Damn! Gordon Ramsay would’ve had a field day at this hotel. While a quick glance would’ve made one think that the place was nostalgic and warm, it was all a façade. In reality, the building should have been condemned years ago, and it had more rats than humans inside it.

Nicholas could almost see ol’ Gordon running around and yelling about all the cobwebs and the lack of cleanliness. The puke-green carpet was so dirty that it was stiff in most places, and it clashed horribly with the brownish walls. Or, at least, Nicholas thought that they were brown. It could’ve been layers of dust. He was half tempted to grab a washcloth and rub it over the paint to see if his theory were true. The only problem being was that the hotel had never given him any towels in the first place.

There was a soft knock on the door before Lester stuck his head in. “You ready to go? Brian already has everybody rounded up and waiting downstairs.”

Nicholas started. “I’m sorry. I hadn’t even realized it was morning already. I’m not used to it being dark at nine.”

Lester smiled. “Or there still being snow up to our asses when it’s April.”

“I laughed my ass off when Mick asked why there were doors on the second story of so many homes. He’d never realized how much snow they get up here.”

“I thought that was so cute, too.”

Nicholas shook his head. He didn’t bother to argue that he hadn’t used those exact words. Since Lester was scale-over-tail in love with Mick, he thought everything the doofus said was wonderful. Not that Nicholas begrudged Lester at all. After all his brother had gone through, he deserved to have a happily-ever-after.

“Tell Brian I’ll be right down,” Nicholas said.

He lightly hit the wall in frustration. He thought that they would have found the smaller Dragon by now. Once they’d had the scrying bowl, he believed it would be easy peasy to find a Dragon in a second. They’d all stupidly assumed that the bowl would tell the exact location of the missing Dragons. But, nooooo…he’d found out the hard way that things just didn’t work like that.

First, they had to scry to get a general location, then they had to continue to scry until they got closer and closer. Which is how they found themselves so far into the upper peninsula of Michigan that they were in the only hotel within fifty miles of the area. Starbucks was just a dream, and forget about Walmart, because, honey, this place wasn’t having it.

Lester was still talking, but Nicholas was only partially listening. He barely said bye to his brother as he shut the door behind him. Once Lester had left, Nicholas began to get ready. Since he’d already taken his shower and dressed hours ago, all he had to do was pull on his ten pounds of snow gear. Maybe it was ironic, him being a Dragon, but he got cold very easily. If he could have, he would have even added several more layers, but it wouldn’t have been practical. He needed to be able to move around easily if they came under attack.

Once he’d finished, he went down to meet the others. Duncan greeted him with an energy bar and a bottle of water. Nicholas must have given him a confused expression, because Duncan said, “I know you have been eating like shit. You haven’t been sleeping well, either. If we end up in some epic battle or something, you won’t be ready.”

“‘Epic battle’? Who in the hell calls a fight that? It’s not like we’re fighting to protect the Wall from Game of Thrones or something,” Nicholas said as he took the items.

“I call them that.” Duncan shuffled his feet. “Or at least I do in my head. It makes me feel more like a badass that way. It’s just a lot more glamorous than saying we’re going to save one lone Dragon from a group of thugs.”

“I still say that we need to get you into some serious therapy.”

Duncan gave a wicked grin. “Trent gives me all the one-on-one time that I need.”

“He’s a frigging sorcerer not a therapist,” Nicholas replied dryly. Any more time living with this group of hot messes then he would be the one who would be seeking counseling.

“You’re just jealous,” Mick stated as he walked into the room.

Yeah, Nicholas was super, frigging envious. He’d been around for a while and had been longing to settle down with somebody despite what he kept telling people. So, seeing his two younger brothers find their mates in a bang-bang kind of way had made him want his own special somebody all the more.

Maybe that’s why he was so drawn to the image of the younger Dragon in the chains? Even though Nicholas had only been able to see a tiny image of the missing man, he had been instantly attracted to him. Who knew, maybe the mystery Dragon could be the mate that Nicholas had been yearning for. It may have been that fate had brought them together. Maybe it had been no mistake that Nicholas had demanded that they go after this particular Dragon first. Even though there were numerous others who needed help. Had a part of Nicholas sensed that it had been his mate? Nicholas gave an internal shake of his head. No, it couldn’t be that.

