Chapter 5
This was the strangest cat and mouse game he’d ever played in his life.
Every time Tori looked around, he’d catch sight of either Baldewin or the other dragon apparently called Warin.
He’d go into a building, submit an application, and they would be lurking outside every time.
They never engaged, never tried to speak with him, but they always seemed to be right on the fringe of his peripheral vision.
It was sort of like stalking. Or maybe just an unwanted protective detail. Baldewin was adamant about the whole mages-being-kidnapped thing. He didn’t mistake this as anything other than protection.
It might have been sweet under different circumstances. As it stood, it was just annoying. They had no cause to protect Tori. He wasn’t one of them and never would be.
First off, he still didn’t entirely trust the dragons thanks to thirty-five years of having it pounded in his head that dragons were evil.
Yes, thirty minutes in the library had proven everything Baldewin had said was the truth.
Stacks and stacks of books had said the same thing—the Jaeggi started the Dragon War over jealousy and a need for revenge.
He still didn’t know if his own clan leaders had known the truth or had been fooled as well, but that was the least of his concerns.
Secondly, a mage might be the mate for a dragon, but his real purpose in life was to cast spells, to work magic.
Tori was a failure as a mage. While the Burkhard dragons might not have a problem with him being a man or gay, they would undoubtedly have issues with his lack of ability.
After a lifetime of rejection from his clan, why the hell would he ever set himself up to be rejected by another clan? That was insane.
No, he was safer and better off on his own. No one to judge him. No one to call him a failure.
All he could do was ignore his hopeful stalkers and go about his own business. Really, finances alone forced him to be practical and not try to flip the tables on them somehow.
He entered the Uudenmaan TE-toimisto, an employment center, and went through the jobs listed there. It was a plain, red-brick building that looked rather governmental and efficient, and the interior matched.
Well, someone had thrown in octagonal stools of bright greens and blues to liven up the color scheme a bit, but the white walls and acoustic ceiling tiles and grey floor overpowered all color attempts.
He sat down on one of them anyway to review his options. Even a seasonal job would do at this point. He was quickly eating—no pun intended—through the money he’d gotten from Baldewin.
His motel was paid up for a week, so at least he had shelter.
But constantly eating takeout was getting expensive quickly.
He had no means of cooking at his motel room, so buying groceries wasn’t really an option, unless they were frozen meals he could reheat with the tiny microwave in his room.
Which he did, as much as possible. But food was expensive.
Hell, life was expensive.
For one wild moment, he considered taking Baldewin up on his offer to go and see the clan, if for no other reason than they’d take care of his expenses for a few days while he waited to hear back from an employer.
The hiring process was slow, sometimes taking months, and it was time Tori didn’t have.
But no. No, that was a poor life decision.
He didn’t trust Baldewin and Warin enough to go with them, for one.
For another, if things went poorly—and he fully expected them to—it would leave him stranded in a foreign country where he didn’t speak the language.
And traveling back to Finland would be expensive as hell.
Besides, knowing his luck, as soon as he was out of the country, he’d get a job offer and wouldn’t be in the right position to take it.
Yeah, okay, no. Let’s not do crazy things, Tori.
He found three jobs he felt he had a good chance at, so he filled in the applications for those. By the time he was done, his phone was fully charged.
It was well past lunch time, and his stomach moaned plaintively. He couldn’t afford to feed it. One meal a day was all he could do, but water sounded like a good idea. Maybe with enough water, his stomach wouldn’t feel so lonely and rejected.
Tori turned in the applications and headed out.
Water first, then back to the motel so he could do some laundry.
His two other outfits needed a wash if he was to have clean clothes for tomorrow, and maybe he’d throw in the sheets this time, have clean bedding tonight.
The one upside to the crappy motel was that it had its own laundry room.
He stepped out of the building, turned left, and almost ran smack into a delivery person hovering on the sidewalk. “Oh, excuse me.”
“Are you Nestori Taavi?”
Tori blinked. “Uh, yes?”
“Got a delivery for you.” He promptly handed over a white sack. “Have a good day.”
