The man before Naomi certainly looked like Cloud. He had the same spiked blond hair and green eyes that shimmered like a tropical ocean. She stared at him, not entirely convinced this wasn’t just an illusion, a mirage formed from the lingering magic in the air. Cloud was supposed to be in prison.

“Isn’t that your ex?” Alex asked Naomi.

“I wouldn’t say ex. We never dated.”

No, they’d only slept together a few times.

“Ah, I see,” Alex said with a knowing smile.

As Cloud drew closer to them, Naomi could make out the mesh of his magic-proof armor. She recognized the design. Riley had shown it to her earlier this week. It was the latest iteration of his experimental armor.

“Nice to see you again, Naomi,” Cloud said, bowing as he stopped in front of her.

“Frankly, I’m surprised to see you again. Aren’t you supposed to be warming a cell in Atlantis?”

Atlantis was the Magic Council’s supernatural prison island in the Atlantic. They’d sent Cloud there after he’d been arrested for conspiring with pirates to take over Fairy Island and its copious supply of magical crops.

“I’ve been out of Atlantis for several months,” Cloud told her.

“Based on the fearless, brazen way you are flaunting your newfound freedom, I’m guessing you didn’t break out and are now on the run from the authorities.”

But why would they let Cloud go?

“I made a deal with the Magic Council,” he said. “They let me out of prison, and I led them to the pirates and illegal drug dealers plaguing our cities. But two months ago, my mission changed. Kai Drachenburg assigned me the task of hunting down and exterminating the city’s hell beasts.”

“Two months ago. That was when the demons escaped from hell,” Naomi commented.

“Right. And while hunting hell beasts, I test how Drachenburg Industries’ experimental armor and weapons work in the field.”

Kudos to Kai for accomplishing two things at once: reducing hell beasts and testing his company’s armor and weapons.

Naomi took a closer look at the bodysuit Cloud was wearing. Fine black threads were woven into the red ones, which she hadn’t noticed before. It looked pretty stylish actually. Naomi had a feeling the design was about more than just trendy looks, though. Kai didn’t allow fashion to dictate function. With him, it was unquestionably the other way around.

“Those weapons are impressive,” Naomi said, glancing down at the whip slowly sizzling out in Cloud’s hands.

“That baton reminds me of the magic stone Sera once had,” Alex said.

“Right, the chameleon one that could change shape to suit her needs,” Naomi remembered. “I bet that’s where Riley got the idea.”

Alex’s gaze slid across Cloud’s red suit. “How’s the armor?”

“More effective than the previous iteration,” he told her. “That one alternated between being fireproof and spontaneously bursting into flames.”

“Well, at least it kept you on your toes,” Alex laughed.

“Such is the nature of experimental armor. Sometimes it fails. And sometimes it works really, really well,” agreed Cloud. “As you observed just now.”

“You don’t sound upset that you’re being used to field-test Drachenburg Industries’ products in life-or-death circumstances,” Alex observed.

Cloud shrugged. “It beats being in prison. If I’m going to die, at least I’ll bite the dust breathing in fresh air.”

Wow, that was almost philosophical.

Cloud took another step toward them. Before prison, he’d always worn the distinctive, sweet scent of Fairy Lily like a thick cologne, but not anymore. Now, he smelled clean and fresh, like the ocean—with only a tiny hint of Fairy Lily.

“What are you doing here, Cloud?” Naomi asked him. “Right here, right now?”

His mouth drew up into a smile. “I have missed you.”

“Have you now?” she said warily.

“That smile. That energy.” Magic sparkled in his eyes. “It was always so intoxicating.”

“Don’t flirt with me. We’re long past that.”

“Are we? I thought it got better with every one-night stand.” He winked.

Naomi nearly laughed, but she didn’t want to encourage him. She used to say that about Cloud. It was clever of him, throwing her own words back at her. She wasn’t surprised he was flirting with her. Even if he was reformed—and that was a big if because she still was not convinced this wasn’t a big scheme—some things were just fairy nature. Flirting being one of them.

So she simply smiled. “Cute.”

Makani was clearly not amused. In fact, he looked like he’d just swallowed his sword. He took a step toward Cloud, looming like a storm cloud about to unleash hell upon him.

Cloud’s gaze shifted to him. “You don’t like me,” he observed.

“No.” Makani folded his arms across his chest. “I do not.”

“Because I was once a criminal?

