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Baldewin pulled Tori back into his arms while they watched Tanja and Panu climb into the third row of seats in the SUV. “Are you sure you wouldn’t rather fly with me?”
“I wish I could.” Tori tilted his head back against Baldewin’s chest so he could look up at him. “Your dragon is magnificent.”
Baldewin groaned. “That’s it. Now he’s preening.”
“He deserves to preen. He is gorgeous. The loveliest dragon I’ve ever seen.”
There was a low rumble from Baldewin’s chest, almost like purring. Baldewin’s dragon was very happy indeed.
“I’m never going to hear the end of this.”
“I can’t fly with you—at least not while awake—but we can go up into the mountains when we get home. We can lounge in the sun together.”
Baldewin bent and captured his lips in a slow kiss, seeming reluctant to end it. “That is a date.”
Tori stepped away from Baldewin, and his stomach did a happy little flip as Baldewin shifted into a massive dragon with deep, rosewood red scales and enormous wings. The dragon winked at him and then launched himself into the air. While he might not be comfortable flying with his mate, he would never stop being in awe of the dragon.
He jumped into the SUV, and they took off at a more responsible pace with Alric behind the wheel. Tori sighed deeply as he sank low in his seat. Evora was also slumped, looking as exhausted as he felt. Tori might have used a great deal of power from Baldewin, but he was still drained from the extensive spell casting. He’d never slung so many spells back to back. The only thing he wanted was a nap—not that he was going to get that any time soon, as they headed straight for the Taavi village.
“Tori? Tori?” Tanja said in a low whisper.
Tori blinked his eyes open, not even realizing he’d closed them. He shifted in his seat to see Tanja and Panu looking utterly confused and maybe even a little scared.
“The dragons…where did the dragons come from?”
The angry, hurt part of Tori wanted to turn his back on them. While Tanja and Panu had never personally done anything to him, they were still part of a clan that had hated and tormented him his entire life.
But this entire trip had been about setting the record straight and finding a way to bridge the gap between the dragons and the Taavi. There were still too many mages and dragons in the world without mates.
Sighing deeply, Tori sat up and twisted around in his seat so he could face them. “The red dragons are fire dragons from the Burkhard Clan, who live in Germany. The white dragons are ice dragons from the Valerii Clan, who live in Brazil.”
“And that man…the one you’re with?”
“Baldewin Burkhard, my mate.”
“Your mate?” Panu said, then winced, quickly lowering his voice again, as if everyone in the SUV couldn’t already hear him. “I thought dragons only wanted female mages.”
“Dragons are generally pansexual. They don’t care about a mage’s gender. They only care that a soul matches with their own.” Tori tilted his head toward the front seat. “That’s King Alric Burkhard and his mage mate, Cameron.”
“But…” Tanja started, but Tori was already shaking his head.
“We were told wrong. We were told a lot of things wrong.”
Tori watched as Tanja’s face clouded over, and she seemed to sink in on herself, while Panu sat up straighter, held his head higher. Tori got it. Tanja had been told her entire life that she was special simply because she was a female mage, while Panu had been told he was good for nothing beyond fathering female mages.
And because they’d been attacked by the Jaeggi and saved by dragons, they were a little more open to the truth Tori had to deliver. In the end, he wasn’t sure if either of them would be willing to leave the clan, but they would carry the information he shared to the rest of their generation and possibly beyond. The first seeds were being planted, and with some luck, maybe some dragons and mages would find each other.
For the rest of the drive to Nuorgam, Tori told his story—meeting Baldewin and Warin, the Jaeggi attacks, and most importantly, living within the Burkhard Clan. Evora even roused herself to tell what it was like in Brazil with the Valerii Clan.
Tori struggled to bite back a smile. They didn’t even have to sell it hard. They were both talking about adventure and dragons in new, far-off places. Panu was actively asking questions, and Tanja even seemed to come around slowly. She might not be guaranteed to be queen bee if she left Nuorgam, but there was little likelihood of finding her true mate if she stayed.
By the time they pulled into the village, there was a good crowd gathered near Mathilda’s red house. The dragons were standing close together off to the side, while the mages were on the other side. No one appeared to be outwardly hostile. Just confused.
