Page 5 of Merry in Moonvale (Moonvale Matches #3)

CHAPTER 5

Kizzi

H ex pounded against the window with a fury that would’ve been impressive if it wasn’t so fucking annoying.

Night had fallen, and along with it came a frosty chill that permeated all the way to the bone.

I did not want to open the damned window. But I didn’t really have a choice.

“Why do you want the window opened, Hex? It’s freezing. And you don’t like the cold, remember? It makes you stiff.”

Hex merely pounded harder. If I wasn’t careful, they were sure to break through my protection enchantment and shatter the glass pane.

I sighed heavily, letting the air rush past my clenched teeth. “Fine. But just for a moment. And then we’re going to sleep, we’ve got a big day tomorrow.”

The window’s latch bit into my fingers with an uncomfortable chill. I really needed to bulk up on firewood or remind Tandor to do it for me. One of the perks of having an orc as a partner—they did all the heavy lifting for you, even when you didn’t ask.

It was wonderful.

Tandor was, much to my jealousy, curled up in bed at his own cottage, probably peacefully sleeping by now. He had an early morning at Ginger’s Pub, and I had some locating potions that I needed to finish before the two suns rose in the morning.

We were both exhausted after long hours trudging through the forest.

I was determined to track down that dragon, no matter what it took.

My cauldron bubbled quietly, infusing the potion with magic and boiling it into a smooth liquid.

Since the return of the magic on Hallow’s Eve, spells and enchantments came readily. Easily. With minimal effort. It felt as though the well of magic inside of me was limitless. I didn’t push it, though. The coven, and especially Ani, had warned me against it.

I wasn't positive if I was the reason the magic had returned, but I couldn’t exactly rule it out, either.

It felt impossible. Ridiculous. But Ani insisted.

And I did have that weird dream during the ritual…

Whatever. I brushed the thought away. There were more urgent things to worry about.

When the window eased open and a blast of frigid wind brushed my hair back from my face, Hex tensed, coiled, and then sprang through the window. I reached for them, but I was too slow.

“Hex!” I screamed. “Don’t! It’s dark!” Panic tightened my chest and clawed its way up my throat.

Hex wasn’t always by my side, but they were always close. Always nearby. And as they disappeared into the darkness, I couldn’t resist the urge to follow them.

But it was fucking freezing .

Grumbling and cursing my familiar the entire time, I donned my boots and slipped my warmest cloak over my nightclothes.

I lit an enchanted lantern and followed Hex into the night.

“ H ex!” I hissed, mindful of the volume of my voice so I wouldn’t wake any sleeping folk. I could sense Hex’s nearness, could almost smell them, but I still couldn’t see them.

They had led me to the stables at the end of town. What Hex needed in the stables in the dead of night was beyond me. But I followed them anyway.

“Hex, I swear to the Old Gods, let’s go home or I’ll—I’ll—” I struggled to come up with an adequate threat. I had already threatened to smear them on the cobblestones. I couldn’t maim them, nor did they have any possessions I could take away. “I’ll refuse to remove any pieces of lint from you for weeks!”

My heart rate quickened in my chest. Yes, that had certainly horrified them.

The lantern cast an eerie orange glow around me, bringing the stables into view. A few horses stared at me with wide, glossy eyes, certainly curious about why they were being disturbed. I patted one on the neck as I passed.

It was a gorgeous black stallion. Nightmare. I was surprised to find him still in Moonvale. I ran my fingers through his mane. “Hello, old friend,” I murmured as I stepped around to the back of the structure.

Finally, my lantern light gleamed on something purple and shiny. Hex.

“Hex!” I hissed. “What in Hell’s Realm are you doing?”

They were curled up on a pile of hay, which was surprising, considering hay was one of the textures they usually avoided. I approached slowly. They wouldn’t attack me. I was pretty sure.

Well, they did attack me sometimes, but I provoked them so that was my own fault.

I reached out with cold, shaking fingers. “Hey, buddy. Let’s go home.”

When my fingers met Hex’s slippery surface, they softened and slipped aside.

I slapped a hand over my mouth to trap the scream that threatened to escape.

