Page 33 of Hex and Scales

“And you believe that precludes finding love again?” Madame Zephyrine’s brow arched as she sipped her tea. “The heart has infinite capacity for healing, young dragon. Even yours.”

Ren paced the garden path, unable to stand still under the weight of their knowing gazes. Flower petals swirled in his wake, responding to his agitation. “But this connection—it’s too strong, too immediate. Her magical sensitivity increases daily. The visions we share...”

He stopped, facing the elders. His hands clenched at his sides. “She asked if what we’re feeling is real or if magic is pushing us together. I need to know.”

The twins’ violet eyes met in that uncanny way of theirs, volumes passing in the silence. Finally, Madame Zephyrine spoke. “Magic cannot create love where none exists. It can only illuminate what the heart already knows to be true.” Yes, he knew this already.

“That doesn’t explain why my dragon responded to a simple wish at a fountain.” Ren resumed his pacing, frost crackling along the path where his control slipped. “Why her magic calls to mine as if—” He broke off, unwilling to voice the impossible thoughts that haunted him.

“Perhaps,” Neve suggested, reaching out to warm her sister’s tea with a gentle touch, “you’re asking the wrong questions. Instead of wondering why this connection exists, consider why you fight it so fiercely.”

“I’m not fighting it. I’m trying to understand it.” The words came out sharper than intended. A nearby rose bush trembled, its blooms taking on a metallic sheen in response to his magic.

Felix bounced on his toes, seemingly immune to the tension. “Understanding isn’t always necessary for truth. Sometimes the heart knows what the mind cannot comprehend.” He gestured excitedly, sending several flame-flowers spinning in graceful arcs. “Like how water knows to flow downhill, or how birds know to fly south—some things simply are.”

“Cryptic riddles won’t protect her,” Ren growled. The temperature around him dropped several degrees. “Her powergrows daily, drawing attention we can’t afford. I need to know what we’re dealing with.”

“You’re dealing,” Madame Zephyrine said carefully, setting down her cup with a pointed look at his frost-rimmed footprints, “with a remarkable young woman whose gifts are only beginning to surface. Beyond that...” She shrugged, the gesture elegant despite its casualness, “time reveals what it will.”

“That’s not an answer.”

“It’s the only answer we can give.” Neve’s expression softened as she studied him. Something ancient flickered in her gaze, making his dragon essence coil with restless energy. “Watch over her, Ren. Guide her as her abilities grow. The rest will become clear when it’s meant to.”

“And if clarity comes too late?” Ice edged his words. “If whatever’s causing these magical surges poses a real threat?”

The twins shared a weighted glance, heavy with unspoken concerns. “Then perhaps,” Madame Zephyrine said, “the universe knew exactly what it was doing when it drew a powerful dragon protector to a uniquely gifted young shifter with some extra magic.”

Felix nodded eagerly. “Everything happens for a reason, after all. Even if we can’t see it yet.”

“More riddles,” Ren muttered, but some of the tension eased from his shoulders.

“Life itself is a riddle,” Neve pointed out. “The joy is in solving it together, wouldn’t you say?”

Ren left the sanctuary with mysteries still swirling in his mind, frustration simmering beneath his skin. The elders’ cryptic responses only deepened the questions surrounding Sabine. Why did her magic affect him so strongly? Why did his dragon recognize her? And why did every instinct whisper of ancient familiarity?

The willow branches chimed in his wake, their song almost mocking in its cheerfulness. He paused at the sanctuary’s edge, looking back. “If you know something—anything that could help protect her...”

“We know many things,” Madame Zephyrine said serenely. “But some truths must be discovered, not told. Trust your instincts, dragon. They haven’t led you astray yet.”

Through the café window,he caught a glimpse of Sabine laughing with her friends, sunlight turning her hair to spun gold. His heart clenched with an emotion too vast for words. She glanced up as if sensing his presence, and her whole face brightened. His dragon essence settled into quiet contentment at her joy in seeing him.

Real or magical, destined or chosen—it didn’t matter. Something deeper than logic drew them together, and his dragon would not be denied. Whatever threats gathered in shadow, whatever mysteries surrounded her growing power, one truth remained certain: he would protect her with his last breath.

Even if he never understood why she felt so impossibly familiar, so vital to his very existence. Even if the elders never gave him a straight answer about the true nature of their connection.

Some mysteries, perhaps, were meant to be lived rather than solved.

A warm breeze carried hints of sunshine and magic—her unique essence—across his path. His dragon stretched lazily beneath his skin, and for once, Ren didn’t fight the surge of possessive satisfaction.

Whatever was coming, whatever secrets still lay hidden, they would face it together. That, at least, was one riddle he’d already solved.

TWENTY-EIGHT

Dawn painted Mystic Hollow in watercolor shades of rose and gold, casting long shadows across the cobblestone streets. Ren prowled the perimeter of Katz ‘n Things, each step measured and precise. The cool morning air carried hints of approaching autumn—fallen leaves, morning dew, and underneath it all, the faintest trace of jasmine that always seemed to linger around Sabine’s shop.

Power shimmered beneath his skin, responding to the memory of last night’s shared vision. Sabine’s face, twisted in pain as a blade struck. Her final words, lost to time but somehow echoing through centuries. The connection between them thrummed stronger with each passing day, a symphony he’d stopped trying to silence.

A malevolent presence brushed his supernatural senses—corrupted power, twisted and wrong. Ren froze mid-stride, every instinct alert. The protective wards surrounding the shop flickered like dying embers where they should have blazed. Someone had tampered with them, leaving behind an energy signature that made his dragon essence surge with recognition.

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