Chapter 4
Baldewin struggled to unclench his fists as he marched away from the café and into the park.
While he never saw a sign of Warin, the dragon had planned to be close and watch over them from a distance.
Not that Baldewin felt he couldn’t protect the mage.
But after Cameron’s kidnapping and the attack on their king, Baldewin was unwilling to take any chances with Tori’s life.
Of course, the mage was taking plenty of chances without worrying about the Jaeggi. What the devil was he thinking? How could a mage dare to run around without the protection of his clan?
Well, from his expression and the little bits of sarcasm that fell from his mouth, it was clear the situation with his clan was so poor that he felt better on his own despite clearly running low on funds.
And he was so thin. Too thin. The way he’d inhaled the two pies and sandwich had left Baldewin wanting to return to the counter and order him more food. But he’d been afraid that if he rose from the table, the mage would run.
The five hundred euros would help. It wouldn’t last him long, but maybe Tori would eat a little more until Baldewin and Warin could finally convince him to leave Helsinki with them and return to Burkhard Castle.
Was he warm enough? August was Helsinki’s second warmest month.
Everything that followed grew increasingly colder.
Did he have warmer clothes than what he’d seen?
He was sure today’s jeans were the same pair he’d seen on him earlier.
The shirt was different but too thin for cold weather.
What if it took them months to convince him to leave?
Maybe he could purchase him a heavier coat and leave it somewhere for Tori to ‘find.’ He was still trying to judge how well the socks had gone over.
Tori’s trousers hung so long that they scrapped the ground, making it impossible to determine if he was wearing them.
Baldewin didn’t want to hurt his pride, but Tori clearly didn’t understand his incredible worth. No mage should be struggling and hurting like this.
He suspected this was all thanks to his blasted mage clan.
No, this wouldn’t do at all.
If those mages wanted to cling to old lies and hurt Tori, then Baldewin was all too happy to give them a reason to hate and fear dragons.
Horns blared loudly and tires screeched. He jerked his head up to find that he was standing in the middle of a crosswalk, drivers waving at him and cursing loudly in Finnish.
Warin jogged into the street and grabbed his arm, pulling him toward the sidewalk that led into the park. “Considering you just marched out into traffic without paying an ounce of attention to your surroundings, I’m going to assume your talk with the mage didn’t go well.”
“Not as well as one might hope,” Baldewin grumbled.
“He’s not returning to Germany with us?”
Baldewin made a scoffing noise in the back of his throat.
Warin released his arm as they reached the sidewalk, and they wandered into the park side by side. The deep blue summer sky was partially overcast with the threat of an afternoon shower. He should have gotten an umbrella for Tori.
“Did he talk to you at all? My view of the café wasn’t great, but it looked like he was talking to you some.”
“We spoke, but the things he said…I…I’m struggling to even wrap my mind around it.” Baldewin stopped and shook his head before meeting Warin’s gaze. “He thinks dragons started the war. That we are the reason mages were slaughtered. That we are betrayers.”
“What?” Warin shouted. His face turned bright red, and he stepped closer to Baldewin, his body practically vibrating with rage. “Who? Who has told him these lies? I will string their entrails on the trees like twinkling Christmas lights!”
Baldewin rolled his eyes and grabbed Warin’s shoulder, leading them through the park and away from other people before he could draw more attention to them.
“Lower your voice. It seems his entire clan believes this. Lies that have been handed down as fact for generations. But he indicated that his clan had at one time been close to the Jaeggi Clan, which would explain where they got their faulty information.”
“Schei?e,” Warin muttered, and Baldewin couldn’t argue. The dragon stopped and looked at Baldewin, his eyes wide. “You don’t think his clan is aligned with the Jaeggi now, do you? Do you think he could be working with them?”
Baldewin chewed on his bottom lip for a moment before finally shaking his head.
“I don’t think so. He seemed surprised that mages were being kidnapped, and I believe his reaction was genuine.
If his clan is working with the Jaeggi, then he is not part of it.
However, I did not mention that the Jaeggi were the ones behind the kidnappings. ”
Warin shoved his hands into his pockets. “Wise. Considering how little he thinks of us now, it wouldn’t do us any favors to disparage the name of the clan he believed he could trust.”
