Breath (Scales 'n' Spells 2)

For that matter, if they knew how crappy his magic was, the dragons would likely pass on him, too. As interesting as this little chat had been, it changed nothing for Tori. Going with Baldewin would only invite another rejection down the road. Better to save himself another dent to the heart.

“Thanks for the warning. I’ll be on the lookout,” Tori muttered.

His fork made a clink as it hit china. It was such a sad, lonely sound that Tori stared down at his empty plate with a forlorn sigh. He’d eaten that so quickly, so automatically, that he hadn’t even realized it. His stomach did feel a little fuller, but not enough to compensate for the past three days of inadequate meals.

Baldewin put the Karelian pie from his own tray in front of Tori, still untouched, without fanfare.

He stared at him suspiciously in return. Was Baldewin treating him like a wild animal, trying to coax and tame Tori to accept his hand? “Feeding me won’t make me like you.”

“Eat anyway,” Baldewin encouraged with a crooked smile. “Keep your strength up, ja?”

If it was anything but the Karelian pie, Tori might have refused. He chose to eat it anyway, keeping a weather eye on the dragon the entire time. Maybe the kidnapping talk hadn’t ruined his appetite after all.

Baldewin’s niceness was very hard to fight against. It’d be much easier to blow him off if he was just a little bit meaner.

Damn, why did Baldewin have to be likeable?

Baldewin struggled to unclench his fists as he marched away from the café and into the park. While he never saw a sign of Warin, the dragon had planned to be close and watch over them from a distance. Not that Baldewin felt he couldn’t protect the mage. But after Cameron’s kidnapping and the attack on their king, Baldewin was unwilling to take any chances with Tori’s life.

Of course, the mage was taking plenty of chances without worrying about the Jaeggi. What the devil was he thinking? How could a mage dare to run around without the protection of his clan?

Well, from his expression and the little bits of sarcasm that fell from his mouth, it was clear the situation with his clan was so poor that he felt better on his own despite clearly running low on funds.

And he was so thin. Too thin. The way he’d inhaled the two pies and sandwich had left Baldewin wanting to return to the counter and order him more food. But he’d been afraid that if he rose from the table, the mage would run.

The five hundred euros would help. It wouldn’t last him long, but maybe Tori would eat a little more until Baldewin and Warin could finally convince him to leave Helsinki with them and return to Burkhard Castle.

Was he warm enough? August was Helsinki’s second warmest month. Everything that followed grew increasingly colder. Did he have warmer clothes than what he’d seen? He was sure today’s jeans were the same pair he’d seen on him earlier. The shirt was different but too thin for cold weather. What if it took them months to convince him to leave? Maybe he could purchase him a heavier coat and leave it somewhere for Tori to ‘find.’ He was still trying to judge how well the socks had gone over. Tori’s trousers hung so long that they scrapped the ground, making it impossible to determine if he was wearing them.

Baldewin didn’t want to hurt his pride, but Tori clearly didn’t understand his incredible worth. No mage should be struggling and hurting like this.

He suspected this was all thanks to his blasted mage clan.

No, this wouldn’t do at all.

If those mages wanted to cling to old lies and hurt Tori, then Baldewin was all too happy to give them a reason to hate and fear dragons.

Horns blared loudly and tires screeched. He jerked his head up to find that he was standing in the middle of a crosswalk, drivers waving at him and cursing loudly in Finnish.

Warin jogged into the street and grabbed his arm, pulling him toward the sidewalk that led into the park. “Considering you just marched out into traffic without paying an ounce of attention to your surroundings, I’m going to assume your talk with the mage didn’t go well.”

“Not as well as one might hope,” Baldewin grumbled.

“He’s not returning to Germany with us?”

Baldewin made a scoffing noise in the back of his throat.

Warin released his arm as they reached the sidewalk, and they wandered into the park side by side. The deep blue summer sky was partially overcast with the threat of an afternoon shower. He should have gotten an umbrella for Tori.

“Did he talk to you at all? My view of the café wasn’t great, but it looked like he was talking to you some.”