Chapter 11
“One hour. I’m giving you only one more hour,” North reminded Ravi, for what had to be the third time.
Ravi smirked at the young mage. “Missing your dragon that much?”
North fluttered long eyelashes at him, soft purple eyeshadow giving his eyes a smoky effect while his pink sparkling lips tilted in a smirk. “I’m always missing my dragon.”
Today, North was wearing a white T-shirt that had a cartoon of a man hugging a red dragon while twin curls of smoke rose from the dragon’s nose, forming a heart. In bold pink letters it said, “Chief Dragon Cuddler.”
Ravi was pretty sure North had designed the shirt, since the man looked vaguely like him while the dragon had Warin’s color pattern. There was already talk of Cassie adding a shop to the new website so people could buy not only their health and beauty products, but also North’s adorable T-shirts.
“Has a certain mage cuddled you today?” North teased as he turned his attention to the next potential mage waiting to be tested.
Ravi didn’t even bother to pretend not to know who he was talking about. “We had a nice breakfast together.”
With about four other dragons at the table, his dragon mentally growled.
He loved his clanmates, but it was damn hard to get time alone with Sora.
Not that he begrudged any of his clanmates the chance to find their mate, but couldn’t he call, like, finders-keepers with Sora?
At least for a week? No, a week wouldn’t be enough.
A month. Yes, he should get to keep Sora to himself for a month and then, maybe, he’d share.
Ravi watched closely as North placed the Noh amulet into a woman’s outstretched and trembling hand. The reaction was immediate—or rather, the lack of reaction was immediate. Nothing happened. No telltale green glow as the amulet reacted out to the mage’s own inner power.
No, the poor woman was not a mage.
In fact, very few of the people who’d been tested had proven to be mages, which wasn’t all that surprising.
Even before the war, mages were only a tiny fraction of the overall human population.
After the loss of the major clans and then the scattering of the remaining minor clans, the number of mages in the world had to have dwindled even more, but they weren’t gone.
North was proof of that. So were Cameron, Cassie, Ha Na, and Tori. They’d all come to the castle in the last year. A veritable surge in mages. That had to mean there were still many more out there in the world. And maybe there would be one out there for him.
Ravi’s gaze returned to the gathered masses stretched out in front of the gates to Burkhard Castle, only half-listening to North gently telling the poor woman that she was, in fact, not a mage, despite what her grandmother had told her.
Prior to being tested, everyone filled out a form giving basic family details, signed a release, and had their picture taken. North and Gunter were working on a massive database that would allow them to dig deeper into the genealogy and potentially locate more clans.
Between the people lined up outside the castle for the past few days and all the people taking the website quiz, Ravi felt sure that half the population of the world had claimed to be a mage. He couldn’t imagine how they were sorting through all this information.
The entire thing made Ravi’s head hurt and eyes cross. He didn’t do databases. He wasn’t even the biggest fan of computers. His smartphone was fine because it was loaded with games, but overall, he much preferred the job of protecting the royal family.
And helping the new mages get adjusted to the castle.
Like Sora.
He needed to find Sora, to check on him again.
Not that he needed checking on. The mage was clearly comfortable around other mages and dragons.
Sora had talked about growing up around magic with his family and clan, but he hadn’t given many more details than that.
Of course, his magical prowess spoke for itself.
It was a shame he wasn’t willing to talk more about his people.
Maybe Ravi could get Sora to relax. A smile grew on his face.
He was good at getting people to relax and laugh, but then he was fairly easygoing.
Most people were intimidated by Alric because he was the king, or Warin and Baldewin because they were monstrously big.
And Gunter…well, Gunter was just Gunter. That dragon was just weird.
Easing Sora’s concerns was a good step toward convincing his family to come out of hiding. Ravi appointed himself, by authority given to him by himself, to be the ambassador for this particular diplomacy mission. He’d work on winning the Vo family over via Sora. Yup, no problem.
It wasn’t like it was going to be a horrible hardship. Sora was an amazing guy with a pleasant smile.
