Chapter 4

S he's a witch. Of course she's a witch. How did I not get that right away?

Levi glanced across at Margot as she walked beside him – or perhaps floated beside him might have been a better word. She didn't really seem bound by things like reality or the laws of physics .

Her long blonde hair seemed to drift behind her in shining waves, and Levi would not have been the slightest bit surprised if, when he looked down, he found her feet weren't actually touching the ground at all, but she'd somehow found a way to walk on sunbeams.

That's pretty much what she is. A walking sunbeam.

Levi scowled at the thought.

He was not the type to try to put these kinds of thoughts into words, and now, every attempt he made to try to describe the way Margot made him feel just made him aware of how inadequate he was at expressing himself.

The bond you feel with your mate can't be vocalized, his chimera woke itself from its slumber to inform him. It simply is.

Well, Levi thought, he'd have to find a way to vocalize it pretty soon, if he was ever going to try to get Margot to understand what they were to each other – what she was to him .

But then… would that be welcome news to her?

Levi had to admit, he didn't know much about witches. But he knew that most of them didn't really live here in the world of humans, or amongst shifters.

They had their own domain, and given Margot's fascination with all things Christmas, her request for his help in understanding the non-magical world, and the fact she didn't seem to think there was anything wrong with shoving eight hundred dollars at him in payment – which he didn't actually want or need – for about twenty minutes of his time told him she was probably not a witch who'd spent a lot of time among non-magical folks.

But if that's the case, surely she'll just want to go home once she's finished whatever this magical research assignment is?

Could he tell her they were mates then, knowing what kind of dilemma it might place her in?

Maybe if he was a regular shifter, he would have considered it more seriously. If he'd been a unicorn or a pegasus or a wyvern, something with magical powers – and that he could also, you know, actually shift into – he thought the decision would have been a little easier.

If he'd been a shifter who could shift, then he thought he might have something more to offer Margot.

But that just wasn't the case. And how could he ask her to give up her life in the magical world for a chimera that he couldn't even turn into? And if he went with her to her world, wouldn't he just be a burden to her? He didn't have any powers that might have made him useful in the magical world.

He couldn't even coax dead plants back to life again like a unicorn could, or use his uncanny good luck to locate lost tomes and parchments even in the darkest depths of a library, like a dragon could. Hell, he couldn't even summon a storm or cause springs of life-giving water to gush from the earth with a tap of his hooves, like a pegasus could!

I'd just be a burden to her, no matter where we went, Levi thought, despair rising up inside him. Just like I am to my own family back home.

A shifter who couldn't shift, his own chimera village had made it clear to him, wasn't really of any use to anyone.

So how can I ask her to tie her life to mine? Especially when she's so… so…

"Oh my goodness!" Margot cried, her brilliant green eyes lighting up as she spied something that apparently interested her in the stalls. "Does that say Christmas Cake ? Is there a cake that's just especially for Christmas?"

"Uh, yeah," Levi said, after he remembered how to speak – it was kind of hard when he was staring at the delicate pink flush of her cheeks, her excited eyes, the way she just seemed to be utterly enchanted by everything she saw. It almost – almost – made him feel just the tiniest bit excited for Christmas too, as if her excitement was infectious. "But I have to say, I really don't like it."

Margot's face fell a little, and Levi could have kicked himself.

"That's not to say you still can't try some," Levi went on quickly. "But I don't really know how to describe it – it's kind of alcoholic, with dried fruit and nuts in it. And sometimes they serve it with custard to sweeten it up. It wasn't my favorite when I was a kid, I have to say."

"Oh, I see," Margot said, nodding, but she still looked a little wistfully at the cake stand. It had a big sign above it reading Sylvie's Sweets and Bakery – Levi had seen the shopfront for this place the first day he'd arrived in town. It was on the main street, a little way down the road from Great Aunt Aida's bookshop, though that was right at the end of the street, whereas Sylvie's was the central location.

And it had seemed absolutely buzzing when Levi had walked past it too – enough so that despite the fact the bakery itself had smelled incredible, he had resolved never to go in. There were just far too many people inside.

But perhaps this was a chance to sample some of the cakes now – he was already here, after all, crowds or not, and Margot had asked him to teach her about Christmas.

And, as her mate, how could he refuse even the smallest of her requests?

"We can go check it out," Levi said. "You did say you wanted to learn about Christmas, and that includes the kind of gross cakes, I guess."

"I'd very much like that." Margot beamed up at him. "Perhaps they'll sell other things too – it does smell amazing. Like sugar and spice and all things nice!"

Just like Margot, Levi couldn't help but think as he followed her to the stall. Her familiar, Monty, seemed to have wandered off again somewhere, but now that Levi understood his true nature he wasn't so worried. A witch's familiar could most certainly take care of itself.

