Chapter 6
Alric didn’t linger much longer after he’d acquired Nikki’s agreement to assist the tracker, which left Gunter feeling oddly conflicted over the entire matter. It was best his old friend had retreated to his own office or to find Cameron, rather than have him hanging about. Gunter needed to think.
He felt uneasy about this whole thing. He’d seen how badly booby-trapped an old Jaeggi location could be, so this wasn’t something to be taken lightly. And he was really of two minds about Nikki once again delving into the fray.
It was also a matter of Nikki not being comfortable on those grounds. They’d suffered more than enough at the hands of the Jaeggi. The dragons shouldn’t be asking them to return yet again. They’d earned their respite and peace from the Jaeggi at last.
But Nikki seemed determined to help. Maybe they wanted revenge—Gunter certainly would in their shoes. And maybe Gunter worried about this unnecessarily. Still, asking more of Nikki didn’t sit well with him.
Gunter had walked Alric to the door and carefully shut it behind him. Turning on the balls of his feet, Gunter slipped his hands into the pockets of his jeans and slowly ambled toward the area Nikki had claimed as their own.
His frown grew with each step, his eyes sweeping over the area Nikki sat in.
Lisette had asserted on two different occasions that Nikki had built themself a nest, which sounded positively ridiculous.
Of course Nikki hadn’t built a nest in the library.
Nikki simply hadn’t had a place of their own with the Jaeggi and was trying to establish somewhere they spent most of their day.
Gunter had tried to explain to Nikki their personal space was their apartment, but the words seemed to go in one ear and right out the other.
Nikki remained close at all times, despite Gunter’s attempt to interest them in other places and people outside the library.
Not that he minded Nikki’s presence—which would have surprised anyone if he said that out loud.
Gunter wasn’t known to seek out people’s company most of the time.
Or to welcome people down here. But Nikki wasn’t trying to do something insane to drive Gunter out. They were good company.
It was just this…this space they’d claimed was cluttered and messy.
The books stacked at the edge of the table were this strange hodgepodge of family histories, spell books, and even a few treatises on various wars waged among the dragon clans.
And was that a cookbook? How had that even migrated to his library?
The castle technically possessed two libraries.
One was more for general use, filled with fiction novels and how-to books that had been published in the last couple of decades.
The library—or the dungeon, as his compatriots called it—he held dominion over contained all the historical texts for the various clans, spell books that didn’t stay with the mages, and other critical documents regularly used by the rest of the clan.
This cookbook should have been in the other library.
A little huff escaped as he noticed that one of his favorite coffee mugs with the Shakespearean quotes was also in Nikki’s nest—er, rather, table.
Now was not the time to worry about any of that. The main concern was Nikki and whether they were truly good with the plan.
“Nikki,” he started, trying to pull his brain away from the strange accumulation of things in his library. “Are you sure this is what you want to do? Hoheit is correct. You don’t have to help this tracker. We can get other mages to assist him, as well as other dragons.”
The young mage shook their head and met his eyes with their own deep purple gaze. “No, I want to help. But…will you come with us? Or were you going to stay behind at the castle?”
Gunter immediately shook his head. “No, I will definitely be accompanying you. There’s too much we could learn. I will feel better if I am there with you.”
It was also on the tip of his tongue to say Nikki seemed to be more at ease in Jaeggi territory when Gunter was present to keep them safe, but that was silly.
The only reason Nikki stuck close to Gunter was simply because he was the first dragon they’d seen as safety.
Yes, there was Ravi. The unpredictable wind dragon had forged a close friendship with the mage in a short period of time, but Ravi also came with a mage mate.
Gunter, on the other hand, had no mage in his life to rattle Nikki.
All very logical.
“Very well. I should return to work,” Gunter murmured. He started to turn toward his desk, his mind on the myriad of problems continuing to plague the Burkhard Clan.
“Gunter?”
The dragon’s head immediately popped up, canted in question.
“You said you wanted to discuss my family, my real family,” Nikki reminded him. “Do you want to do that now? Or are you too busy?”
