Breath (Scales 'n' Spells 2)

Warin snorted from the backseat, and Baldewin had to huff a laugh as well. Especially when Tori flashed him a wide grin that appeared way too infrequently.

“You may have a point,” Baldewin conceded.

“Finally. You admit I’m right,” Tori teased.

“Enjoy it. He doesn’t even like to admit to our king when he was right and Baldewin was wrong,” Warin called out.

“Only because I am rarely wrong.”

“Whatever,” Tori said playfully. His fingers relaxed a little on the steering wheel, and he slumped in his seat. The smile was gone, replaced with a thoughtful frown. “We need to figure out our next step. I have no idea where I’m going, and those bastards found us too quickly after we left them in Helsinki. I am running really low on ingredients, and I don’t think they are going to give me a chance to ward like that again. We need more fire power or maybe a way to better hide ourselves.”

“We need to report in. Tell Alric what happened.” With another groan as muscles resisted the sudden movement, Baldewin pulled his phone out of his pocket.

“Will he be pissed at us?”

“What?” Baldewin’s head jerked up, and the throbbing was forgotten in the face of worry scrawled across Tori’s features. “No, of course not. He’s only worried about our safety. That is and always will be the king’s first concern.”

“Okay,” Tori whispered, but the tension was back in his shoulders, pulling the lean muscles taut under his T-shirt.

Baldewin quickly pushed the entry for Alric’s private phone, knowing at this time of day the king would most likely be in his office, possibly even in meetings with Dieter. The more brains they could get on this problem, the better.

“Baldewin, we were just talking about you,” Alric said cheerfully. “How goes your progress? Your last text stated you were staying in Riga.”

“We’ve run into some more trouble with the Jaeggi, Hoheit. We are all well and safe. I want to put you on speaker so Tori can hear you. You will need to switch to Finnish.”

“Do it.”

Baldewin lowered the phone from his ear and pressed the button on the screen. “Warin, Tori, and I can all hear you, Hoheit.”

“Hello, Tori,” Alric smoothly greeted. “I’m sorry we have to speak for the first time under these circumstances. And I also apologize for my rough Finnish. I am rusty and have been practicing recently for your arrival. I had hoped to be better when we spoke for the first time.”

Tori flashed wide, panicked eyes at Baldewin, who chuckled. The poor guy already looked overwhelmed, but then, it wasn’t every day a person spoke to the king of the Fire Dragons for the first time.

“Tori greatly appreciates your efforts, Hoheit,” Baldewin offered smoothly. “Is anyone with you at the moment?”

“Dieter is with me,” Alric replied.

“A pleasure to speak with you, Mr. Taavi,” Dieter greeted in clean, clear Finnish. Of course the old dragon was fluent. There were probably very few languages Dieter didn’t speak at this point.

“Is there anyone else I should summon for this meeting?” Alric interjected.

“Maybe Lisette. Let me lay out the situation for you as it stands right now.” Baldewin quickly recapped the booby trap they’d found on the car, the attack, and even the impressive defensive spell Tori used to defeat the Jaeggi before they ran out of Riga like all the hounds of Hell were on their heels.

“I’m glad you’re all safe,” Alric murmured. The king sounded distracted, as if he were already turning over options to get them all safely and quickly back to Sonthofen and Burkhard Castle. “I know this option was rejected earlier, but it remains our best choice. If you could fly—”

“Nope,” Tori said loudly.

“It’s the safest option and would get you here in a matter of hours so we can properly protect you. You need more than two dragons with you right now. Flying really is the safest choice.”

“Nope. We’re just gonna nope right out of that option and move on to option number two that does not require my feet to leave the ground,” Tori said firmly. Baldewin was failing miserably to control his goofy grin. Clearly Tori had recovered from his inability to speak to a king with great aplomb.

“I’m not asking that you fly via dragon. I am more than happy to charter a private jet that will bring you to a small airfield not far from Sonthofen. From there, we can properly escort you to the castle,” Alric calmly argued. The man clearly did not understand how much Tori did not like flying.

“Whether on a dragon or in a plane, it all still counts as flying, and I am not flying. Try again,” Tori countered.

The line went silent for a moment except for a muffled sound that Baldewin was willing to guess was a barely covered laugh from Dieter. He could easily imagine Alric’s stubborn glare at the phone as he sat at his desk. His Hoheit did not like to be deterred from the course of action he preferred, but he was a resourceful man.