dragon.
Unadulterated panic thrummed through Alric like a heartbeat. It writhed in his chest, demanded immediate action. The instinct was so strong that he had to battle it back. Panicking wouldn’t help Cameron. Wouldn’t help Alric find him.
Right now, more than anything, Alric needed to be a king. Not a lover, frantic for his young mage’s safety.
So even though his inner dragon beat and raged at him to move, he didn’t. He stayed calm and tried to think logically of the best way to find his missing heart. “Baldewin, have Lisette start seeking spells immediately. If she can’t focus”—entirely possible, she was worried about Dieter and distracted—“then get someone else.”
Baldewin gave him a sharp nod and turned, heading off at a run through the hallway.
Ha Na passed him, at as fast of a run as she could manage, her face constricted with worry. “Alric. I heard something about Cameron being taken?”
“Ja,” Alric said thickly. God, this was hard to say. “He was taken while out with Dieter and Warin. An ambush. We’re doing seeking spells now to find him.”
Ha Na’s dark eyes blazed with fury. That wasn’t metaphorical, either. Magic sparked all around her as her temper snapped. “Who’s doing the spell?”
“Lisette, I hope. Baldewin is arranging it.”
Without another word, she turned with military precision and hurried back down the hall. Alric was glad she was so quick to move. Cameron’s blood sample should be able to narrow the spell’s seeking radius. After all, they would have direct blood to work with. He could spare no worry for either Dieter or Warin just then. They were shaky and in pain, but would recover quickly. His concern had to be for Cameron now, who had no such guarantee.
Alric breathed out, forcing himself to slow down and think. Dragons. He needed to assemble a rescue party. He yanked his phone out of his pocket, calling Ravi.
“Hoheit,” Ravi answered, for once terse and upset instead of sounding cheerful.
“Ravi, I need a rescue party. Form one up, we’re moving in ten minutes.”
“Already forming, Hoheit. Basically, the entire clan has heard by now what’s going on, and they’re all gathering in the courtyard, just waiting on a direction.”
Alric’s eyes fluttered shut for a second under an intense wave of gratitude. He’d known no one would take a missing clan member lightly. “I’ll thank them in a moment.”
“You know how we roll. If anyone threatens one of us, we all roll initiative.”
“Ravi. Did you—did you just make a DnD joke? Now, of all times?”
“I was trying to make you laugh and ease the tension. It worked.”
“I didn’t laugh.” But Alric had almost smiled, for a moment. Until the tension of the situation came back like a sledgehammer to the back of his head.
“Hoheit, he’s alright. You know that.”
“I do. I can feel him still.” And likely pissed off, if he knew Cameron. His lover was not the fainting damsel in distress.
Ravi huffed out a breath of relief. “Oh good. Alright, I think basically everyone is formed up here. Uh, how worried are we about people seeing us?”
“Fuck that noise,” Alric bit off succinctly.
Ravi cackled. Outright cackled. “I’m so going to tell people you said that later. Hey guys, he said fuck it, just go!”
An instantaneous roar rang outside, loud enough it shook the castle. Alric’s own dragon shook in response. Yes, the time for laying low had passed. Dragons had always fought for what they wanted and burned their enemies without remorse. Right now, a little burning sounded good for the soul.
Alric stalked through the nearest courtyard door. The dragons were indeed ready to go, most of them already having shifted forms. He took in the sight of them as he moved. They were perched along the roofs, stretched out over the gables, their wings half unfurled, ready to take into the air at the first notice. It was like the roof was carpeted in a sea of red. Others milled about the courtyard, unable to stand still as they waited for orders. All eyes were on him as he stepped outside, and Alric raised his voice to reach every corner of the courtyard.
“They’re doing a seeking spell now. As soon as we have a direction, we’ll fly!”
Sasha stepped in closer to him and ducked her head. “Hoheit, I’ll be honored to fly you in.”
Before he could get his mouth open, Ravi’s hand landed on her shoulder. “Thanks, Sasha. I’ve got him. Be my wingwoman?”
“Sure.” Sasha checked with her eyes that this was alright with Alric, and