Chapter 32
U nadulterated panic thrummed through Alric like a heartbeat. It writhed in his chest, demanded immediate action. The instinct was so strong that he had to battle it back. Panicking wouldn’t help Cameron. Wouldn’t help Alric find him.
Right now, more than anything, Alric needed to be a king. Not a lover, frantic for his young mage’s safety.
So even though his inner dragon beat and raged at him to move , he didn’t.
He stayed calm and tried to think logically of the best way to find his missing heart.
“Baldewin, have Lisette start seeking spells immediately. If she can’t focus”—entirely possible, she was worried about Dieter and distracted—“then get someone else.”
Baldewin gave him a sharp nod and turned, heading off at a run through the hallway.
Ha Na passed him, at as fast of a run as she could manage, her face constricted with worry. “Alric. I heard something about Cameron being taken?”
“Ja,” Alric said thickly. God, this was hard to say. “He was taken while out with Dieter and Warin. An ambush. We’re doing seeking spells now to find him.”
Ha Na’s dark eyes blazed with fury. That wasn’t metaphorical, either. Magic sparked all around her as her temper snapped. “Who’s doing the spell?”
“Lisette, I hope. Baldewin is arranging it.”
Without another word, she turned with military precision and hurried back down the hall.
Alric was glad she was so quick to move.
Cameron’s blood sample should be able to narrow the spell’s seeking radius.
After all, they would have direct blood to work with.
He could spare no worry for either Dieter or Warin just then.
They were shaky and in pain, but would recover quickly.
His concern had to be for Cameron now, who had no such guarantee.
Alric breathed out, forcing himself to slow down and think. Dragons. He needed to assemble a rescue party. He yanked his phone out of his pocket, calling Ravi.
“ Hoheit ,” Ravi answered, for once terse and upset instead of sounding cheerful.
“Ravi, I need a rescue party. Form one up, we’re moving in ten minutes.”
“ Already forming, Hoheit. Basically, the entire clan has heard by now what’s going on, and they’re all gathering in the courtyard, just waiting on a direction. ”
Alric’s eyes fluttered shut for a second under an intense wave of gratitude. He’d known no one would take a missing clan member lightly. “I’ll thank them in a moment.”
“ You know how we roll. If anyone threatens one of us, we all roll initiative. ”
“Ravi. Did you—did you just make a DnD joke? Now, of all times?”
“ I was trying to make you laugh and ease the tension. It worked .”
“I didn’t laugh.” But Alric had almost smiled, for a moment. Until the tension of the situation came back like a sledgehammer to the back of his head.
“ Hoheit, he’s alright. You know that. ”
“I do. I can feel him still.” And likely pissed off, if he knew Cameron. His lover was not the fainting damsel in distress.
Ravi huffed out a breath of relief. “ Oh good. Alright, I think basically everyone is formed up here. Uh, how worried are we about people seeing us ?”
“Fuck that noise,” Alric bit off succinctly.
Ravi cackled. Outright cackled. “ I’m so going to tell people you said that later. Hey guys, he said fuck it, just go !”
An instantaneous roar rang outside, loud enough it shook the castle. Alric’s own dragon shook in response. Yes, the time for laying low had passed. Dragons had always fought for what they wanted and burned their enemies without remorse. Right now, a little burning sounded good for the soul.
Alric stalked through the nearest courtyard door.
The dragons were indeed ready to go, most of them already having shifted forms. He took in the sight of them as he moved.
They were perched along the roofs, stretched out over the gables, their wings half unfurled, ready to take into the air at the first notice.
It was like the roof was carpeted in a sea of red.
Others milled about the courtyard, unable to stand still as they waited for orders.
All eyes were on him as he stepped outside, and Alric raised his voice to reach every corner of the courtyard.
“They’re doing a seeking spell now. As soon as we have a direction, we’ll fly!”
Sasha stepped in closer to him and ducked her head. “Hoheit, I’ll be honored to fly you in.”
Before he could get his mouth open, Ravi’s hand landed on her shoulder. “Thanks, Sasha. I’ve got him. Be my wingwoman?”
“Sure.” Sasha checked with her eyes that this was alright with Alric, and he gave her a nod. That was fine by him.