Okay, so he was hot as hell, and Ravi wanted to wrap himself around the man’s body, but Ravi did not want to scare him off. That would be bad. Alric would be mad. Lisette would be furious. And Ravi would likely be heartbroken. The mage seemed far too interesting to lose.
It didn’t hurt that Sora seemed quite happy with his visits.
For the past four days, they’d had most of their meals together.
That first date had gone very well, and Ravi was pleased as punch that Sora felt the same way about it.
They were coordinating their schedules as much as possible to spend even more time together.
Even with errands, like when Sora needed to get his things from the hotel.
Yes, they’d also wrangled Warin into the trip because the edict was two dragons per mage, but at least Warin already had his own mate.
Warin had no designs on the sexy Sora, happy to leave him to Ravi’s antics.
“Whoa! Excellent! Congratulations, you’re a mage,” North was saying excitedly.
Ravi tore his attention back to North to see an older woman’s mouth fall open as the green light from the amulet started to fade away. Ravi cursed his lack of attention span. He hadn’t even seen the last applicant walk away or this new one walk up.
He needed to keep his mind on the task at hand, which was protecting North and keeping an eye on all the people gathered in front of the castle.
As it had happened the last time a mage was identified, camera flashes started popping and the rest of the media, who were hemmed off several yards away, jostled a couple inches closer to get a good view of the newly identified mage.
Ever since the interviews had started, there had been a horde of reporters camped outside the castle walls, trying to get an interview with anyone who lived inside.
As Ravi had experienced firsthand, there were even more in the town, lurking around every corner and hiding in the shadows, waiting for someone from the castle to stumble across their path.
Alric was maintaining his ban on anyone speaking to the press without his approval. For now, he was trying to carefully guide the message from the dragon and mage camp as well as protect any mages.
A week had passed since the first television interview, and the crowd of people outside their gates hadn’t waned. People would leave, but more would show up to take their place each day.
The first couple of days had been hectic, but Cameron and Lisette immediately organized a way to gather information about each person before they were tested, and then the rest of the mages were assigned shifts to conduct the tests.
Baldewin wasn’t thrilled about it. He’d doubled the number of dragons guarding the entrance and making rounds of the castle walls. It had been centuries since this many people had been close to the castle. Hopefully, Tori was somewhere soothing the frazzled dragon.
“Ha! I just beat Gisa,” North crowed before the next would-be mage stepped forward.
“How?”
“She didn’t find any mages during her shift this morning and was grumbling about it. Now I’ve got one! Including the one I found on the first day of tests, that’s two!” North held up two fingers and did a little celebratory wiggle.
Ravi laughed and shook his head. Five new mages in less than a week. It was astounding after so long without finding any.
North finished giving directions to the old woman, explaining where to enter the castle and that she’d be met by another dragon who would show her around and introduce her to the other mages.
He turned back to the line and was greeted by a nervous-looking woman.
Her eyes darted from North to Ravi to the other dragons around the courtyard, not that Ravi blamed her.
Between the ravenous media, the sudden reappearance of dragons, and this new chance that anyone could be a mage, most people arrived with nervous, overwhelmed, or even dazed expressions.
“Don’t worry. This isn’t going to hurt a bit,” Ravi reassured her.
She offered him a grateful smile as North placed the amulet in her hand. Bright green light glowed from the amulet in an instant, and North gasped.
“Holy crap! That’s two in a row!”
“I’m a mage? Really? Are you sure?” she asked in heavily accented English, though Ravi couldn’t quite place what her native tongue might be. Definitely European, maybe Eastern European.
“Definitely! Congrats!” North laughed.
He stepped to the side and quickly delivered the same instructions he’d just given the old woman. She must have overheard him the first time because she was already walking toward the castle at a brisk pace before North could even finish talking.
As she got several yards away from them, the wind shifted enough that a distinct smell hit Ravi’s nose and nearly knocked his knees out from beneath him.
He couldn’t be right. He jerked around and inhaled deeply, praying he’d been mistaken.
