Page 43 of Hex and Scales

“We need to figure out how he keeps disappearing like that,” she said. “Even my tigress can’t track his scent once the shadows take him.”

“It’s ancient magic.” His jaw clenched. “We should call your friends. I don’t want you alone until we figure out how to stop him.”

Twenty minutes later, Clover and Romi arrived bearing coffee and concerned expressions. They gathered in Sabine’s living room while she recounted Linus’s appearance.

“The way he vanished...” Clover frowned. “That’s not normal shadow magic. Even the most powerful practitioners leave some kind of trace.”

“Which is why I have an idea.” Sabine glanced at her friend. “Remember what you and Rook did when Hudson was tampering with the spa equipment? With the tracking magic?”

Clover sat up straighter, a knowing smile spreading across her face. “You mean when we caught him stealing the fake scent?” She was already pulling out her notebook. “We can definitely do that. The tracking spell worked perfectly.”

“I remember that!” Romi replied. “Can you infuse sage and dragon’s breath flowers into those reed diffusers? The ones that looked like regular air fresheners?”

“Mixed with crushed moonstone and a drop of tiger’s eye essence.” Clover’s pen flew across the page. “But for Linus, we’ll need something stronger. His shadow magic is super old—way more complex than Hudson’s spells, though I gotta say, something about both feels really familiar.”

Sabine felt Ren tense behind her, his hand tightening slightly on her shoulder. She reached up to lace her fingers through his, offering silent support.

“What about midnight jasmine?” Romi suggested. “Lux mentioned it amplifies tracking magic.”

Clover shook her head. “Too obvious. Linus would sense it immediately. But...” She tapped her pen against her lips. “What if we used night-blooming cereus? It’s subtle enough to mask other magical signatures, but powerful enough to hold an enhancement spell.”

“Plus, it smells amazing,” Sabine added. “I could say I’m doing a new seasonal scent line for familiars in the shop. That way if he asks about the diffusers...”

“It won’t raise suspicion.” Ren’s deep voice held approval. “Especially since you already carry scented products.”

“Exactly.” She squeezed his hand, warmth blooming in her chest when he squeezed back. “We just need to make it look natural.”

“Leave the display setup to me,” Romi declared. “I’ll create gorgeous crystal and copper diffuser stands that’ll match your existing décor perfectly. Ooh, and we can use those pretty ice formations you’ve been accidentally making as inspiration.”

Later that afternoon, Sabine retreated to the back room of Katz ‘n Things while Romi worked on diffuser designs up front. She needed to practice controlling her growing powers, preferably without turning more merchandise into impromptu ice sculptures.

“Focus,” she muttered, extending her hand toward a simple protection charm. “Just a small enhancement. No ice.”

The crystal in the charm began to glow with inner light. For a moment, everything worked perfectly—until her thoughts drifted to Ren’s protective embrace from that morning. Frost immediately raced across the charm’s surface.

“Seriously?” She glared at the now-frozen crystal. “This is getting ridiculous.”

“Having performance issues?” Romi called from the doorway, grinning.

“Ha-ha.” Sabine set down the iced charm. “I can’t keep doing this every time I think about?—”

Pain shot through her birthmark, sharp enough to make her gasp. The room tilted sideways as a vision slammed into her:A battlefield strewn with bodies. The clash of steel on steel. A dragon’s roar of anguish. Blood seeping into dark earth.

“Sabine!” Romi’s voice sounded far away.

The vision shifted:A woman who looked like her, dressed in ancient armor, fighting back-to-back with a massive black dragon. Their movements perfectly synchronized as they faced down shadow creatures. The woman’s sword blazed with combined dragon-fire and tiger-magic.

Her locket grew scorching hot against her skin. The vision fractured:The woman turning toward a hidden attacker. Ablade dripping with dark poison. The dragon’s desperate cry coming too late?—

“Breathe!” Romi’s hands gripped her shoulders. “Come on, snap out of it!”

Sabine blinked, finding herself on her knees. Every crystal and magical item in the back room had frosted over, delicate ice patterns spreading across shelves and up the walls. Her whole body trembled.

“I’ll call Ren,” Romi said, reaching for her phone.

“Wait.” Sabine caught her wrist, still trying to catch her breath. “I’m okay. It was just... I saw...”

Before she could finish, her phone buzzed. A text from Ren:Are you all right? I felt... something.

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