There was no way in hell he was getting into that van. He didn’t have a clue what they had planned for him, but it was obvious it wasn’t good.
He jerked one arm free of Leon’s grasp and swung wildly at the man. Leon dodged, and his friend roughly cuffed Tori on the back of the head. The world went white for a second, and he blinked rapidly to bring everything back into focus. Both men were now grabbing at him, trying to stuff him into the van.
Tori struggled harder, kicking, punching and clawing at anything he could reach to break free. The vial of sunlight remained clenched in his left fist. He’d have only one shot at using it. He couldn’t miss, couldn’t fuck up, or they would have him for whatever they planned. It would be his luck that he’d blow himself up in the process.
Twisting one last time in their arms, Tori used his thumb to pop the cork from the vial before throwing it toward the front of the van. He pushed what little power he had behind it, focusing on the spell. The glass shattered, and for a heartbeat nothing happened. Had he missed?
A fireball exploded out of the engine block, and Tori nearly cackled. It was a damn impressive sight. Way more of an explosion than he’d been expecting. At least, that was the first thought in his mind after he stopped flying through the air. He was thrown free of the two mages and landed hard on the pavement. Pain shot through his left hip, knee, and shoulder as he rolled a few more meters.
Slower than he wanted to, Tori pushed himself up on his skinned palms and knees to find half the van belching up black smoke and fire. Unfortunately, Leon and his companion were getting to their feet faster than Tori. Their smirks of secret amusement were long gone, and they looked more inclined to take Tori apart than use him for whatever their grand plan was. That was not necessarily better, but at least now they had no shot of taking him anywhere.
Tori scrambled to his feet, wincing at each movement. He couldn’t stay here and face them both. He was outnumbered and had no useful fighting experience.
But he didn’t need to.
Baldewin was there.
And the dragon was fucking pissed.
Tori had barely gotten upright when Baldewin swooped in like some dark, avenging angel. His handsome face was twisted with rage as he delivered a series of lightning quick blows that had both mages crumpled on the ground, bleeding and moaning in pain. Tori was sure he’d never seen anyone move so fast or with such lethal dexterity. Baldewin was a ninja dragon. He had to be.
The second the mages were at least temporarily incapacitated, Baldewin was at Tori’s side, quick hands checking to make sure that he was all in one piece. The dragon opened his mouth to speak, but his head jerked around at the sound of approaching sirens. Someone had called in the explosion. They were about to be surrounded by police and firefighters.
“You need to trust me,” Baldewin said sharply.
It was on the tip of Tori’s tongue to say that maybe Baldewin had been right about mages being kidnapped. And maybe he’d been right about the Jaeggi being evil and causing a war that decimated so many. And maybe Tori really was starting to think that he could trust the dragon determined to feed him, protect him, and keep him warm. But that wasn’t apparently what Baldewin was interested in.
“Put your arms out at your sides,” Baldewin commanded, and Tori found himself doing it quickly. The dragon’s voice made it clear that he wasn’t open to arguments or discussions.
“What—”
Baldewin’s strong hands gripped his waist, and Tori sucked in a sharp breath.
“I’m sorry,” Baldewin said softly.
Tori didn’t get a chance to ask what he was talking about. Fingers bit into his flesh briefly, and he found himself being tossed several meters into the air. The breath he’d sucked in left in a rush as he rose well above Baldewin’s head. And just as he reached the peak of his ascent, a new set of hands grabbed his arms and continued to carry him higher.
No, not hands.
Long, scaled fingers tipped with frightening black talons. There was a whoosh of air and a loud, leathery flap. With a whimper, Tori tilted his head back and looked into the clear blue, afternoon sky to find that he was being flown through the air by a massive, red dragon.
Holy shit, a dragon!
A real dragon.
He…he was magnificent. Better than any illustration he’d seen in all his life. His large body and long neck were covered in a leathery, brick red skin that reflected sunlight here and there. The inside of his wings was a darker red, almost black in places, while his massive head was ringed in spikes. Long fangs protruded from under his upper lips.