His heart sped up and his throat went dry when his nostrils filled with the scent a second time.
Jaeggi.
“She’s a Jaeggi,” he exhaled in horror.
“What?” North cried out, his head snapping up and his mouth falling open as he looked at Ravi. The person before him was completely forgotten for the moment.
“Jaeggi. She smells of Jaeggi,” Ravi repeated, his voice growing deeper as his dragon pushed for him to attack. His mind raced forward, planning carefully, while his dragon fought for freedom. They needed to protect the mages. Protect the castle.
“Should I—”
“You stay here, get everyone out, clear the area immediately. Call Baldewin,” Ravi ordered.
He turned away from North, eyes searching the immediate area until he spotted the person he was looking for. With a sharp whistle, he waved over two other dragons. After a few quick orders to guard North, Ravi was sprinting as fast as he could across the courtyard toward the castle.
He could have called for more dragons to assist him, but he was the fastest of all the Burkhard dragons. He was the one with the best shot of reaching her before she could cause any mischief within the castle.
Was it possible she was just a spy? The Jaeggi could have seen the circus that had popped up outside the castle and hoped to sneak someone inside to assess their defenses, get a count of how many dragons and mages were actually inside the clan.
Didn’t matter. Regardless of what her plans might be, he needed to capture her and lock her away where she couldn’t harm anyone.
And if they were lucky—if they could keep her alive—maybe they would finally be able to get some useful information on the Jaeggi.
Ravi burst through the side entrance to the castle where they had been directing the few mages they’d discovered that day and looked around.
It was a small antechamber with pleasant pale yellow walls and a mural of a green field at springtime.
At one side of the room, Gisa was shouting after the Jaeggi woman, who had darted down a different hallway that led to the main foyer of the castle as well as all of Alric’s offices and private chambers.
Ravi didn’t stop to explain anything. He chased after the Jaeggi mage while shouting over his shoulder for Gisa to call for the rest of the guards. This woman needed to be captured immediately.
Whether it was the sound of his shouting or his pounding footsteps, the woman clearly knew she had been found out. She put on a burst of new speed, but Ravi was quickly closing in on her. No one was faster than a wind dragon. She was not going to escape him.
The hallway cut left, and someone shouted, jumping out of the woman’s way while Ravi followed on her heels.
“Jaeggi! Protect the mages! Protect the royal family!” Ravi shouted, gaining on her by a couple more feet. He was getting close, but not enough to grab her yet.
She looked back over her shoulder again as she reached the main foyer. The room soared nearly three stories up, showing off exquisite murals, a broad main staircase, and soaring windows. The woman’s dark eyes narrowed on him, and he thought he could hear her swear at him.
As she turned her attention ahead of her again, Ravi could feel a new tingle of magic, but it felt off, wrong. It was like stinging nettles being drawn across his flesh. She was casting a spell, and there was no hope that it was going to be anything good.
He didn’t think. There wasn’t time. The communication between himself and his dragon was instantaneous. With one step he was Ravi the human, and the next he was Ravi the wind dragon. Great blue wings stretched out and up toward the ceiling. His long tail slithered down the hall behind him.
Shit, the spell had just been a deflection against him. Strapped to her chest was a bomb, and even as he watched, she was fumbling with the ignition switch.
With no clear plan in mind, he reared back and blasted her with wind, pushing her hard toward the windows, the only outlet to be had in these walls of stone.
All he knew was he had to get her out of the castle, away from his family.
He had to keep his family safe. There was no room for doubt or guilt or even fear.
The second the wind hit her, lifting her entirely off her feet, there was an all consuming explosion.
Bright light seared his eyes and scorched the front of him.
The concussive force slammed into his chest and threw him backward.
It was a fight to keep his wings extended, but he didn’t know who might be behind him in the foyer.
If his wings took the brunt of the blast, other people might not get hurt.
He didn’t know what had happened to the Jaeggi mage, didn’t know if anyone else was in danger. He was flying backward through the air, pain streaking through his body. A moment later, he crashed hard into something, and the world blinked to nothing.