Chapter 1
“IFOUND ONE!”
Baldewin jumped, sloshing the cup of coffee in his hand as Cassie barreled past him, her straight, electric blue hair bouncing. Normally, the size difference between the two of them alone would have guaranteed Baldewin kept his feet while the mage went sprawling. Normally.
But Cassie had the sort of energy and impact that negated paltry things like physics. She might be a foot shorter than his six feet, but if she hit him, it would be Baldewin picking himself back up.
A dragon’s reflexes were not to be discounted, though. He flattened himself to the wall and spilled only a little bit of coffee on his shirt, all while avoiding her. She sped past him down the broad castle hallway lined with a thick burgundy carpet, her rapid footsteps muffled.
“Found what, Cassie?” he called to her back.
“A mage!” she threw over her shoulder as she continued to run in a blur of black tights and oversized blue hoodie.
Excitement surged in him, and Baldewin took a second to chug his coffee so he could safely chase after her without splashing it everywhere. It meant he didn’t catch up with her until they were almost at Alric’s office.
Cassie’s eagerness drove her straight inside without knocking, which was rather brave. Cameron and King Alric had been mated for only about a month and were still firmly in the honeymoon stage. It was even odds of them either making out—or more—or actually doing official business.
It was on the tip of his tongue to warn her, but she was halfway into the room already. Baldewin prudently gave it a second, ears open for any signs of fumbling, panicked yelps, or the like. None came, so it must be safe for once.
“I found one!” Cassie repeated with utmost satisfaction and enthusiasm.
“You’ve got to narrow that down,” Cameron informed his twin in a teasing tone Baldewin had come to know so well over the past couple of months. “Found what?”
“A mage.”
Baldewin strolled into the king of the Fire Dragon Clan’s office, gaze skipping over the rich, dark wood furniture and bookcases filled with leather-bound tomes, as familiar to him as his own chambers.
Alric and Cameron were seated at one end of the long table that occupied a good chunk of Alric’s office.
The king and consort were seated with Warin, one of Alric’s retainers and a damn good fighter.
Spreadsheets covered in endless rows of numbers and colorful charts were scattered before them and clutched in their hands.
Oh, right, of course. It was coming up on that time of the year, wasn’t it? Warin always reviewed the castle expenses budget with Alric before fall came.
All three people were watching Cassie, anticipation nearly thrumming in the room.
Baldewin shared it whole-heartedly. Five hundred years without a single sign of any magic was four hundred and ninety-nine years too many, in his opinion.
Mages meant potential mates, magic, wonder.
They’d gone far too long without all three.
He had no idea what it was about this year that’d become the turning point. But more and more mages were appearing, starting with Cameron and apparently snowballing from there. Baldewin didn’t want to question the miracle, just enjoy it. He also wanted more details.
“Found where?” he asked.
“Finland. Took a combination of seeking spells, scrying, and a little Googling, but I found him in Helsinki.” The slender, Korean-American woman was bouncing on the balls of her feet, which were covered in disturbing white bunny slippers with almost dragon-like teeth. “Nestori Taavi is his name.”
Baldewin nearly chuckled when Alric’s eyes crossed a little. “Googling?” Their king was the epitome of grace and composure, but the Noh twins had definitely shaken their handsome king up on more than one occasion with the things that popped out of their mouths.
“He’s got several applications up on various websites, job hunting,” Cassie explained, as smug as a cat with canary feathers dangling out of its mouth.
That made even less sense. “Why would a mage be job hunting? Their job is to be a mage.”
Cassie rolled her big, brown eyes at him.
“Dude. He probably doesn’t know dragons still live.
And mages outside of a dragon clan, they’re not really all that accepted.
The world doesn’t believe in magic anymore.
You should have heard the reaction when I told my parents I’d be exclusively a mage from now on.
You’d have thought I announced I was doing the hippie thing and smoking weed all day. ”
“She does not exaggerate,” Cameron assured him, making a face. “I only got a different reaction because my job is also consort to this clan. I think they could wrap their head around it better.”
“I don’t remember a clan called the Taavi,” Warin said slowly, setting his spreadsheets aside. “We had several magical clans from Finland, but they were all small. Still, I’d think the name would sound familiar.”
“I don’t remember them either,” Alric admitted. “Has Lisette or one of the other mages confirmed that he’s a mage?”
