Chapter 30
Nikki slowed their steps as they neared Alric’s office.
They wished Gunter was there to walk them in, but he’d already been meeting with Alric when he’d contacted Nikki with the news the Jaeggi was willing to strike a deal.
It hadn’t made any sense for Gunter to come get them and walk them to Alric’s.
And it wasn’t the idea of going to Alric’s office where all the kings were meeting. They’d seen enough of Alric and the other kings that any lingering fears and anxieties had largely vanished. Alric’s office felt almost as comfortable as the library at this point.
No, it was that a Jaeggi waited in there. Nikki really didn’t know who they’d brought in. They’d deliberately asked no questions, trying not to think of a Jaeggi being under the same roof as them. Nikki had regrets now. A little mental prep would have gone a long way.
They weren’t a threat. The room would be filled to the rafters with dragons and mages. Most importantly, Gunter would be there to keep them physically safe.
But all the dragons and magic in the world couldn’t protect them from their own memories. Being at the mercy of those broken mages still lingered in their skin. Nikki felt the phantom memory of being drained in their magical core whenever they drew upon magic.
They’d been dreading this day since they’d first offered to help the Burkhard dragons find the Jaeggi.
Eventually, Nikki would have to be face to face with their captors again.
But they’d also been looking forward to it, the chance to have their revenge.
It was a very mixed bag of emotions, one that hopped and skittered in their chest.
“Nikki?” Cameron’s voice echoed down the hall and Nikki jumped guiltily. They twisted around to see Cameron smiling at them, but worry shone in his eyes. “Are you coming to the meeting too?”
They nodded. “Alric and Gunter requested I be there.”
Cameron stopped when he reached them and started to place his hand on Nikki’s shoulder but arrested himself.
It was sweet. Nikki had learned from watching Cameron he was a touchy-feely guy to people he considered friends, which naturally included nearly everyone in the castle.
But he was holding back out of respect for Nikki.
He didn’t need to any longer. After everything that had happened recently, Nikki didn’t feel the same fear for mages. The Burkhard mages were not the Jaeggi. They would never hurt them.
“You know, you can always tell Alric and Gunter no if you’re not comfortable with something,” Cameron assured them. “They would understand. Especially when it comes to the Jaeggi.”
Nikki shook their head. “No, I’m okay. I promised to help. I want to help.”
“Okay, but your safety and health are our main priority here. We’re no better than the Jaeggi if we’re making you do something against your will.”
Nikki lightly punched Cameron’s arm. “Trust me, you’re nothing like the Jaeggi.”
Cameron’s face lit up. Yep. Just that little sign Nikki accepted him, and the consort was over the moon. “I certainly hope not.”
“I want to do this.”
“Good.”
They turned and started down the hall together. A goofy grin tugged at Nikki’s lips, and they found themself leaning close while dropping their voice to a whisper. “Besides, I wanted to tell you something.”
“Yeah?”
“Gunter did the tongue thing.”
Cameron’s brows furrowed over his slender nose, nearly getting lost behind his glasses as he looked at Nikki.
The pieces suddenly snapped together, and his eyes widened.
“Holy shit!” he shouted and then covered his mouth, looking around to see who’d overheard him.
They were alone in the hallway but very close to Alric’s open door.
Nikki was just trying not to giggle and dance like an idiot.
“Really? And?” Cameron prodded.
“Amazing! Gah…just…so…ahhh….my toes curl thinking about it.” Nikki was beyond complete sentences. They were lucky to use real words. Simply thinking about what Gunter had done to them in bed was making them hard. Why did they ever have to leave their rooms?
Cameron wrapped an arm around their shoulders and sighed, a knowing smile forming on his face. “Yeah, dragons are the best.”
At least they were laughing when they walked into Alric’s office. When they entered, Alric and Gunter stood near the doors, as if they were planning to investigate what all the noise in the hall was about.
“Should I even ask what you two were whispering about?” Alric asked.
Nikki’s face heated. Cameron simply smiled at his mate but said nothing.
“I have a feeling I might know,” Gunter said, raising one eyebrow at Nikki.
With a grin to match Cameron’s, Nikki touched their top lip with their tongue, causing an answering blush to bloom across Gunter’s pale cheeks. Beside them, Cameron nearly fell over laughing.
