Henry squeezed his arm, looking up at him with his crystal blue eyes. “Promise me.”
“I swear it. A dragon’s oath. I would find you and rain fire upon any who dared to hurt you.”
Henry let out another breath and tucked his face into Draco’s neck. “Thank you.”
“There’s more than one way to see,” Sawyer said suddenly.
Henry raised his head.
“Your visions,” Sawyer added. “That’s a way.”
“Right,” Henry said.
“The air found me for you,” Sawyer said. “I told it I needed you, remember? When I was with Saeward?”
“I remember,” Henry said.
Like any of them could forget Sawyer being kidnapped and them not being able to find him. Draco still had nightmares about it.
“Tell me what you saw,” Sawyer said.
Henry tensed in Draco’s arms, but then relaxed. “Okay.”
“Just describe the house. Where you saw the number.”
Henry told what little he’d seen. He was able to recall little details, like the shape of the window, then the type of trees he’d seen from the window. That there was a hill, but nothing around it. Then the number and the color of the house. It wasn’t much.
Sawyer picked up the list Eduard had printed. Eduard was going through each address, trying to narrow it down further, but he wasn’t having a lot of luck. Sawyer held out his arm and the raven hopped further down so it rested on his hand.
“You’re my eyes and ears. That’s what she was trying to tell me. I thought it was the visions, you know? But that wasn’t it. The hellhounds protect because that is my sister’s task. To protect the secret. That’s not my task. So my champions must have another duty.”
The raven sat patiently, as if waiting for a command.
Sawyer looked at the page in his hand, then back at the bird. “Find it for me. Find me the house from my mate’s vision. Tell your brothers and sisters to help. Go!”
The bird flew away, out the still open window, and began screeching into the sky. Other ravens flew to it, then they scattered. Sawyer turned back to Henry, who was practically vibrating with excitement in Draco’s arms.
“There’s more than one way to see.”
“Do you think it’ll work?” Henry asked.
“Yeah,” Sawyer said. “I do. We need to eat and plan. Can you sketch out the layout of the room for us? And Eduard, can you call your dad again? We might want to make use of those helicopters he used to fly us home.”
“I can do that.”
Draco loved this side of his mate. Sawyer wasn’t your typical general; he didn’t bark commands and he certainly wasn’t gruff or severe. But there was a toughness to him, one that Draco had always seen. Sawyer considered his options, and then took action. He was a different kind of leader. He didn’t have to command respect. It was freely given. They trusted him, Draco especially. Their years of friendship had shown Draco the kind of person Sawyer was.
After Henry sketched out what he could remember from inside and outside the house, Sawyer took the notepad to the table. He worked with Loch and Andvari on a plan, asking for clarification from Henry when they needed it.
There were at least a couple dozen guards on the premises. Henry remembered that much clearly. He didn’t know what the guards were, though. They could be facing anything from dragons to nymphs. They had no clue. They would have to go in fighting, though.
The next few hours passed in a deluge of planning. Andvari and Loch drilled them all on possibilities. There were so many alternative plans in his head, Draco wasn’t sure he even had room to remember his own mother’s name anymore. But all the plans revolved around keeping their mates safe, so he listened.
Andvari fitted Henry for a swat-level bulletproof vest. He also had some sort of metal thing underneath it that looked like chain mail. Between that and his magic, their mage would be safe. Sawyer, of course, brought out his dragon armor. He sent a proud smile Draco’s way as he slipped it on.
His mates were strong and powerful. Every one of them. He wasn’t the least bit surprised when the ravens began to return, cawing out their greetings to Sawyer. Sawyer went to the window, the sunlight glimmering off of the scaled armor. One of the birds landed on his arm and poked at the shimmering scales before it raised its head and squawked.
Sawyer closed his eyes briefly before opening them a moment later with a smile.
