Chapter 8

" Y ep," the man Sylvie the baker had introduced to them as her husband – and mate – Gale said, as he circled below the flower growing out of Levi's Great Aunt Aida's bookshop's ceiling. "That is definitely a snow flower."

Levi had known whoever was supplying Sylvie with fruits, nuts and spices for her bakery had to be a unicorn – he'd known it from the very first bite he'd taken of her Christmas cake.

He just hadn't expected it'd be so easy to find him. Levi had been envisioning a wild goose chase – or hen chase, as Margot might say – to track down Sylvie's supplier, with him having to make up some ridiculous cover story as to why he even wanted to know. But in the end, everything had been quite simple. Gale had even been right there in the bakery as they arrived, just at the very moment Sylvie was flipping the OPEN sign to CLOSED .

But she'd very kindly let them in anyway, and Levi had been able to sense the presence of a unicorn from the moment he'd stepped over the threshold.

A unicorn would be able to tell them whether this was what they'd been looking for, Levi knew. Unicorns had a natural affinity for plants after all, and their magical powers were, famously, to be able to grow anything at all – and even, in some cases, bring plants that had died back to life.

Levi wondered if the presence of a unicorn had had anything to do with the flower suddenly blooming above them now. He had to admit, he was a little surprised at the presence of a unicorn here at all. But from the very brief history Gale and Sylvie had given them as the four of them had walked from Sylvie's bakery back to the bookshop, it seemed he'd only come here for a holiday, and had decided to stay on after discovering Sylvie was his mate.

And, Gale had said, with a wink at Sylvie, because Girdwood Springs has the best cake I've ever eaten – who could leave after tasting that?

"It seems like the wooden beams this shop is made out of – or partially made out of, anyway – are from felled snow flower trees," Gale the unicorn said, as he reached up to press a fingertip against the dark wood. "But it's old – very old. How long has this shop been here, anyway?"

"I'm not really sure," Levi said. "I only just took it over – and my Great Aunt Aida only owned it for about fifteen years, and I'm guessing it was here well before that."

"It certainly was," Sylvie said, nodding. "I remember it standing here when I was just a kid, and I grew up in Girdwood Springs. You might be better off consulting someone who knows a lot about the history of the town, like Kira, the park ranger here. Or you might even find some info in some of the books you have here in the shop. Some of them look like they might have been here a while too!"

"Oh – but did the beam really just… burst into bloom like this?" Margot asked, her green eyes wide as she stared up at the flower. "How can it be? We searched everywhere ! And… snow flowers are so rare, why would anyone have built a building out of them? Even if it's a very, very beautiful building."

"I guess if the place really is as old as all that, people may not have known what they were cutting down," Gale said. "After all, it's not as if it's well-known to humans that snow flowers have magical properties – not even shifters or magic-users know all that much about it."

"Yes, so much knowledge about it has been completely lost," Margot murmured. "But… if I cut this flower down, it'll die eventually no matter how many ageless spells we cast on it. I can keep food fresh for a pretty long time, but a living organism is a lot more complicated than that. I can't stop a person or even a plant from aging indefinitely. I don't think even a very powerful witch or wizard can do that. I don't think I want to kill something so rare, just so I don't fail to graduate."

Just as Gale and Sylvie had explained their own history, Margot and Levi had done likewise – and to Levi's mild surprise, neither of them had seemed all that perturbed by the presence of a witch amongst them.

Just as long as you're not… well, Sylvie had said. Maybe that's Henry and Luna's story to tell. But all I'll say is, as long as you're not here to curse anyone and make a total hash of it in the process, you're good.

Margot had reassured them both that she'd never, never curse anyone, and Levi found himself burning with curiosity about just who Henry and Luna were, and what they had to do with curses and witches.

Oh, they're just our resident hellhound and his mate, a travel writer, Sylvie had said. But they're off on assignment right now. When they get back, I'm sure they'd be very happy to tell you all about the last time they ran into a witch. And a wizard. Star-crossed lovers doesn't even begin to cover it.