“I don’t want to know,” Alric muttered, shaking his head. He turned toward the table where the other kings waited.
Nikki glanced around, surprised to find that while the kings were seated at the table, Baldewin, Ravi, and two of the metal dragon bodyguards were also spread about the room, looking dark and menacing. It was the first time in any of the meetings there had been added security.
But then, this was the first meeting to include a member of the Jaeggi Clan.
Sucking in a deep breath, Nikki stepped forward, but they faltered when their eyes fell on the teenager.
“Lina?” they gasped.
They hadn’t expected her. Flashes of memories, of times they’d snuck in a quiet conversation, flitted through their head.
Lina had been one of the few Jaeggi who never treated Nikki like trash or some convenience.
But she was also so young to have been on her own, Nikki was conversely proud of her and worried at the same time.
The teenager’s black-and-red head popped up and her eyes widened. Some of the worry on her face eased, and Nikki didn’t miss the hope in her voice when she said, “Nikki!”
“So, it’s true,” Gunter murmured beside them. “You do know her.”
‘Know’ seemed like a really strong word. At this point in their life, they knew Cameron and the Burkhard Clan far better than they’d ever known Lina, but Nikki still nodded. “Yeah. Not well. But we talked occasionally.”
Nikki crossed the rest of the distance to the table and dropped into a seat opposite of Lina.
She didn’t look great. Well, she looked better than the last time they’d seen her at the Jaeggi compound.
The hair color was new, but the teenager had been constantly looking for a way to rebel against the Jaeggi leaders.
They wouldn’t have liked it. The black and red made her stand out too much, made her too memorable.
One of the keys to Jaeggi survival was their ability to blend in and escape notice.
She also looked paler, thinner. She was more hollow in the cheeks and around the eyes.
They’d forgotten how bad things had been with the Jaeggi.
Never enough food. Never enough supplies.
Too hot in the summer, too cold in the winter.
Life was miserable even if you weren’t having the magic drained from your core.
Life would change quickly for Lina if she was permitted to stay at Burkhard. Always enough food and warmth to go around.
But did Nikki want her to stay? She was a reminder of what they’d escaped, but they also couldn’t forget she’d never done any harm to them. Didn’t she deserve to escape the same hell they’d escaped?
Gunter’s hand landed on their shoulder as the dragon took the seat next to them.
Nikki placed both arms on the table and leaned closer. “How did you escape?”
A little hint of a smile teased a corner of her mouth, and there was some lightness to her eyes for the first time. “It was after the move. You know how chaotic those can be.”
Nikki nodded. Memories of people running around and shouting at the same time. Moves were the only time restraints were put on them and the other prisoners.
Lina’s eyes darted left and right, taking in all the other dragons who were also settled around the table.
“My family created a cover story, that I was going to stay with an aunt for school for a while. I left and then just…didn’t go where people expected.
No one really questioned it. Things have been worse in the last few months.
More frantic, careless. My parents thought it was a good chance for me to get away. ”
“Your parents helped?” Rodrigo asked, and Lina flinched, her fragile smile disappearing.
Looking at her expression, Nikki felt sympathy like an ache. That smile was one they’d worn many a time, trying to put a brave face on things. Nikki broadened their own smile and reached a hand out, placing it in the middle of the table. After a second, Lina took it, her fingers cold in theirs.
Gunter’s hand tightened on their shoulder, but he didn’t speak. Nikki could feel his worry in those five digits pressing into their skin, but Gunter was giving them space, trusting them. There was no better feeling in all the world.
“Lina, your parents? They helped?” Nikki asked carefully, drawing her fearful gaze back to them. This was why they were needed in the meeting. Nikki was someone familiar when she was surrounded by people she’d been taught were her enemies.
“Yeah, my siblings, too. They planned to cover up my disappearance for as long as they could.”
“How long have you been on your own?”
Lina shoved a hand through her hair and scratched her scalp in thought. “A few days. I got lost on the wrong train and ended up hitchhiking. I didn’t know if anyone would be looking for me already, and I had only a little money on me.”
Nikki’s head snapped around to look at Gunter. “Sora—”
Gunter’s expression immediately softened. “Sora and his parents have already looked her over. She was dehydrated and malnourished when we found her, but we’re already working to correct that.”