There, in the hay, sleeping peacefully under Hex, was the baby dragon.

My heart thundered in my chest. I worried that it was so loud, it would wake the slumbering beast.

For a few moments, I allowed myself to panic. Fear and relief warred for control over my mind.

The dragon was here. The dragon was here .

And I didn’t know what the fuck to do with it now.

Could I just… scoop it up? Carry it like a cat? Casper didn’t like it when I carried her. Actually, none of the cats in town really let folk scoop them up if they could help it.

I couldn’t leave it here, that was certain. The stables were warmer than the open forest, with the bodies of the horses radiating heat, but it was still uncomfortably chilly.

And the dragon was just a baby!

I leaned in to get a closer look while I formulated my plan.

They were tiny—somewhere between a squirrel and a cat in size. Their skin was a rich red color that shimmered beautifully under the glow of my lantern. Four thin legs with knobby knees were curled beneath a small oval body that rose and fell with smooth breaths. I couldn’t see the feet to be able to see if there were any claws, but I assumed there were.

A ridge of spines traveled from the dragon's brow, over their neck, and down their back, thickening directly between their ears. Small, stumpy horns dotted the top of the creature’s head. A spindly tail flicked lazily in dreamy motion.

I glanced at Hex for help. “Okay, familiar. I know we don’t usually work in a dynamic like this, but right now, I’m laying down the law. Do what familiars do and help me. Please.”

Hex stubbornly ignored me. I forced down the urge to curse at them.

I cleared my throat, trying a different approach—bribery. Bribery worked on everyone, even magical slime creatures. “Fine. I’ll let you sleep at the foot of my bed for one whole night. And I won’t even complain about it.”

They perked up. I was close.

“Two nights.”

Closer. They inched away from the dragon.

Tandor was going to kill me.

“One week. Final offer.”

With a bolt of joy, Hex wrapped themself around my ankle for a moment before they returned to the dragon, slipping beneath them and creating a strange sort of slime cradle.

It was only a little horrifying, the way they were able to pick the critter up.

Hex’s power was still a mystery that I chose not to examine too closely.

“Oh, yes, that’s great! Easy, now. Don’t wake them.”

We inched toward my apothecary, Hex slipping over the ground like a ghost and me following, lantern clutched in white-knuckled fingers.

I prayed that nobody would witness this spectacle.

The town was still getting used to Hex. I didn’t want to terrify everyone with this display.

I resorted to flattery.

“Hey, Hex, you’re doing a great job. Keep going, sweetie!”

Hex turned and spat at me.

“Right. Not sweetie. Sorry.” I picked up my pace. “You’re the most impressive and scary familiar in the entire realm.”

That worked. Hex expanded and moved even faster. I had to jog to keep up.

Without incident, thank the fates, we made it back to my shop without the dragon waking, or any folk running into us.

Once we were inside, though, I was stumped once again.

Again, I wished Tandor was here. He was always better at brainstorming than I was.

I briefly considered waking him up, or Fiella and Redd, but they needed the sleep after running through the town all evening.

And I was supposedly the Hand of the Dragons. I could handle this.

Maybe.

I hadn’t even considered what I would do with the dragons if they ever hatched. Or where I would keep them. Or how I would stop the shop from burning down if they could actually breathe fire like they did in legends and storybooks.

“Okay, Hex. We can do this. You keep the dragon asleep and comfortable, and I’ll do… something. I’ll mix up a protection charm and strengthen my door and window enchantments. I don’t want to chase this one through the forest again.”

Hex promptly carried the dragon over to my bed, where they settled in on top of my pillows.

I should have expected that.

I sighed. At least they looked like they wouldn’t be moving for a while. Just to be sure, I dusted some sleep-inducing powder over the dragon, enough to keep it docile and dreaming for a few hours.

I got to work.

I packed up my incomplete Merry Day gifts to make room on my worktable. And then I gathered my ingredients.

The sprites were surprisingly helpful, now that they could speak to me in their weirdly admiring way. They still screwed things up by trying to be overly helpful, rearranging shelves on a whim, but since I knew they could understand my vague threats now, they were more effective. Sometimes.