On reaching the stall, Levi could see that Margot had been right about there being a bigger selection of cakes to choose from.

The array of them was almost overwhelming, in fact: there didn't seem to be any end to the kinds of cakes that were laid out on red and green checked tablecloths, golden tinsel dangling from the awning above, fixed in place with green sprigs of holly.

Levi wasn't any kind of expert in human cuisine, but even he could name some of the cakes that were in front of him now. Aside from the vast array of donuts – cinnamon sprinkled, chocolate frosted, strawberry frosted, lemon frosted, each with a little icing holly leaf and berries – he could see angel cakes with the fluffiest-looking whipped cream he'd ever seen, chocolate cake with thick frosting and decorated with strawberries and tiny wildflowers, layered honey cakes that smelled of butterscotch and caramel.

And then there were the pies – despite the fact he didn't have full access to all of a shifter's heightened senses, his nose was still far more sensitive than a regular human's, and he could smell the bay leaf and thyme that rose up from the piping hot apple pies, the sweet sugary crust on the pastry lattices on the cherry pies, and the lavender syrup that infused the lemon pies.

It was, to put it mildly, heavenly .

Levi had never smelled cakes and pies like these before. Whoever this Sylvie who owned the bakery was, Levi was beginning to wonder if she might not be a witch herself – cakes and sweets this good had to be made by magic, right?

"Hi, and welcome to Sylvie's Sweets and Bakery – or at least, our Christmas market stall," a voice interrupted his thoughts, and his incredulous staring. "Is there anything I can get for you today?"

Levi blinked, looking up to see a short, dark-haired woman in a cape and apron, who, going by the tag on the front of her shirt, must be Sylvie.

"Uh," he began, but Margot, her wide eyes twinkling, jumped in before him.

"Oh wow, I don't know how I could even begin to choose," she said, looking back and forth across the wide counter. "I guess I came here to sample Christmas cake, but now that I'm here…"

"Well, if it's Christmas cake you're after, then I might have a little treat for you," Sylvie said, with a wide smile. "I've been taste testing my new recipe for Christmas cake – a new kind of Christmas cake. My secret recipe, of course – or recipes. But I've been asking people to sample each kind and vote on their favorite. The winning recipe will be the one I make available for Christmas orders. Care to take part in the selection process?"

"Oh yes, I definitely would!" Margot said, her own smile spreading across her face in an instant. "Would you also like to take part, Levi? But oh –" Margot's smile dropped a little. "I forgot – you said you don't really like Christmas cake."

No, forget I ever said that, Levi wanted to tell her. For her, to affix her smile in place again, he'd eat about an acre of Christmas cake.

"No pressure or anything, but this isn't your grandma's Christmas cake," Sylvie said. "Not that I'm insulting your grandmother's cooking," she added quickly. "It's just that I'm not using the traditional recipes. This is all new, à la Sylvie. You should try it – you might be surprised."

"Well, I guess it can't hurt," Levi said, nodding. "I'll give it a shot."

Well, don't sound so enthusiastic, his chimera said, its eyes glinting in the darkness.

Like you've been any help, Levi snarled at it. You won't even come out and let me shift, so I'd be a worthy mate for Margot. And now you're telling me off about not sounding enthused enough about eating some cake?

The chimera had no reply for that, apparently, only retreating further within him, as it did when he'd especially offended it. Not that it mattered, since, it seemed, it was never going to allow him to take on its form anyway.

Turning his attention back to Sylvie, he found her laying out several plates in front of her, each with a different kind of cake.

He had to admit, however, they did certainly look like the traditional kind of Christmas cake he knew – round and covered in icing, with little holly leaves on top. But they certainly didn't smell like the Christmas cake he knew at all.

"Okay, cake number one," Sylvie said, slicing off two tiny slivers of cake and handing them over to Margot and Levi. "Butterscotch and cinnamon, with pecan and walnuts."

Margot's eyes were the size of saucers as she lifted the cake to her lips, taking a tiny, delicate bite.

" Mm. Oh my goodness," she murmured, her eyes fluttering shut in delight. "That is delicious. Goodness!"

Levi managed to tear his eyes away from the sight of Margot's enraptured expression for long enough to take a bite of his own slice of cake – and then, he had to admit, Margot had a point.

This is… possibly the most delicious thing I have ever tasted in my whole entire life, he thought, as the tangy butterscotch and the spicy cinnamon rolled over his tongue. The nuts gave it just enough crunch to keep it interesting, and rounded out the flavor with their mild, creamy taste.

Sylvie was right – this was definitely not the Christmas cake he knew.

But then, a moment later, realization hit him, and his chimera blinked to life within him again.