Nicholas always had an urge to help those in need, and this Dragon had just appeared the most helpless at the time. That was all. There was a reason that Brian had called him a smartass with a serious hero complex. For some cause Nicholas must’ve sensed that this Dragon, in particular, was in the most peril.

Since Nicholas knew it would only be a matter of moments before Brian sent up somebody else to holler at him for being too slow, he rushed to the lobby. He was met by the rest of the group. Of course, all of them were wearing T-shirts or long-sleeved tops. They didn’t have coats or snow pants or insulated boots. There wasn’t even a sweater or a mitten to be seen.

There was no way anybody was going to let that pass by without a comment. Mick, who didn’t even have a hat to cover his blue-streaked hair, asked, “What are you getting ready for? An expedition to the Arctic? Because if that’s the case then we should have bought ourselves some serious sled dogs.”

“Shut up,” Nicholas grumbled.

“How in the hell are going to fight in all that? You can barely move,” Maddox, one of their warriors, said.

“I made sure not to put on too much,” Nicholas defended.

“‘Too much’?” Ryker echoed.

The fact that Ryker even talked shocked Nicholas. Usually, the brooding Dragon kept to himself and didn’t share a damn word. He’d gone missing for a month over a year ago and had come back that way, all sad and gloomy. Before that he’d been so happy. It made Nicholas sad to think of what may have happened to the warrior during that short time.

Giving Nicholas a narrow-eyed glare, Brian added, “Yeah, you might want to give Prince Growling a wide berth this morning. It looks like he didn’t get enough bedrest last night.”

“Gawd,” Duncan groaned. “I hope it wasn’t because he was binge-watching The Walking Dead again last night. I don’t feel like going over each plot point with him and trying to figure out if it had a special meaning with him.”

“He is right here, thank you very much. No, I wasn’t up all night watching TV.”

“Maybe not. But you and me are still going to have a quick chat before we leave,” Brian ordered, the look on his face much too all-knowing for Nicholas’ comfort.

“Yes, brother.” As much as he wanted to, not even Nicholas was able to disobey an order from his bossy-as-hell sibling. After all, Brian was his king. That still meant a big deal in their world.

After the rest of the group had left the lobby, Brian started right in. “I don’t know if I should let you go along on this rescue mission.”

Nicholas’ heart gave a huge lurch. “Why not?”

“You’re too close to this one, for some reason. You have been from the beginning. I should have never let you come this far in the first place. It was a mistake on my part. I just let myself become blind when it comes to you, because I love you, since you’re family. I need to treat you more like one of my soldiers instead of the little brat who used to always take the last cookie.”

“Are you kidding?” Nicholas gave a snort. “If anything, you’re harder on us because we are your brothers. You’ve pushed us from the time we could walk. I think I was the only one who was ever taught battle skills at the age of two. Shit! My first whole sentence was probably, ‘Surrender, bitches, or feel the steel of my blade.’”

Brian gaped at him. “I would have never taught you to say something like that.”

“Yeah, but let’s face it, I was a smartass. Even back then. Please, don’t bench me now. Not when we’re this close to the rescue. I promise that I won’t let my head get away from me. I’ll stand back and keep my yap shut.”

“That would be impossible for you,” Brian drawled with a knowing look.

Nicholas held up two fingers à la Boy Scout.

Brian rolled his eyes. “Since when have you even been part of that style of organization? Every time you see a spider you run in the opposite direction. If we have to camp out, you bitch the entire time. You can’t even tie a regular knot, let alone all those fancy ones they do. As for setting up a tent, you wouldn’t even know what hole to put the pole through.”

“I don’t know if you were just insulting me or making fun of my lack of sex life. Okay, maybe I wasn’t a Boy Scout. It’s only because they have a very strict no-Dragons-allowed rule,” Nicholas conceded.

