Which was stupid and insane. Dragons had betrayed the Jaeggi. Betrayed all mages. This dragon was just craftier than Tori was giving him credit. He was getting under Tori’s skin and screwing with his mind because of socks.
Stupid socks.
Yes, angry was better. Angry was exactly what he needed to deal with this dragon.
He stopped with his arms crossed defensively over his chest and stared the dragon down. The one thing that he had going in his favor was that they were once again in a public park. He’d been cutting through it, looking for cans to pick up and recycle, when the dragon found him. So, he couldn’t shapeshift here, not with so many witnesses.
The man stopped a good meter away, close enough to talk, but far enough out that Tori didn’t feel threatened. His body language was loose, almost deliberately, as if he were trying to put Tori at ease. Fat chance, that.
“Baldewin?” Tori demanded.
The dragon nodded. At least Tori now had a name to match with the dragon. “I want to talk to you,” Baldewin stated without any fanfare or greetings. “You set the terms.”
Tori wanted him to go away. He blurted out without thinking, “Five hundred euros, and I’ll talk to you for an hour, but no more.”
“Done,” Baldewin said without hesitation.
Shit, he should have said a thousand.
Still, the five hundred would buy him several more days. Trying to squeeze at least coffee out of the deal, he cast about, saw a café nearby with outdoor seating, and pointed there. “Treat me to coffee at least before you give me a headache.”
Was that a flash of a smile on Baldewin’s face? Well, Tori was so pleased that he amused the man. He glowered but bit back words, not wanting to sound like an idiot. He marched to the café in question, practically feeling Baldewin’s eyes burning into him. He didn’t look around, though.
Where was the other dragon? Was he somewhere nearby and watching?
Their interest in him didn’t make any sense. Why were they being so persistent? It wasn’t like Tori had much value. His magic was for shit, according to every teacher he’d had. Dragons needed female mages for their offspring. Their mates were all female mages.
That was one of the other sins he bore—he was a male mage. Back before the Great Dragon War, he would have offered nothing of value to a dragon clan.
The hour chat might be ostensibly for Baldewin to get information from him, but Tori would turn those tables as much as possible, as he had his own questions that needed answers.
They went to the counter, and Tori splurged by ordering the largest coffee he could with all of the extras without a trace of guilt. Baldewin gave him an amused glance, as if he knew exactly what Tori was doing, but didn’t call him on it. He just ordered his own coffee, then two rye breads with the usual toppings of cold cuts, cheese, butter, and a cucumber topping. Almost as an afterthought, he ordered Karelian pies as well.
Tori’s mouth watered. Karelian pie was one of his favorite pastries ever, with its thick rye crust and rice porridge inside. He hadn’t eaten it in months, trying to save up the money to leave his pathetic hometown. His stomach gave a petulant rumble, and Tori gave it a discreet pat. Baldewin had ordered two because he intended to share, right?
Their order was promptly passed over to them on two trays, the food divided between them, and Tori was quick to claim his before going outside. He barely had his ass in the seat before he bit into the sandwich and then the pie, making sure Baldewin couldn’t reclaim either. Hardly fair of him, but he was too hungry to think about fairness just then.
Baldewin said nothing, just drank his coffee and let Tori eat. If the man wanted to waste the time he was paying for to watch Tori eat, fine.
Well, no, not fine. Tori had questions he wanted answered.
He slowed down reluctantly. “What the hell do you want with me?”
“There’s very few mages left, Mr. Taavi,” Baldewin answered, ignoring the food and coffee in front of him.
“It’s just Tori,” he snapped. “No one has ever called me Mr. Taavi, and I definitely won’t answer to Nestori. I’ve never liked that name.”
Baldewin’s lips twitched slightly as he took in those acerbic comments and then continued in low, even tones, “I’m Baldewin Burkhard of Clan Burkhard in Sonthofen, Germany.”
Tori paused for a moment, his eyebrows beetling together as he searched his brain. “Burkhard sounds vaguely familiar.”
Baldewin’s eyes widened, and his nostrils flared a little as if Tori had said something unbelievable or even insulting. He kind of wanted to laugh at Baldewin’s expression of shock. He didn’t know Tori’s clan didn’t teach each new generation much about the dragons. Certainly not names. Just that dragons were evil and couldn’t be trusted. It was so damn fitting that he was sitting there with a dragon, sharing a meal. His clan leaders would be losing their minds if they could see him.
“Burkhard is a highly respected clan. We’re fire dragons and have called the Alps our home for centuries. King Alric Burkhard has been our leader for roughly five hundred years.”
“Uh-huh,” Tori muttered, hating to admit to himself that the dragon’s Finnish was rather good. He didn’t care about dragon clans or their leaders. He wanted to know why Baldewin and his friend were so interested in him.
“Yes, um…” Baldewin paused and cleared his throat before he started again. “As you may or may not know, after the Dragon War, most of the mage clans were wiped out. Those that remained were scattered throughout the world. The Burkhard dragon clan has been searching for the hidden mages ever since to both replenish the magic in our own clans and to reestablish our links to mages. Since the dawn of time, it has been the duty of every dragon to protect and serve mages.”
Tori snorted but didn’t bother to look up from his sandwich. Bitter words rose up in his throat, but he swallowed them down with the bite he’d just finished chewing. Protect and serve mages? What a load of bullshit! What happened to protecting the Jaeggi? Or the mages destroyed in the war?
Where the fuck was the dragon who was supposed to protect him from his own damn clan?
Yeah, he’d grown up hearing stories about how evil and untrustworthy dragons were, but as soon as he’d realized that he would always be an outsider among his people, he’d dreamed of a dragon with gleaming scales swooping down to save him. The dragon would roar and breathe fire, scaring everyone who had ever hurt him. They would run away or fall to their knees and apologize for ever doubting him.
And then the dragon would scoop him up in his powerful arms before carrying him away to his castle.
Luckily, he’d woken up from that ridiculous dream. There was no dragon waiting to fly to his rescue. No dragon to protect him and keep him safe.
Tori saved himself. Fuck dragons.
“Despite our years of separation, mages are still the true and only mates of dragons. You are our only hope of finding joy and love in this world,” Baldewin continued.
Except that Tori was a male mage and could never be the mate of a dragon. A key thing Baldewin was conveniently leaving out. He must think Tori could lead him to more mages, particularly female mages.
Some of his skepticism must have shown on his face because Baldewin cleared his throat again and his voice softened a little. “But it’s not just what my dragon clan needs. It’s also about protecting mages. The world is a dangerous place.”