Chapter 4 #2
He could only roll his eyes at his friend.
Maybe he shouldn’t have paid Tori for his time, but he couldn’t find it in himself to completely regret it.
While he didn’t want the man to escape, he did feel better that the mage had some money on hand to buy food and shelter for a little longer.
That thought alone proved that Tori had reduced his common sense to mush.
“I wanna come on a mage retrieval mission with you,” Cassie replied.
“What?” he squawked. Of all the things to come out of her mouth, he’d not expected that. “You can’t be serious. This is dangerous work, Cassie. What if the Jaeggi discovered you were away from the castle?”
“I know defensive wards now, and I would have my Sasha with me to watch my back.”
“Cass…” he pleaded.
“And if I was, say, closer to Helsinki, I might be able to get a better read on Tori’s clan’s location.”
Baldewin’s dragon growled, and he had a feeling it actually came out of his throat rather than staying in his mind.
This was a horrible idea, but it would be good for their clan to know where those mages were hiding; if for no other reason, Baldewin wanted to give the leaders a piece of his mind.
How could they tolerate one of their own looking so worn and ragged?
And this idea that male mages were worthless?
Yes, Baldewin would very much like to speak to those idiots.
“Alric makes all decisions on who to send on retrieval missions.” Baldewin paused and rolled his eyes at himself because he couldn’t believe he was going to utter these words. “However, I promise to put in a positive word for you and suggest that we would benefit from your onsite assistance.”
Cassie squealed loudly, and Baldewin jerked the phone away rather than risk damaging his ear drum. Dear heaven, that little woman could produce very loud noises. When he returned the phone to his ear, she was still celebrating but with less volume.
“But you have to agree to follow the orders of any dragons on the mission with you. Your safety would be our first priority. If I think for a second you’re going to endanger yourself, then I’m hanging up and calling Alric myself right now—”
“No! No! I’ll be good. Follow all your orders or whoever I’m with. I’ll be the best little soldier mage you’ve ever seen,” Cassie quickly promised.
Baldewin needed to sit down. He couldn’t believe he was agreeing to this.
Looking around, he spotted an empty bench and walked over.
He collapsed on it before his knees could give out.
If the Jaeggi hadn’t been running around, it probably wouldn’t be strange to take a mage on a retrieval mission, but not now.
Alric was still only allowing mages to leave the castle on errands if they had at least two dragons accompanying them.
The last trip down to the town of Sonthofen had been two mages and seven dragons.
He’d heard the cluster had drawn more than a few stares.
And now Cassie wanted to tag along to find a new mage.
If Alric didn’t kill him, Cameron would.
“It’ll be fine, Big B. You’ll see. We need a mage in the field searching for other mages and keeping an eye on those damn Jaeggi.” Baldewin could only grunt at her reassurances. “Oh, and your cute little runaway mage is still in Helsinki.”
“What?” Baldewin demanded, his head popping up.
“Yeah, I’ve been working the seeking spell while we talk. Tori Taavi is still in Helsinki. Looks to be about five-ish blocks away from where you are now. Nowhere near the train station or the ferry.”
“You’ve been tracking him this whole time?”
Cassie made a dismissive noise, and he could picture her waving dismissively at him. “Of course. What kind of a Burkhard would I be if I didn’t jump to give you a hand? A pretty shitty one, and I am not a shitty clanmate.”
“No, you are not,” Baldewin easily agreed. “You are just—”
“Exhausting. I know,” she finished with a giggle. “Cameron calls me that all the time.”
“Your twin is very correct.”
“Look, B. Five hundred euros is a nice chunk of change, but it’s not going to get him far.
Helsinki is a big town; he’s got job applications in everywhere, and he’s established at least a temporary base of operations.
Leaving now means starting from scratch, and unless he feels like he’s in danger, he won’t rabbit on you. ”
“Rabbit?”
“Run. He won’t run.”
Baldewin found himself nodding, even though she couldn’t see it. “I don’t think he feels threatened by us. Just annoyed.”
Cassie made a humming noise.
“What are you thinking?” he prodded.
“It’s a big city, and we can’t give you too many definites on his location, but you have run into each other a few times now,” she started slowly.
“Yes, usually in or around Esplanadi Park.”
“That means if he wanted to avoid you, he would just have to avoid that park. You might not run into him again if he did that. I think you keep seeing him because he’s curious about you.
And I think it’s going to be easier to see him again.
You’ve given him information that his own clan lied about, plus you’ve proven to be a source of funds if he runs low again.
He might actually have less reason to run now. ”
His tension eased, reassured by her words.
It did make more sense for him to stay if Baldewin was tossing money at him.
He didn’t think Tori felt threatened by him, but then he’d never suspected an entire clan of mages could actually believe that dragons would hurt them or betray them.
It was so very illogical and counter to everything he believed.
Why would dragons ever hurt the very source of their joy?
“Thank you, Cassie. Your words have eased my mind. I think you’re right.”
“No problem, Big B. I’ll keep an eye on him, call if he starts getting too close to the train, bus, or ferry stations. I got your back.”
Baldewin ended the call and nodded to Warin, who released a relieved sigh.
Now that his panic had subsided, there was little doubt in his mind that Cassie would have helped him even if he hadn’t agreed to her extortion attempt.
She was of the same mindset as the rest of the clan—they helped each other no matter what.
They all believed in and supported each other.
Every new mage made them all stronger, not just the dragon who was lucky enough to find a mate.
It was also clear to Baldewin that Tori had not been lucky enough to grow up in a supportive clan like that. The mage needed a true home where he would be loved, supported, and cherished by his clanmates. He needed to be brought to Burkhard.
But how the hell was Baldewin supposed to get him there when he believed the very worst about dragons?