Chapter 4 Silver Hair, Violet Eyes, Old Watch

Calista Pov

It was like pouring a bucket of cold water on her. She was struggling to process the words that had just come out of my mouth. "What?"

She gave me a hollow, exaggerated smile, studying my face carefully, searching for any sign that I was raving. "That's a joke, right? It has to be."

She went on, settling into her seat with maddening calm, that same smile never leaving her lips. "I've warned you a thousand times not to nibble on anything growing in that enchanted forest. It's poisonous .. it can make you hallucinate. But of course, you never listen to a word I say."

I smacked my own forehead in exasperation. "I am not hallucinating! God, why doesn't a single one of you ever believe anything I tell you?!"

Aunt Mirabel let out an impatient sigh, shaking her head with that same mocking little smile still fixed in place. But before I could open my mouth again, the brass bell over the door rang sharply, and the door swung slowly open.

My aunt shot to her feet, plastering on her practiced shopkeeper's smile. "Welcome to the sh.."

The words caught in her throat.

Her eyes had landed on the person standing in the doorway.

It was the dragon. That same short cloak wrapped around his waist, barely covering him from the hip down, his silver hair spilling in gorgeous disarray over his broad shoulders.

In that moment, under the shop's warm lantern light, I could finally see him with startling clarity .. his violet eyes were so enchanting I couldn't tear my gaze away for even a second.

"I beg your pardon, but what exactly are you wearing? And how dare you walk into my shop looking like.." My aunt cut herself off mid-sentence. Her eyes went wide, growing wider by the second as she took a few trembling steps toward him, whispering in pure disbelief, "Silver hair... and violet eyes."

"What's the holdup? Why are you taking so long?" he demanded, glancing around with visible irritation. "I need to return to my palace immediately!" His eyes fixed on my aunt the moment she stepped in front of him. "Who are you? Are you running some cheap imitation of the Falcros shop?"

He leaned toward her, inhaling her scent without a shred of shame. "But you smell of Falcros blood too... I am Azeroth, Lord of Dragons. Your entire bloodline owes me obedience."

He brushed past her without another word, wandering the shop with arrogant curiosity. "I don't know why my head feels so muddled."

My aunt closed the distance to me in a heartbeat, staring at me in pure shock before gripping my arm hard, teeth clenched. "Have you lost your mind? How in god's name did you do this?"

I let out a cold sigh. "Do you believe me now, at least?"

"Damn you, Calista, you're about to bring down a real catastrophe on this family." She glanced back at the dragon for a second, then snapped her gaze back to me. "Get him down to the cellar. Now. I'm going to fetch Uncle Dorn and the others to deal with this disaster."

Uncle Dorn. Head of the Falcros family. Controlling, insufferable, and he's hated me for years, for reasons I've never fully understood. I already know he's going to relish an excuse this perfect to finally make an example of me.

"And how exactly am I supposed to convince him to go down to the.."

He cut me off, whirling toward me suddenly. "What are you plotting with this woman? Is this some kind of trap for me? I want to know where I am, and why I can't shift! I need to return to my palace..."

"Oh, Lord Azeroth, this is nothing of the sort." My aunt cut in smoothly, her voice laced with calculated cunning despite the fear she was clearly fighting to hide from him. "I was simply asking her to take you downstairs to find you something more... suitable to wear. Surely you don't want to be seen by common people looking like this?"

He glanced down at himself for a moment, then nodded gravely. "You're right." He lifted his chin, looking toward where she'd gestured. "Down there, then?"

My aunt smiled sweetly, extending a hand toward the cellar door. "Exactly. Right this way. Calista will help you."

She shot me a silent, commanding look: obey, and don't argue.

Inwardly, I seethed. Damn every last one of you. I am so done taking orders.

I headed toward the cellar, and Azeroth swept past me to go down first. We descended the steps together, and I cursed everything happening to me tonight under my breath. As if the night hadn't been bad enough already .. now I had to go down into some dust-choked, terrifying cellar, alone, with a mythical creature who could transform and devour me at any given second. My luck was cursed beyond repair.

I shoved open the cellar door. It let out a piercing creak, and a cloud of ancient dust rained down on me, sending me into a violent coughing fit.

"What is this place .. has it been abandoned for centuries?" Azeroth muttered, stepping past me into the darkness without a glance back. "How are we supposed to find anything to wear down here?"

Please, Aunt Mirabel, don't take too long. I don't want to spend one more second alone with this creature than I have to.

The entire cellar was blanketed in dust. I remembered my aunt once mentioning that this used to be the original Falcros shop, generations back .. before something terrible happened, something no one in the family was ever allowed to speak of. The place had been sealed shut for good, and a new shop built right on top of it. No one had set foot down here in years.

Azeroth lit a small flame-lantern he'd found, wandering with idle curiosity. "This place feels... strangely familiar."

I glanced around, trying to hold back another sneeze. Cobwebs stretched between the sagging shelves, and the old wooden tables were cluttered with dust-covered trinkets, clocks, and forgotten magical instruments.

"This entire place is nothing but a graveyard for your family's junk!" Azeroth snarled, inspecting one of the tables with open disgust, gesturing at the cloak still wrapped around his waist. "Where is something I can actually wear? Do you have any idea what it means for the Lord of Dragons to walk around like this? It's an insult to my entire kingdom!"

"Could you please just stop complaining for five whole minutes?" I snapped, out of patience, digging through an old cabinet in hopes of finding a robe or a heavy cloak. Please, Aunt Mirabel, I begged silently, hurry, before this madman decides to burn the whole cellar down with us in it.

While I rummaged through a decaying wooden cabinet, I heard movement behind me. I turned to find him standing over a small table draped in a moth-eaten black cloth, lifting it with unmistakable curiosity, his silver hair sliding over his broad shoulders in the lantern's flickering light.

His violet eyes locked onto an old gold pocket watch. "What is this thing?" Azeroth asked, sudden interest sharpening his voice, his long, elegant fingers reaching toward it. "It's giving off strange magic... unlike anything I've ever felt before."

I stepped closer for a better look. The watch was etched with impossibly fine magical runes and symbols, its two hands ticking in opposite, unnatural directions, pulsing with a faint, flickering blue light.

I noticed a small button protruding from its edge .. and his finger drifting toward it. "What does this button do?"

I ignored him for a second, moving away to keep searching for something he could wear... then froze mid-step and spun back around in sudden alarm.

My eyes went wide as I recognized that exact forbidden mark, and the old warnings I'd once heard about never touching it. "Don't touch it, you idiot!" I shrieked, lunging toward him recklessly, trying to wrench it out of his hands.

I grabbed the other end of the watch the instant his fingers made contact with it .. and in that precise moment..

A blinding blue spark of magic exploded outward, paralyzing us both instantly.

The moment around us froze solid. The runes carved into the watch ignited with a deep, blazing light, spreading like a web of blue lightning across our clasped arms. The ground shook violently beneath our feet, cracks splitting the cellar's stone walls right before my eyes, as a sound like a muffled explosion tore through the room, sending every jar and ancient book around us crashing to the floor.

I screamed in pure terror, yanking desperately at my hand, while he shouted in fury and shock .. and before either of us could break free..

An unstoppable force dragged us into a swirling vortex of light and rushing darkness, swallowing everything around us in an instant.