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)
“Come. Let us go talk to your dragon mate. Hiding in here won’t do any good. We will persuade them.”
Phew. Well, Plan A was mostly a success, despite its poor beginning.
Now to convince the dragons.
Dimitri was of two minds watching as backup arrived. On the one hand, he needed his king here to explain everything to, but on the other he knew Sammy was very afraid of their possible response. Dimitri had meant every word to him—if they rejected Sam, he’d leave the clan. He wasn’t about to let go of his mate now that he’d found him.
He honestly didn’t think it would come to that, though. Rodrigo was a passionate man but a reasonable one, and he didn’t make decisions based on emotions. He’d hear Dimitri out prior to deciding anything.
It wasn’t just Rodrigo that landed. Ha Na, Evora, Thiago and about half the clan had decided to come in too. Of course they had. Curiosity alone would compel them, and there were more than a few who eyed the Jaeggi ward with severe misgivings. Dimitri shared the misgivings one hundred percent. It was only made worse by Sam being in there.
Rodrigo waited until Ha Na climbed off his back before shifting, abandoning the saddle right there. He came directly to Dimitri, white brows drawn together in concern.
“Dimitri, I’m told Samuel is in there?” A slight tremor shook his words as if he was as unnerved as Dimitri that one of their mages was in the clutches of the Jaeggi. And Sam was definitely one of theirs as far as Dimitri was concerned.
“He is,” Dimitri confirmed, agitated all over again. “I couldn’t convince him to return to me. He was determined to see if anyone was inside.”
“But it’s taken a good hour for us to come. He’s still inside?”
Dimitri was a little heartened that Rodrigo shared his worry about Sam. Well, really, his worry was about a thousand times more intense than Rodrigo’s. “Trust me, I’m just as unhappy about it. Velichestvo, I swear to you, he’s not our enemy—”
“Calm down, calm down. I know he isn’t. I need to understand this. Start from the beginning.”
He was sincere. Dimitri’s heart stopped trying to curl in on itself in distress. His king wasn’t going to kick up a fuss. At least, not about Sam. He marshalled his thoughts and tried to put this in order. “Sam didn’t know he was of Jaeggi descent. He said that on his father’s side, they did emigrate from Germany, but the family name has always been Hunter. Our guess is they changed their name as soon as they left Germany.”
Rodrigo gave a judicious nod. “In the old days, if a family didn’t agree with town policy, they were shipped out. That could well be what happened with them. Also, Jaeggi means ‘hunter’ so that fits.”
“Sam was just as surprised as the rest of us when he passed through that ward. It’s obviously of Jaeggi make, but what it’s doing here is anyone’s guess. He insisted on going in and checking the site out before returning. Rodrigo, he’s terrified you won’t accept him. He’s my mate.”
Ha Na patted his arm soothingly. “He’s fine, son, and so are you. We won’t hold him accountable for things that happened well before he was even born.”
Rodrigo snorted and placed a gentle hand on the slender shoulder of his mate with the vibrant blue hair. “Of course we won’t. That’s nonsense.”
The short mage turned her attention to the ward that stood in front of them, tapping one finger on her pursed lips. “Now, how do we get him safely out of there?”
Dimitri shook his head helplessly. He didn’t know. It grated that he couldn’t lay hands on his mate when he was in that much potential danger. He was relieved to know Rodrigo had no issue with Sam—at least that worry was off the plate. Now if Sammy cakes would just get his ass back here, he could reassure him, too.
Evora eyed the ward with keen interest. “This has been here for some time. Decades, would be my guess. What is so important about the Sousa ruins that a Jaeggi would be interested in this place?”
He knew the answer to this, at least. “The Sousa were famous centuries ago. They were the only ones who could heal burned out cores.”
His entire clan was staring at him now, incredulous.
“They could what?” Evora demanded sharply.
“Sam told me they were basically a burn ward for broken or damaged magical cores. They were the only clan that seemed to know how to fix them.”
Evora shared a long look with Ha Na, the two women dazed with this revelation.
“They’re here trying to fix their cores,” Ha Na breathed. “That’s the only possible explanation. These Jaeggi found out about the clan’s specialty, somehow, and came here to research it. If there’s any records left—”