Chapter 4 #2
Warin placed a hand on North’s shoulder, and he instantly relaxed while his new guardian glared at his companion. “Now isn’t the time.”
Gunter gave a wave of his hand. “You’re right. We need a safe place to call Alric. Things are more complicated than we imagined with the presence of the Jaeggi here.”
“The who?” North demanded.
“Hotel first. Talking later,” Warin grunted.
Using the hand on North’s shoulder, he started to nudge him in the opposite direction of the square.
North was tempted to dig his heels in and demand answers now, but Gunter was already leading the way and talking about phone calls and upgrading their tickets to a private car on the overnight train.
The situation was already in hand, and since North didn’t know what the hell was going on, it was just easier to follow along.
Besides, he really did need to get his stuff before escaping Brussels.
As soon as one could be located, they piled into a taxi. North found himself seated between the two dragons, sure he’d never been safer or warmer in his life.
“How in the world did you come by a dragon’s scale?” Gunter inquired the moment the driver pulled into traffic, heading toward North’s hotel.
“I don’t know.”
“What?” Warin barked, and North flinched a little.
“Well, what I mean is that I don’t have some extravagant story of the dragon scale being given to one of my ancestors as a gift for some chivalrous deed so he could summon a dragon to his side should he ever be in trouble.
” North looked up to find both dragons kind of staring at him in confusion.
“It’s just a family heirloom that’s been handed down through the generations.
The old stories say my family immigrated to the United States about two hundred years ago from England, but I’ve also got a lot of family who supposedly lived in, like, Greece and Italy, on the Mediterranean, about five centuries ago. ”
“Hmm…probably during the war,” Warin murmured.
Gunter nodded. “A lot of the surviving mage families were fleeing. Mages fought alongside the dragons in Africa. One of his ancestors could have found the scale then, unless you were giving them away as tokens.”
Warin glared at his dragon companion. “I was not giving away my scales. But I did suffer an injury in the same battle as Alric. I would have lost many scales then.”
Reluctantly, North reached into his pocket and pulled out the treasured scale.
It wasn’t just that it was a family heirloom.
The scale had come to represent his own hopes and dreams for a better life.
Of living as a mage, as his true self. But he couldn’t keep it, not when he was faced with the scale’s true owner.
Holding up the brilliant red scale in his palm, he offered it to Warin. “Here. You should have it back.”
To his surprise, the dragon’s expression turned even darker as he stared at the scale in question for several silent seconds.
His gaze darted to his companion for a moment, and then he cleared his throat, dropping his eyes to North’s face.
“You can keep it. In case we should get separated and you need to find a dragon again.”
“Seriously? You don’t mind?” North gasped.
“Really, Warin?” Gunter echoed, though there was a hint of teasing in his voice.
Warin cleared his throat a second time and directed his dark look on his friend. “Yes, North may keep the scale. It’s safe within his hands.”
North nearly started bouncing in his seat.
He didn’t know what was going to happen next, but at least he got to hold onto the one thing that had brought him this far in his amazing journey.
And Warin was right. He’d protect this scale with his life.
With a goofy grin, he shifted and tucked the scale back into his pocket.
“What about the rest of your family? Or your clan? Are there other mages in your family?” Gunter quickly asked, seeming content to redirect his attention away from the scale.
North felt his own mood droop a little. He hoped his lack of a prestigious mage heritage didn’t turn the dragons away.
“Actually, it’s just Gramps and me. He’s the one who taught me magic, and I only know a few things.
He’s the same way. What we learned came from my great-great-grandma’s diary.
I don’t think anyone else in my family is a mage. ”
The dragons didn’t seem disappointed, though. Gunter nodded on North’s left and starting furiously texting someone as they continued to the hotel.
“Do most mages come from big mage families?” he asked, looking up at Warin. From the corner of his eye, he thought he saw Gunter snap a quick picture of him and send it off to whoever he was texting, but North’s attention was on the sad look that crossed through Warin’s eyes.
“They did, before the war. Now, mages are very few. We’ve been searching a long time for you.”
Him?
No, mages in general.
Which would explain why Warin looked at him with a kind of wonder.
And that was the real reason for all of North’s blushes. No one ever looked at him like that. Disgust? Sure. Annoyance? All the time. Disappointment? Definitely. But not wonder.
