it still was.

Alex hadn’t talked to Margery Kensington since that day at the Crystal Palace, the day that they’d agreed to work together to take out the Convictionites. A few days after Alex and Logan had returned to Zurich, Gaelyn had called to tell them that the Magic Council wanted to hire them to help Monster Cleanup keep the peace in Munich during the weeks leading up to the Magic Council’s summit. Things had been going all right until tonight.

“Is she planning on telling me off for allowing the apocalypse to come to Munich?” And allowing the apocalypse to come to Munich the day before the Magic Council summit was due to begin.

“Of course not,” Marek said. “That’s not your fault.”

“Even though I’m a trouble magnet? Everywhere I go, monsters follow.”

Marek’s eyes narrowed. “What’s wrong with you?”

“Stan said a few things to her. She let him get under her skin,” Logan told him.

“Stan? The bloke from Disposal at Monster Cleanup?” Marek let out a very posh snort. “Kitten.”

“Kitten?”

“That’s what his colleagues call him.”

“Because he’s harmless?”

“Because he turns into a small cat.”

“What kind of cat?”

“A European wildcat. It’s hardly larger than a domestic cat.”

“No wonder he keeps milk in his mini fridge,” Alex commented. “And cookies on his bookshelf.”

“I think Kitten is a cute nickname,” Eva said.

“Yes, it’s cute,” Marek agreed. “But not sexy.”

“Well, not everyone can be the Dragon Master.”

“Wait, what? People call you the Dragon Master, Marek?” Alex asked. “How can I not know about this?”

Eva’s lip twitched.

“How many dragons can you summon now?” Alex asked Marek.

In addition to being an elemental mage, Marek was a mage summoner. He didn’t summon real dragons—that wasn’t possible—but he could mold shimmering strands of magic into something that resembled a dragon. Just like with shifters, there were varying degrees of complexity when it came to summoning magical creatures.

“When we were fighting the dark ponies earlier tonight, he summoned two large dragons,” said Eva.

“Define large.”

“Each one was as tall as a one-story building.”

Wow, Marek had been practicing—probably to impress Eva. They’d recently gotten back together after a few months apart, their breakup courtesy of Marek being an occasional blockhead. His mother hadn’t approved of his relationship with a fairy-mage hybrid. Apparently, only full-blooded mages were good enough for Margery Kensington’s favorite son. Thankfully, he’d realized how stupid it was to break up with the woman he loved more than anyone in the world.

“What does your mother want to see me about?” Alex asked him.

“She has a mission for you: to take out the Convictionites.”

Laughter burst from Alex’s lips. She didn’t even try to contain it. No one could accuse Margery Kensington of thinking small.

“Take out the Convictionites? Is that all? Consider it done. I’ll just pencil it in for Tuesday at ten o’clock. Right after yoga but before froyo.”

“I suggest you don’t make such jokes when you go to meet my mother,” Marek said. “She might think you’re mocking her.”

“Of course I’m mocking her. I’m mocking the whole freaking Magic Council. And myself. I can’t believe I ever agreed to work for them. They have a gigantic reality distortion field around their collective consciousness.”

“Are you quite done?” Marek asked.

“For now.”

“I don’t know what my mother is planning, Alex. I do know that on Sunday she will be leading the Convictionite discussion session at the Magic Council conference. She wants to meet with you after the meeting.”

The doorbell rang. Fifteen minutes on the dot.

“Pizza,” Alex said.

Then she hurried down the long, high hallway that led to the front door. It looked like a corridor from a Gothic-flavored alien spaceship. It was also the longest hallway in the history of the world. Maybe she could convince Logan to install a walking sidewalk. He was good at things like that.

With every step that she took, she grew more impatient. By the time she made it to the door, her stomach was screaming for food. She could almost taste the pizza. The sweet spread of tomato sauce. The soft, warm dough. The bubbling cheese. Mmm. She’d worry about Margery Kensington’s plans tomorrow. Right now, she was going to eat enough pizza to induce a caloric coma. Who knew when she’d get the chance again.

Alex stepped outside. Past the security gate, the pizza delivery truck was driving away, but Naomi’s car had just turned onto the driveway. She parked behind Logan’s car. Her silver roadster looked adorably miniature next to Logan’s long Maserati.

