“I need an address,” is how Baldewin greeted him.
Cameron smacked his forehead for not considering the logistics of sending help. “I’ll text it to you now. How soon can you guys catch a flight?”
Baldewin snorted as if he’d just asked a silly question. “We’re flying, young mage. No planes for us, although we’ll take one on the way back to accommodate your sister. Lisette, I have the Noh Amulet on me.”
“Wait,” Lisette cautioned, hurrying around the front of the car. “I’ll put some power in it so it works. I assume Cassie is a mage but test her parents and grandmother too while you’re over there. Make sure.”
Baldewin just nodded.
Cameron got sidetracked from his question and asked the more immediate one. “If they all test positive, will you bring them all back?”
“We’ll have to,” Sasha answered, then look to Alric. “Correct, Hoheit? If they found Cassie, they can find everyone else too.”
“Correct.” Alric turned to Cameron, his hands splayed apologetically. “I do not wish to force anyone’s hands, but their safety is our priority. We need them here to safeguard.”
Cameron actually would prefer it. “I’ll call my parents, then, and Halmeoni. Tell them what’s going to happen. Baldewin, that’s Cassie’s address. Make sure to say hello before barging in, otherwise you’re getting a baseball bat to the face.”
Baldewin grinned at him. “I like your sister already. Sasha, let’s go.”
They grabbed up bags, throwing the handles over their necks before shifting into dragon form. The bags they must have had custom made, as the handles were just long enough to go around their necks and fit to the base of their throat. In seconds, they shook out their deep, maroon colored wings and were flapping and lifting off. Cameron ducked in closer to Alric to avoid their beating wings and the backlash of wind. Once they cleared the rooftop, and he could hear again, he asked Alric urgently, “I still don’t understand why they’re not flying via jet over there? Wouldn’t that be faster?”
Alric clearly had other things he needed to get to—he was antsy and shifting on his feet, but he took a moment to answer. “In fact, we can fly as fast as a commercial jet. Or near enough to make no difference. By flying directly there themselves, they avoid the delay of airports. They’ll reach Cassie in roughly seven hours.”
A dragon’s speed was that of a jet’s? Seriously?! Cameron stared at him for a long second, trying to compute that and mostly failing. “Wow. Yeah, okay.”
Alric’s head turned, and he started shifting that direction before catching himself. “Cameron, I’ll come to you later and we’ll speak, but I have to attend to several things right now.”
“Yeah, it’s okay, go,” Cameron urged him. Alric’s responsibilities were more important than answering all of his questions right now. Cameron could ask them later.
Alric gave him a thankful nod, his hand squeezing Cameron’s once in reassurance before he turned on his heels and hurried off. He called out to people as he made his way quickly into the castle.
Giving himself a shake, Cameron went into a different door, heading up to his bedroom. There were things he needed to do as well. Once there, he threw himself into the chair in front of the cold fireplace and applied himself to making many, many phone calls. Starting with his parents.
The bad guys had caught his family unaware twice. It was time to reverse those tables and get the upper hand as much as possible.
* * *
The phone calls didn’t go all that well. Cameron spent a good three hours talking to everyone. His parents were understandably upset someone was targeting their children. They wanted both him and Cassie to come home—and what good would that do? Cameron argued against it, Cassie argued against it, and in the end his parents relented and agreed that being surrounded by dragons did sound safer.
With them settled, it became a waiting game. Cassie kept her phone on her, Facetime up so that he could keep an eye on the situation. They didn’t say much to each other, just waited. Cameron paced the room more than once, burning off nervous energy. Cassie, on the other side of the ocean, did the same.
Dieter joined him seven hours in with a relieved smile. “Cameron. Sasha just called. They’ve landed outside of the city and they’re in a taxi now, heading toward your sister.”
He let out a breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding. “Thank god. Hear that, Cassie?”
“Loud and clear,” Cassie responded, sounding relieved.
Dieter came over to lean over his shoulder and see the phone. “Hello, Cassie. I’m Dieter. We haven’t met yet. I am the king’s advisor.”
Cassie waved back. “Hi, Dieter, nice to meet you.”
“And you. We want to fly you back on a jet. It’s a bit hard for us to hold a passenger for such a long flight. May I have your information so that I can buy a ticket for you?”