tires and honking horns.
Three of the bodyguards went in pursuit, while Ravi seemed to hang in the air for a moment, staring after the cars. He looked down at Sora and the mage had a feeling Ravi was torn between following them and returning to him. To help him decide, Sora lifted his hand toward Ravi.
The gorgeous blue dragon turned in an instant and darted down to him. He threw his broad slate-blue wings out to catch the wind and slow his descent. Closing them again, he dropped suddenly, landing directly in front of Sora in his human form.
“Are you hurt? Did they touch you?” Ravi demanded. One hand cupped Sora’s cheek while the other swept across his chest as if checking him for injuries.
Warmth and joy poured through Sora’s veins and wrapped tight around his heart. His beautiful, funny dragon. “I’m fine. They never touched me. What about you? You’re the one who is still recovering from the explosion.”
“I’m fine. They didn’t lay a hand or a spell on me.”
“Good.”
Ravi sighed heavily. He dropped his hand from Sora’s cheek to rest it on his chest.
“Yes, all the mages are just fine,” his mother tossed in, making Ravi wince. The dragon blushed and cleared his throat.
“Sorry. Yes. Of course. I’m so glad you’re all safe. I—”
“This is outrageous!” thundered King Chalo. The king of the Earth Dragons stomped over in his human form, and the earth gave an answering quake. “They attacked us! In broad daylight!”
“And they thought they could steal our mages!” King Roca added.
“Not a chance of that happening,” his mate said with a snort.
“They’ve been this bold for nearly a year,” Ravi explained. He shook his head and looked back over his shoulder, at the place where the four cars had blockaded the parking lot. “We don’t know why they’re doing this, but they are growing more aggressive.”
“More aggressive?” Sora’s father repeated. His eyes widened, and his mouth hung open. Sora couldn’t remember ever seeing such a look of shock on his face.
“That’s enough for me,” King Chalo growled. “Whatever help Alric wants, he’s getting it. Mages, dragons, weapons. All we’ve got.”
The king of the Metal Dragons nodded. “We’re crushing the Jaeggi once and for all. They won’t harm another dragon or mage.”
Sora chuckled as Ravi’s mouth bobbed open and closed several times, but no words came out. Yes, the Burkhard dragons were soon going to find themselves up to their eyeballs in the Sodalicium. They would finally solve their Jaeggi problem, making it safe for dragons and mages to find each other once again.
“Thank you. I—we—wow, yes…” Ravi sucked in a harsh breath and laughed. “King Alric is going to be thrilled, but we need to get moving now.”
Ravi looked around the other dragons toward the restaurant, and Sora joined him. The other customers and staff were standing in the windows with their phones lifted.
Yep, this was definitely going to be on the internet in a matter of minutes, if it wasn’t already. So much for King Alric’s attempts to control the dragon message. Sora suspected all the kings were going to be stuck doing damage control interviews.
Sora jumped back into the front seat of the SUV he’d been riding in while Ravi ushered the dragons into their SUVs. He breathed a deep sigh of relief. He hadn’t been worried that the Sodalicium would hesitate to help the Burkhard Clan, but it was nice to know King Alric had their full support before they’d even arrived.
A small hand squeezed his arm, and Sora looked around to find his mother smiling at him. “Ravi is quite amazing in a fight. He’s so fast.”
“Wind dragons are fast.”
She made a little noise in the back of her throat. “He’s fast even for a wind dragon, and so very dedicated to your safety.”
Okay, so maybe he had nothing to say to that. Ravi was sweetly concerned over his well-being; Sora couldn’t deny it and didn’t want to.
She patted his arm and started to sit back in her seat again. “He’s going to fit in perfectly with the Sodalicium.”
Sora turned back to face forward, a boulder sinking in his stomach. He hadn’t thought of that. It was clear that his mother, and very likely his father, expected him to return home after they were done dealing with the Jaeggi.
But, was that what he wanted?
And what about Ravi? Would the wind dragon even consider coming to live with the rest of the Sodalicium?
Just as the questions were starting to churn in his