Origin (Scales 'n' Spells 1)

Thomas’s laugh turned ugly as he dropped into the leather desk chair and propped his left foot up on his right knee. He folded his hands together on his flat stomach and smiled his smug smile. “Alric and his band of idiots couldn’t find us even if we handed him a map. We have been living right under his nose in that town for nearly a century. Even after the war, the Jaeggi never left his territory. We’ve been right here. He found us only because I let him find us!” His rant ended with him roaring in Cameron’s face.

Cameron could only grit his teeth and sit in silence. He’d rather slam his forehead into the bastard’s nose, breaking it, but right now, Thomas was in the mood to talk. Let the asshole talk. Alric would find him, and Cameron would be able to give Alric all this valuable information the smug fucker was just dropping into his lap.

“Why now? After all this time, why let him find you?” Cameron sneered.

Thomas’s foot thunked back on the concrete floor, and he placed his hands on his knees as he leaned forward. His evil smile nearly stopped Cameron’s heart. “You haven’t figured it out yet?”

“What?” Cameron choked out.

Thomas reached out with his right hand and Cameron jerked backward, trying to get out of his reach, but it was stupid. He was still bound and trapped in a freaking folding chair. Thomas roughly grabbed Cameron’s jaw under his chin, holding him still while he gently pushed Cameron’s glasses back up his nose.

“You’re not just a stepping stone for our ascension, Cameron Park. You’re also bait.”

A new fear slammed through Cameron. This wasn’t just about getting Cameron for whatever their horrible plan was. They were actually going to attack Alric and his dragons. Cameron sucked in a harsh breath and jerked backward. Thomas released him and stood.

“Alric is the last in a very long line of dragon kings. What do you think would happen to his clan with no heir waiting in the wings? Even an heir as weak and damaged as Alric.”

“There is nothing weak or damaged about Alric!” Cameron snarled before he could stop himself. “When he finds me, he’s going to tear you apart.”

Thomas stood over Cameron, a strange expression on his face. “Wouldn’t it be interesting to see him try? But I haven’t yet decided if I want to keep him for my plans or just destroy him in front of his own people. I can only imagine how demoralizing it would be for those giant lizards to watch their pathetic king destroyed by yet another Jaeggi mage.”

Cameron sucked in a breath to swear at the mage, but Thomas was already turning away and walking toward the door, likely dismissing Cameron from his mind as he plotted the death of Alric and the rest of the Burkhard clan. He swallowed down the words and watched Thomas pull open the door. The Jaeggi leader barked something Cameron couldn’t quite catch at the man and woman standing guard outside the room. Cameron caught a glimpse of more grey walls and grey floor, but that was it before the door slammed shut, followed by the soft click of a lock being turned into place.

He was alone.

They’d actually left him alone in the room. Seriously? This was the downfall of every evil villain in James Bond, action, and spy movies. Okay, so maybe he wasn’t James Bond. Cameron snorted to himself. He wasn’t even James Bond’s less skilled cousin Harry Bond. Oh Lord. If this was the direction of his thoughts, he needed to get out of there fast. And dammit, he wished he had his bag. He and Gunter had planned for this, why hadn’t he taken his bag? Cameron really could be smarter than this. He mentally kicked himself for letting his panic beget stupidity.

First, he had to figure out if they were watching him. Slowly, he pushed back to his feet and walked around the room. Thanks to his training with Lisette, Cameron at least felt confident he could sense when a spell was being used near him, and there was nothing in the room to indicate they’d placed any kind of spell on the room. The other building had also shown that the Jaeggi preferred to rely on technology for their security rather than wards. As far as he could tell, there were no security cameras in the room monitoring his movements. Maybe they had just moved in and hadn’t set up all their security yet.

Well, the best way to figure it out was to do something he wasn’t supposed to do.

Sitting on the floor, he wiggled and folded up his long body, working his bound hands in front of him. He was panting, his shoulders ached, and his jeans were coated in a layer of dirt and dust by the time he was done, but he got it.