had most of their meals together. That first date had gone very well, and Ravi was pleased as punch that Sora felt the same way about it. They were coordinating their schedules as much as possible to spend even more time together. Even with errands, like when Sora needed to get his things from the hotel. Yes, they’d also wrangled Warin into the trip because the edict was two dragons per mage, but at least Warin already had his own mate. Warin had no designs on the sexy Sora, happy to leave him to Ravi’s antics.
“Whoa! Excellent! Congratulations, you’re a mage,” North was saying excitedly.
Ravi tore his attention back to North to see an older woman’s mouth fall open as the green light from the amulet started to fade away. Ravi cursed his lack of attention span. He hadn’t even seen the last applicant walk away or this new one walk up.
He needed to keep his mind on the task at hand, which was protecting North and keeping an eye on all the people gathered in front of the castle.
As it had happened the last time a mage was identified, camera flashes started popping and the rest of the media, who were hemmed off several yards away, jostled a couple inches closer to get a good view of the newly identified mage.
Ever since the interviews had started, there had been a horde of reporters camped outside the castle walls, trying to get an interview with anyone who lived inside.
As Ravi had experienced firsthand, there were even more in the town, lurking around every corner and hiding in the shadows, waiting for someone from the castle to stumble across their path.
Alric was maintaining his ban on anyone speaking to the press without his approval. For now, he was trying to carefully guide the message from the dragon and mage camp as well as protect any mages.
A week had passed since the first television interview, and the crowd of people outside their gates hadn’t waned. People would leave, but more would show up to take their place each day.
The first couple of days had been hectic, but Cameron and Lisette immediately organized a way to gather information about each person before they were tested, and then the rest of the mages were assigned shifts to conduct the tests.
Baldewin wasn’t thrilled about it. He’d doubled the number of dragons guarding the entrance and making rounds of the castle walls. It had been centuries since this many people had been close to the castle. Hopefully, Tori was somewhere soothing the frazzled dragon.
“Ha! I just beat Gisa,” North crowed before the next would-be mage stepped forward.
“How?”
“She didn’t find any mages during her shift this morning and was grumbling about it. Now I’ve got one! Including the one I found on the first day of tests, that’s two!” North held up two fingers and did a little celebratory wiggle.
Ravi laughed and shook his head. Five new mages in less than a week. It was astounding after so long without finding any.
North finished giving directions to the old woman, explaining where to enter the castle and that she’d be met by another dragon who would show her around and introduce her to the other mages. He turned back to the line and was greeted by a nervous-looking woman. Her eyes darted from North to Ravi to the other dragons around the courtyard, not that Ravi blamed her. Between the ravenous media, the sudden reappearance of dragons, and this new chance that anyone could be a mage, most people arrived with nervous, overwhelmed, or even dazed expressions.
“Don’t worry. This isn’t going to hurt a bit,” Ravi reassured her.
She offered him a grateful smile as North placed the amulet in her hand. Bright green light glowed from the amulet in an instant, and North gasped.
“Holy crap! That’s two in a row!”
“I’m a mage? Really? Are you sure?” she asked in heavily accented English, though Ravi couldn’t quite place what her native tongue might be. Definitely European, maybe Eastern European.
“Definitely! Congrats!” North laughed.
He stepped to the side and quickly delivered the same instructions he’d just given the old woman. She must have overheard him the first time because she was already walking toward the castle at a brisk pace before North could even finish talking.
As she got several yards away from them, the wind shifted enough that a distinct smell hit Ravi’s nose and nearly knocked his knees out from beneath him. He couldn’t be right. He jerked around and