Chapter 19
NINETEEN
“ C offee, now?” Ren suggested, and her grateful smile chased away some of his darker thoughts.
The café’s warmth enveloped them as they entered. Rich coffee aromas mingled with the sweetness of baked goods. Romi had obviously planned ahead—their usual booth already held a plate of fresh pastries and two steaming mugs.
“Your usual,” the waitress said with a knowing smile. “Romi’s orders.”
“Interfering friends have their uses.” Sabine settled into the booth, her shoulder brushing his. “Thank you for staying with me. I know you probably have other things to handle...”
“Nothing is more important.” The words slipped out before he could catch them.
A pretty blush colored her cheeks. “Still. I appreciate it.”
They talked quietly about the attack, about the enigmatic power that felt older than time itself. Ren found himself captivated by the way she gestured as she spoke, how her eyes sparked with intelligence as she theorized. His dragon essence settled into peaceful contentment at her nearness.
“Oh!” Her expression brightened as their discussion of magical anomalies wound down. “Will you be at the mystic market at the end of the month?”
“I don’t usually attend.”
“You should come this time.” That blush returned, deepening when he raised an eyebrow. “I mean... I could show you around. There’s this vendor who sells the most amazing spiced cider and another with rare magical texts you might like...”
His dragon essence stirred with pleasure at her eagerness to share something with him. “Are you offering to be my personal guide?”
“Maybe.” She bit her lip, glancing up at him through her lashes. “Unless you think it’s beneath the mighty founder’s dignity to browse market stalls with me.”
“I think,” he leaned closer, enjoying how her breath caught, “my dignity can handle it. On one condition.”
“What’s that?”
“You let me buy you dinner afterward.”
Her brilliant smile could have lit the entire café. “Deal.”
Walking her back to the shop, Ren realized something had shifted inside him. The carefully constructed barriers around his heart lay in ruins—and for the first time in centuries, he didn’t want to rebuild them.
A sense of peaceful rightness settled over him as they approached Katz ‘n Things, now restored thanks to Kaito and the others. Sabine paused at the door, her gaze meeting his with warmth that made his heart stumble.
“Thank you,” she said softly. “For being here for me tonight.”
Before he could respond, she stretched up and pressed a quick kiss to his cheek. The spot burned like fire as she disappeared inside, leaving him standing in the moonlight with his dragon essence singing and his pulse racing beneath his skin.
Perhaps, he thought, some walls were meant to fall.