“Wait, I didn’t order this,” Tori spluttered.
“Someone called it in for you,” the delivery guy explained, already half-turned, impatient to get back. “Order’s paid. Just enjoy a free lunch.”
Tori had his mouth open to protest further, but he couldn’t manage a single word before the delivery man hopped on a scooter and sped off.
Someone ordered him lunch? Who in the world would—oh, don’t tell him.
He looked around suspiciously, eyes peeled for dragons. None were in immediate view, but that didn’t mean anything.
“I’m not a wild animal,” he said loudly. “Stop trying to tame me! I’m only going to eat this because I don’t believe in wasting food.”
No one answered.
Snorting, he took his precious lunch with him to a bench on the opposite side of the street. It was likely meant for people waiting on buses, but no one was there now, and he could at least sit and eat. Besides, the smell of warm bread, melted cheese, and beef was driving him crazy.
The food was still impressively warm, which meant the dragons had timed it well. How they’d done so, Tori didn’t know. How they managed to shadow him as he hopped all over Helsinki was another question. Were dragons ninjas? It would explain a lot.
Shaking off the thought, he devoured every last crumb before throwing the box and paper bag away.
Energized, he thought maybe he’d try for another employment center before heading to the motel.
It was further out, and would mean taking the metro, but that was fine.
He had most of the afternoon. And really, the idea of going back to the dinky motel that smelled of must and stale air didn’t appeal.
He didn’t mind the brisk walk to the metro. Tori was borderline in a food coma after eating so much, and the walk helped digest his meal and clear his head. He’d bought an HSL card days ago, but it was running low, so he threw a few more euros onto it before passing through the gates.
The metro in Helsinki was nice, if confusing.
He’d never been on one before coming to the city, so the maps and routes sometimes gave him trouble.
He’d gone the wrong direction more than once because he’d misread the map.
This time Tori was extra careful, making sure he had the right route before heading to the platform.
As he walked, he kept scanning to see if he could spot either Baldewin or Warin.
Despite both of them being fairly tall and carrying a sort of magical aura he could only chalk up to them being dragons, he didn’t see either in the crowd.
Which didn’t mean much. Damn dragon-ninjas had skills.
Then again, anyone five hundred-something years old probably had time to collect mad skills.
How slowly did dragons age, anyway? Neither of them looked a day over thirty-five, but Baldewin had spoken of the Great Dragon War as if he’d experienced it personally.
Was it any wonder that mages in the old days were so eager to bond with dragons and share that incredible lifespan?
Not to mention the perks of magic that came with the bonding.
Tori’s mind spun off into a brief fantasy. According to the stories, before the war destroyed the magical world, being loved by a dragon had been every mage’s dream. They were supposedly amazing spouses.
Baldewin’s statement about every mage potentially having the chance to bring joy and wonder to a member of his clan had hit deeper than Tori let on.
He’d never been properly loved in his life.
He’d never had any real friends, and it was always clear that his parents were disappointed he hadn’t been born a girl.
He could only fantasize about what it would be like to have the full love and devotion of another.
When he’d been younger, he’d dreamed of being swept off his feet by a rich, handsome man barreling into town in a luxury car.
The guy would take one look at Tori, fall hopelessly in love, and drop to his knees, vowing to take Tori away from this dreary life and give him everything his heart could desire.
And yeah, maybe there had been a few dragon fantasies of a beautiful scaley beast swooping in to save him.
At a weary thirty-five, Tori’s ideas of love and romance had changed greatly.
Now he could see himself sitting on a quiet porch or maybe a balcony, watching the sun rise above the trees, gradually lightening the early morning sky.
A man would step outside, place a mug of coffee on the table at Tori’s elbow, and press a sweet kiss to his temple.
“I missed you,” he’d whisper, and Tori’s heart would sing at the sentimentality of it. To be missed even when they’d been apart for only minutes.
Strangely, when Tori heard those three words whispered in his mind, they were in Baldewin’s deep tenor.
Yeah, fat chance of that happening, Tori. Get your head out of the clouds, alright? Dreaming won’t feed you.