Chapter 16
A lric could feel the smile forming on his lips as Cameron’s excited voice echoed down the hall.
The young mage had been living in the castle for only a week and a half, but Alric swore it had been longer.
Every time he saw Cameron around the castle, he was chatting with a different dragon or he was working with Lisette on his spells.
Sadly, Alric had taken to spending more time in his office.
It was easier than watching Cameron with other dragons, his heart painfully pounding at the thought of this dragon proving to be Cameron’s mate.
His own dragon wanted to snatch Cameron up and tuck him away in Alric’s secret room with his hoard.
There the mage would finally be safe away from this threat as well as other dragons.
Not healthy thinking.
Alric needed to do what was best for his people. He needed to think of Cameron’s needs first and not his own.
But even with that in mind, he still found himself cherishing each of Cameron’s visits.
Every day, Cameron sought him out. Sometimes it was only for a few minutes before Cameron had a lesson with Lisette, or Alric had a meeting, but other times they were able to steal hours.
It didn’t matter the length of time. Alric only wanted to see Cameron’s smile, hear his laughter.
He’d also found himself indulging in Cameron’s morning visits.
The young mage insisted on being the one to put oil on Alric every morning.
After that first surprising morning, Alric found he could handle himself a little better.
Marginally. Alright, it was a lie, but he at least hadn’t lost all control in front of Cameron.
And he should probably put a stop to it, but… he didn’t want to.
A beautiful younger man wanted to touch Alric and tease, and dammit, Alric enjoyed the attention. Why not indulge? And really, it became clearer by the day that Cameron wanted Alric. It seemed, oddly, as if only Alric held his regards.
Alric didn’t understand that, not really.
His clan had many beautiful, amazing people in it.
He’d been sure once Cameron had met them, his attention would shift from Alric and onto someone else.
But it strangely hadn’t happened, and that fed Alric’s hope.
Was it possible Cameron’s flirtations were sincere? That he really was that interested?
Alric kicked back in his favorite chair with a sigh, letting his legs stretch out in front of him.
For a moment, he let himself indulge in the idea of asking Cameron out on a date.
A proper date, with all that entailed. It was all too blissful even in his head.
Was it wise to do so? Alric feared not only rejection but in making things awkward.
If their dating went poorly, then wouldn’t Cameron hesitate in staying here? In accepting a position in the clan?
The concern was valid and yet…and yet.
He sighed again, sinking a little further into the chair.
It had been something of a long day, and these worries didn’t help any.
Alric mentally set them aside and focused on simple pleasures instead.
He was glad to finally sit and put his feet up.
Of course, as soon as he settled, he started longing for a drink.
Alric eyed the sidebar on the opposite side of the room, debating with himself.
How badly did he want that drink? Was it worth the effort of moving?
The door to the lounge opened, and Baldewin stepped through. He’d shed the official suit at some point and was back in his usual form-fitting shirt and jeans. He paused upon spying Alric, brows quirked behind his glasses. “What?”
“You’re up.” Alric smiled mischievously. “Perfect. You can fetch me a drink.”
“I’m up, saving you the trouble from getting up, so I can fetch you a drink? I see several flaws with that logic.”
“You’re going to pour yourself a drink anyway,” Alric pointed out oh-so-reasonably.
“I was actually going to mix myself a drink.” Baldewin eyed him back in challenge.
Alric’s face immediately fell. “No, why? Why would you torment yourself that way? Wait for Ravi, he can mix you a drink.”
Baldewin rolled his eyes expressively. “Alric, I can mix my own drinks—”
“May I remind you of the time you tried to make a White Russian, only instead of coffee liqueur you put in brandy—”
“—that was an honest mistake, I was distracted by the game going on—”
“—and then when you realized it didn’t taste right, you put in wine to fix it?”
“Again,” Baldewin said with a sigh, “distracted by the game.”
“You mixed vodka, brandy, wine, and cream together. It was vile. And chunky. The worst thing you’ve ever handed me.” Alric had tasted it to help him figure out why it hadn’t come out right, sure, but still. “And the whole time, you were trying to blame Ravi for not telling you how to mix it right.”
The other door into the lounge opened at that moment and Ravi popped in. “I heard my name. What did I do this time?”
Alric tilted his head to see over the back of the chair. “I was reminding him of the White Russian disaster.”
