Chapter 24
“P acing is not going to do anything but wear you out.”
Alric nearly growled at his advisor, but he did stop and stand in front of the large window looking out on the valley below, his hands shoved into the pockets of his slacks.
The sun was just starting to peek over the mountains and burn off the early-morning mist. The world looked peaceful and the day full of wonderful promise.
But there was also the promise of disaster.
Gunter and Melissande had left early for the town they’d discovered as the possible hiding place for the dark mages.
They’d taken only one other dragon guard with them, and Alric was not happy about it.
They should have taken an entire damn army with them.
It wasn’t that he lacked faith in Gunter’s ability to keep Melissande safe.
He was more concerned with Gunter keeping himself safe.
His old friend tended to get lost in his studies and search for knowledge.
He didn’t know when to retreat sometimes, and Alric didn’t want him pushing things too far.
“We should have sent more guards with them,” Alric muttered.
“This is a reconnaissance mission, Hoheit. Not an invasion,” Dieter said patiently.
Alric spun around suddenly, glaring at the older dragon. Sometimes he just wished Dieter would lose his cool, confident exterior. Nothing ruffled the man. Well, nothing but Lisette.
“They’ve already come after Cameron and his sister. To me, that warrants an invasion,” Alric countered.
Dieter just smiled at him, and Alric suddenly felt like a petulant child. “Their actions deserve an appropriate response, but not before we know who we face and the size of their force.”
Alric grunted and turned back toward the window, ignoring Dieter’s too-knowing gaze.
“When did you last shift and allow your dragon some time in the sun?” Dieter inquired, and Alric barely held in his snap of frustration. It wasn’t that long ago that he’d thought the same thing about Gunter and his endless devotion to his books.
“My dragon is fine,” Alric said in a hard voice, hoping to end Dieter’s line of questions.
He didn’t shift often. According to Dieter, it was far too infrequently.
But shifting was only a painful reminder of what he’d lost. Dragons were meant to fly, to soar high above the world and feel the wind rushing past his face.
But Alric couldn’t fly. It had been five hundred years since he’d last flown, and he could feel each one of those days etched in his dragon’s soul.
For the most part, his dragon had been content to curl up deep inside of him and let the world pass him by.
The only exception to that was Cameron. It grew harder by the day to ignore his dragon’s demands where Cameron was concerned.
Alric might well have to let his dragon out soon just so it would stop fussing so much.
Right now, those demands were to gather all of the dragons in Burkhard Castle and lay waste to the entire town. Only its total destruction would mean Cameron and his family were safe from these mages.
“Cameron is safe,” Dieter murmured, his voice low and soothing.
“He and his family are safe in the castle. They had a lovely breakfast with the clan this morning. A fun one, apparently, as there was a great deal of teasing and laughter. Though…I understand they had a little trouble locating Cameron this morning.”
Alric turned enough to glare at his advisor. “Don’t,” he warned.
Dieter smiled at him in return. “We only want your happiness.”
“I will not discuss Cameron, and you can inform everyone else who is concerned about my happiness that we are not to be a topic of castle gossip.”
Dieter bowed his head, his smile still not disappearing. “Of course, Eure Majest?t.”
Not that Alric believed for a second the gossip would end right there.
The appearance of three mages after so many years was of great interest to everyone.
The only thing of more interest was who would prove to be their mates.
Alric wasn’t letting himself think about that issue any longer.
He only wanted to enjoy the time he had with Cameron while he could.
Those moments were growing more and more precious to him with each passing day. It wasn’t just the incredible sex or the fact Cameron didn’t give a damn about his scars. Alric had seen and felt quite clearly that Cameron was attracted to him.
No, it was waking up this morning wrapped in his arms, their naked skin pressed together.
It was being lucky enough to see Cameron’s very first smile of the day and knowing he’d caused it.
He was allowed to see Cameron naked, skin flushed with desire and joy.
His hair had been perfectly disheveled, and those wide brown eyes stared only at him.
For just a few minutes, he’d been Cameron’s entire world, and it had been heaven.
Was it greedy to want to start every morning the same way?
Probably.
But it wasn’t greedy to want Cameron safe and secure at all times.
Unrealistic maybe, but not greedy.
Alric’s phone started ringing, and he nearly jumped out of his skin, he’d been so deep in thought about Cameron. He pulled it out of his pocket and answered the call, immediately switching it over to speaker when the caller ID came up as Gunter.
