Breath (Scales 'n' Spells 2)

He looked down and was mildly surprised to find that he was actually dressed—with shoes, even. There was no memory of picking up clothes and throwing them on. Baldewin had been awake in the main sitting room, looking chipper and amused as evil morning people often were. Warin was still snoring on the couch. He vaguely remembered giving Baldewin some warning side-eye before shuffling away with Cassie.

They walked slowly back to the elevators, sipping as they went. He looked to the dainty woman at his side and felt like he might be able to formulate actual words. “Good morning.”

“It is now,” she sighed, still sipping at her cup. “Mm, great coffee.”

“Must be, if you got two cups. Or is one of those for Sasha?”

“Sasha,” Cassie agreed, eyebrows waggling outrageously. “Because she was such a good girl last night.”

He almost swallowed his coffee wrong and had to beat his hand against his chest to keep from choking.

Her eyes turned shrewd as she studied his face. “What, too weird to hear about my sex life?”

“No,” he answered honestly, if a little hoarsely. “Well, yes. But not in the way you mean. I grew up in a very homophobic environment. I’m not used to people joking about it in a nice way.”

“Ahhh. That explains it. I mean, you have no problem kissing Baldewin, so I figured you weren’t straight.”

“No, very much gay.”

“Is that why you left? Because your clan is homophobic?”

“Half the reason, yeah. There was no chance in hell of me ever finding someone if I stayed with them.” This broached a subject Tori himself had many, many questions about. And they were questions only a mage could answer. “Say, Cassie.”

“Yeah?”

“I’m trying to wrap my head around this before I get to your clan. Baldewin and Warin both have told me several times that I’m precious as a mage, and that’s why they’re protecting me. How much of their behavior is them protecting a mage and…ugh, I don’t know how to put this into words. It’s just that Baldewin keeps buying me all these gifts, and I know he likes kissing me, but how much of that is him trying to…date? Do dragons date?”

“Dragons date,” she confirmed, pushing the button for the elevator. At this hour, no one else was nearby. “Granted, dragons don’t date as long as most human cultures do. They figure out pretty quick if they’ve got the right person. You’re not sure if Baldewin is trying to date you, is that the issue?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I guess it is. And it’s a weird thing to wrap my head around, to be honest with you. Because for most of my life, dragons were the enemy. And I’ve figured out that basically everything I was told growing up was a lie. But undoing all of that and shifting my mentality is giving me something of a headache.”

Cassie grimaced. “Yeah, I bet. Kudos to you for doing it, though.”

“What can I say? I’ve got excellent motivation.” When her smile went lecherous, he rolled his eyes. “Yes, yes, in that way, too. But really, I’ve experienced more magical freedom with you than I have anywhere else. In fact—”

The elevator dinged, and he cut himself off.

“Oh crap,” Cassie suddenly said. “I forgot sugar for Sasha’s cup. Tori, hold that thought and the elevator, I’ll be right back.”

“Let me hold one of the cups,” he volunteered.

She gave him Sasha’s cup and promptly speed walked back to the little coffee shop attached to the lobby. From this vantage point, a step above most of the lobby floor, he could easily see her. He kept his foot at the elevator door to hold it open.

It belatedly occurred to him that he hadn’t put his amulet back on. He’d taken it off this morning when he leaned over to splash some water on his face. Tori had never been a morning person and was adamant that mornings were evil and should be abolished. Still, he kicked himself for not thinking of the amulet. It shouldn’t get him into trouble, though. They were minutes away from returning to their rooms, and he could throw it on then.

Something shot out and hit Cassie square in the back, a stream of light that wrapped around her in golden chains. Tori’s breath caught as he recognized the spell, saw the effect of it. She fell backward, as if paralyzed, her body making a thud as it hit the carpet while her coffee went flying through the air. Only a couple other people were in the lobby, waiting for their coffee to be made. They gasped and jumped back, fear and confusion scrawled across their face.

Shit! Adrenaline surged through Tori as he dropped the cups, already running before he could even make out who her attackers were. There—four men, all closing in around her. One of them had hit her with a second spell and was drawing…fuck, was he seeing that right? They were drawing magical power out of her?