Page 225 of Scales ’N’ Spells: Volume Two

Cameron made a little noise as he reached for Alric. “We have no problem helping a human.”

“But it’s good to know before we go in,” Roca murmured. He tapped the side of his nose as he smiled at Lina. “Humans smell different from mages. Something for our dragons to keep in mind when they go looking for him.”

“My siblings should be sticking close to my parents, but yes, he’s one of the few humans in the clan,” Lina said.

Alric pushed to his feet and paced a short distance away from the table. Nikki tensed, and Gunter grabbed their hand in both of his. Even Cameron looked worried as he watched his mate.

After nearly a minute, Alric shook his head at some thought and turned back to stare at Lina. “I will be frank with you, Miss Lina,” he started slowly. “Our intent is to use this information to attack and destroy your clan.”

Lina nodded. “I know. I know I don’t have any choice in the matter, but I don’t want them to be my clan. I don’t want anything to do with them. They deserve what they get for hurting so many people.”

“But the battle that comes with that means chaos, destruction, and death. You are requesting we find four people amidst thousands while we are fighting. I won’t make promises I can’t keep.”

The poor teenager’s shoulders slumped, and she nodded.

“But I can promise we will try our very best to find them. And if we do find them, we will protect them as if they were members of our own clans.”

“You will?” Lina gasped.

Alric nodded, and she roughly wiped tears from her sparkling eyes with the heels of her palms.

“Is there any way we could get them a message without the rest of the Jaeggi finding out?” Roca asked.

Lina slowly shook her head. “Cellphones are closely monitored, and calls are tracked. I don’t think we’d be able to call or text.”

Rodrigo’s mouth twisted into a scowl. “An old-fashioned letter would take too long and be too obvious.”

“What about email? No! Junk mail?” Cameron asked.

“Regular email would be monitored, but I doubt they pay attention to junk mail. There’s just too much of it.” Lina seemed to perk up the more she spoke. “My mom has an email account, and she gets a bunch of random emails each day from different retailers offering sales. She reads all of them. She says it makes her feel normal. Her little taste of the outside world.”

“Liebling?” Alric murmured.

“I’d need to work with Cassie and maybe even North to see what we could construct quickly that wouldn’t arouse suspicion, but I think we might be able to get a message to her parents without the rest of the Jaeggi finding it.” Cameron nodded and smiled at his mate. “Yes, I’m pretty sure we can if you give us a day or two. Lina, is there anyone else who wants to defect?”

“Yes, five families altogether. You’ll really help them too?”

Cameron’s eyes were on Alric’s, a silent communication going between them before Alric answered, “Yes. Anyone who wishes to leave, we will help.”

Alric turned his attention back to Lina. “We agree to your terms. We’ll do what we can to rescue and protect your parents and siblings. What can you tell us?”

“How many are in the Jaeggi Clan?” Chalo demanded.

“Where the hell are they?” Roca growled.

“Hey!” Nikki snapped, slamming their hand down on the table. They leaned forward to glare down the table at the earth and metal dragons. “She’s a kid. Give her a second.”

Both kings looked chastened while Rodrigo stifled a laugh. Nikki threw a warning look over his shoulder at Alric for good measure, and the dragon just grinned. They were all crazy.

“There’s roughly eighteen hundred in the clan total. I think last I heard, the main core of the clan was about thirteen hundred. Another four hundred are assigned to hunting and gathering supplies—both food and elements.” Lina paused and rubbed her forehead. “And then about eighty or so scouts. They’re the ones looking for other mages to bring back to the clan.”

“Do you know if they’re currently holding any other mages like me?” Nikki asked.

“A few,” she said, wincing. “Not as many as usual. They lost a lot in the attack in Czechia. With the clan scrambling, they haven’t brought many new ones in.”

“That’s good,” Rodrigo murmured. “If they don’t have a lot of mages on hand to drain, they might not have a lot of magical firepower to fight us with.”

“Where are they?” Alric demanded.