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powerful had to have left traces, even if he was hiding inside of Finn. Magic of that scale is not invisible. I’d like you to take another look at everything with me now. Go through the motions of the fight, and tell me everything you remember.”
    “All right.”
    Sera turned and walked across the parking lot to the spot where she and Naomi had entered the property. She stopped at the gate, then jogged around the cluster of buildings to stand in front of the fence that separated the facility grounds from Battery Spencer.
    “When we arrived, Finn had a group of guards caught up in a spinning whirlwind over his head. Over there.” She pointed to the building with a large black eight painted on the wall, and Kai moved to stand there. “We tried to circle around him.” She sidestepped a few paces. “But he’d tossed the guards aside and summoned a field of cyclones to hold us off.”
    Kai lifted his hands, and a dozen cyclones sprouted out of thin air. They twirled completely in sync—moving in that same slow, lazy spin. But unlike Finn and his frenzied cyclones, Kai had his completely under control.
    “Is everyone in your family an elemental mage?” she asked.
    “Yes. Most of us have additional talents too. Finn is also a summoner, but his summoning isn’t any stronger than his casting.”
    “And what additional talents do you have?”
    Magic shone through his eyes, lighting them up. He grinned at her. “Many.”
    Ok, she’d stepped right into that one. Back to business…
    “Finn was making his way toward Building Six,” she said.
    The cyclones moved with Kai as he walked to Building Six.
    “Naomi tossed a few bursts of Dust at him, but the cyclones ate it all up. He started blasting us with wind, trying to hurl us at the fence.” She raised her hand quickly. “Don’t do that.”
    “We want to recreate the scene as closely as possible.” He looked completely serious. He was ready to blast her across the parking lot. What a psychopath.
    “Recreate that part in your head.”
    “Fine.” He dropped his hands. “Keep going.”
    “Then he threw a fireball at us—don’t do that either!”
    A sigh brushed past his amused lips as he lowered his half-raised hands.
    “He went into a summoning pose and merged all the cyclones into a single spinning wall. But don’t you—”
    “I told you I had many talents. Summoning is not one of them. So relax.”
    He drew the tornados in toward him. They blended seamlessly into a wind barrier, twirling in a kaleidoscope of colors. Its spin was silky smooth, its hum whisper soft. A subtle sweetness hung in the air, tickling her tongue. Yum.
    Kai had the most beautiful, effortless magic she had ever seen. Magic wasn’t something he forced out of himself; it was an extension of his body. It was so breathtaking that she couldn’t help but stare.
    “How do you do that?” she asked.
    “Do what?”
    “Make it look so easy.”
    The wind barrier went nearly transparent. “Practice.”
    “I’ve faced a lot of mages. None of them could do what you can. Your cousin was powered by some force that shot his magic up several classes, and even he wasn’t this powerful.”
    Kai turned the barrier light blue. A rim of purple flames sprouted out of the top. It was so beautiful, it was scary. While other mages were sweating trying to make their fire as hot as possible, he was changing its color and forming it into pretty patterns.
    “What happened next, Sera?”
    “I gave Naomi a boost over the barrier. She landed beside Finn and hit him with some Dust, but for some reason he didn’t go down.”
    “So he gained power and resistance. Go on.”
    “I couldn’t let him finish summoning the dragon. It was gigantic and people would get hurt. I saw a gap in his barrier, so I made a run for it and slipped through.”
    “Show me.”
    Crap. “There’s no gap in your barrier.”
    A gap formed in the barrier. It was a crooked circle, perfect in its imitation of chaos. Nature