Levi had quickly begun to realize that Girdwood Springs wasn't exactly your average mountain town, or a place that was a stranger to shifters – sure, most of the people in town didn't know that there were shifters living here, but those who were in the know were in the know, and they were very happy to guard their secrets, and welcomed them to town just as they would anyone else.

And for the first time, he'd also begun to wonder – was there some kind of life he could build for himself outside of his chimera village after all?

You would have known that long ago, if you'd ever bothered to venture outside of it, his chimera spoke up suddenly, surprising Levi. He was still getting used to hearing it voice and its opinions inside his own head – though given that it had been less than a day since it had started speaking up regularly, he supposed that was to be expected.

That's mighty rich coming from someone who's spent the last twenty-seven years asleep, he shot back – and, from the way it huffed and turned its back, Levi knew he'd scored a hit.

"Well, that's a good point about preserving the flower," Gale said thoughtfully as he gazed up at the beautiful white flower on the ceiling. "I'm not really sure why it's blooming now, and I can't say for sure it'll ever do it again if we pick this one. But then again – I am a unicorn, and I've been told I have a way with plants."

"You mean… it might be possible to take this flower without hurting it?" Margot asked, her eyes full of hope.

"Not this flower specifically," Gale said, "especially if you need to take it back with you to study. No, I mean I might be able to pick the flower, but leave this beam itself sprouting so that in the future it'll grow more flowers. It's a long shot, but I might even be able to take a bit of the wood from the beam – as long as Levi doesn't mind me damaging it a little – and seeing what I can do to coax some more life out of it yet."

It sounded way too miraculous for Levi – raising a tree from the dead! – but then again, he really didn't know that much about the full extent of a unicorn's powers. It was entirely possible Gale could do exactly what he was suggesting.

"Of course I don't mind," he said. "Scrape away as much wood as you need. If you can't get results from one piece, then come back and try another."

"Thank you," Gale said sincerely. "I'm interested to see what I can do – and preserving such a rare tree is definitely a worthwhile project for me. Perhaps if I'm successful, we can repopulate the mountain with it."

"We did see one immature tree while we were searching," Margot piped up. "But it wasn't ready to flower yet. So it's not completely gone – but it really was only the one."

"Once it's springtime, I should go check it out myself," Gale mused. "Or get Kieran – oh, he's a griffin, Sylvie mentioned you met his mate, Natasha, she runs the fanciest B&B you're ever likely to set foot in – to go have a look. He knows these mountains like the back of his hand. Or claw, I guess."

More shifters! Levi thought, shaking his head. Was there any kind of shifter that hadn't set up home here in Girdwood Springs? Next Gale and Sylvie would be telling him a manticore was the local bank manager, or a wyvern ran yoga classes in the park.

"In any case, I think I can take this flower for your studies, while preserving the rest," Gale said, taking a pair of sharp-looking secateurs from his back pocket. "Ah – you see here, if I just snip this bit –"

With a sharp click! Gale had snipped the flower away from the section that had grown from the snow flower beam, leaving behind the bright green leaves and a few small, tightly furled buds that were visible now that the flower wasn't hiding them. They were tinged slightly pink, just as Margot had described.

"Here you go," Gale said, handing the flower to Margot.

"Oh, thank you ," Margot said, her voice overflowing with gratitude, as a warm glow of magic emanated from her hands and enveloped the bloom. "That'll keep it fresh for a little while," she explained.

"Hmm," Gale said thoughtfully as he looked at the flower in Margot's hands. "You mentioned you needed to bring back something really spectacular in order to graduate from your magical university as a full-fledged witch, right?"

Margot nodded fervently. "Oh, yes. And now that I've found – with help from all of you, of course! – the flos nivis , I'll finally be able to say I've contributed something of real value to the magical world. People will be able to study it for years to come! Magical botany will be very much advanced with this discovery!"