This is… wait a moment. A unicorn had a hand in making this!

Levi had, as far as he knew, never met a unicorn before, but he did know that fruits, vegetables and spices tended by unicorns were far more lush and flavorful than anything that could be raised by human hands.

And yet, he could tell just by looking at Sylvie that she was a regular human – he couldn't sense anything about her that told him she was a shifter.

So perhaps she knows a unicorn, Levi thought, glancing over his shoulder as if he expected to see it prancing through the bustling crowds of the Christmas market, its golden horn twinkling in the fairy lights.

Well, maybe her supplier is a unicorn, and it doesn't live here at all, Levi thought, frowning a little. It wouldn't be the first time a unicorn had set up a fruit and vegetable business, after all. Sylvie might not even realize it – in fact, she probably didn't.

"What did you think?" Sylvie asked, breaking off his chain of thought.

"Delicious," Levi said, without thinking – but it was true. Sylvie had been speaking the absolute truth when she'd said that this wasn't the Christmas cake he was used to.

" Absolutely delicious," Margot said, nodding. "But I want to try the others before I declare it the winner, even though I have no idea how anything could beat that."

"Well, have some chamomile tea as a palate cleanser, and then we'll see about that," Sylvie said with a laugh, before handing them a small cup of steaming tea. "Okay, ready for more?"

The next cake was chocolate, sour cherry and almond – and Levi had to admit, even he, with this complete lack of a sweet tooth, found it delicious.

The sour cherries were still, somehow, juicy and soft after being baked in the chocolate cake, and they tempered the sweetness of the cake itself, making it taste almost smokey. And the cake itself was smooth as silk – he'd never tasted chocolate cake that was quite so rich and yet, somehow, not too rich before in his life.

I could probably eat about a hundred of these, he thought, eyeing the cake Sylvie had cut the sample slivers from hungrily.

One look at Margot's face told him she was feeling pretty much the same way he was – her eyes were closed, her cheeks infused with pink, a blissful expression on her face as she clearly savored her cake with gusto.

"Oh my… oh my… now that really is something," Margot gasped, when she finally opened her eyes again. "How can I be expected to choose between the two of those? Can I just vote for both?"

"Well, you haven't tried the last one yet," Sylvie told her, her eyes twinkling. "Perhaps that'll be the winner."

"What's this one?" Margot asked, her eyes wide as Sylvie cut small slices of the final Christmas cake.

"This one is vanilla cake, with apricot and nutmeg," Sylvie said as she handed them their napkins. "Once you've tried it, you can vote on your favorite by circling its name on that paper over there, and then dropping the paper in the box at the end of the counter."

Margot's eyes somehow widened even further at the knowledge that she was going to not only be offered a third type of cake to try, but that she was then going to be able to vote on which one was her favorite. Her joy at what seemed to him to be a fairly run-of-the-mill – if delicious – situation was, he had to admit, incredibly endearing.

And the cake itself was, of course, delicious – like with all the others, it was velvety and not too sweet, somehow managing to taste like all the best parts of a traditional Christmas cake while still offering something completely different. Whoever this Sylvie was, she was clearly a genius baker, even above and beyond the boost her food was – perhaps unknowingly – getting from the unicorn-enhanced ingredients. All three would have been the best Christmas cake he'd ever experienced even without that, and he certainly didn't mean that as damning with faint praise.

Margot too was licking her fingers as if she was trying to get every last possible scrap of flavor off of them, so he had to assume that this one was also a winner with her.

"I do hope you'll consider voting for your favorite," Sylvie said with a smile, even as Margot practically bounced from foot to foot with anticipation.

"But of course!" she exclaimed. "Just as soon as I work out which one I'm going to vote for. I don't possibly know how I can decide!"

"Well, as delicious as they all were, I know which one I'm voting for," Levi said, picking up a ballot paper and circling his choice, before stuffing the ballot into the box.

"A man of conviction," Sylvie said approvingly.

"Okay," Margot said, nodding with determination. Her hand hovered over the paper for several seconds, before finally she made her choice, placing her paper in the box. "All right! All done."

"Well, let's hope your favorite wins," Sylvie said with a laugh. "But I'll let you in on a little secret – I'll still be making the other ones, no matter the winner. So make sure you drop by the bakery on time to pick one up for Christmas!"

"Oh." Margot's face fell a little. "I'm not sure I'll still be here by then."

Levi blinked, glancing at her in surprise.

She may not be here at Christmas? But that's only a little over a week away.

His heart clenched at the thought. Of course, he'd already known that Margot, being a witch, most likely wouldn't be staying here long. She'd have to get home – and, despite her evident enthusiasm for Christmas, she probably wouldn't even want to stay here much longer than that.

