Page 132 of Scales ’N’ Spells: Volume One

A day earlier, he’d been in the park filling out another round of applications, trying to keep an eye out for those damn dragons, when a little girl ran up and dropped a brown paper bag on the table before running away again with a giggle.

Jumping to his feet, he’d turned around, sure this had to be the doing of those dragons, but there was no sign of them. He’d sat and carefully opened the bag to find thick wool socks with black and grey stripes. A short note accompanied them.

The evenings are cold.

~Baldewin

Tori had nearly laughed aloud. Cold? This was nothing. The temperature at night was downright balmy compared to winter nights in Nuorgam. Ridiculous dragon.

But still…the socks. Money was easy. It didn’t require any deep thought or planning. The socks, on the other hand, were different.

This Baldewin had to think about whether Tori was comfortable. Maybe he knew there was no carpet in his room, and he was worried about Tori walking barefoot across the tile floor. The dragon had picked out these particular thick, soft socks for him. He’d written the note and enlisted the help of the little girl so Tori couldn’t possibly turn him away again.

It was a small, stupid gift, but Tori had found himself swallowing hard against the lump that formed in his throat. When was the last time someone had given him such a gift? Never from a friend. He’d gotten a few when he was a kid from his parents. At least before they discovered he was gay and a mage without useful magic.

But this couldn’t continue.

The dragons were just trying to get past his defenses. They thought he could be bought easily, and they were wrong. He’d use them for what he could get, and as soon as he could, he was going to disappear.

He just needed to get better at spotting them. For the past four days, he’d constantly looked over his shoulder and jumped at every damn shadow, expecting a dragon to suddenly materialize. He was exhausted with worry.

That only put him in a bad mood when the dragon boldly walked toward him. Was this the dragon who’d given him the socks? Baldewin?

Tori eyed his approach and debated what to do. He had no real elements on him to work with, so magic was very much out. He could try coshing the guy over the head, which, heh, would be comedic if nothing else. Tori was maybe half the guy’s size. Were all dragons built solid like that, like a brick wall with legs?

That probably wasn’t fair.

He was handsome, Tori could give him that. The dragon had at least six inches on him in height and was nearly as wide as a car. His black hair was buzzed short, and black square glasses stood out against his rich, amber skin. There was dark stubble lining his strong jaw.

Everything about the man—er, dragon—should have been intimidating. And he was. This creature was definitely intimidating. There was no question he was powerful. Tori would have undoubtedly avoided him even if he didn’t know he was a dragon.

But there was something in his grey-green eyes, something in the way he looked at Tori, that made him sure the dragon wouldn’t hurt him.

Which was stupid and insane. Dragons had betrayed the Jaeggi. Betrayed all mages. This dragon was just craftier than Tori was giving him credit. He was getting under Tori’s skin and screwing with his mind because of socks.

Stupid socks.

Yes, angry was better. Angry was exactly what he needed to deal with this dragon.

He stopped with his arms crossed defensively over his chest and stared the dragon down. The one thing that he had going in his favor was that they were once again in a public park. He’d been cutting through it, looking for cans to pick up and recycle, when the dragon found him. So, he couldn’t shapeshift here, not with so many witnesses.

The man stopped a good meter away, close enough to talk, but far enough out that Tori didn’t feel threatened. His body language was loose, almost deliberately, as if he were trying to put Tori at ease. Fat chance, that.

“Baldewin?” Tori demanded.

The dragon nodded. At least Tori now had a name to match with the dragon. “I want to talk to you,” Baldewin stated without any fanfare or greetings. “You set the terms.”

Tori wanted him to go away. He blurted out without thinking, “Five hundred euros, and I’ll talk to you for an hour, but no more.”

“Done,” Baldewin said without hesitation.

Shit, he should have said a thousand.

Still, the five hundred would buy him several more days. Trying to squeeze at least coffee out of the deal, he cast about, saw a café nearby with outdoor seating, and pointed there. “Treat me to coffee at least before you give me a headache.”

Was that a flash of a smile on Baldewin’s face? Well, Tori was so pleased that he amused the man. He glowered but bit back words, not wanting to sound like an idiot. He marched to the café in question, practically feeling Baldewin’s eyes burning into him. He didn’t look around, though.

Where was the other dragon? Was he somewhere nearby and watching?