Embers (Scales 'N' Spells 4)

They’d hypothesized the Jaeggi magic truly was that broken, but it was good to have confirmation. Gunter was excited, but it was clear Lina wasn’t done yet.

“Your magic works right.” Her head turned, and she looked first at Lisette, then at Melissande. “I can see from your auras you have power at hand. Is it because you still have connections to dragons?”

It was true, Lina didn’t smell like a typical mage but instead more like the other Jaeggi mages they’d encountered.

“No,” Lisette corrected, coming to stand at Alric’s side. “No, a mage doesn’t rely on a dragon for magic. We have our own magical cores. Being mated to a dragon only boosts us. Is that what the Jaeggi think, that it’s because of their lost connection with dragons their magic is broken?”

“One of the theories, yeah.” Lina looked at her steadily, eyes narrowing a little as if trying to judge Lisette’s sincerity. “Because our magic got all screwed up when the clan started killing dragons.”

“No, that’s not what did it. We’re not quite sure what did; we have only theories ourselves.”

Lina’s shoulders slumped. “Then joining you won’t help me.”

“I wouldn’t say that, child.” Lisette slowly smiled, and it wasn’t a nice expression. It indicated she was scheming something. “We have experts you don’t. Magical knowledge your clan has lost. I think you were very right to come to us.”

“But you’ll understand if we can’t trust you.” Alric gestured to the area in general. “This is a very strange place to be.”

Lina shook her head. “I hid when everyone moved on. I hid and stayed there until they’d really left, and then I started making my way to Sonthofen. This is another place we were, once; I’d hoped to find something to help me. I took the wrong train, ended up in the wrong spot. I’ve never traveled by myself before. I kinda screwed up.”

That last part was said defensively. Gunter had first assumed her to be eighteen or so, but now he was thinking more like sixteen. She must be terrified, to be so young and facing so many enemies, but instead she was defensive for getting lost. Was this the bravado of youth? Or the ignorance of it?

“I found her standing right in the open street, waiting for me to land,” Dimitri told them. “She wasn’t even trying to hide.”

That said volumes all by itself. Gunter reluctantly gave her points for courage. The girl had a backbone of steel.

“You say you want your magic fixed. That you want to leave your clan.” Alric gestured to all the ones circled around her. “You realize that attaining both of those things means coming to us, don’t you? The Jaeggi Clan will not easily let you roam free. Once they find you, they’ll snatch you back.”

“I know. I’ve got family left behind. I’m worried about them, too.” Her chin lifted, hands clenched in her sweater. “I don’t know if I can trust you either, King of the Fire Dragons. But if I can, I’ll make a deal with you. Get my family out. Free them and protect them. If you do that, I’ll tell you everything you need to know about the Jaeggi, including where to find them.”

Gunter let out a whoosh of breath, stunned. How far had this girl been pushed that she would do all of this? It was beyond risky. She was in danger no matter who found her.

But as stunned as he was by her courage, he was also elated by the chance she offered. Finally, finally they had a source of information. Finally, a chance to find the Jaeggi and put an end to this.

Alric turned to look at Rodrigo, silently conferring with him. They both had their poker faces on, not revealing what they really thought. Then Rodrigo abruptly shifted to human form, dropping his guard.

He stepped forward, just a half step, drawing her eyes to him. With a charming smile, he offered, “Come back with us, Miss Lina. We both have no trust for each other—not yet—but I think we can find a middle ground to meet on. Come with us back to Burkhard Castle and we’ll sit and properly talk this through.”

“Okay.”

“Wait, before we do that.” Baldewin came around and pulled some sort of device out of a pocket, waving it over her from top to bottom. He looked at the screen with a slight frown. “Miss Lina, you’re not carrying anything electronic?”

She shook her head. “I had to leave my phone behind. They track everything, including the phones.”

“Interesting. Alright.” Baldewin gave Alric a nod of reassurance.

So, there was no tracking device on her either? Gunter was relieved. It meant she could very well be telling the truth. If they weren’t tracking her every movement, then she might not be a spy after all.

Or she was and the Jaeggi were being very, very clever.