All the same, he would have liked to walk this bridge with Sora, pointing out his favorite saint statues.
Ravi shook his head, trying to clear away thoughts of his mate. He needed to focus. There would be time enough to come here with his sweet honey bear.
The night was cool for summer, which the fire dragons would have enjoyed. That thought sent a wave of homesickness through Ravi, nearly making him trip. A few thin tendrils of fog clawed their way up from the river, and some of the sidewalks were wet from shopkeepers cleaning the area in front of their stores. Most of the lights were extinguished, except for the old wrought-iron lamps casting down a warm yellow glow against the encroaching gloom.
The night held a grim spookiness, as if something were watching from the shadows as they followed Thomas.
The midnight-blue sky twinkled overhead with pinpoints of stars. A few thin black clouds slithered by, seemingly on a late evening stroll over the city. A couple other people were walking across the bridge, heading toward Old Town. They spoke loudly, and there was a whiff of alcohol on the air. Likely tourists enjoying a night out.
As they had before, Ravi slunk slowly along the north side of the bridge, while Sahan stayed to the south side. They paused, allowing Thomas to get a good distance ahead of them while still keeping him in sight. They remained close to the statues, trying to sink into their shadows for cover.
If Thomas followed his usual route, they’d cross the bridge and meander toward Prague Castle before turning back toward Old Town and his flat. Thomas was giving no indication that tonight would be any different.
Passing by St. John of Nepomuk, Ravi ran his hand along the pedestal, hoping that whatever luck the old saint was tossing around would hit him. Not that he knew what that luck looked like. Maybe it would prevent himself and Sahan from being discovered? Or make Thomas finally lead them to a meeting of the Jaeggi?
They slowly crossed the bridge. The sounds of the river Vltava splashing and breaking on the banks and against the stonework rose up in the silence of the early morning hours. They could hear only Thomas’s steady footsteps as they darted from statue to statue, trying to get through the yellow circles of light that dotted the bridge.
When they were three-quarters of the way across the bridge, Thomas suddenly stopped in the middle of the path. Ravi froze, his heart leaping into his throat. This was new. Had they made a sound and given themselves away?
Ravi quickly glanced over at Sahan to find him crouched beside a statue of St. Joseph. He shrugged at Ravi, indicating that he didn’t know why Thomas was suddenly stopping.
“Really? I deserve better than this,” Thomas called out.
A chill ran up Ravi’s spine, but he still didn’t move. Who was Thomas talking to?
That question was answered when Thomas suddenly turned around and looked directly at Ravi. He knew they were there.
“You’ve been following me for…what? Five days? Have you discovered what you need?” The man’s voice was deep and taunting, slicing through Ravi.
He’d been sure that Thomas had never spotted them, never sensed them with magic.
Moving away from the statue, Ravi took a few careful steps closer to Thomas, his hands balled into tight fists at his sides. Five days of lurking and sneaking. Five days without his mate. Five days without fucking sleep.
“How?” he demanded.
Thomas barked out an ugly laugh. “You think I can’t smell a dragon?”
Sahan moved over to Ravi’s side, his cousin practically vibrating with rage.
“It doesn’t matter. We’ve watched your every step, known about your every move.”
“You know what I wanted you to know.”
Something dark and sinister started to uncoil itself in Ravi’s stomach, and he took a half-step backward. This was wrong. All of it was very wrong. Reaching out, he grabbed the sleeve of Sahan’s jacket. Two dragons against one mage whose magic was broken should not be a problem, but Ravi couldn’t shake the feeling that something was very wrong.
“You’ve forgotten who the Jaeggi are,” Thomas continued. He took a step closer to them, crossing into the light of one of the old lamps. He’d aged significantly in the past year. His black hair and beard were liberally sprinkled with white. His large frame seemed to have slimmed, but his jaw remained square and blunt like a nutcracker’s. “We are the hunters