Total pages in book: 138
Estimated words: 129584 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 648(@200wpm)___ 518(@250wpm)___ 432(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 129584 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 648(@200wpm)___ 518(@250wpm)___ 432(@300wpm)
There was no missing the way Cameron melted against his dragon.
“Silly romantic dragon,” he whispered. “That’s a damn good answer.”
“And other members of our clan found mates,” Ravi said, dropping his eyes to the carpet for a moment.
He hated the little pang of jealousy that rippled through his heart. He wasn’t as old as a lot of the unmated dragons in their clan, but it didn’t change the fact that he longed for a mate of his own. He wanted someone to look at him like he’d hung the moon.
“It’s a nice, romantic reason that humans will eat up. They might not all believe it, but it’s a good, safe starting place for us,” Rodrigo agreed. “Who should we allow to conduct the interview?”
Ravi’s arm immediately shot up like he was trying to get a teacher to call on him in class. “ELLEN! ELLEN! We need to get Ellen!”
“Oh, I love Ellen,” Cameron moaned. “She’s so awesome and funny and sweet. She wouldn’t ask us any mean or super-hard questions.”
Rodrigo frowned. “I like her, too, but shouldn’t we get one of those serious news journalists?”
“I doubt that we’ll be able to keep this to just one interview,” Alric replied. “We will probably need to make a list of our top choices and work through those. What about our search for mages? Would it be dangerous for them if we say that we’re looking for them?”
Cameron touched Alric’s chest, drawing his gaze back to his face. “I think we could say that dragons are coming out into the world because they’ve discovered that they’re not the only magical beings left. That mages are still out there and we’re trying to find each other.”
“But how? It’s not like we want to drop the address to Burkhard Castle on TV or hand out Alric’s cell number,” Ravi said.
“Definitely not,” Alric snapped.
“An email address where they can contact the clan?” Rodrigo suggested.
“Or maybe a website. Cassie is handy with building websites, and I think North has done web work in the past for his parents,” Cameron added.
“AreYouAMage.com,” Ravi said laughingly, but to his surprise, Cameron wasn’t laughing.
“Why not? Cassie could set up a quick survey form for people to submit information about themselves, and we could use it to run background checks. We could also post some basic information about Alric and even Rodrigo. Who doesn’t want to know about royalty? Especially dragon royalty.”
“You’re dragging me into this now?” Rodrigo gasped.
“Of course.” Alric looked more than a little smug. “If I’m going to be interviewed, I think it’s only fair the world knows I’m not the only dragon leader out there.”
Rodrigo waved a dismissive hand at him, and Alric laughed. “Fine. Fine. But we must find a picture that shows off my best side.”
“Dragon or human?” Ravi asked before he could catch himself.
Rodrigo grinned broadly. “Both.”
They continued brainstorming ideas for the interviews and journalists, and how best to use both to draw more mages to them without putting them at risk. Cameron eventually dropped down behind Alric’s desk and started making some notes.
Ravi sat beside the Ice Dragon King, barely able to keep from bouncing. Announcing to the world they were real was a huge step, but one that could get them closer to finding more mages.
And that could get Ravi one step closer to finding his own mage to love and protect.
Sora felt his eyebrows steadily rise as he watched the interview play out. It was almost abnormally quiet in the living room, the other people with him glued to the screen. The two men being interviewed were poised, confident, and charming in different ways.
One of them was clearly German; he spoke fluently and easily, oozing confidence even as he sat there with a smile.
The man sitting next to him was not German—and Sora didn’t say that because he looked distinctly Asian. More that he recognized the translating amulet hanging around the man’s neck. He did not know German, and the woman interviewing them failed to realize it, as magic was so scarce in the modern age.
The journalist, Slomka, was an attractive woman—blonde hair kept short, her jawline strong, smile kind. She leaned a little forward in the armchair, asking a question. Via the translating amulet on top of the TV, it came through as Japanese, so Sora and his parents could understand it.
“Do you mean to tell me that the dragon clans and mages have been alive all this time?”
Alric, King of the Fire Dragons, dipped his head in a nod. “Correct. After the Dragon War, we were so decimated. So…lost. Entire ancient families destroyed so quickly. We returned home, too focused on healing our wounds, on taking stock of what we had left, to really consider the outside world. It was many years before I realized the world thought us dead.”
“Wait, you realized?” Slomka interrupted him, her eyes wide. “You’ve lived since the Dragon Wars?”