Breath (Scales 'n' Spells 2)

The train rattled into the station, and people filed in and out of the cars in an orderly fashion. As soon as they were clear of the crowd, Leon stepped around Tori to lead the way out while his companion fell into step behind Tori. He was boxed in, and it wasn’t a great feeling. He barely fought the urge to look around for Baldewin or Warin.

Once they hit the street again and were surrounded by the bustle of people, Tori breathed a little easier. They had left downtown and were in one of the quieter areas, but there were still plenty of pedestrians and businesses open around him. Enough places to run and call for help if he needed it.

“Are there a lot of other mages from your clan in Helsinki at the moment?”

“No, just a few,” Leon muttered, and even that seemed a bit grudging, as if he didn’t want to share any details with Tori. That didn’t make any sense. Why wouldn’t he want to talk about his clan? His own might be a little secretive, but he didn’t think for a second his leaders would shut out other mages.

“Where are you based?”

“Don’t worry about it,” the other mage snapped.

Fine, so they weren’t conversationalists. It didn’t matter. He wasn’t looking for friends.

They continued a couple of short blocks until they reached a relatively empty parking lot. Tori glanced around, uneasiness crawling along his skin as he noticed that this part of town didn’t have as many pedestrians. There wasn’t even an employee watching over the pay-to-park lot.

“So, umm…store is actually outside town, but not far,” Leon tossed over his shoulder at Tori. “We’ll just hop in van and take ride over.” He jerked his thumb toward the plain white, windowless van they were drawing near.

Oh, hell no. He was pretty sure he’d seen this horror flick more than once. And he was not some dumb, trusting college kid on his way to get hacked into little pieces and fed to someone’s pet.

His steps slowed, and he shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans, trying to keep his posture relaxed while wrapping his fingers around the tiny glass vial of captured sunlight. It was one of the last damn ingredients he had on him. He’d carried it as a sort of security blanket, hating the idea of being completely defenseless and yet never really expecting to need it.

Leon quickly unlocked the van and rolled the side door open with a loud, metallic rumble. He turned and looked at Tori. The man’s expression was all wrong. It was like he was going for sympathetic or maybe apologetic, but there was this strange twist to his lips, like he was inwardly laughing at Tori.

“We don’t know you. We have to blindfold you and tie your hands,” Leon said.

“For safety, you verstehst,” his companion tossed in.

“We don’t know you or your clan,” Leon continued. “We have to protect our own people.”

“Yeah, umm…I don’t think I’m comfortable with this.” Tori took a step backward, and the other mage’s strong hands immediately clamped down on his shoulders. A sickening surge of fear and panic rushed through him, threatening to knock the air from his lungs. This was wrong. All wrong.

Tori dug his heels into the concrete as best he could, refusing to move forward another step. Gravel on the pavement kept his sneakers slipping. “How about we just meet somewhere else? Like maybe that big park in the middle of the city. I can give you a list of what I need. Anything you can lay your hands on would be appreciated.”

The words poured out of him faster and faster as his eyes darted from Leon to the edges of the parking lot and back again. He was alone. Anger mixed with the swirling vortex of fear in his chest, causing beads of sweat to form on his skin.

How could this be happening? He was no one. His magic skills were pathetic, and they were kidnapping him? There was no sign of any other city dwellers and no damn dragon.

Why did Baldewin have to pull his ninja stunts now and completely disappear? The one time a dragon would actually come in handy, and the guy was nowhere to be found.

Of course, this was probably what Tori deserved. He hadn’t believed the dragon. He’d thought he could do this on his own, and he was wrong.

Leon stopped trying to hide his smile and turned his attention over to his companion. He barked something that could have been German, but Tori wasn’t sure. It certainly didn’t sound like “Let the idiot go,” because the guy’s fingers bit down into his shoulders as he started to force Tori toward the van. The bastard had several inches and at least fifty pounds on him. No matter how hard he tried to resist and jerk out of his grasp, he found himself one step after another closer until Leon was grabbing his arm.