Alric very rarely had anyone fly him anywhere. It was too painful and a little humiliating. But right now, his feelings didn’t matter. Getting to Cameron as swiftly as possible, that was the priority. And there was nothing faster than Ravi. A car could never keep up with his speed.
His phone rang, and Alric answered it before it could finish the first ring. Baldewin. “Where?”
“ He’s in Sonthofen, in the Ordensburg. They’re not precisely sure what building .”
The choice made sense. The Ordensburg had been built back in the Third Reich, a military barracks meant for training.
It was a highly defensible compound, as it had five buildings formed up around a very large courtyard—a kill box, in other words.
It was a good defensive position for the Jaeggi to take, and smart of them to use something readily at hand.
They had to have known they couldn’t get far before Alric would be on top of them.
But Alric had already fought through a war, and he was not stupid about tactics. A kill box only worked if one went into it.
And Alric had no intention of doing so. He turned his head and called out, “The Ordensburg! But do not land in the center courtyard, it is sure to be filled with traps.”
A roar of acknowledgement, and then the dragons were off, their wings beating hard against the air, sending currents swirling in all directions.
Ravi shifted quickly, almost roughly, he pushed his dragon so hard.
He was barely settled when Alric went directly to his chest, situating there against Ravi’s hand.
His jokester bodyguard for once had no wisecrack on his lips.
He held Alric carefully, and close, as he launched hard into the sky.
Alric found himself praying as Ravi’s wings lifted them.
Be alright, Cameron. Be alright and hang on. With that thought, he sent every emotion toward Cameron, wanting him to feel loved. To feel secure with the knowledge Alric was coming for him. With their magical connection, he prayed those feelings came across strongly enough that Cameron felt them.
It must have worked, as he felt Cameron in return.
And the draw as Cameron pulled on his life force, working magic.
A feral smile graced Alric’s mouth. His mage wasn’t going down without a fight.
Who knew what that clever mind had come up with.
Alric fed him more power and hoped it was enough for whatever Cameron was doing.
Despite everyone else having a head start on Ravi, the wind dragon caught up to the lead quickly and then pulled ahead.
Alric was always amazed at his speed but right now he blessed it.
Every second away from Cameron in this dangerous, volatile situation was a second too long.
It tore at Alric that he couldn’t immediately lay hands on Cameron.
He just knew he’d have nightmares of this day for years to come.
The people of Sonthofen no doubt spied a thunder of dragons soaring overhead, but Alric wouldn’t worry about it.
He wouldn’t think of how the fallout of this would work.
He couldn’t find the headspace for that worry just now.
A mantra beat through his head like a living thing. Cameron, Cameron, Cameron.
He saw the tall, six story main building first jutting into the sky, then the spread of the compound that branched off it.
The grey stone looked stark against the green backdrop of the land around it.
The Ordensburg had been turned into a historical site some years ago; no one should have been in it.
Likely why the Jaeggi felt they could use it freely.
But it was clearly occupied now, with multiple vehicles parked at one end of the parking lot and spotlights manning every possible vantage point.
He saw people scrambling back and forth, no doubt getting to battle stations.
What was their game plan? Alric wished desperately for an answer. What did they want with his mage? Why attempt to take the mages to begin with? Why do it again when Cameron was clearly under the protection of the Burkhard clan?
And why did this whole thing feel like a giant trap with Cameron as the bait?
Alric chose to listen to his instincts—they hadn’t failed him yet—and bellowed out the order, “Come in from the sides! Surround the Ordensburg!”
His thunder of dragons obeyed, swirling around in a living stream of red scales and fury, swarming around the compound. The Jaeggi there hopped around, ducking in anticipation of an attack.
“Hoheit!” Ravi called down to him. “Where do you want us to land?”
“The top building, go th—” He cut himself off as he realized he saw one person in the compound that he knew. Knew intimately well, and was currently running for all he was worth.
Cameron.
How had he gotten free? He clearly had somehow, as several members of the Jaeggi Clan were frantically chasing after him, yelling and—shit, they had guns trained on him.
Alric felt terror as he never had before, punching him solidly in the chest. No, no, nonononono. “Ravi, release!”