“Hey, Scarlett! Where did I leave the willow bark? Don’t touch it, I don’t want it to burn, but I can’t remember for the life of me where I tucked it.”

“It’s in the bottle on the top shelf, Godsblood.”

“It’s Kizzi,” I reminded. “Thank you.” The bottle was corked and pushed to the back of the shelf, and I needed a stool to reach it. It would have taken me forever to find without the sprite’s help.

I smiled to myself.

Even if they moved my ingredients, at least they could now tell me where they were.

It was almost like having my own personal flock of tiny magical employees.

After many trips back and forth, my table was full. Tree bark, insect wings, plants, flowers, the trimmings from a horse hoof, three strands of my hair, and a spoonful of honey.

I grabbed a small cauldron and got to work.

This mixture would boil down into a fine powder that could be dusted on doors and windows to strengthen any existing enchantments. In my case, I needed to bump up my protection spells. To keep thieves and wrong doers out, sure, but also to keep precious critters in.

I set the brew to boiling. With a little magical encouragement, and a softly hummed chant, it would boil down in minutes rather than hours.

The smell wafting off the cauldron was nowhere close to pleasant. Actually, it was fucking gross, but it was a necessary side effect of the process. And there was no way I would be opening the window—I was still defrosting from my trip to the stables.

I grabbed a book from my shelf and sat down to read to pass the time.

Casper, the fluffy white cat that I hadn’t seen enter, jumped onto my lap and curled up comfortably. I didn’t try to pet her; she didn’t always let me and I didn’t want to make her leave.

I liked her company. I was a full-blown softie.

A sprite settled onto my shoulder, probably reading the book alongside me. I hoped they liked werewolf smut. I had the urge to shield their eyes from any unsavory bits, but they could make their own decisions and would flee if they felt the words were too scandalous.

It almost felt like a book club. Fiella appreciated my taste in literature, but not everyone did. And she was much more outspoken about it than I was, too. I kept my novels tucked safely away from prying eyes to avoid any judgement.

Fiella would talk about them in a crowded pub if nobody stopped her. The vampire had no shame.

When the scent turned from acrid to smokey, I set the book aside and returned to the cauldron. The contents were charred and blackened, reduced to a chunky ash mixture. Perfect. I grabbed a pestle and ground the chunks into a fine powder.

As I worked, I hummed the enchantment under my breath. I glanced nervously at my bed to make sure the dragon was still sleeping to find that Hex had literally tucked them into my covers.

I really needed to figure out a name for the dragon at some point. It was getting old thinking about them as just “the dragon”. Maybe they would appreciate something pretty, like Rose. Or Daffodil. Or if they would be particular like Hex and demand to choose their own name.

The other two eggs were, gratefully or unfortunately, still sitting unchanged in the cracked cauldron. It was probably for the best—if they all had hatched at the same time we would really be in trouble.

Scooping the powder concoction into the palm of my hand, I quickly performed a ritual on the door and windows, securing the building. I could’ve sworn I heard echoes of the chant from the sprites in the shop, but that must have been my imagination.

Magic hummed in the air, lifting loose strands of my hair and buzzing my bones. I breathed it in deep, relishing the way it filled my lungs and fizzled through my veins.

As it faded, a wave of exhaustion took over.

The suns were close to rising, I would get scarce few hours of sleep by the look of things.

I didn’t even have the energy to remove the dragon from my bed. I crawled under the covers, staying on the very edge of the bed to keep a wide gap between the critter and me. It was impossibly warm, radiating heat more than even Tandor did.

I resisted the urge to snuggle up to them. I didn’t think they would appreciate it, and I wasn’t in the mood to get bit by those sharp little teeth.

I looked around for a flash of white fur. Casper might as well pile into the bed, too, while we were at it. As if she read my mind, the small cat hopped onto the foot of the bed and promptly curled up and closed her eyes.

It was a gods damned slumber party all over again.

Tandor would lose his mind if he could see this right now.

Feeling strangely comfortable and exhausted to the bone, while tiny movements jostled strands of my hair, sleep pulled me under.