Origin (Scales 'n' Spells 1)

“And I’m so glad you’re here. Did you have a good flight?”

Releasing him, Halmeoni waved one hand absently. “The jet was so fancy. Baldewin and Sasha took excellent care of us. We were quite safe at all times.”

“I’m glad to hear it.”

“I’m so glad she came, really. Sasha, I mean. She’s your sister’s new girlfriend. They’re so cute together.”

Cameron could only blink at that news. Girlfriend? His grandmother had to be wrong, but he was not going to dig into that now. It was always better to tighten the screws on Cassie when they were alone, and he’d made sure it was harder for her to escape him.

“King Alric would like to meet you,” Cameron prompted, motioning across the courtyard where Alric was in deep conversation with a frowning Baldewin. They were likely talking about the man Cassie had captured and their failed interrogation. Cameron just wanted to cross the distance separating them and wrap his arms around Alric, snuggling into him until the frown was gone.

He glanced down to see a sly smile lift his grandmother’s lips as her eyes darted from Cameron to Alric and back again. Dear god, he didn’t want to contemplate the evil swirling in her mind.

With her hand on his arm, Halmeoni marched straight over to Alric as if she met with dragon kings every day. And why not? His grandmother didn’t so much as blink an eye at the crazy things of life. She’d always believed their family came from mages and they were destined to do magic. Why wouldn’t she be meeting with the leader of the Burkhard clan?

As they approached, Alric quickly ended his conversation with Baldewin and arranged an appropriate smile on his lips. It was like watching the dragon fit himself into a role. The switch from Alric to King Alric was visible as he straightened, his expression smoothing out into something politely interested. It suddenly became critical to Cameron that he continuously knock Alric out of those molds and roles when they were alone together. The dragon definitely needed to escape from his duties every once in a while.

“King Alric, may I introduce you to my grandmother, Noh Ha Na?” Cameron said, briefly wondering if there was some more appropriate way of doing this, since Alric was a king. Should Dieter have handled the introductions? Or maybe even Baldewin.

Alric didn’t even blink an eye. He bowed to his grandmother and extended his right hand. “It is an honor to meet you in person, Lady Noh.”

“I trust you’ve been taking good care of my grandson. No more kidnapping attempts?”

Cameron hissed at his grandmother. His cheeks burned hot enough to fry an egg.

The dragon’s face became incredibly serious, and he actually held his grandmother’s hand in both of his. “I assure you that I take Cameron’s safety and well-being very seriously. He’s being protected by the entire Burkhard clan. I am personally seeing to his safety.”

“And what about his happiness? Are you personally seeing to his happiness as well?” The waggle of her eyebrows made it clear what she really meant by that.

Alric’s eyes widened and darted frantically to Cameron, a rosy flush painting his cheeks. Beside Alric, Baldewin nearly fell over laughing, and Cameron could only sigh loudly. Yes, his family had arrived at Burkhard castle in style.

Carefully pulling Halmeoni’s hand from Alric’s, he started to usher her away from the pair of dragons. “Alright, that’s enough. You’ve scared one dragon, and from what I’m hearing, you’ve scarred another. Let’s go get you settled in your room.”

“What? Scared a dragon? How would a dragon be scared of a little old woman?” his grandmother demanded as she was ushered toward the castle.

“He’d be scared if he was smart, and Alric is a smart man,” Cameron replied.

“He’s only smart if he snatches you up as his mate,” Halmeoni said fiercely, and Cameron struggled to not roll his eyes. He was pretty damn sure mates didn’t work that way, but he was also a smart man, and he was not going to argue with her.

Instead, he focused on corralling both his grandmother and wayward sister into the castle. Cassie hadn’t been excited about separating from her new girlfriend—Cameron still needed a minute to wrap his brain around that—but she was soon distracted by the opulence of the castle. They oooed at the paintings, furniture, and various decorations. They happily met every person Cameron had met over the past several weeks.

But the ooo’s turned to shrieks—mostly on Cassie’s part—when they saw their private suites.

Cameron dropped them off in their rooms to rest and refresh after their long trip before escaping into his own.

The silence lasted two minutes.

Cameron was still pulling off his sneakers when there came a knock at his door. His heart skipped a beat, hoping that maybe Alric had come to check on him again. But on the other side of the door, he was faced with Cassie’s determined glare and Halmeoni’s questioning look.