Embers (Scales 'N' Spells 4)

“Alright.” Nikki stole one more kiss before relinquishing him. They did look disappointed, though. Gunter felt bad about the interruption.

As Gunter slid past Ravi, he could hear Nikki excitedly draw Ravi in.

“Ravi, Gunter got me a tree!”

“Uh…looks like a nice tree? Don’t people normally start with flowers when courting?”

“No, this tree is awesome. It talks to me.”

“Get out, it does not.”

Gunter shook his head. Nikki was going to introduce that tree to the entire clan. He would bet good money on that. But at least it proved they really did like it. And that Gunter was right to get it for them.

See? The tree was a good choice.

Gunter had never flown somewhere so fast in his life. Not even when he was chasing Ravi after a prank had he flown this fast. His body thrummed, muscles burning as he pushed himself, over and over again, to the absolute limit.

Every dragon with him did the same.

But then, nothing like this had ever happened before.

In Gunter’s head, the call from Dimitri played through once more.

“I found an abandoned place,” Dimitri had said, voice cautious. “I found a few things left behind. The objects I can bring, but…there’s a girl here. A teenage girl. She said her name is Lina Jaeggi. And she wants to talk to the king of the dragons.”

Alric had looked at everyone gathered in his office and ordered them to take flight immediately. And they all had. Because really, there were only two scenarios: either Lina was a different type of trap, a suicide bomber in disguise, or…

Or she might be the lynchpin to finally unlocking every Jaeggi secret.

Dimitri had assured them he’d checked her over, that there was nothing magical on her. And it was because of his assurance Alric and Rodrigo were both flying straight there. It unnerved Gunter, having his king out in the open like this. But they weren’t going completely unprepared. Lisette was with them, as was Baldewin, Warin, and Melissande. Second to Lisette, Melissande had the most battle experience. If anything happened, Gunter trusted this group could handle it. Baldewin was under strict orders to immediately fly Alric out if anything even moved funny.

Gunter found himself praying as he flew.

Please, let this not be a trap.

Please, oh please, let them finally get the information they needed.

Right now, the dearth of information was what kept them one step behind their enemy. If anything was to change, that had to be reversed.

Dimitri didn’t ask them to land near the abandoned town where he’d found the girl. Instead, he’d taken her out into the middle of a field where he could keep a perfect view of their surroundings. And he’d stayed in dragon form, ready to lift off in a second if something looked wrong. Smart man.

They landed all around Dimitri, and Gunter kept an eye on the girl, judging her reaction. She was thin, almost painfully so. She had an interesting dye job, the right side of her hair blood red, the other pitch black. She’d divided it along the part and had it swooped around her face. Coupled with the oversized sweatshirt and skinny jeans, it made her look very young.

She watched them with wide blue eyes, hands wrapped around herself as if she were physically holding herself together. She was scared and nervous.

But she also stood her ground and didn’t try to run.

Gunter might choose to be impressed. Assuming she didn’t prove to be a terrible mistake.

Alric had ridden in on Baldewin, and he was quick to unstrap himself and put both boots on the ground. The king was confident as he approached, but cautious, stopping a good five feet away. Gunter approved.

“I’m Alric Burkhard, King of the Fire Dragons,” Alric said while looking her dead in the eye. “Who might you be?”

“Lina.” She sucked in a breath and managed to meet his gaze, her hands visibly tightening around her torso. “Lina Jaeggi. I’m here to speak with you.”

Alric’s expression was the poster for neutrality. He turned and gestured toward the ice-white dragon nearby. “This is Rodrigo, King of the Ice Dragons. Our retinue is around us. Did you want to talk only with me or to all of us?”

She looked doubly unnerved to be faced with two kings. Still, she rallied, even though her eyes darted between them before settling once more on Alric. “I want to speak with the king who’s fighting against my clan.”

“That is all of the dragons.”

“Oh.” Lina didn’t seem to know what to do with that. She sucked in a breath and tried again. “I left the Jaeggi.”

Gunter’s eyebrows shot up. So, she hadn’t been abandoned?

“Why did you leave?” Alric asked, tone gentle and encouraging.

“Because—because I don’t like what they’re doing. They’re stripping other mages of magic in order to fuel ours. And it’s wrong. It’s…I can’t even try and practice magic, I can’t use what they’re giving me. I throw up even thinking about where the magic’s coming from.” Lina sucked in a breath. “I can’t stay with them any longer. And I want my magic fixed. I want to be a real mage, to use magic from my own core, and I can’t do that if I stay with the clan. They don’t know how to fix it. It’s obvious they don’t, because we’ve all been like this for generations.”