Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 84237 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 421(@200wpm)___ 337(@250wpm)___ 281(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84237 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 421(@200wpm)___ 337(@250wpm)___ 281(@300wpm)
“Calm down, I’m not in any danger. I’m trying to figure out why I could pass through the ward to begin with.”
“Figure that out while standing next to me. Outside the ward.”
Dimitri’s dragon was not happy with him being in here, but Sam wasn’t about to come out just yet. He really felt like the answer was inside the ward, not outside, and the overprotective dragon was going to have to cool his jets for a second.
Gregori, at least, was thinking as hard as Sam. Their eyes met in silent understanding. A dawning realization.
There was only one explanation for why Sam could get through.
Dimitri threw a fist at the ward. It shimmered slightly in a wave of silvery sparks but held strong. The dragon was not allowed in and that said a lot, right there. This ward was attuned to let specific people through. People who were already here when the ward was raised.
And those of the right bloodline…
Sam stared down at his hands for a moment. His mind raced with fragmented thoughts and desperate questions. Was he of Jaeggi descent? Was that even possible?
His mother once said that his father’s line had come out of Germany many generations ago. They’d been ostracized by their clan for some reason. She’d never given him any concrete details, but he doubted she even knew. His dad’s clan left for England and then the Americas right before the Dragon Wars had started. The hows and whys had been lost to time, as no one of that generation had kept a journal.
Had his many times great-grandfather and great-grandmother refused to go along with Kaiser Jaeggi’s madness? Was that why they fled to America, to avoid it all? They must have changed their names too, as there was no trace of the name Jaeggi in their family history. Only Hunter.
But it would explain his core.
His very broken magical core.
Genetically, if he pulled from the Jaeggi side, then of course his core would be like this.
It would explain why he could come through the ward as if it didn’t even exist.
Oh god, but if that was the case, if he was of that bloodline, then—
“Sam.”
His head came up and he stared at Dimitri, heart in his throat. Sam, for the first time in his life, was scared in a way he’d never been before. Would these dragons he’d trusted with his life suddenly turn on him because he was a Jaeggi? He had no way of protecting himself. It didn’t help that Dimitri looked a second away from losing his shit altogether.
“Samuel,” Dimitri repeated firmly. “Get out of there. Now.”
“I don’t know if I should,” Sam answered faintly.
That was not the right response. Whatever tentative hold Dimitri had on his temper snapped. In a split second, he shifted from human to dragon, forcing Vasily, Luka, and Gregori to leap free before he accidentally smacked them aside with a wing.
Fuck a duck on a cracker. His dragon had just lost all chill.
Well. This was not good. To put it mildly.
Dimitri slammed a clawed fist against the ward and it really jumped that time. The ward shimmered as if in protest of the violence. Sam winced along with it. Dimitri was not being quiet in the least. If someone was still inhabiting the Sousa Clan site, then the noise Dimitri was creating would draw their attention.
“Come. Out. Now.” Dimitri’s tone promised bad things if Sam didn’t.
Sam spread out both hands in a helpless gesture. He was very torn on what to do and, honestly…this freaked him out. More than a little. In the past several days, he’d gotten close to these dragons. He saw them as his friends. Was all of that going to disappear before his eyes? He didn’t want to lose them. And he definitely didn’t want to put Dimitri in a bad position because of his possible heritage.
His sweet, crazy Dimitri was willing to risk everything for Sam. He loved him and protected him so fucking completely. The idea of losing all of that was threatening to carve chunks of Sam’s soul from his body. His throat was dry and his damn hands were shaking so bad, but he didn’t want Dimitri to see them and worry even more.
“Dimitri, hear me out. I must be of Jaeggi descent if I can come through the ward.”
Dimitri bit off, “I do not care.”
“I know you don’t, but your king is going to have a very different opinion.”
Gregori eyed Dimitri sideways as he asked Sam cautiously, “You really had no idea you’re Jaeggi?”
“No. There’s no hint of that name anywhere in my family line. Trust me, I’d know if there was. I studied genealogy extensively at one point. I know my father’s line came out of Germany right before the Dragon Wars, but the first record I have of them in America is under the name Hunter. They must have changed their name along the way.”