When we made our way over, the swirling purple and gray of the mirror faded to reveal a blond man staring curiously back at us. “Dante?” he asked.
“FELIX!” I jumped at the orc’s shout. Yala all but crashed into the mirror in his excitement, nearly knocking it off the wall.
Mirroring the orc’s excitement, Felix’s body shook rapidly and then, bam, a werewolf sat in his place. “Yala! I can’t believe it’s you!” Behind the massive wall of fur, I saw the tip of a rapidly beating tail smack the shit out of whatever innocent furniture was next to him. “Wait right there, I should have a travel stone that links to Dante’s.”
Dante tensed beside me. “What? When the hell did you get that?”
The sound of drawers opening and closing filled the air as the werewolf rummaged through his things. “When you let Fallon borrow your Hearthstone stones to move his hoard, he figured out how to copy the spell. It’s much easier to get around this way.”
He glowered at the man in the mirror with clear suspicion. “But how did you link it to mine?”
“Don’t worry about it, bestie,” Felix called over his shoulder. “Ah ha!” he shouted, before a whirlwind enveloped his body.
“You’re friends with my brother?” Yala asked.
“Let’s not get crazy,” Dante said flatly.
“He’s right!” came a chipper voice next to us. “We’re more like boon companions.”
The werewolf launched himself at Dante, who sidestepped him with practiced ease. Felix grinned as if that was the expected reaction, pivoted, and leapt on his back, wrapping his arms around Dante’s neck. “Get off me,” the dragon growled.
“I missed you too, buddy.”
Yala bounced excitedly on his feet. When Felix clambered off his irritated boon companion, his brother was the next in line for his aggressive hug. The orc greeted him with open arms, falling back when the weight of the werewolf slammed into his chest.
Felix’s head tilted back until his red eyes fixed me. He jumped up, and I instinctively widened my stance to brace for a tackle that never came. Instead, he calmly walked over and offered me a clawed hand. “You must be Dante’s mate. I’m Felix, Dante’s best friend for life.”
“No he’s not,” the dragon quipped.
Unperturbed, Felix gave him a lopsided grin. “We’re best friends, we’re buying a shrimp boat, and starting a business.”
“Go to hell.”
I took his hand and offered a friendly smile. “Nice to meet you, I’m Cherry.”
The smile faded from his face and his head tilted to the side, reminding me of a confused dog. He brought my hand closer to his snout and sniffed. “You smell like Cinnamon.”
Awkwardly, I drew my hand away and placed it at my side. “Well, I was carrying around a bag of it for most of the day. So that’s not too surprising.”
“No, I—”
A large red hand slapped on his shoulder, snapping Felix from his thoughts. “Oh, stop bothering her and come drink with me,” Yala beamed at his brother. “I haven’t seen you for a year!” He half dragged the werewolf back over to the table and the two soon lost themselves in catching up.
I slid an arm around Dante’s and leaned against him. “You want to get out of here?”
Silver eyes looked down at me with clear relief. “More than anything. There are an awful lot of people here.”
“You love me!” Felix bellowed.
Dante rolled his eyes, the barest hint of a grin tugged at his lips. After we collectedThe Big Book Of Beasts, we bid the rest of the gang farewell and headed out into the cool night. Despite the chaos of the day, the stars shined as they always did. Unbothered by the squabbles of those beneath them.
He stopped us near the castle’s entrance before we made it onto the street. “Cherry, I know today has been a lot, but there’s someplace I’d like to take you. It’s a tad far, so you may want to sleep on the way there.”
I looked up at him curiously to see concern lining his eyes. Almost as if he was worried I’d say no. I squeezed his hand in mine. “Alright, let’s go.”
“Good.” He stepped away from me, smoke enveloping his body. It spread out along the courtyard like a thick fog until it faded, revealing a dragon.
Smiling, I went up to his side and ran my fingers along the soft hair of his mane. “Don’t need me to turn around anymore?” I asked.
