Page 92 of Scales ’N’ Spells: Volume One

Lisette spoke sharply, “Aese!”

All of the spells cancelled at once. The mages let them go with a sigh of relief, then looked at Alric in worry.

Cameron didn’t like what he’d heard, not one iota. They’d known someone had hunted him for his mage ability. They’d gone after Cassie for the same reason. But somehow, suspecting it and hearing a man admit to it openly were two very different things. It shook him more than he cared to admit. He didn’t want to be hunted by that clan. He didn’t want to be taken from the happiness he’d finally found here.

And if they tried, well, Cameron would fight back tooth and nail. He might only know the basics in magic, but he wasn’t easy to take down. He’d already proven that once.

Alric turned to him, catching the back of his neck and tilting his head down to rest lightly against Alric’s own forehead. He closed his eyes for a moment, breathing this man in, feeling the heat of his anger even now.

“They will not have you,” Alric promised him in a low, rough voice as if he were roaring on some internal level. “I swear to you on that.” Lifting his head, he looked to Cassie and Halmeoni. “They will not have anyone from the Noh Clan. We know where our enemy is, who they are. And that’s all I need to know.”

Cameron shivered a little under the intense expression on Alric’s face. He’d never seen fury like this, with his teeth bared, eyes hard, and a visible tic at the corner of his jaw. The world had already been through the ringer once because of that clan. And Alric was perfectly willing to go to battle with them again.

And damn the consequences.

Alric slammed the door to his private chambers shut with a loud bang and stalked across the room. Fire dragons had a horrible reputation for being short-fused hotheads, but Alric was proud to say it was rare for him to lose his temper.

But this—the Jaeggi’s return, the threat against Cameron—he couldn’t stomach it. Couldn’t fucking think past the rage boiling in his blood.

How dare they even think they could touch Cameron? Did they believe him to be so weak he couldn’t protect his mage? His clan? It was utter nonsense.

When he’d been a young dragon, he’d shift and take off. He’d fly high and far from his clan. The world, his problems, his clan would all fall away and there was only the sound of wind rushing by his face. He’d fly until his wings burned and ached from exhaustion, until there was only a cold numbness in his chest that allowed logic to claim his mind again. Only then would he think about turning back to his home.

But now he was stuck in this wretched, weak and damaged body. There was no more flying to escape and clear his mind.

Snarling, he snatched up a ceramic vase and threw it as hard as he could against the stones of the fireplace. The crash and explosion of porcelain was satisfying but not nearly enough. His dragon roared in his head, demanding he summon all of his people to fly to that town and burn it to ash. Wipe it off the face of the earth and erase all evidence the Jaeggi existed.

His human brain struggled to come up with a good reason why they couldn’t do just that.

Instead, his eyes darted around the room, searching for something else to throw. Maybe if he smashed enough things, his temper would finally cool enough to figure out how to take care of this problem once and for all.

There was a knock on his door and Alric jerked. “What?” he barked.

Now was not a good time to be disturbed. He needed to be alone, to give in to his anger and pain for just a little while. He deserved that one luxury after centuries of tight control and bottling everything up for what was best for his people.

He knew before the door even opened it was Cameron. The last time he’d caught his scent, but this time, it was a feeling. There was a tug deep in his soul, and he just knew Cameron was coming to check on him.

His dragon roared again. He didn’t want Cameron to see him like this. He didn’t want Cameron to steal away his fury. The anger and destruction were better, powerful.

The mage entered Alric’s chambers and closed the door behind him, his dark brown eyes worried as they swept around the room. They paused for a second on the vase shards in front of the empty fireplace, then moved on to Alric again.

“Hey.”

“It’s not a good time, Cameron,” Alric ground out in a low voice.

Cameron nodded, but still walked farther into the room. “Yeah, I got that when you stormed off, practically vibrating with anger. I thought you might want to talk about it.”

“Talk? What the hell is there to talk about?” Alric made a scoffing noise in the back of his throat and paced away from Cameron. “The Jaeggi are back, they are well aware of the Burkhard clan, and they are trying to kidnap you.” He still wanted to throw something, but not while Cameron’s eyes were on him. Even as he wanted to scream in frustration, he was trying to pack all his ugly emotions deep inside of him where no one could see them. It would be better if Cameron just left him alone.

“I thought we could talk about how I’m safe here in the castle. Or the fact the presence of the Jaeggi isn’t your fault. Or anything else that might be driving you to smash things.”

Alric shook his head. “I don’t want to talk. I…I just need time and space to think.”

“Uh-huh,” Cameron muttered. His tone made it perfectly clear he didn’t believe a damn word Alric was saying.

Alric swung back around, searching for some way to get Cameron to leave that wouldn’t result in him hurting his feelings. Before he could find any words that would sway the mage, he was knocked speechless by Cameron grabbing the bottom of his T-shirt and pulling it up over his head. He stood shocked at the sudden vision of beautiful smooth skin pulled over taut muscles with only the smallest sprinkling of hair below his belly button. With the chaos happening around them with the Jaeggi, the arrival of Cameron’s family, and other duties, they’d been able to spend only the one night together. Not nearly enough time for Alric to explore all of Cameron’s perfection.

“What?” he choked out.