“Yep,” Cassie said with an enthusiastic bob of her head. “Lisette actually cast the seeking spell the last time to verify I didn’t make a mistake while I finished my Googling. Nestori Taavi is definitely a mage, whether he knows it or not.”
Cameron was already typing away on his phone. “I’m shooting this over to Gunter to look up. Cassie, did you get an address for this guy?”
“Yeah, I did, and here’s the thing. I don’t think he’s part of a clan.
His address is a motel room, and not the nice kind.
I took a quick look at the place. It’s one of those cheap places you rent for like a week at a time.
” Her eyes darted from one face to another.
“I will bet you dollars to doughnuts he’s alone. ”
Not for long, he wasn’t. “Hoheit, I want to go,” Baldewin volunteered.
Alric took in the request with a slow blink.
He met his old friend’s gaze, trying not to mentally flinch as Alric attempted to read his thoughts.
Not that the dragon could. No dragon could.
But they’d been friends for centuries. If anyone knew the thoughts zipping through Baldewin’s head, it was Alric.
The dragon king could undoubtedly read he was still smarting over his failure to protect Cameron from being kidnapped.
Another mage was not going to suffer that fate on his watch.
“Yeah, send Baldewin,” Cassie seconded. “He’s great at mage retrieval. I speak from experience.”
Baldewin shot her an amused smile. In retrospect, watching her and Sasha climb all over each other while a very excited Ha Na wore his ear off was funny. He could laugh about it now, but at the time, he might have hidden from the tiny woman in the plane bathroom a few times.
“You do have experience with this,” Alric allowed. “And your Swedish is certainly better than most.”
“Why Swedish?” Cameron questioned, head cocked.
“Second major language in Finland,” Baldewin explained, shrugging a shoulder. “My Finnish is rusty, but either way, I should be able to communicate with him.”
“You’re probably the best to go.” Alric gave a firm nod, pleased with his own decision. “Alright, request granted. But not alone. I don’t want to send anyone out alone right now. Who do you wish to go with you? Sasha?”
Cassie squawked in protest and dismay. “Nooooo! Alric, favorite brother-in-law, I thought we were friends! Why would you try to take my snuggle bunny away from me like that?”
Alric rolled his eyes at her.
Lifting a hand, Warin volunteered, “Why don’t I go? I know enough Swedish to get by, and I wouldn’t mind the chance to stretch my wings some.”
Baldewin nodded in support. Back in the war, Warin had been one of their more intelligent, accomplished fighters, and the man’s usually polite manner often charmed people. On a short list of people to take with him on a meet-and-greet in possibly dangerous territory, Warin definitely featured.
Alric looked between the two of them, gauging this. “Fine. Can the two of you leave today? The expense reports can wait. I don’t want the mage to disappear on us now that we know his location. It seems he’s in a transitory state.”
Baldewin spoke while looking at Warin’s face to see what the man thought of the idea. “I think we can get all of the information from Cassie, pack, and be out by this afternoon. It’ll mean a night landing, but that’ll make it easier for us to shift and walk into the city.”
Warin nodded in support. “I can finish my meeting here quickly and be ready to go soon.”
Cassie patted Baldewin on the arm. “Then follow me, big guy. I can show you his picture, send stuff over to your phone so you’ve got an address for him.”
He followed her out of the room with Cameron calling after him, “Keep us updated!”
“Of course!” Baldewin assured him.
Cassie, never meeting a silence she couldn’t cheerfully destroy, chattered as the ears on her bunny slippers flopped with each step.
“Just an FYI, he’s a hottie. Not that I would know what to do with a guy, but still, he’s really cute.
He also looks as if life fucked him over several times and forgot to use lube. ”
He didn’t doubt her, but this description did worry him. “Why do you say that?”
“It was more his work history. And his smile looked a little strained in the picture, like he was trying to put a good face on things and couldn’t quite manage it.
But mainly the work history.” She took a right at the next hallway, going up to the set of rooms she shared with her wife Sasha or, as Cassie liked to refer to it, her evil lair.
“He’s worked a lot of odd jobs, temporary things that never seemed to last more than six months.
And all in this small town that’s waaaaay north in Finland. Like, right smack on the border.”
“Just how much did you look into his history before coming to see us?”