But still…

Still, he'd somehow thought he'd have a little more time with her than that.

But perhaps things are for the best this way.

Even if she was his mate, he'd already known he couldn't offer her anything a normal shifter could. If she hung around for any longer, he knew it'd only be all the more difficult to let her go; it'd only be all the more difficult to keep the secret of their mate bond to himself.

Desperately, he looked inward to his chimera – surely, if anything was going to awaken it, then the prospect of his mate's departure would surely be it.

But no, it remained sleeping, not even bothering to uncurl its scaled tail from in front of its lion's face, yawn, and offer some biting comment.

"Well, that's a shame," Sylvie said, breaking into Levi's bleak thoughts. "But that's no reason why you can't still enjoy some good cakes."

Margot nodded. "I hope so – I honestly don't know very much about Christmas. I've been trying to read up about it, and Levi here has been so wonderful, telling me all about how Christmas works despite the fact that we just met, but there's still so much more to learn!"

If Sylvie thought it was odd that Margot didn't know much about Christmas, it didn't show on her face. "Well, one of the most important things about Christmas is that it's a time of year in which you give gifts to other people." She picked up a large box from behind the counter, and started to place an array of cakes into it. "And so, in that spirit, I'd like to give you some more free samples."

Margot stared in astonishment. "Free cake? For me? This is a Christmas tradition?"

Levi opened his mouth, wanting to protest the truly insane amount of free cake that Sylvie was putting into the box – but he also didn't want to see Margot disappointed, and so he closed his mouth again. If Sylvie really wanted to let Margot have all of this amazing-looking cake for free, he didn't think he had it in his heart to stop her.

Just as long as Margot didn't try to pay Sylvie eight hundred bucks for it, he supposed it was all good. Though with the number of cakes that were going into the box, it probably wasn't that far off the mark.

"For you and your friend here," Sylvie said, with an expression that Levi could only describe as knowing .

Margot looked up at Levi hopefully, as if wanting his confirmation that this really was normal and okay amongst humans.

I don't think this is very normal, Levi thought, even as he gave Margot a reassuring nod, but if Sylvie is happy, then it's more than okay.

"Thank you so much," Margot said fervently. "I don't know how I can thank you enough."

"No need for thanks," Sylvie said. "It's all just part of the Christmas experience." She picked up one last cake – a small Christmas cake – and placed it in the box. "Although I'm branching out with new Christmas cakes, I did make a few traditional ones, because I have some regulars who like them. Since it's your first Christmas, I think you should be able to try the original version as well, if you want to." She laughed, handing over the box. "No obligation, of course!"

Margot stared down at the box, cradling it as if it contained a precious treasure, before looking up at Sylvie with sparkling eyes.

"I am certain that it will be wonderful," she said with great seriousness. "And I will pass on this – this Christmas tradition of gift-giving, if I can."

"It's a really nice tradition," said Sylvie. "Doing something to make someone else smile is my favorite part of Christmas."

"She certainly did give you a lot of cake," Levi said as they walked away, eyeing the large box in Margot's hands – it seemed Sylvie was willing to put her money where her mouth was when it came to saying gift-giving and making people smile were things she enjoyed. "Would it be better to drop that box back where you're staying, rather than carrying it around for the rest of the day?"

Levi could have kicked himself the moment the words were out of his mouth – he hadn't intended it that way, but, he realized, this was a perfect chance for him to find out where Margot was staying.

Or it would have been perfect if he had any intention of trying to court her, like he would if things had been different. But now, it only served to remind him just how far out of reach Margot was.

"Staying? Oh," Margot said, waving a hand vaguely. "I just thought I'd find a waystation."

Levi blinked. A waystation?

"We… don't really have those here," he said. Or at least, he didn't think so, since he wasn't really all that clear on what Margot actually meant. "Just… regular hotels. B Great Aunt Aida probably just would have used it as a repository for more books anyway, as well as a menagerie of dust bunnies.

But nor, he realized, could he just leave Margot – literally – out in the cold.

Sylvie and Natasha clearly had their heads together, trying to figure out some solution to this problem, going over the list of people they knew who might have a spare room free – but, they were both agreeing, most people had family staying with them for Christmas, and probably didn't have room for one more.

But even if they did, how can I ask that of them? Levi thought. Margot is my mate. And even if I'll never tell her that, how can I let someone else take care of her when she needs something?

He knew he couldn't. And looking at Margot's hopeful face as she listened to Sylvie and Natasha's conversation only convinced him even further of that.

"Don't worry about it," he heard himself say, cutting into the conversation, and watching as Margot, Sylvie and Natasha's heads all turned toward him. "I think I know somewhere Margot can stay."