"Well," Gale said, exchanging a knowing look with Sylvie, "maybe this is old hat in the magical world, but would a curse-breaking mushroom be helpful to you at all? You could bring two things back instead of just the one."

Levi watched as Margot's eyes grew as round as saucers. "The aurum lacunosa ?" she asked breathlessly. "Are you saying that grows here too?"

"It sure does," Sylvie said with a smile. "In fact, I baked one once. That was a challenge I'll never forget."

"But they're deadly poisonous!" Margot burst out, her eyes still wide. "However did you do it?"

"Well, I…" Sylvie began, before she shook her head. "But then again, maybe that's not my story to tell either. You'd better ask Caleb – he's the one who had the curse that needed breaking. A centuries-old dragon feud, or something along those lines. Oh, yeah – he's a dragon too. And no longer under a bad luck curse, thanks to that yellow mushroom."

"Well, that would be most, most useful!" Margot said, her excitement almost palpable. "We do still have samples for the aurum lacunosa, but it became rare – very, very rare! – during the Witching War of… well, maybe I don't need to go into the whole history of that." She cleared her throat. "Suffice it to say, there were a lot of curses that needed breaking after that entire hullabaloo."

Levi shook his head. If the Witching War had actually been anything like what it sounded like, then he could well imagine that.

"Well, in that case, we can ask Caleb and Kira to show you to the cave where they found it growing. Between a dragon and a chimera, you should be able to make it out there once this snow has passed."

"I really, truly can't thank any of you enough for all the help you've been to me," Margot said, her voice fervent, her eyes looking a little damp and misty. "If it wasn't for you – all of you – I never would have been able to succeed in my quest. I don't know how I shall ever repay this debt to you all."

"Oh, believe me, you don't owe us anything, " Sylvie said warmly, reaching out to pat Margot's shoulder. "I'm just glad we were able to make this Christmas a good one for you – and you've given Gale a new project! He's been helping me out with the bakery garden and orchard since his garden center is closed at this time of year, so he doesn't have much to do. This will definitely keep him occupied for a while."

"Hey, you make it sound like you don't appreciate having me getting under your feet while you're trying to work," Gale laughed. "But no, seriously – this is definitely fascinating. A snow flower beam, bursting into bloom – I definitely have to find out more about this."

"Well, it's really Levi's shop," Margot pointed out, turning to him with eyes full of love – love that made Levi's heart skip a beat. "Or, I should say, his Great Aunt Aida's."

"Yes, I ran into Aida Thorne once or twice," Sylvie said, nodding. "But I have to admit, I mostly read, uh, contemporary books, romances and things, so I wasn't in here much. And she was a little bit… well, reclusive, I suppose you could say."

"That sounds like Great Aunt Aida," Levi said. "Not that I really had a chance to get to know her well before she left our village to come and run this bookshop."

"Where did she get to?" Sylvie asked, before raising a hand to her mouth, her face suddenly pensive. "Oh… I hope it wasn't bad news."

"Not at all – the opposite in fact," Levi said, shaking his head with a smile. "She met her mate – a filthy rich dragon shifter, by the sounds of it – while she was in Florida, and they're off on a world tour to celebrate their love." He laughed. "She sent us a note telling us she was leaving us the shop so we could do what we liked with it, lock, stock and barrel."

Levi's heart caught in his throat as he suddenly remembered that what he'd been planning to do with it was put all the books out on the street for free, and sell the place no matter how low the price.

But could he do that now that he'd promised Gale that he'd let him study the snow flower from here? Who knew what would happen to the shop if he sold it on now – it could be bought by someone who intended to tear it down, and destroy one of the few remaining snow flowers in the world, and whatever magic that had caused it to bloom?

And… do I really want to sell it, anyway?

At first, the bookshop had seemed like nothing but a hassle to him – something he had to go deal with before he came home to deal with yet another miserable Christmas, surrounded by all the things he knew he'd never have: joy, love, a family of his own.

But now, he saw it all quite differently.

