Embers (Scales 'N' Spells 4)

“Exactly.” He lifted both hands in front of him and formed a circle. “A black hole. An empty spot in the data where he circled around but didn’t get too close.”

“Brilliant, Liebling,” Alric murmured. Cameron smiled proudly before bending down to press a quick kiss to Alric’s lips.

Rodrigo leaned forward, folding his hands together on the table. “Where does that leave us? Do we use these data points or do we wait until Cameron and Cassie have located their black holes?”

“We have to search both,” Dimitri answered. He paused and smirked at Cameron. “That is pretty smart tracking. But since we don’t know what this Jaeggi’s job was, we have to search both until we get a good lead.”

“How long will it take you to come up with a new list of spots for Nikki to look over?” Dieter asked.

Cameron shoved a hand through his dark hair and expelled a heavy breath. “It will take Cassie and me at least a day—if not two—to write the new algorithm and then run it. That’s assuming she hasn’t pulled more data to add to the list. Hopefully, we’ll have something to look at in two days.”

“In the meantime, five good potential locations have been identified,” Alric said. “I’d like to send five teams with a mix of dragons and mages, but I’m not going to commandeer any dragons who do not belong to my clan.”

The Earth Dragon King snorted. “Isn’t that why we’re here? Counting myself, there are five earth dragons here now. We can split up one earth dragon per team.”

Roca lifted a bushy brow at his companion. “Your bodyguards are going to let you out of their sight?”

“Of course.”

“Let me rephrase; your mate is going to allow you to leave the sight of your bodyguards?” Roca taunted.

“I’m sure she’ll understand when I explain Alric’s best warriors are going to be protecting me.”

Roca shook with low, rough laughter. “She’s going to rip your scales off.”

“I’d like to lead the team going to Sazos, France,” Dimitri volunteered, cutting off more teasing.

“Why Sazos?” Rodrigo asked. Gunter had to admit he was wondering the same thing. Why had the dragon picked that one out of the five?

The ice dragon nodded to Nikki. “It was how they reacted. It was one of the first towns they selected as a good option. They have no memory of being in France, and Sazos is wrapped in the Pyrenees. Even if the Jaeggi are in the town, they could have found a close hiding spot in the mountains. I trust Nikki’s gut. It’s already saved my life once.”

Gunter looked down to find Nikki staring up at him with a question in their eyes. He knew what they wanted. But he worried about how Nikki would react, considering their reaction last time. On the other hand, Gunter didn’t feel like he had the right to say no if Nikki wanted to do something. In the end, he grudgingly went with Nikki’s wishes.

“Nikki and I would like to volunteer to be a part of Dimitri’s team. Sazos does feel like a good lead.”

“Are you sure?” Alric asked.

Gunter nodded without hesitation. “I’m healed completely from the last encounter. We’re ready to head out again. We will find the Jaeggi.”

Alric didn’t look happy, but he didn’t argue. “Very good. Submit all names of available dragons and mages to Baldewin. He will assign the teams and locations. I want at least one earth dragon and one experienced mage with each team, if possible.”

“Hoheit,” Lisette started, lifting one hand. “Given the nature of the defense spells, we can design some amulets to help protect against fires, explosions, and other destructive forces. They won’t protect against every spell, but they will keep the teams safer.”

Nikki immediately perked up. “Would I be able to help make the amulets?”

Lisette smiled widely. “Yes, we would greatly appreciate your help.” She looked back at Alric. “We would need a full day to pull together enough amulets to protect all the teams.”

A low grunt rumbled from Alric. “So be it. The teams will leave in two days. Begin your preparations. If these locations don’t pan out, we’ll meet again and examine the new choices Cameron has uncovered.”

Gunter’s stomach twisted, and he reached over, covering Nikki’s hand with his own. He hated the thought of Nikki being anywhere the Jaeggi might be located, but there was no choice. Nikki was their best chance of catching a lead.

The only good thing out of this was the potential of destroying the Jaeggi at last. He’d make them pay for all the pain and torture they’d put Nikki through.

Nikki lounged on the couch, idly flipping through the pages of the text they were supposed to be studying. Instead of concentrating, their mind kept drifting back to the meeting, and to even darker thoughts about their last exploration trip.