“Not at all. Now is an excellent time.” He’d completely forgotten he’d mentioned to Nikki earlier in the day he wanted to write down what family history and information they remembered from their childhood.
Gunter took a second to switch mental tracks.
His work was important, but Nikki trumped it.
He wanted to take advantage of Nikki being in the right mood to talk about their family.
Gunter went around his desk and sat to boot up his laptop.
With fingers poised over the keyboard, he grinned at Nikki, who straightened in the chair and flashed him an enormous smile.
“I can’t believe I’m starting this way since we’ve known each other for two weeks now, but can you remember the name of your clan?” Gunter asked.
“My family name is Bos. I don’t know if that’s my clan’s name. I don’t remember anyone else who was a mage in my house, or any mention of mages other than my parents.”
Gunter made a note, flipping through various spreadsheets and documents until he located what he was looking for. “Bos was a clan in Northern Europe for a long time.” He paused to chew on his bottom lip as he skimmed over what notes he had.
He sighed softly. “I don’t have much on the Boses, but there is a small note stating the clan was renowned for its ability with spells that could get plants to move and shape valuable instruments such as wands and other items for magic use.
They seem to have been quite highly regarded.
I’ll have to check through my records and see if I have any old spell books for the Bos Clan. ”
A slender hand lightly landed on his shoulder as Nikki leaned over to look at the screen, their faces inches apart with the motion.
Tension flowed into his frame, and part of his brain marveled at how quickly and quietly Nikki had crossed the distance between them.
He caught a whiff of soap and the tiniest hint of something else that had to be purely Nikki.
Gunter, after that startled moment, found he liked having Nikki close.
The light touch sent a tingle dancing along his skin.
To his utter shock, his dragon shifted inside of his chest and stretched its long neck as if reaching out toward Nikki.
He couldn’t remember his dragon reacting to anyone before.
Well, it didn’t care for the Jaeggi, but that was all rage and fire.
This was something warmer and happy. And why now?
The dragon had never reacted to Nikki before, not like this.
“Are you purring?” Nikki asked, voice lifted with interest.
Gunter gasped and straightened, instantly dislodging Nikki’s hand. “No. Of course not. You’re mistaken.”
“Ravi told me dragons can make this humming noise when they’re happy. It sort of sounds like purring.”
“No, my dragon was not humming or purring or whatever,” Gunter replied brusquely, even as his dragon continued to uncoil and poke its head up, wanting a closer look at Nikki.
Or maybe even something more. Silly, contrary lizard.
Hundreds of years without a peep, and now it wanted to come out and play. Nonsense. Utter nonsense.
Nikki sauntered over to their chair, their smile definitely looking smug now.
“Do you remember where you were living with your parents? Or possibly your parents’ names?”
“I do. We had to learn it when we were in school. Ridderkerk, but I don’t remember my street name or house number anymore.
My parents were named Jan and Anika Bos.
” The bubbly lightness that had infused their words at the start fizzled as they spoke until their slim shoulders slumped.
It was like watching the memories become lead weights pulling Nikki down.
“It was a Wednesday. I woke up to the sounds of fighting. People I didn’t know came into my bedroom, snatched me out of my bed, and said my parents were dead.
That they’d been murdered and they were taking me to safety. ”
Nikki stopped, their face twisted into a frown as they shook their head.
“It didn’t make sense. But they kept saying my parents were dead and I had to go with them; they were taking me to a new family who would keep me and my gifts safe.
” Nikki looked at a ball of twisted fabric in their lap, something soft they were petting over and over again.
“I didn’t even get to pack my stuff. No toys. No clothes.”
“Nikki, I am so very sorry for your loss. For everything you’ve suffered.”
Lifting wide, dark eyes, Nikki flashed a shaky smile.
“It doesn’t hurt like it used to. I believed them for a while, but as other mages were brought in with similar stories—or worse—I figured out the Jaeggi had killed them.
” Nikki sniffed and smiled broadly. “But I showed them. I blew up their compound and freed their dragon.”
Gunter chuckled. “You did. And we will never be able to thank you enough for protecting Ravi for us.”
Nikki’s grin looked a touch feral. “My pleasure.”