Page 107 of Scales ’N’ Spells: Volume One

Cameron reached for his phone in his back pocket only to come up empty. Had he forgotten his phone when he left the castle?

No. He’d had it in his lap. The damn thing must have fallen when they swerved to stay on the road. Unbuckling his seat belt, Cameron started to lean forward to search for it when a screech of tires came from behind them. Had someone from the castle been following them? Riding on a dragon was always fun, but he appreciated leather seats and air conditioning as well.

Twisting around, he sat frozen, his breath trapped in his lungs as a white, unmarked van idled behind them. It all happened too fast, and at the same time as if he were watching it all in slow motion. He was trapped. His limbs unwilling to move as he saw the side door thrown open and four men dressed entirely in black with masks jump down. Dieter rose from where he’d been kneeling next to the rear driver’s side wheel. He threw his arm out, his mouth opening in what was likely to be a shout, but one of the men pointed something at Dieter. Two wires shot out and hit Dieter square in the chest. The dragon shouted in pain and convulsed.

A taser. The bastards were tasing Dieter! As he thought it, another one aimed at Warin, who went down just as quickly.

Dieter’s and Warin’s pained shouts finally broke Cameron free of his paralysis. He shoved open the passenger door and nearly rolled down the side of the damn mountain before he could get his feet under him.

“Leave them alone!” Cameron shouted. Not that he actually expected that to work. He had no doubt in his mind this attack had been orchestrated by the Jaeggi. As he clawed his way back toward the road, the four men seemed to stare at him in surprise for a moment. Had they not expected Cameron to be in the car? Were they just trying to attack a dragon?

Those answers weren’t going to be coming anytime soon. The two bastards were still shocking the hell out of Dieter and Warin, both dragons twitching on the asphalt. But before Cameron could approach them, the other three attackers descended on him.

It was sadly no match. Cameron got in only a couple of swings before he was grabbed and tossed into the van. In the sudden darkness, more hands grabbed him. He screamed once for Dieter and then duct tape was slapped over his mouth, followed by a dark hood. His legs and arms were bound, but the fear didn’t set in until he heard the metal van door slam shut and the engine roared to life as they sped off down the road.

He paid attention to the movements of the van, trying to keep track of the turns, but they couldn’t have been traveling long before the van stopped, he was hauled out, and placed into another vehicle. They’d changed cars. Shit! How was Alric and his guards supposed to find him now?

Fear sank deep into his bones, leaving him cold despite the heat of the car. His phone was still in Dieter’s car. He had no idea if the dragon was injured or even dying. He didn’t know a single damn spell to help him escape or even help Alric find him.

And worst of all, the Jaeggi had him.

He had no idea why they wanted him, but considering their past, Cameron was sure it wasn’t for anything good.

For now, he could only wait and look for an opportunity to escape. He needed to get back to his dragon.

Cameron lost all sense of time and place as the car whipped through turns and over hills. Thank god he didn’t suffer from motion sickness or he’d have an even bigger problem than just being held by a bunch of assholes. He also didn’t have a great sense of how many people were in the car with him. No one was speaking.

A lot. He was going to go with a lot of people. It was hot, uncomfortable, and he ached from trading blows and being tossed around like dirty laundry. But all the discomfort meant nothing compared to the fear currently clawing his heart to shreds. There was no doubt in his mind Alric knew by now he’d been taken. Dieter was a tough old dragon. He would have gotten back to his feet within minutes of the van speeding off and would have called for help.

But Alric. It was like he could feel the dragon’s fear and unrelenting rage. And guilt. Alric would blame himself for Cameron’s kidnapping. Cameron had to get back to his dragon. He needed to crawl into Alric’s lap, cup his cheeks, and kiss him until he finally agreed that the kidnapping wasn’t his fault.

To hell with that. Cameron needed to kiss the shit out of his dragon and make sure he understood what Cameron felt about him. He needed to know Cameron was proud to be his mate and that he’d do anything to be the best mate possible because Alric was…

The vehicle came to a sharp stop, and Cameron was thrown forward until he hit his forehead on something hard. Maybe the seat in front of him. Bastards. They could at least make sure he wasn’t getting hurt on the ride. So much for being precious cargo.

He could hear doors being thrown open before the engine shut off and he was pulled out. The moment his feet touched the ground, his knees gave out. He winced and moaned, trying to get his body to properly move as people hooked their arms through his on either side of him, while another person freed his legs. He was half marched, half dragged from the car. The ground changed from asphalt to gravel to dirt and grass to…concrete. The sound of birds and bugs surrounded him. Definitely not within a bustling city. No voices. Just the heavy breathing of his captors holding him.

When he reached the concrete flooring, the sounds of nature disappeared and there was a slight echo to their steps. They were inside now. In a large, open space.

They walked for a while, making two rights before heading up some metal stairs and then down what felt like a long hall. At long last, he was dropped into what felt like a metal folding chair. It was hard and cold under his ass. With his nearly numb fingers, he could feel some of the smooth metal.

At last, someone was speaking. The words were muffled, and he nearly moaned when he realized they were in German. God help him. When he got out of this, he was ramping up his German lessons. Maybe Alric could help him work out a suitable reward system for when he reached certain goals.

Really? He rolled his eyes at himself. Sex. He was thinking about sexy-times with Alric while being held by Jaeggi mages. Just wonderful. He needed to get his head in the game and focus. If he didn’t pay attention, there wasn’t going to be any more sexy-times with his dragon.

The voice got closer, and Cameron’s heart skipped a beat. He didn’t understand the words, but he recognized the voice. There was a feeling of someone close to him and the black bag on his head was slowly pulled off. He blinked several times against the bright light, trying to get his eyes to adjust. Air rushed into his lungs, as it was now so much easier to breathe.

His kidnapper leaned down and carefully resettled his glasses on his face, allowing Cameron to clearly see the face of the man who’d threatened him and his sister. That wicked grin was back, and Cameron’s blood ran cold. He’d suspected he’d be faced with this bastard sooner or later, but he’d been hoping it would be later. Preferably when Alric had found him and he was no longer bound with duct tape.

“Our slippery American,” the man said in English with a crisp British accent. “I knew we’d meet eventually.”

He straightened and barked out an order to one of the two other mages in the room. Cameron took the chance to quickly look around. He’d been expecting the white walls and white floor of the building he’d seen them in thanks to the drone cat. Around him was drab grey concrete while the floor was painted a darker shade of grey. Where the other building had a hospital feel, this was more military utilitarian. That didn’t mean he couldn’t be in the same building, just on a different floor. The room was largely empty, but there were a few long tables with a scattering of junk. The air was cool but smelled stale.

The door on the far wall opened, and a woman rolled in a leather desk chair. The man took it from her with a snarl and placed it directly in front of Cameron with another ugly smile. Cameron leaned back in his own chair, trying to put as much of his body out of easy reach from his man as possible.

Dropping into the seat, he seemed content to just stare at Cameron for several seconds, as if inspecting a treasure that had at last fallen into his hands. Cameron stared right back and had to admit the man wasn’t what he’d expected. The mage was large. Of course, other than himself, all the mages he’d met so far were women, but this man was built more like the dragons in Baldewin’s royal guard. Broad chest, wide shoulders, muscular arms straining his plain black T-shirt, and thick thighs filling out his blue jeans.

His face didn’t scream villainous mastermind evil. Though, his thick black mustache and goatee were sort of evil. His bushy black eyebrows were down low over dark blue eyes. The rest of his face was wide, hard, and blunt, sort of like a nutcracker’s. Cameron was tempted to use this asshole’s face for cracking things open.