“Where are you?” Alric immediately demanded.
“ Getting the hell out of that town ,” Gunter replied. He sounded out of breath, which was strange since he was supposed to be in a car and not running around the town in question on foot.
“What’s going on? Were you attacked?”
“ No. Worse .”
Alric looked over at Dieter, who only shook his head, a matching look of confusion on his face. Calm, collected Gunter wasn’t making any sense at all.
“Gunter, what’s going on? What happened?”
“ We found out who’s after Cameron and all the mages. It’s the Jaeggi .”
Alric’s mouth fell open as his brain locked up at that single word.
He’d never thought he’d hear it again. Alric locked his eyes on Dieter’s wide grey ones, willing him to say something that would prove Alric had misheard Gunter.
But his old friend was no help. The dragon was pale and shaking his head as if in denial.
“Gunter, can you repeat that? I think we misheard you. Did you say Jaeggi?”
“ Yes. Jaeggi. The clan that destroyed our lives. That killed thousands of dragons. The bastards who wiped out nearly all the mages. The Jaeggi are living in that town. Their bloody name is scrawled on dozens of business signs .”
“Dieties preserve us,” Dieter whispered in horror-filled tones.
“Where you spotted?” Alric demanded.
“ I…I don’t think so. We weren’t exactly cautious about entering the town, but we quickly turned around as soon as we spotted the signs .”
Alric nodded. “Get back here as quickly as possible. I’m sending out dragons as an escort.
Don’t stop for anything. Do you hear me?
Don’t stop.” Alric stared at Dieter, and his advisor was already nodding and starting for the door.
“Baldewin and his people will be in the air in a matter of minutes.”
“ Thank you ,” Gunter said, breathing a heavy sigh of relief.
“Be careful, my friend. I’ll see you soon.
” He hung up and told Dieter, who’d paused at the door, “Get Baldewin. I’m going to call Rodrigo.
He needs to know what we’re up against.” Dieter nodded once and then disappeared out the door.
In all likelihood, Gunter and Melissande had gotten away safely, but Alric would take no chances.
Pulling up the Ice Clan king’s number, Alric winced for only a second as he pressed call. It was after midnight where Rodrigo was, but the ice dragon would understand the urgency.
The first sound he heard was Rodrigo’s snort when the call picked up. “ We do not speak for fifty years, and now I have you calling to whisper sweet nothings in my ear as I fall asleep .”
“I almost wish that was the reason for my call, Rodrigo,” Alric murmured.
There was a sound of moving fabric, and Alric could easily imagine Rodrigo sitting up in bed, pushing the covers to the side. “ What’s happened ? Have they made another grab for your mage ?”
“No, but we sent scouts into the town where we believe they’re hiding.”
“ What did they discover ?”
“Jaeggi.”
The line was silent for several seconds. Rodrigo said nothing. Alric couldn’t even hear the dragon breathing.
“ That’s not possible ,” Rodrigo murmured, his voice barely over a whisper.
“My scouts didn’t exactly meet a mage in the town who claimed to be of the Jaeggi Clan, but he said he saw the name spread across dozens of business signs.
Jaeggi is not a common name here. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the same town that houses these mages also has human families with this name. ”
“ It’s no coincidence. It’s them ,” Rodrigo snarled. “ How is this possible ? They were dead ! They died in the war ! We saw to it .”
“No, all we saw to was the destruction of Kaiser Jaeggi,” Alric corrected. “He saw to it that we took most of his clan into oblivion with him when we tried to get to him.”
Alric’s heart pounded in his chest so hard it was becoming difficult to catch his breath.
His dragon was snarling in the back of his head, ready and willing to go right back into battle—not that there was an enemy in front of him to charge.
How could this be happening? After all they’d already suffered, how could this damn clan be back to destroy their lives further?
A lengthy string of Portuguese curses filled his ears that left him flinching and wishing he could join Rodrigo with more than a few German ones. But it wouldn’t help. They had to plan now. Be smart. Uncover what the Jaeggi wanted with the mages and find a way to stop them once and for all.
“ I want them dead, Alric. I want all of them dead. My family was destroyed by the Jaeggi. My clan —”
“I know. Mine too,” Alric said softly.
Rodrigo sighed loudly. “ Sim . Yes, I know. Forgive me, my friend .”