Embers (Scales 'N' Spells 4)

Nikki stopped, their face twisted into a frown as they shook their head. “It didn’t make sense. But they kept saying my parents were dead and I had to go with them; they were taking me to a new family who would keep me and my gifts safe.” Nikki looked at a ball of twisted fabric in their lap, something soft they were petting over and over again. “I didn’t even get to pack my stuff. No toys. No clothes.”

“Nikki, I am so very sorry for your loss. For everything you’ve suffered.”

Lifting wide, dark eyes, Nikki flashed a shaky smile. “It doesn’t hurt like it used to. I believed them for a while, but as other mages were brought in with similar stories—or worse—I figured out the Jaeggi had killed them.” Nikki sniffed and smiled broadly. “But I showed them. I blew up their compound and freed their dragon.”

Gunter chuckled. “You did. And we will never be able to thank you enough for protecting Ravi for us.”

Nikki’s grin looked a touch feral. “My pleasure.”

Gunter made a few notes from what Nikki had told him to be added to his database later. It was odd the Bos family didn’t have other clan associates, but then it might be a case similar to Cameron and Cassie. Some of the knowledge had been lightly passed down, but by and large, much of their clan had been lost and scattered over the centuries.

“When you were a child, how much did your parents tell you?”

“Not much. They taught me maybe two dozen spells, and I didn’t really get the mechanics of it, just that if you do a, b, and c, you get x result. I’m not sure, looking back, if they really understood how magic worked. They treated it more like an old family recipe they followed. However, my mom used to tell me stories about mages and dragons. She made them all sort of sound like fairy tales.” Nikki released this dreamy sigh and sank into the chair.

Gunter looked up and lifted one eyebrow at Nikki’s expression, which could only be described as a swoon or maybe swoon-like.

“My mom made it sound so magical and wonderful. A dragon searching for his one true mate, a mage who could cast the most amazing spells. Just looking at each other, the mage and the dragon would fall hopelessly in love. The dragon would scoop up the mage and fly them both to his castle, where they would live happily ever after and have lots of little baby dragons.”

Gunter made a note. A pretty fairy tale. He hoped Anika had known the truth about mages and dragons. Their forever love was truth, but both had suffered greatly over the centuries thanks to the Jaeggi. She’d likely spared her child that ugliness, fully intending to tell them the truth when they were older. Gunter mentally sighed.

Unless she hadn’t realized dragons were still alive. Then she’d very likely believed it all to be fairy tales and not truth. It was a shame Jan and Anika would never know their precious child was safely in the hands of dragons, who would cherish and protect them for the rest of their days.

Nikki suddenly gasped, causing Gunter to jerk his head up.

“What’s wrong?” Gunter demanded.

“I just had a thought.”

“What?”

“Ravi mentioned that sometimes a surrogate or a magical incubator is used when a mage can’t carry a baby.”

“Yes,” Gunter cautiously agreed. Dear god above, he didn’t need to have the talk with Nikki, did he? It wasn’t likely something the Jaeggi would have bothered to discuss.

Nope. Hell to the no. Not happening. He would go fetch Lisette or Alric or someone else. But not him.

“When a mage gives birth to a dragon, is it in dragon form or human form? Are they born like regular babies, or do they grow in eggs?”

Gunter released a loud, long breath and nearly dropped his head to the desk. He felt almost lightheaded with his relief.

Dodged that bullet.

“Babies. Human babies. The mages do not lay dragon eggs.” He paused and pushed his fingers under his glasses to massage the bridge of his nose. The tension that had magically disappeared with Nikki’s touch was back in force.

Nikki released a sigh and slumped in their chair. “That’s good to know. It would be like a horror movie with those itty-bitty baby dragon claws poking at the mage’s belly. And what if the baby sort of hiccups and blows fire inside the mage? That would be like the world’s worst heartburn.”

Gunter could only blink at that. “Nikki, your mind is a scary place.”

“So I’ve been told.”

Probably many, many times.

Dropping his hand to his lap, Gunter tried to put the conversation on course again. “Do you remember anything else about your parents? Or what they might have told you? Do you remember grandparents or maybe aunts and uncles?”