“He conducted a search on my phone and confirmed what I told him was the reason for the start of the war, but it wasn’t enough to sway him that we can be trusted.”
Warin kicked a stone off the path and into the grass. “Thousands of deaths and five hundred years, and the Jaeggi are still making our lives hell.”
“For now, we must focus on Tori and pray the Jaeggi don’t know about him yet.”
“True.” Warin shoved a hand through his long hair and blew out a heavy breath. “I had hoped for better news, but it is a positive step if he was at least willing to talk to you.”
Baldewin grunted. “I would not call it willing. I had to bribe him to spend an hour with me.”
“What?”
“I had to give him five hundred euros. I also bought him a meal at the café.”
“Five hundred euros! What were you thinking?” Warin exploded.
“What—”
“He could be anywhere now. He could have gone straight to a bus station or a train station. That’s more than enough to buy a ticket to the ferry running to Tallinn, or Stockholm, or even St. Petersburg.”
“Oh Schei?e,” Baldewin whispered. It hadn’t even crossed his mind that the man might use it to run.
From the moment he’d spotted Tori seated in the park several days ago, Baldewin’s thoughts had felt scattered to the wind.
His only drive had become about making sure the man was fed, warm, and safe.
He needed to talk to him, convince him that he could be trusted.
When Tori had agreed to converse, Baldewin’s only thought was relief that he was getting to talk and ensuring he had money to eat.
He definitely wasn’t thinking clearly where Tori was concerned, and it was becoming more than a little disturbing.
Warin swung back in the direction they’d come from as if he could see through the trees to the café. There was no doubt Tori was long gone now. Maybe not from Helsinki, but he wouldn’t have lingered at the café with a pocket full of money and a belly full of food.
“We can call Cassie,” Warin said suddenly. He whipped toward Baldewin, his eyes wide and voice excited. “She can do the seeking spell just as easily as Lisette now. She can keep an eye on him for us. Make sure he doesn’t leave the city.”
Baldewin frowned. “But the seeking spell just barely reached Helsinki. If he moves north or east, we’re going to lose him.”
“Do you think he’d return to his clan in the north?”
Baldewin immediately shook his head. “There is little to no chance of that. It is clear he hates his clan almost as much as he hates dragons.”
“Then we only have to worry about him going east.”
With a small nod, Baldewin grabbed his phone and dialed Cassie’s number. He didn’t think she’d have a problem doing this favor for them, but she wasn’t going to make it easy, either.
The call rang only twice before Cassie’s joyful voice rose through the phone. “Hey Big B! How goes the mage hunt? Do you have him? Convinced him to come hang with the coolest dragons in all the world?”
He winced. “Not quite. The conversation went about as well as it did when we first told Cameron.”
“Ouch.” He could easily imagine her wincing.
Baldewin went on to tell her what he’d learned of Tori at the café meeting, including how the mage insisted on being called Tori.
Maybe she could provide some insight to Tori, seeing as she was a mage and relatively new to all of this.
She gasped and sputtered and made noises of indignation, but then, sweet Cassie was a staunch defender of dragons.
“If someone has screwed with his head that badly, I’m kind of shocked you managed to speak to him in the first place. Was it your sexy smile that finally won him over?”
Baldewin scrubbed a hand over his head. “Not quite.” Actually, not even close. “I had to give him five hundred euros to speak to me. Now we are worried he will use that money to run again.”
“Which is why you’re calling me,” Cassie finished with an evil chuckle.
Oh lord, this was going to be painful.
“Need me to cast that seeking spell, huh? Not wanting my sweet, amazing, trusting brother-in-law, the king, to find out.”
“I would rather not worry our king if it can be avoided. I am sure he has enough to occupy his mind.”
Cassie snorted. “He’s married to my brother. That’s enough to keep any man busy.”
“Will you help us?”
“Of course I’ll help you. What a silly question!” Baldewin had barely gotten out his sigh of relief when she continued, “But my silence is going to come with a price.”
Baldewin choked on air. “What?”
“Keeping secrets from Alric? I can’t do that without compensation!” Her tone of horror was completely ruined by her evil cackle.
“What do you want, Cassie?” Baldewin asked in a dead voice. He looked up to find Warin watching him with a questioning look. He mouthed the word “bribe.”
Warin snorted. “You started that.”