Page 256 of Scales ’N’ Spells: Volume One

“But if the Jaeggi are here hunting mages, shouldn’t we take care of them here first? To protect any other mages?” North suggested.

“No,” Alric called. He zipped back into the screen, pulling Cameron into his lap so they could be seen. It was actually kind of adorable—the mix of Alric’s intense expression matched with the melty one Cameron was giving his mate while cuddling against him. “We are working on a plan to take care of the Jaeggi, but we don’t know how many are in Brussels with you. Warin and Gunter are two of my strongest dragons. They will protect you.”

“Our priority is keeping you safe above all else,” Warin murmured in North’s ear. “But I can’t do that against an unknown horde of mages trying to take you from me—I mean us.”

That was hard to argue with when Warin was getting close and sounding so sweet. But he didn’t like leaving behind those guys who had chased him. Wouldn’t they harass another mage? Of course, going after them meant putting Warin and Gunter in more danger, and he didn’t want to do that to them.

“Are you sure it’s okay if I come to the castle? I get the impression that dragons are kind of in hiding from humans, and I wouldn’t want to give away your secret. This trip was just to see if the scale led to a living dragon.” North’s smile turned into more of a wry smirk. “Mission accomplished.”

“Definitely!” Cameron called out.

“It’s true,” Alric said with a nod. “We would be honored if you came to our home. It would give you a chance to meet the rest of our clan, other mages like you. There’s much you still don’t know about what happened to both our peoples.”

North chewed on his bottom lip. It all sounded way too good to be true. Dragons. They were alive, and there was an entire castle full of them. There were even mages. Mages who knew magic. And if Cameron and Alric were a sign, there were even gay mages and gay dragons who had close, loving relationships. He’d taken little glances at Gunter and Warin during the call, and neither dragon seemed upset that their king was with a man. That alone had North more than a little curious to meet them all.

“And you can tell your family where you’re going,” Cameron quickly added. “I know it seems a little crazy to run off to a castle with a bunch of people you don’t know, but we want you to feel safe.”

“Oh! Gramps! I need to tell my grandpa. He’s the only one who believes in any of this. He’s got to be dying to know!” How in the world could he have forgotten?

Cameron laughed. “Sounds like my grandmother.”

“Hoheit, we should be heading to the train station to arrange for our passage to Sonthofen tonight,” Gunter broke in.

“Why not just fly? We could be home in a matter of a few hours,” Warin suggested.

Cameron cackled. “Because North would be a magecicle by the time you got him here.”

North winced. “As much as I’d love to fly with you, I’ve learned that I definitely don’t have the right clothes for your winters here.”

Warin stared at him with a kind of appraising expression before giving a little nod. “Then we will need to stop in Munich. Acquire some warmer clothes for you.”

“But—”

The dragon was already shaking his head. “We protect our mages.”

North wanted to argue, but the words got stuck in his throat behind a sudden lump. Warin—er…no, the dragons wanted to take care of him.

Warin looked over at Gunter. “How long would it take for us to drive from Brussels to Munich?”

Gunter held out his hand, and Warin quickly handed over his own phone since they were using Gunter’s to talk to Alric and Cameron. The blond dragon typed on the phone, leaving them to wait only a moment.

“It’s an eight-hour drive from Brussels to Munich without including necessary stops along the way. Same for Brussels to Sonthofen.”

North looked down at Alric and Cameron to find them both darkly frowning. Eight hours wasn’t bad. Probably including stops for gas and such, they could do it in less than ten. “That’s not too bad. We can all take turns driving to help it go faster.”

Alric shook his head, but it was Cameron who spoke up. “Road trips are bad. We don’t like road trips around here. Not since Tori’s awful road trip.”

“Cameron’s sister Cassie was horribly wounded on that road trip,” Warin murmured in a low voice.

Okay, a road trip was a very bad idea.

“However, there is a train leaving tonight from Brussels to Munich, and it’s only an eight-hour trip,” Gunter informed them.

“How many times do we have to change trains?” Warin inquired.

Gunter’s expression was smug when he looked up at his companion. “None. It’s direct, and it’s a sleeper. I’ll be able to work on the train and North can get some sleep so he can arrive at Burkhard awake and refreshed.”

“Burkhard Castle is in Munich, Germany?” North asked, excitement bubbling up in him.