Chapter 28
TWENTY-EIGHT
D awn 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.
The shop’s bell chimed. Through the window, he glimpsed Sabine arranging a display of enchanted crystals, sunlight catching her honey-blonde waves. His dragon settled at the sight of her, even as his tactical mind cataloged potential threats. The magical tampering. The escalating incidents. The predatory calculation in Linus’s gaze whenever he watched her.
“Someone’s stressing extra hard this morning.”
Ren turned to find Eiji jogging toward him, leather satchel bouncing against his hip. Despite the early hour, his cousin managed to look both perfectly styled and utterly casual in designer jeans and a vintage band T-shirt.
“I don’t stress,” Ren said.
“Right. And I don’t have phenomenal taste in music.” Eiji pulled a scroll from his satchel. “But we can debate your emotional constipation later. I’ve been tracking magical signatures all night.”
The playful light in Eiji’s eyes had vanished, replaced by an intensity that set Ren’s teeth on edge. He unrolled the parchment, muscles tensing as he absorbed the details. Support beams stressed to breaking point. Pipes corroded by magically accelerated decay. Each piece of evidence pointed to deliberate sabotage.
“There’s more.” Eiji produced a map of Mystic Hollow marked with glowing dots. “The attacks aren’t random. Look at the pattern—they’re coordinated, designed to stretch our defenses thin. And this—” He pointed to a cluster of marks near the shop. “These started appearing right after Linus came to town.”
Deep in the forest behind Katz ‘n Things, they discovered fresh claw marks scoring ancient trees. The gouges formed an unmistakable path leading toward town. Toward Sabine.
“Trap spells.” Ren noticed the marks were along the same trail Sabine ran every morning. His dragon essence coiled tight with protective fury, recognizing the danger to their mate. “He’s escalating from illusions to physical threats.”
“Have you noticed how he lurks at the edges of every incident?” Eiji’s voice dropped lower. “Always observing, analyzing. Like he’s waiting for something. And that magical signature...” He hesitated. “It reminds me of stories about George Sunil.”
“George is dead.” The words came out sharp enough to make Eiji step back. “I watched him die.”
“Did you? Or did you watch an illusion die?”
Ren’s hand brushed an old scar on his forearm. Memory crashed over him—Shiara falling, poison blade gleaming, her final breath warm against his neck as she whispered good-bye. The pendant he always carried seemed to burn against his chest.
“You can’t keep fighting this.” Eiji’s voice softened. “The magical surges when you’re together, the way your powers amplify each other—you’re stronger as a pair. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“I watched my mate die once.” Ren’s voice roughened with suppressed emotion. “I won’t?—”
A magical alarm shrieked through the air, high and piercing. Through the shop window, Ren spotted Sabine clutching her head, face contorted in pain. His dragon roared to life at her distress.
“Forbidden magic,” Eiji spat, pointing to glowing runes that had materialized around the shop’s foundation. “The same symbols we found in the forest.”
Shadow-beasts emerged from the dawn’s lingering darkness, their forms writhing with corrupted power. Razor-sharp claws scraped against cobblestones as they circled the building. These weren’t mere illusions—they were solid manifestations of ancient evil, eyes gleaming with malevolent intelligence.
Inside the shop, Sabine staggered. Her lips moved in what looked like a curse as she tried to shift. Orange-gold light flickered around her like dying embers, but her tiger form remained locked away. The runes pulsed darker, binding her essence.
Rage erupted in Ren’s chest. His dragon would not be contained. Bones cracked and reformed as he shifted, wings unfurling to block out the sun. Obsidian scales flowed over massive muscles while his neck elongated, crowned with razor spikes. In seconds, a massive dragon towered where Ren had stood.
His roar rattled windows for blocks. One shadow beast leaped, claws extended toward his wing joint. Ren’s tail whipped around, catching the creature mid-jump and smashing it into the pavement. It dissolved into oily smoke.
“Show off,” Eiji muttered, hands weaving complex patterns that sent protective shields shimmering around the shop’s walls.