all the bullets he could find and continued to search the room. Moving around the tables, he approached a pair of metal shelves. They were dusty and didn’t have a lot on them, except for the bottom shelves. They both held medium-sized boxes covered in even more dust. Looking back toward the door, he carefully pulled one of the boxes off the shelf and lifted the flaps. His heart flipped over and Cameron had to bite his lower lip to hold in his cry of joy. Cleaning supplies. Really old, nasty cleaning supplies. They were perfect.
Of course, he could hear his Introduction to Mechanical Engineering professor smugly pointing out that he should have gone into combustion and the environment as his area of focus rather than mechanical design, but Cameron would manage. He’d aced his chemistry coursework. Add in a little magic and he could…well, he wasn’t going to try to make a bomb. He was just as likely to blow himself up as he was the Jaeggi, but he certainly had what he needed to make some small explosives and maybe even some smoke bombs. Distractions and chaos. That’s all he needed to get away from these assholes. Once he was back with Alric, the Burkhard clan could deal with them on more even footing.
Placing the bottles and containers of cleaning supplies on the table in front of him, Cameron started mentally pulling together a few possible designs for devices. The trick was holding the chemicals apart until he was ready for them to mix or ignite. Lisette had taught him an incredibly easy bubble spell that could be used to hold the materials, but it would mean pulling power from Alric.
Out of all of his plans, this was the part that scared him the most. His magical connection had steadily grown with Alric. Cameron wasn’t at all used to the idea of having it, although the connection was definitely there. But when he’d drawn that energy from Alric, the dragon had always been somewhere in the castle near him. What if he was too far away now? He could feel Alric’s emotions, but they were faint, almost a ghost in his chest. He didn’t know what he’d do if he reached out now and couldn’t feel Alric’s power. Would it be like losing a limb?
Gripping the edge of the table, Cameron forced himself to draw in several deep breaths through his nose and released them out through his mouth. He slowed his heart and tried to calm the fear attempting to cloud his mind. Even if he couldn’t reach Alric’s magic, it didn’t mean Alric wasn’t out there. His dragon was coming for him. Cameron was just trying to even the odds and give the Burkhard clan the advantage.
When he’d centered himself as much as he could, Cameron tentatively reached out along the path he knew was there. The connection was instantaneous. Cameron gasped and slapped his hand over his mouth to hold in the relieved sob that broke from his throat. Alric. His beautiful, perfect Alric. He tried to just sip a little power, but with the first touch, it slammed into him like a massive ocean wave. It was as if Alric had sensed his touch and rushed to him. Even now, it wrapped tightly around him. Cameron clenched his eyes shut, holding onto the mental image of Alric wrapping his strong arms around Cameron. Feelings of relief, fear, and love swamped him. He tried to send back love and reassurances that he was okay. He needed Alric to know he was loved, just in case things went horribly wrong and he never got the chance to say them to his face. Alric had to know how much Cameron loved him.
Reluctantly, Cameron opened his eyes and reassured himself that his guards weren’t rushing in to stop him. He didn’t know if they could sense his magical connection to Alric or if this was all part of their plan for him as bait. He didn’t care. He was busting out of this place, and if he managed to take out some of the building and some of the Jaeggi Clan, then so be it.
Wiping his eyes with the back of his hand, Cameron set to work creating his evil little bombs while maintaining the open line between him and Alric. It was like having his lover’s hand resting on his shoulder, always there with him.
And soon, they would be together again in person.
Because nobody fucked with his