“Once?” Naomi said.

“I’m clean now,” Cloud assured her. “I work for the Magic Council. I am a reformed man.”

“You are high on Fairy Lily,” she pointed out.

“I took a tiny whiff of it before coming out tonight, just to calm my nerves. Monsters make me jumpy.”

Naomi chuckled. “If monsters make you jumpy, then you’ve picked the wrong way to redeem yourself.”

“The tougher the challenge, the sweeter the victory.”

Once again, wow. That didn’t sound anything like the old Cloud, that carefree surfer and drug dealer. Right now, he actually seemed serious about reforming, about clearing himself and making up for his past crimes.

“I don’t care that you’re a criminal,” Makani told Cloud. He wasn’t talking in the past tense. He was clearly referring to the here and now. “Your crimes against the Magic Council are irrelevant. They do not matter. But your crimes against Naomi matter immensely. You betrayed her.”

“We can argue past crimes all day long, or we can catch some actual criminals,” Cloud said.

“What do you mean?” Naomi asked him.

“When our paths crossed tonight, I was in the middle of a hunt. I was following a group of escaped criminals sentenced by the Magic Council—tracking their movements, eavesdropping on their schemes—when the hell beasts cornered me.”

“You think the escaped criminals and beasts are connected,” Naomi said.

“Well, the criminals did escape from hell. I suspect they unleashed the firebirds to get me off their tail.”

Could these escaped criminals from hell have anything to do with the demons in the city? Surely it was not all one big, hellish coincidence.

“We should go before they get away,” Cloud told Naomi.

“What do you mean we?”

“Are you not the Magic Council’s goto person for all matters of hell?”

Yes, she was. But she was already chasing more than one thread right now. No, scrap that. This wasn’t just threads. It was a big, knotted nest of demon-scented yarn. And the longer she tried to sort it out, the more twisted and kinked the knots got.

“Unless you have something better to do than save the world from hell’s worst criminals?” Cloud said, arching a single brow.

“No,” she sighed.

The pancakes would have to wait.

“I should warn you that there are many criminals in this hellish nest,” said Cloud. “We are severely outnumbered and the odds are stacked against us that we will even survive the encounter.”

“Excellent,” Alex said with relish.

“You’re a bit mental, aren’t you?” Cloud observed.

Alex grinned. “Only in the best ways.”

“I’m going to need more Fairy Lily before this is all over,” Cloud declared, frowning.

“Where is this nest of criminals?” Naomi asked him.

“This way.”

Ten minutes later, they arrived at the pier. A driver waited in front of a motorboat marked with a Drachenburg Industries logo.

“What’s this?” Naomi asked.

“My monster-hunting, criminal-nabbing support team,” Cloud explained. “There are cars and drivers all over the city. Boats at the piers. Even helicopters.”

“Kai gave you a support team? People who have to do what you say?” Alex grinned. “That is so cool.”

“They aren’t just helping him. They are watching him,” Logan told her. “It’s Drachenburg’s way of keeping an eye on his reformed criminal project.”

“Sure, but they still have to drive him places and bring him doughnuts and pizza,” Alex said, her eyes sparkling like sapphires.

She was probably imagining the possibilities. Alex was convinced that she needed minions. She cared less about having them bring her food and more about having people to get into trouble with.

“So, where are we going?” Naomi asked Cloud.

“I’ve been tracking the escaped criminals’ movements for days,” he said. “And I finally overheard where their base is.”

“Don’t leave us hanging. Where is this vicious nest of criminals?” Alex said it like it was an item on the dessert menu.

Naomi looked across the dark water, hoping the criminals weren’t headed for Fairy Island. It wouldn’t be the first time someone had tried to infiltrate the island. Fairy Island was a tasty target for a demon. Its various magical herbs could boost their beasts’ and warriors’ powers.

The powerful spells around the island would protect it from hostile forces, Naomi told herself.

But what if the magic failed? The people of Fairy Island were pacifists, not fighters. They depended on the magical barriers around the island to protect them. If those failed, they would be overrun. Everyone would be slaughtered.

Cloud followed her gaze. “They aren’t going to Fairy Island.”

Naomi expelled a breath of relief.

“Angel Island?” Alex asked.

That was another likely target. Until a few months ago, Angel Island had been overrun with pirates.

“No,” Cloud said. “The escaped criminals of hell are headed for Alcatraz.”