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Adina smiled beatifically, as though she’d been waiting for Min to work out the final piece of the puzzle. “I am. And a distant cousin of the warlock, Waldo Zabazin.”
“Good gods,” Ethan said with awe. “Waldo is Mom’s new therapist. He’s the best in Motham.”
“Yes, indeed. I’m very proud of his achievements. I’m from the city of Selig, over the mountain ranges. The Thrimble witches fled from The Valley at the time Motham City was formed. We set up practices in Selig, but it was always decreed that a Thrimble would return to Motham one day to help reactivate the magic that was so badly damaged at the time of The Great War. So, when I met your father at university, I decided to return here and help him dig out the truth about the Westwinds’ past.”
Min sat back, rubbing her forehead. “This is all so overwhelming.”
Ethan squeezed her hand. “It is. But so much of it makes sense, especially finding out how we became twilight dragons.”
Min sighed. “Why was Colonel Westwind so cruel to monsters, when the Westwinds were bonded so closely to dragon kind?”
Adina shook her head sadly. “Human folly. Greed. Wanting more than he could have. As I understand it, Colonel Westwind got involved with the Jordaks, and they are—and always have been—a nasty bunch. He betrayed the dragons that had been his family’s allies for centuries for promises of land and coin. Handed over the magic of the Westwinds to the Jordak family. But it proved to be of no use to them. The magic refused to work for the Jordaks. My understanding is they were so enraged by that, they employed a dark mage to destroy the dragons’ shifting powers. But obviously, he wasn’t a very skilled mage because, well, look what happened.”
“Twilight dragons,” Ethan grunted.
“Exactly.”
“But for some reason, my sweet ones, you have been gifted a moment in time for dragons to reconnect with their magical powers. I wish I could explain this more adequately to you both, but just because I can harness magic, doesn’t mean I understand how it works. All I really know is that I was sent to bring you together, that was my role.”
“Who sent you?”
“The whisper of the Westwinds, and your father’s spirit, Min.”
Min sat with her hand tightly held in Ethan’s for long moments, trying to take it all in.
Ethan cleared his throat. “Does that mean… that my family could shift again?”
A shadow passed over Adina’s face. “It will be not be possible for current dragons. I’m sorry, Ethan. The way you were born is not reversible. But for your offspring, with a Westwind as your mate, ah, well, it is feasible.”
Min turned to the dragon she adored and hugged him hard. “I love you just the way you are.”
He hugged her back. “Truthfully, I don’t care for myself. But Mom will be disappointed.”
“I’m sure with Waldo’s help she can learn to accept herself as she is.” Adina’s smile was kind.
“But you’re saying,” Ethan was frowning now, his head scales rippling, “that there’s a possibility that Min and I could have offspring… that can shift?”
“Potentially, yes. If the magic running through your love is strong enough.”
“Love has magic running through it?” Min’s eyes widened in awe.
Adina tinkled out a laugh. “Oh my dear, what do you think love is, if not magic?”
“So you did know?” Min said. “When you introduced us, that there was a… special bond that bound us?”
“I let my intuition guide me, as witches do. When Ethan contacted me needing a date, my intuition led me to the door of the Westerly Bookshop.”
“And Gingerbread? He kept dropping whopping hints.” Min laughed.
“Ah, of course. I did worry that Gingerbread’s powers might have gotten rusty, but it seems not.”
“He did a great job,” Min said, stoutly defending her cat. Or was he Adina’s? “He pushed me with his paw to call you, and once, he walked to my father’s study door and just sat there, looking at me. Except, that’s another strange thing—the book had been in a box in Dad’s study since he died. Why didn’t Gingerbread lead me there sooner?”
Adina smiled softly. “Because everything has its rightful time, my dear. Finding the book had to happen in the right stitch of time, and every stitch before that had to lead to the next one. Ethan making the first contact with my service, me coming to find you that day, at the same moment that nasty little Quentin fellow told you the bookshop was up for sale. It all had to happen in the right sequence. When love had grown between you and Ethan to exactly the right resonance, when Ethan and Beau had put aside their differences, and the Blade family had healed, then the portal could open. Imagine if you’d found that book before you’d met Ethan. It would probably have just sat on a shelf, gathering dust.”
Adina had a point.
Min realized it wasn’t just the past that had stopped her opening her father’s study and going inside, it was the future, too—her future with Ethan, holding her back until the very right moment.
