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Sam rolled his eyes. “Gawd, it was one time. And it’s not a big deal. It’s not like I was waiting outside your door while you were having sex. I was busy with Dimitri. He needed—”
Dimitri wisely clamped a hand over the chatty archaeologist’s mouth and cleared his throat. “Maybe we should move along to why we’re here. Tell them about the Sousa you’ve been talking to.”
“Sousa? How have you been talking to a member of the Sousa?” Evora demanded, her question shooting sharp and crisp across the table. The way her dark brown eyes peered at them made her look even more lethally dangerous than she normally did.
“In our dreams,” Vasily answered. He went on to tell them about the dreams he’d been having that featured the strange man in native clothing and jewelry who had been leading them from the clan village north to a lake.
Luka sat quietly, only offering that he’d been having the same dream…even though he didn’t recall a second of it.
When they came to the end of their story, Dimitri pulled out a large map with Lake Maracaibo circled in northwest Venezuela. “Based on what Vasily has described in his dreams, I think Lake Maracaibo is the best match and is a solid place to start searching.”
Luka winced. As they spoke, Rodrigo’s expression had chilled and become decidedly less excited. The king sat in silence for a second and then turned his gaze on Evora. “Please tell me my dragons have not lost their minds.”
“Hey!” both Luka and Vasily protested.
“No, this has to be real! The details Vasily has been able to provide are things he would only know if he’d spent a lifetime studying the Sousa, which he has not,” Sam said.
“No, I don’t think they’re insane.” Evora paused and shrugged one slender shoulder. “Well, not for this reason anyway. It seems they are experiencing what is called dreamwalking. I have not experienced it personally, or even heard of anyone doing so. However, there are a few mentions in some rare texts. I would need to reach out to the lost clans in the east to see if they have more knowledge of it.”
“So…this is real? An actual member of the Sousa Clan has reached out to Vasily and Luka?” Rodrigo asked.
“Yes, and he desperately needs our help. He’s trapped,” Vasily pressed.
Rodrigo nodded. “Very well. We need a scouting party pulled together. Dimitri, your tracking team. Are they still occupied with the Sousa village?”
Luka couldn’t stop the sigh of relief that rushed from his lungs. He slumped in his seat, his head coming to rest on Vasily’s big, strong shoulder. It hadn’t occurred to him that Rodrigo might not believe them or think it was all some fantasy, but when he’d listened to Vasily talking, he understood the king’s point of view. This was coming from a dream. They had nothing concrete to go on.
But then, the very first mage discovered in five centuries had been located by accident in the middle of a festival. Who was to say they couldn’t find a lost mage civilization in a dream?
“Ilya is the only tracker we have working the village at the moment. He’s overseeing a few other dragons who are protecting the mages scanning the materials and taking notes on the village. The last of the old Jaeggi explosives were taken out by Gregori over a month ago,” Dimitri explained. “To start, I’d like to keep this as small as possible since we’re not entirely sure this is the right location. I propose myself, Vasily, and Luka scout the area. Sam would need to be there if we do encounter Sousa technology.”
“I think you should take another mage with you,” Ha Na chimed in. “Supposing you do find this trapped Sousa and you can get him free, it’s likely he may need some medical attention. Also, if you think I am not going, you are sadly mistaken.”
Rodrigo lifted Ha Na’s hand to his lips and brushed a kiss across her knuckles. “Excellent point. On both accounts, as I am not staying behind either. That said, Evora, could you select a talented healer to accompany the scouting party?”
Evora snorted. “If you think I’m not going, you are once again sadly mistaken. I’m sure Thiago feels the same way.” She directed her smirk at Dimitri. “Though, if Ravi Burkhard hears about this, he will invite himself into joining your party as well.”
Luka shuddered. Chaos in dragon form. Dimitri had told more than a few stories about the havoc Ravi wreaked in the Burkhard Clan. But Ravi was also a fast wind dragon and a skilled fighter. They shouldn’t need his fighting skills, but with mages present, protection of those precious people was their top priority.
Rodrigo nodded. “Evora, approach the Abe and get them up to date and on standby. Dimitri, when can you be ready to leave?”