Naomi stepped out of her car. She was dressed in a black leather bodysuit which made her look like a stunt double from some superhero action movie. The darkness contrasted beautifully with her blonde hair, which she was wearing platinum and chin-length—and also with her pale skin. It had a sparkly sheen to it, like she had dusted herself in silver glitter. That sheen wasn’t the result of cosmetics, however; it was a trait of her half-fairy heritage. Her other half was mage, which gave her magic a distinct combination blend. It was both sweet and peppery. It rang like tiny silver bells over the heavy percussion beat of elemental magic. It flowed like warm milk and smelled like cotton candy. There was something about her magic. It was much stronger than her cousin Eva’s—and any other hybrid Alex had ever met.

Naomi popped open the passenger door and pulled out a stack of six pizza boxes. “Yum.” Golden specks swirled and twinkled in her blue eyes. “I haven’t eaten since breakfast. Did you know the only food in the whole house is a jar of beef jerky?”

“Eva told me.”

“She’s back from her date with Marek?”

“Yes, monsters attacked the restaurant.”

“Stupid monsters.”

“Yeah.”

Naomi handed her the stack of pizzas. “I trust this brilliant idea was your doing?”

“Of course. Though Marek thinks I’m crazy for ordering so much pizza.”

“In fact, you should have ordered more. I’ve brought company.”

“A date?”

“Yeah, three of them.” Naomi chuckled. “Here they come.”

She pointed her remote at the gate, and it slid open to make room for a big, black SUV. The vehicle, which was obviously hoping to be a tank when it grew up, parked behind Naomi’s car. The door swung open, and three huge men in dark military camouflage clothing hopped out. They towered at least two heads over Naomi and were packed from head to toe with thick, hard muscle that bulged under the dark fabric of their clothing. They were mages. Between the three of them, they had enough magic to send Alex’s Sniffer senses into overdrive.

“Alex,” Naomi said, grinning. “I want you to meet the commandos.”

“I didn’t know you could hire your own personal G.I. Joe squad.”

Naomi snorted. “They do make great backup.”

I’m wondering if that’s Naomi’s euphemism for a four-way mage and fairy sandwich,
Nova commented.

Alex struggled to keep a straight face.

“But, alas, they’re not my commandos,” said Naomi. “That’s Dal.”

She grinned at the first mage. He had light brown hair a shade paler than his skin. His magic was hard yet gentle, smooth with a thick protective shell. Alex’s best guess placed him as a defensive mage with healing abilities.

“Tony.”

Naomi indicated the next mage. His dark honey-colored eyes sparkled with calm intelligence. This was the sort of man who remained forever rational and never lost his cool, even in the heat of battle. His magic had the subtle smoothness of a Seer. As a Sniffer, Alex could detect supernaturals—and, to some extent, humans—but Seers could sense much more. They could literally see every person and object within a certain radius, no matter what walls or other barriers lay between them.

“And Callum.”

The sandy-haired man waved. He had the tart, zesty magic of an elemental. He looked like a more mature, less impulsive version of Marek. Callum and Marek were both powerful elemental mages. And though Callum had at least a good fifty pounds of muscle on Marek, his posture reminded her of Marek. There was just something undeniably proper about the way he stood. Something that screamed old magic dynasty.

“You’re the commandos,” Alex realized. “You work for Kai Drachenburg. Sera has told me all about you.”

They shot her matching blinding-white grins. Drachenburg Industries must have had excellent dental.

“And you’re Sera’s sister Alex,” Tony said.

“We’ve heard stories,” Dal added.

Callum nodded with enthusiasm. “And we’d love for you to hang out with us.”

“Work first,” Tony told him. He glanced down at the stack of pizza boxes in Alex’s hands. “We’re going to need more pizza.” He pulled out his phone.

Alex handed Callum the boxes, then she leaned over to watch Tony navigate animated flying pizzas into the blinking delivery truck. His fingers moved with crisp precision.

“You’ve played this game before,” she commented as he dodged the angry baker shaking his hands in the air.

“Oh, yes. I’m still trying to beat Sera’s high score, but I fear that’s impossible.”

“Sera’s good, but she has her weaknesses. Have her order a bunch of salami pizzas, and you’ll see what I mean.”

Tony’s eyes took on a calculating gleam. “Salami, you say?”

“Yes. She can’t handle the silly smiling salamis. They keep jumping off the pizzas.”

Tony laughed. “Good tip. You know, I still haven’t decided if I love this game because it’s fun or hate it because it’s completely and addictively manipulative.”