Page 82 of Cam's Treasure

Ten minutes later, the eight of us—plus Saaya and Jodi—were gathered in the living room, waiting quietly as Saaya passed on all the information she'd collected to Micah through their familiar bond. April, Cassian's familiar, was at home with Micah's twin brothers, but he'd said that she would be more than happy to help us with any aerial recon once we had a plan.

Between Ember and me, I thought we had that covered, but it was good to know we had help if we needed it. I also had a feeling Cassian would send her anyway, if only so she could keep an eye onus.

"Okay," Micah said after a few minutes, blinking a few times. "Saaya did a very thorough job," he said, running his palm over the black cat's head. Saaya purred, then settled in his lap, ready for a nap now that she'd completed her mission.

"Based on the descriptions Kai gave, Saaya was able to find Osric. He's a bit of an outcast," Micah said, and his eyes flicked to Cassian, who'd also been shunned by the mages of Ravenshire and treated like a pariah. "But for good reason, for once. It seems like his life's work has been figuring out how to...steal a being's magic through spells and artifacts. He lives on the edge of the island on a secluded property, has a few boats and too much money, and not enough security. It seems like he isn't concerned about being attacked, though he didn't once leave his homewhile Saaya was there, and the gossip around town seems to be that he doesn't leave his property at all."

"Unless he's out in the water tricking a dumb selkie," Kai chipped in, and I scowled.

"You're not dumb."

Micah continued before Kai could say anything, and he turned to listen, his lips pressed in a thin line. Clearly, he still blamed himself for what that asshole mage had done, and I swore to myself I'd make sure to punish that bastard for what he did to my Kai.

"I think our best bet will be to fly in right onto his property, get Kai's coat, and fly back out before the rest of the island has the chance to notice or react to our presence."

"I wouldn't mind destroying the whole damned island while we're at it," I grumbled, and of course, the dads spoke up. Clearly, they still wouldn't let me have any fun.

"Taking on the island won't be a good idea, Cam. You're a dragon, but you're still young. Some of those mages are quite old and experienced. Raiden could take them easily, but you're still too inexperienced to go against them and win," Cassian warned, and I tilted my head at him.

"So what you're saying is, if I fought and lost, DD would come and destroy them all?" Because even though I was a dragon in my own rights now, I was still DD's son, still a part of his hoard. And a dragon always protected their hoard.

"Camillo," Dad warned, and uh-oh. The full name only came out when Dad was truly serious about something, and I smiled sheepishly at him, hoping he wasn't actually mad.

"I won't do that, Dad. Of course not." Not when they had eggs at home to worry about. I knew DD was already in overprotective papa dragon mode, and I had a feeling he might do something he would later regret if I was in danger.

"We'll be careful, and I'll make sure Cam doesn't do anything...drastic," Ember assured DD and Dad, who looked relieved. Clearly, they trusted Ember's promise more than mine, but I couldn't fault them for it. Theyknewme, after all.

"All right, so when do you plan to do this?" Gus asked, his purple eyes flickering between us.

"Now?" I offered, then raised my palms when all eyes turned on me. "Okay, okay. You decide."

"It would be better to do it at night," Ember said, and I frowned.

"Why? It's not like we're doing anything wrong. That asshole was the thief. We're just getting back what belongs to Kai."

"While that's true, I think Ember is right," DD said, his stormy gray eyes falling on me. "It's not about righteousness, Cam. It's about doing what will keep your mates the safest. Micah can travel through Saaya's shadows, but that would be a lot more difficult in daytime, wouldn't you say?"

My dragon bristled at the implication that I wasn't thinking about my mates' safety, but I shushed it because DD was right. Micah—and even Kai, if Saaya allowed it—could travel through Saaya's shadows, which would keep them safe and give them an easy out in case I couldn't get to them in time for any reason.

"You're right. So tonight then?"

DD pursed his lips, then shared a glance with Dad before nodding. "I think the sooner you can get this done while being careful, the better."

Kai glanced between us, his lower lip trapped between his teeth, then exhaled shakily.

"Thank you, all of you."

When would he realize he didn't need to thank any of us for a thing? He was family now, and in Mistvale, we took care of our family.

Kai

Over the course of the day, my mates and the four dads went over the plan over and over again, asking me questions every once in a while that I could answer only sometimes, not that they seemed to mind.

Raiden, whose magic I could sense quite easily despite my dimmed senses, took some time to cover us in a bunch of magical shields, some with spells, others with runes drawn onto our skin with rainwater, and some with just a glow of his hand. He said the shields would keep us from getting seriously hurt, from getting noticed unless we did something truly outrageous—he'd glanced at Cam with a raised brow when he'd said that—and heal us quickly if we did get hurt. There were a bunch of other protections I lost track of, but by the time the sun set, I felt like we were going off to war, and my worry for my mates had surpassed my worry for my coat a while ago.

Was I being selfish, asking them to face this danger just so I could get my coat back? It wasn't like I woulddiewithout it now that I had our mate bond. So what if I'd never get to change into a seal again, never feel the strength of our bond the way they did? It was still better than losing one of my mates, right?

As if he could sense my panic, Ember appeared in front of me, his strong arms wrapping me in a tight hug. "Everything's going to go just fine, Kai. We'll find your coat, and we'll all be okay. All right?"

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