“In that case, I’ll send you some supplies to fashion the necklaces. You hardly have time to hit up a hobby shop. I’ll send the usual ingredients as well, so you’re not stuck with just using those and stealing kisses from Baldewin.” That last bit was said teasingly.
Baldewin chortled, a low, rumbling sound like a mountain laughing. “I’m quite happy to sacrifice myself.”
“I bet,” Lisette drawled.
Tori felt a flush steal over his cheeks. Um. Were those two seriously joking about Baldewin kissing Tori? Seriously? Shit, in his old clan, even just joking about that would have ended in a beating.
Tori glanced at Baldewin, disbelieving, only to find Baldewin grinning at him. Baldewin’s reassurances hadn’t really sunk in, apparently. Hearing him joke about kissing Tori still came as something of a surprise.
A pleasant one.
Apparently, Baldewin meant every word he’d said to Tori. And hell, if the dragon clan was that open and accepting of all sexualities, then he might stay for that alone. That kind of acceptance was rare.
Lisette pulled them back on topic. “Tori, I want you to think about what you need and text me a list. I’ll have Cassie out the door in the next two hours, so think quick. I trust you’ll keep everyone magically protected until Cassie can get there and aid you.”
She…what? Trusted him to do the heavy lifting? Tori was so floored, so rattled, that he almost couldn’t phrase a response. The first tendrils of panic were starting to slither through him. He had never heard those words in his life, not directed at him. “Thank you.”
“You’re very welcome. And thank you for so readily defending my clanmates. We’ll get you help soon. Until then, all of you keep a sharp eye out and be cautious.”
“We will,” Baldewin promised. He hung up the phone and replaced it in a pocket.
Tori couldn’t spare him a glance. He didn’t know how to react, emotionally speaking, to the conversation he’d just had. It was too surreal. Even suggesting to his old clan that he could help with something had gotten him laughed at and scorned. And here a mage he didn’t know heard what he’d done and trusted that he could handle the rest.
Had the Jaeggi actually reached him after all? Hit him in the head? Maybe he was lying unconscious somewhere and dreaming all this. It would explain a lot.
“Warin, you up to driving?” Baldewin suddenly asked.
“Yes,” Warin answered. His tone changed to something else, as if he realized what Baldewin meant by that question. “Yes, I see. Tori, pull over. I’ll take the wheel for a time.”
“Yeah, sure,” Tori agreed faintly. He didn’t feel up to driving just then. His head was too crammed and spinning, he could barely focus on the road. At a large, open parking lot to what looked like a supermarket, he pulled in and parked toward the back.
It took him two tries to get out of the driver’s seat, since he forgot his seatbelt and had to stop and undo it first. Then he got out, letting Warin take the wheel, and climbed into the back seat. To his surprise, Baldewin clambered out of the front seat at the same time and joined him in the back. Warin adjusted the seat a touch, his legs longer, then he started up the car and got them in motion again.
“The ward you put on the car is still fine?” Baldewin questioned.
Tori blinked, turning to look at him. “What? Oh, sure. As long as the doors are closed, the ward’s up.”
“Good. I wasn’t sure if us getting in and out disturbed it.”
“No. No, we’re fine.” Seriously, this trust with his magic was throwing him. It was turning his world upside down more than the truth bombs Baldewin had dropped on his head about dragons, male mages, and the Jaeggi. He didn’t know whether to laugh or cry or rage at the old teachers who’d denied his abilities for so damn long.
Baldewin’s voice gentled to a soothing rumble. “Tori, something about speaking with Lisette disturbed you. Will you tell me what that is?”
He looked at this man, this incredibly patient man he was attracted to, and felt like the worst imposter ever. It almost made him ill to think that Baldewin trusted his magic. That he didn’t doubt Tori for an instant. When really, all Tori had was theoretical knowledge and a little practical experience in low-level magic. That he’d managed to safeguard them so far was more luck than design. He felt nauseous at the thought, his chest cramping, stomach churning bile.
He couldn’t look at Baldewin as he confessed brokenly, “I’m not the magical expert you think I am.”
Baldewin’s tone remained soothing, low. “Why do you say that?”
“Look, part of the reason I left my clan is because I’m a piss-poor mage.” Tori ran a hand over his face, feeling sicker with every word. And still, he couldn’t seem to keep his mouth shut. Couldn’t seem to keep himself from blowing the opportunity to be seen as a true mage. “No one in my old clan would let me work more than basic spells.”