“Two hours,” King Roca repeated with something that sounded suspiciously like a pathetic pout.
“However…” Ravi had his phone up and was typing away. “There is a cute little restaurant that Cassie has located. Just outside Munich. Specializes in soups and sandwiches. We can grab a quick bite to tide everyone over until we reach the castle.”
His mother placed her hand on Ravi’s arm, pulling his gaze up to her face. “Please don’t let these grumpy dragons and my mate disrupt your schedule.”
“Nope. Not a problem. I’ve already texted King Alric and explained that we’re going to be delayed about ninety minutes while we grab a bite to help give us the strength to finish the last leg of your journey. He will completely understand. Everything is under control.”
Sora could only watch in awe as Ravi worked. With a practiced ease and jovial disposition, the smaller man flitted between Sora’s parents, the two kings, their mates, and even the bodyguards, making sure everyone had their bags, the rental SUVs had been acquired, the bags were loaded, and everyone was settled. The wind dragon even winked at him as he dropped behind the wheel of the Burkhard SUV and set off for the restaurant.
“You act like you’ve done this all before,” Sora said quietly as his parents chatted with the bodyguards who’d been assigned to their vehicle.
Ravi maneuvered the massive black SUV away from the airport with ease. “What do you mean?”
“You didn’t even blink when they started talking about food. And how did you even get them to move out of baggage claim as a group? It’s like trying to keep a dozen cats moving in the same direction. When we finally got outside, I thought King Chalo was going to lie down in that grassy area, but you kept him moving.”
Ravi threw his head back and laughed. “I feel like I’ve been watching over Hoheit my entire life. And when King Rodrigo came to see us for the first time, I was around to help with the Valerii Clan.”
“You think King Alric and King Rodrigo are a lot like this group?”
“Totally.”
Sora chewed on his bottom lip for a second. He really couldn’t see it. He’d not spent much time with King Alric, yet. Another laugh from Ravi drew him from his thoughts.
“In my experience, kings are always preoccupied with big ideas and problems for the clan. They don’t think about things like eating and sleeping. Until Cameron came along, I had to regularly place food in front of Alric to remind him to eat.”
A smile toyed with Sora’s lips. “And if he says he’s hungry?”
“Feed him. Feed him quickly. No one wants to deal with a hungry, grumpy dragon king.”
Sora chortled and shook his head. In the rearview mirror, he caught a glimpse of his mother’s knowing grin, but he said nothing. Oh, they would be having a long talk in the very near future. There was no avoiding that. She’d want to know every scrap of information when it came to Ravi. Not that he could blame her. He was the only child of Ryu and Yuki of the Abe clan. He was one of the few mages born to the Sodalicium who hadn’t yet found a mate. It had been bad enough that the two queens had started plotting to help him find a mate.
But he’d found his mate in Ravi, a lone wind dragon who was a member of the Burkhard Fire Dragon Clan. Yes, she would definitely want to know everything about the dragon who was quickly laying claim to every bit of Sora’s heart.
The dragons and mages descended on the unsuspecting restaurant with ravenous appetites. Ravi jumped to the foreground once again, managing the Sodalicium members and expertly directing the wait staff as they stood in shock at the size of the party.
Good food and even better wine helped to put everyone in an excellent mood once again. For now, the Jaeggi were forgotten as stories were shared over delicious cheese and sausages. The Sodalicium dragons and mages talked about their long flight to Switzerland, while Ravi and Sora shared the story of how they’d first met in town. Ravi, with a bit of embarrassment, revealed how he’d come to be the internet sensation who launched the Great Reveal, as it was being called.
And, to Sora’s shock, Ravi had everyone walking back toward the SUVs approximately ninety minutes later. He had them on a schedule, and they were sticking to it. Amazingly, he managed to do it without rushing anyone.
Unfortunately, the Jaeggi had other plans.
Four cars rushed into the restaurant parking lot in a cloud of dirt and squealing tires. They had just been talking about how to divide up into the cars for the drive to Germany when the group appeared. Sora hated to admit it, but they all had stood dumbfounded for a moment, staring as the cars blocked the exits and a dozen mages jumped out.
There was something off…something strange about their magic. Something—
“Jaeggi,” Ravi snarled from beside him, sending a chill down his spine.
He’d never expected to hear such a vicious, blood-thirsty tone from sweet Ravi, but then his voice sounded more dragon than man at that moment.
Ravi shoved Sora behind him as he stepped forward, placing his body between the Jaeggi and their group. “It’s the Jaeggi! Protect the mages!”
The dragons immediately jumped into action, herding the five mages into a group while the dragon kings and two of the bodyguards formed a protective ring around them.
Meanwhile, Ravi and the other four bodyguards shifted into their dragon forms, forming an additional wall of scales, fangs, talons, and wings. The earth trembled under their feet, and the air split with angry roars.
Sora tried not to think about Ravi fighting the Jaeggi but focused on the orders from the other mages. His father started pulling together protective spells as the dragons fought. Sora stood by with his mother, prepared to offer up instantaneous healing spells. His strength had always lain in the healing arts rather than aggressive spells for combat, though he knew a few.
The earth shook under the command of the massive earth dragons, their emerald scales glinting in the midday sun. The metal dragons were a cool mix of black and grey, their scales even thicker and harder than other dragons.
But Sora’s heart skipped a beat to see the small blue dragon weaving in and out of the fray, darting around like an oversized hummingbird, blasting the Jaeggi back toward their cars with brutal gusts of wind. Sora had spent his entire life around dragons. Seeing the air and ground filled with them was nothing new. But he was sure he’d never seen anyone as elegant or graceful as Ravi in flight.
“He’s such a beautiful wind dragon,” his mother whispered in wonder.
“Yes, he’s magnificent,” Sora murmured in return, unable to tear his eyes away.
Ravi worked seamlessly with the other dragons, adding his own talents so they perfectly complemented each other. It was like he’d been fighting alongside them for decades.
The fight was shockingly brief. The Jaeggi must have been able to sense the gathering of mages, but possibly hadn’t realized those mages were accompanied by so many dragons. They’d been outgunned from the start.
Within minutes, they were jumping back into their cars and tearing off into traffic with more squealing tires and honking horns.
Three of the bodyguards went in pursuit, while Ravi seemed to hang in the air for a moment, staring after the cars. He looked down at Sora and the mage had a feeling Ravi was torn between following them and returning to him. To help him decide, Sora lifted his hand toward Ravi.