“Do you have him? Is he safe?” Alric asked by way of greeting.
“No worries if Warin and I are safe?” Baldewin lightly teased.
Alric chuckled softly, a sound he heard far more of now that his oldest friend had found his mate. “I’m not worried about whether my two strongest warriors are safe in Helsinki. I also happen to know that you and Warin have been in communication with Lisette already today. If you were in danger, I’d know it.”
“Always a step ahead of us, Hoheit.”
Alric snorted. “I have to be in order to keep this crazy rabble in line. Now, what news? Have you found him?”
“Yes, but not all my news is good, Hoheit. I am sorry.”
“No apologies, my old friend. Tell me what has happened.”
“We found him, and he looks…weary. Worn,” Baldewin started.
“He’s in need of a damn good meal,” Warin grumbled under his breath, though Baldewin doubted Alric could hear him.
“He refused to speak with us when we tried to approach him. He…he knew who we were.” Baldewin paused, glanced around quickly, and lowered his voice. “He recognized us as dragons.”
“Oh.” The small sound was soft and surprised from Alric. The silence stretched for a second, and he could easily imagine his king trying to take in that information. “That will save you from that awkward conversation. Do you think this means he’s aware he’s a mage?”
“Yes, I’m confident he knows he’s a mage,” Baldewin replied.
Warin cursed softly before stomping back over to the table. He leaned close and snarled, “He threw a spell at us!”
Baldewin shoved Warin away from him. He didn’t need the dragon growling in his ear as he spoke to their king.
“What?” Alric gasped. “A spell? He cast a spell?”
There were some sounds like a scuffle in the background of the call, and he clearly heard Cameron’s voice demanding Alric put them on speaker.
“Are you shitting me? The new mage cast a spell?” Cameron demanded a second later. “Whoa, that’s kind of hysterical.”
“It does make me grateful you didn’t know magic yet when we spoke to you in the castle the first time,” Alric murmured. “I’m assuming both you and Warin are okay. You weren’t harmed?”
“No, we’re both fine, Hoheit. Simply surprised.” Warin paced away from the table, swearing again. Okay, so maybe they were a little more than surprised. A little shocked and insulted, too. What mage didn’t want to know a dragon?
“And the mage? Did he look hurt? Or scared?” Cameron prodded.
“More…angry. I’m inclined to think that he hates dragons. If you could have seen his expression, heard his voice when he said ‘dragons,’ you would have thought we were to blame for every slight and ill-fortune he’s suffered in his life.”
“So, I take it he rejected your offer to talk,” Alric said.
Baldewin snorted. “He said ‘no’ much like Cameron did that first day in the castle but with magic.”
“What is your plan for moving forward?”
Baldewin sighed and glanced over at Warin. The dragon seemed to have calmed, his expression more of worry and frustration now. He’d wager that Warin was feeling more embarrassment at being caught by the spell than any real anger.
“I am reluctant to confront him at his motel. It is clear he doesn’t want anything to do with us. I don’t think it will help our cause to make him feel even more threatened. We will back off for the rest of the day. Maybe try to keep an eye on him from a distance so we know he is safe. I will attempt to speak to him again soon when he’s had time to calm down.”
“That sounds like a wise course of action. Take your time and keep us posted.”
“I will, Hoheit. Could you also ask Lisette to notify us if it looks like he’s leaving Helsinki?”
“I will pass along your request. Good luck to you and Warin. Be safe, and protect that mage.”
“We will. I swear it.”
Baldewin ended the call and lowered the phone to the table, staring at the dark screen for a moment. The only question was how were they going to get close enough to the man to speak to him without being hit with another freezing spell…or something even more dangerous?
Tori wanted precisely three things out of this day. One, to get a job. Money was past tight at this point. Two, to drink coffee as black as his soul. Three, for no one to pet his peeves.
So, it was only natural for the dragon to show up again to further annoy the crap out of him. There could be no other explanation than bad karma from a previous life coming back to haunt him with a vengeance.
As proof to this theory, the dragon came to him before he had coffee.
Of course the dragon was freaking back. The lizard pretending to be a sexy man—and Tori needed to have a word with his libido—had been haunting his every step for the past four days.