“Oh god, that was vile,” Ravi agreed promptly, expressive face screwing up as if just the memory made him gag. “Baldewin, no mixing drinks for you.”
Baldewin sighed, defeated, and lifted both hands in surrender. “Fine. Then come mix me one. Alric, come get your own drink.”
Alric groaned in protest and settled more firmly into his chair. That held no appeal whatsoever. It was actually game night, their weekly night for playing a campaign of Dungeons and Dragons, but he wasn’t sure if he had the mental energy to play.
“Why are you standing over my shoulder?” Ravi prodded at Baldewin with an elbow to his ribs even as he reached for two glasses.
“I want to see how you do it. You never give me good measurements to go by. I don’t know how much to put in.”
“You put in stuff until your ancestors lean in to whisper against your ear, That’s enough .”
“That’s not helpful.”
“It is not my job to be helpful.” Ravi’s hands flew as he poured from different bottles, mixing drinks like he’d been a bartender in a previous incarnation. “Alric? What do you want?”
“Brandy, straight.”
“You are so boring. I bet your safeword is vanilla.”
Alric snorted and refused to be baited. “I’ve had too many complications recently. I want something simple tonight.”
Handing Baldewin his drink, Ravi shot him an intrigued look over his shoulder. “Ooh, are we talking about Cameron already? I thought I’d have to get you drunk first.”
Alric suddenly felt the distinct lack of a drink in his hand. This impending conversation called strongly for the haze of alcohol. “How did we jump from complications to Cameron?”
For some reason, both dragons gave him this doubtful look, then turned to each other.
“I can’t figure out if he’s playing dense or if he actually thinks he’s fooling us,” Ravi noted to Baldewin before taking a sip from his own concoction.
“He might think he’s fooling us. I’m not sure why; he’s never really had that good of a poker face.” Baldewin sipped at his own drink and sighed. “You really are good at mixing drinks.”
“Of course I am. I get lots of practice in this group. Even Gunter treats mixing drinks like it’s a chemistry experiment.”
“I heard that!” Gunter called from the hallway. He entered the room a second later, looking like he’d just left the scene of a murder. His greyish hoodie was spattered with vibrant red, especially around the sleeves.
Alric looked him over in concern. “Do I need to go find the body?”
Gunter blinked at him, expression perfectly blank. “What? No, of course I cleaned up after myself.”
Being the patient one, Baldewin redirected him again. “What happened?”
“Oh, I had a dye bag slip out of my hands. Hit the table and burst.”
So not a dead body. Alric was relieved. You never quite knew with Gunter.
Waving this off as unimportant, Gunter zeroed in for the bar. “Why were you talking about me? And where’s my drink?”
“We weren’t talking about you, we were talking about Alric’s crush on Cameron,” Ravi denied, turning back to the bar. “And what do you want?”
Feeling like this conversation was spiraling in a direction Alric very much did not want it to go, he tried to nip it in the bud. “I don’t have a crush on Cameron. Why would you say that?”
All three men looked at him with such open disbelief Alric squirmed under it all.
In an overly patient manner, Baldewin turned to Gunter and inquired genially, “Did you observe that our king has a massive crush the size of Jupiter for our new mage?”
Gunter responded in the same manner, like a lord replying at some grand function, “I did, good sir. I daresay you could see his crush from space.”
Ravi jerked a thumb at Gunter. “Even Gunter noticed!”
“Excuse me, I’m not that oblivious.” Gunter frowned at him, affronted.
Ignoring him, Ravi brought Alric’s drink to him in his usual smooth, cat-like stride. “Alric, you are fooling precisely no one. Why are you even denying it? I mean, seriously, it’s not like this is forbidden. And Cameron is obviously interested.”
Alric accepted the drink, but he couldn’t seem to meet his friends’ eyes.
There was no fooling these three. Alric wasn’t even sure why he tried, except that he didn’t really want to discuss this.
Not even with these men, who were as close to him as brothers.
“After so many years of looking for a mage, with so many of us wishing for a mate, I can’t selfishly monopolize him. ”
“Oh, Alric,” Baldewin sighed, sounding pained. “Is that really it? That’s why you’re trying to put a lid on this?”
He had nothing to say to that. Alric sipped at his drink and avoided looking up past the rim of his glass.
Ravi blew out a noisy breath. “I want to hit him. Can I hit him?”
“No, Ravi,” Baldewin said, although even he sounded tempted to do so himself.