Embers (Scales 'N' Spells 4)

Without further hesitation, he pulled open the door and breathed a happy sigh of relief when a wall of frozen air passed over him. The large, dimly lit room was like stepping into a meat locker.

Dark curtains blocked the windows, and one wall was completely covered with monitors while the desk under it was littered with keyboards, coffee mugs, snacks, and random scraps of wadded up paper. Cassie sat curled up in one chair, her fingers a blur across the keys. She was bundled up in sweatpants, a bulky sweater, and a knit hat pulled down over her ears. Cameron stood behind her, bundled in a winter coat and still looking cold.

“Oh my, this is nice,” Gunter murmured as he stepped inside. “I’ve tried to get my rooms this temperature, but Duncan claims the air conditioning spell over the castle won’t adjust to this low.”

“Are you insane?” Nikki gasped beside him. “This is freezing.” The little mage snuggled close, slipping their arms inside Gunter’s blazer while pressing their face into his chest. It may be cold in the room, but there were definite benefits. Not only did the cold feel comfortable, but it gave his mate an excuse to cuddle into his arms.

“Here, Nikki, try this,” Cameron grumbled. They both looked up as he grabbed a large sweater draped over the back of a chair and tossed it at Nikki. It was fuzzy and pink and more than dwarfed Nikki when they pulled it over their head.

“Whose sweater is this?” Nikki asked.

“Sasha’s. She won’t mind,” Cassie replied without looking up.

Gunter tried not to grouse. He apparently should have brought his sweater from the library. He didn’t like Nikki wearing another dragon’s clothes, even if Sasha was mated to Cassie. But he couldn’t complain. Nikki was warmer and smiling.

“And no, we weren’t trying to get it this cold in here, but we do need it colder than the ambient temp of the castle,” Cameron tossed out.

Cassie finally spun around and tucked her fingers under her arms. “We set up a server operating system, but it was getting way too hot in here. We thought we could layer a second cold spell on the room to battle the heat.”

“It still needs some tweaking.”

“You need to talk to Evora. She’s spectacular with cold spells,” Dimitri offered, nearly making Gunter jump. He hadn’t even noticed the ice dragon relaxing on a sofa on the opposite side of the room.

Cameron threw Dimitri a look that should have pulverized stone, but the ice dragon just grinned at him. “We’ve been trying to get ahold of her. It just so happens it’s four in the morning in Brazil right now.”

“Yeah,” Dimitri grinned, drawing out the word. “She’s not going to be awake for at least another five hours. She’s not one of those early risers.”

While Cameron and Cassie looked less than amused with Dimitri, Gunter could feel Nikki’s shoulders shaking with laughter as they pressed close to him again.

“Maybe we should talk about what was discovered on the phone before the mages freeze,” Gunter suggested.

Cameron dropped into one of the office chairs on wheels and spun out to the center of the room with a tablet in his hands. Gunter and Nikki settled on the sofa after Dimitri slid down to the far end. While doubtful it was due to any look Gunter directed in his direction, Dimitri was kind enough to straighten and pull his arms back to his sides so there was ample space between him and Nikki.

The beautiful mage might claim to be interested in only him and want to explore this thing between them, but Gunter was taking no chances with unknown and unattached dragons. Was it uncivilized, uncouth, and barbaric? Maybe. But when it came to Nikki, Gunter was willing to allow his fire and claws to do the talking.

Yes, Gunter was aware it was his fears talking. Was there a more mature way to handle it? Absolutely. He also did not, in this moment, give a shit.

In his chest, his dragon grumbled and huffed, throwing the evil eye in Dimitri’s direction. The old lizard had definitely claimed Nikki as their own and was not above giving Gunter some less-than-subtle nudges in that direction.

Cameron tapped on the screen, pulling up a map of Europe with hundreds of yellow pinpoints. The information was daunting.

“So, as we said in our message, we got into the phone and started pulling some really good data off it. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get browser history, text messages, or phone numbers,” Cameron stated.

“Which really sucked. I would have so loved to prank all those Jaeggi,” Cassie muttered.

“We’re still tinkering with some of the apps on the phone to see what we might be able to pull out, but the main thing is we were able to access the GPS chip and all its data.”