So, it was only natural for North to snuggle just a tiny bit closer to Warin.
It wasn’t that Gunter was threatening or unfriendly in anyway.
He was a bit stiff and very confusing since most of the things out of his mouth didn’t make any sense.
Oh, and it didn’t hurt that Warin was sexy hot and looking at him like he wanted to gather North close while growling at the other dragon.
But all the taxi closeness came to a quick end when they reached the hotel and North was briskly ushered up to his room with the two dragons acting as his own personal security team.
When they reached his room, North shed his coat and tossed it over the desk chair before flopping down on the bed. “Okay.” He pointed at Warin. “You’re a dragon.” His finger shot over to point at Gunter’s chest. “And you’re a dragon, right?”
“Indeed,” Gunter replied with a stiff smile.
“We’re both fire dragons from the Burkhard clan. We live in Burkhard Castle near Sonthofen, Germany, which is where we are taking you. It will be safest for you there.”
“I’ve got lots of questions about that, but first, can you do something, I don’t know, dragon-y, to prove that you’re dragons?” North practically bounced on the bed in his excitement while Warin and Gunter exchanged looks.
“A smoke ring?” Warin offered.
Gunter shook his head. “You risk setting off the smoke alarms.”
“Plus, it’s a nonsmoking room,” North added, earning a roll of the eyes from Warin.
Warin crossed to North’s side and crouched down a little while shoving his sweater sleeve to his elbow.
“How about this?” From his fingertips to his elbow, his pale skin shifted to a leathery, deep red pebbled with shiny scales.
His fingers elongated just slightly, showing the tiniest hint of what would be long, black talons, but Warin seemed to stop the shift from going any further.
Reaching out with a trembling hand, North lightly touched his arm, taking in the surprising warmth, the buttery smoothness of the skin, and the silkiness of the scales. Dragon. He was touching a dragon. A real live, fire-breathing dragon. They were real. And alive!
North’s mouth fell open, and a squeal flew out. The dragon arm disappeared in a flash, and Warin slapped his hand over North’s mouth.
“What are you doing?” Gunter demanded.
“He was going to scream. We can’t have him drawing attention to us,” Warin countered.
“He’s merely excited. Alric said Cameron made similar noises when he saw Ravi in his dragon form for the first time. He’s fine.”
When Warin narrowed his gaze, North had to admit he had the worst urge to lick the man’s hand. What did dragons taste like? Grinning against Warin’s hand, North parted his lips and licked across the man’s palm. He tasted of salty sweat and something all Warin.
The dragon yelped softly and ripped his hand away. His eyes flared again, and North swore he didn’t see disgust or anger there. Maybe interest. Desire. Oh, could Warin be gay? No way! He couldn’t possibly be lucky enough to have found a gay dragon.
“He licked me,” Warin gasped.
“Huh. I don’t think Cameron licked Alric.” Gunter paused, and a little smirk twisted his lips. “Well, I don’t think Cameron licked Alric right away. But we’re getting off the subject we should be discussing.”
Warin straightened and rubbed his palm where North had licked him as he paced to the opposite side of the room. North struggled not to grin like an idiot at the strange look Warin continued to give him.
“Yes. Who’s after me? And why?” North asked. He really needed to think about why someone was after him and why the dragons were so intent on keeping him safe. Thinking about the sexiness of Warin would have to come later.
“This sounds like the Jaeggi,” Warin replied. His voice dipped, doing this growly thing that sent a shiver down North’s spine.
“Did they say anything to you?” Gunter asked.
North shook his head. “No. I spotted the first one at the metro station, but didn’t realize he was following me until I reached the town square.
When I saw the second one, I took off. They chased me until I reached the cops, who scared them off.
They showed up again tonight, and well, you scared them off. ”
Warin folded his arms over his chest and leaned against the dresser. “How did they find him so quickly?”
“Likely the seeking spell tipped them off. They might have a spell in place to detect the use of magic.” Gunter pulled his phone from his pocket. “I texted both Alric and Lisette, but I’ve only heard from Lisette so far. We need to let Alric know.”
“Who’s Alric and the Yaw-key? Can someone start explaining things to me?” North demanded loudly. He didn’t mean to get pushy, but they were just talking circles around him and it was becoming annoying. From what he could tell, it was his life on the line.
“Alric Burkhard, King of the Fire Dragons,” Warin replied.