The bookshop was the first place he'd ever laid eyes on Margot. It was where he'd first realized the mate bond they shared, and where they'd laughed together over the eggs she'd burned. It was where the snow flower she needed so badly had first bloomed, and provided her with her ticket to graduation as a full-fledged witch.

But that in itself came with a complication. As much as he now wasn't sure at all about leaving the shop with all of these memories behind, wouldn't he have to, if he was going to go with Margot and live with her in the magical world?

To Levi, it wasn't much of a question that he'd support Margot and go wherever she went. And she'd worked so hard for this – there was no way he could ask her to stay here with him to run a rickety old bookshop, or come and stay with him in his chimera village.

"Did… did you still think you might sell this place?" Margot asked hesitantly, as if she'd read his conflicted thoughts on his face. "Do you think you'd mind letting Gale do his research for a while before you do?"

Levi swallowed. "Yes, of course. But I think it's going to be really hard for me to sell it after everything that's happened here. And I admit… Girdwood Springs has turned out to be a little different to what I thought it was too."

Sylvie laughed softly. "You'd be surprised how often people say that."

Levi could believe it. He'd thought when he'd arrived that it was just a little mountain town that was way too obsessed with Christmas, which had done nothing but depress him. But now… well, he still thought maybe it was a little obsessed with Christmas. But he was finding that was bothering him less and less – now that he actually had some positive memories to associate with it.

And the people here have been nothing but kind and welcoming, he thought. And it's clearly the kind of place shifters can live in peace.

Chimeras were so reclusive that after a while they tended to mistrust the world outside their villages, and not many chimeras lived outside of them. Aida had been an exception – but hadn't Levi always admired her just a little bit, for running off to find her own happiness?

Impulsively, Levi nodded. He'd made up his mind.

"I'm not going to sell it," he said decisively. "But I'll have to find someone in town to go through all this stock and sort it out and catalogue it properly, and then run the place for me. So I'd be really happy to listen to any suggestions you may have for who'd enjoy doing something like that." He nodded to Sylvie and Gale. "I'd definitely trust anyone you recommend."

"Oh… do you mean, then, that you don't want to run this place yourself at all?" Margot asked, blinking.

"It's not that I don't want to," Levi told her. "In fact, in some ways it could be pretty fun, I guess. But if I'm going to go back with you to the magical world, then I won't be here to do it."

Margot blinked again, in a rapid flutter of her long, golden eyelashes. "Well," she said, before stopping, biting her lip. "Well," she started again. "What if… what if I said I'd like to run the bookshop. And catalogue everything in it. And help you organize it all. Would – would that be something you'd be interested in doing?"

Levi stared at her in surprise. Could Margot really mean what she said?

"But what about your graduation as a witch?" he asked. "I thought you'd planned to go back to the magical world and research the snow flower?"

"I did," Margot said, dropping her eyes. "Well – what I mean is, I planned to present the snow flower – and now, the aurum lacunosa too! – to the magical world. But I'm not nearly skilled enough in magical botany to really do that kind of research on it, to unlock its secrets and make sure they're better documented this time. I'd leave that to witches and wizards with far more skill than I. My contribution was only going to be bringing it back." She raised her eyes to the leaves and buds still sprouting from the beam above their heads. "But… I think I'd love to be the custodian of this rare plant, in such an unlikely place. And I'd definitely love to help run this bookshop – with you. I've been having such fun here – I feel like I've learned so much, but there's still so much left for me to learn."

"Well, all I can say to that is, you'd both be very, very welcome here," Sylvie said with a warm smile. "And that means you'll both be here for Christmas, too – and you'll get to see which of the new-fashioned Christmas cakes won the poll."

Levi and Margot both laughed – and Levi felt his heart soaring within him.

Our mate wants to stay here with us, he thought, as he looked down at Margot's brightly smiling face, her eyes seeming to shine like emeralds.

Of course she does, his chimera snorted. I don't know how you ever doubted it to begin with.