the other dragon apparently called Warin. He’d go into a building, submit an application, and they would be lurking outside every time. They never engaged, never tried to speak with him, but they always seemed to be right on the fringe of his peripheral vision.
It was sort of like stalking. Or maybe just an unwanted protective detail. Baldewin was adamant about the whole mages-being-kidnapped thing. He didn’t mistake this as anything other than protection.
It might have been sweet under different circumstances. As it stood, it was just annoying. They had no cause to protect Tori. He wasn’t one of them and never would be.
First off, he still didn’t entirely trust the dragons thanks to thirty-five years of having it pounded in his head that dragons were evil.
Yes, thirty minutes in the library had proven everything Baldewin had said was the truth. Stacks and stacks of books had said the same thing—the Jaeggi started the Dragon War over jealousy and a need for revenge. He still didn’t know if his own clan leaders had known the truth or had been fooled as well, but that was the least of his concerns.
Secondly, a mage might be the mate for a dragon, but his real purpose in life was to cast spells, to work magic. Tori was a failure as a mage. While the Burkhard dragons might not have a problem with him being a man or gay, they would undoubtedly have issues with his lack of ability. After a lifetime of rejection from his clan, why the hell would he ever set himself up to be rejected by another clan? That was insane.
No, he was safer and better off on his own. No one to judge him. No one to call him a failure.
All he could do was ignore his hopeful stalkers and go about his own business. Really, finances alone forced him to be practical and not try to flip the tables on them somehow.
He entered the Uudenmaan TE-toimisto, an employment center, and went through the jobs listed there. It was a plain, red-brick building that looked rather governmental and efficient, and the interior matched.
Well, someone had thrown in octagonal stools of bright greens and blues to liven up the color scheme a bit, but the white walls and acoustic ceiling tiles and grey floor overpowered all color attempts.
He sat down on one of them anyway to review his options. Even a seasonal job would do at this point. He was quickly eating—no pun intended—through the money he’d gotten from Baldewin.
His motel was paid up for a week, so at least he had shelter. But constantly eating takeout was getting expensive quickly. He had no means of cooking at his motel room, so buying groceries wasn’t really an option, unless they were frozen meals he could reheat with the tiny microwave in his room. Which he did, as much as possible. But food was expensive.
Hell, life was expensive.
For one wild moment, he considered taking Baldewin up on his offer to go and see the clan, if for no other reason than they’d take care of his expenses for a few days while he waited to hear back from an employer. The hiring process was slow, sometimes taking months, and it was time Tori didn’t have.
But no. No, that was a poor life decision. He didn’t trust Baldewin and Warin enough to go with them, for one. For another, if things went poorly—and he fully expected them to—it would leave him stranded in a foreign country where he didn’t speak the language. And traveling back to Finland would be expensive as hell.
Besides, knowing his luck, as soon as he was out of the country, he’d get a job offer and wouldn’t be in the right position to take it.
Yeah, okay, no. Let’s not do crazy things, Tori.
He found three jobs he felt he had a good chance at, so he filled in the applications for those. By the time he was done, his phone was fully charged.
It was well past lunch time, and his stomach moaned plaintively. He couldn’t afford to feed it. One meal a day was all he could do, but water sounded like a good idea. Maybe with enough water, his stomach wouldn’t feel so lonely and rejected.
Tori turned in the applications and headed out. Water first, then back to the motel so he could do some laundry. His two other outfits needed a wash if he was to have clean clothes for tomorrow, and maybe he’d throw in