“Fine, get your ass in the van.” Brian gestured toward the door. “Just know that you’re on thin ice. One wrong move and I’m pulling your ass.”

Not needing to be told twice, Nicholas skedaddled out. As soon he opened the door he was met with a frigid blast of cold air. Dear fucking Snow Miser, how do the people who live up here manage it? They must wear socks on their cocks, just so the things don’t snap off.

Nicholas felt certain he broke some sprint records in his haste to get into the van. He was sure that one of the guys was going to lock the doors, just to joke with him, but they had mercy. Once he reached sanctuary the side door slid open easily and he was able to dive into the warmth.

“Damn, boy,” Duncan called. “What are you going to do if we have to spend some actual time outdoors? Scare the enemy by freezing to death in front of them?”

“I’ll manage,” Nicholas promised.

How, he wasn’t sure. Even at that moment, he was curling into a ball to conserve body heat. Then he felt a burst of warmth going up his body. Looking down, he saw a small fireball emitting from Lester’s palm. Nicholas gave his brother a thankful smile. Lester was one of the few who would help without giving Nicholas a hard time first. For that, Nicholas would be eternally grateful that his half-brother was finally home with them, where he belonged.

They drove for quite a while. Even though Nicholas didn’t think that they could go any deeper into the boonies, they managed that feat. As they drove farther away from civilization, the houses became more ramshackle and depressed-looking. Some were homemade shacks, while others were trailers beyond their prime years.

They finally pulled up to one of the few remaining homes. Well…it was a home in the most basic of terms. It had four walls and a roof, but that’s where the necessities ended. Most of the windows had been broken and boarded up. The shingles were torn and or missing altogether, leaving holes, holes so big that Nicholas knew if he were to fly over he would be able to see right into the home.

The paint job had long ago faded to a dingy gray and most of the trimming was gone, giving the whole place a sad look. The broken front steps had been replaced by crates of various sizes. An old wooden screen door swung open. Soon, several large Dragons stumbled out, all of them in their human forms.

“You know how I said I’d have to scry one last time to make sure that we had the right location?” Lester asked.

“Yeah,” Nicholas replied.

“I don’t think it’ll be necessary. I’m pretty certain that this is the place.”

Glancing at the Dragons who were now glaring at the cars, Lester gave a shake of his head. The hostile group wore plaid shirts and overalls. There wasn’t even a hint of any other kind of pattern. Maybe they had a rigid dress code that they all had to apply to.

Each and every one of them was huge and had facial hair, the woman included. They all looked as mean as hell, too. That didn’t scare Nicholas one little bit. They were the only thing that stood between him and the lost Dragon. Nicholas would take them on himself if he had to.

Brian got out of the van and his soldiers and brothers followed suit. As Brian regally marched up to the house, Duncan and Nicholas flanked him, as the two eldest descendants. All the while, Nicholas kept darting glances at the windows. He hoped that he could get a glimpse of the captive.

The oldest Dragon from the hull of a house didn’t appear impressed by them at all. In fact, he had the gall to not even bow to Brian. Nicholas was already pissed as it was, but that disregard of decorum made his blood boil.

“What are you richie, highfalutin’ types doing up here?” the eldest Dragon asked.

Nicholas grabbed the hilt of his sword, but true to his promise, he didn’t say or do anything. Even though he wanted nothing more than to gut the bastard. After all, just the disrespect he’d shown toward the king was reason enough for Nicholas to kill him. The fact that he’d harmed and chained up Nicholas’ mystery Dragon added even more fuel to the fire.

“We have reason to believe that you have a Dragon slave here,” Brian said in a calm voice.

“Yeah, what about it?” One of the Dragons, the smallest of the group, scratched his balls.

That last move pushed Nicholas’ mood over the edge. He’d already been itching for a fight. He was going to hand these Dragons their own asses. Then he was going to burn everything plaid inside the place. Which probably meant that they’d be going around nude. Nicholas could only hope that they’d freeze to death. That would make it worth coming out in this weather. Hell, Nicholas may have even been willing to give up a pair of his gloves in tribute.