I bite my nails. It's hard to believe this could be true. "How did you get this?"
Hayden says, "The last time we met you said you wanted to know how it was even possible a werewolf is your Alka. I started thinking if there were any other inter-racial mates like us out there. I remembered the Yates and Ivana story. I asked my human and vampire contacts to find out anything they can with the characters' names. One of my human contacts got a hit, and found this."
"You've contacts among humans and vampires?" I ask, inwardly impressed.
"Only the witches like to live in a glass case thinking the outer world is beneath them. The rest of us get along just fine," he says, making me glare at him.
"Is this authentic?" I ask.
"It is."
"This could be a coincidence."
"Or this could be real."
"Let's say there's a possibility Yates and Ivana might be a true story, and this is actually their marriage certificate. What are you going to do with it?"
"This is where you come in. If I'm not wrong, you guys can locate people using their possessions. That's why I brought this to you. You're the only witch I know."
I ignore the butterflies crowding around my stomach at what he said at the end, and reply him, "You're right. But, this is not their possession. This is a government document. I can't use this to trace them. You think they might still be around?"
"Maybe not Yates, but it's possible Ivana might be out there somewhere."
I look down at the certificate. It's not an entirely bad lead. We don't have anything else to look into either, so maybe we should see where this goes. "Once my exams are over, I can visit Bolrent and see if I can find anything else on them. Can I keep it?"
He nods.
I gently fold the certificate and put it in my pocket.
"Anything else?" I say.
Hayden glances at the basket at my side. "Why do you have a dragon egg?"
I sigh. "It's not mine. It's my cousin's. She's gone due to work, so she left it in my care."
"Does your cousin not know it's banned?"
There are things that are used, even popular, among all races — like Kurntey's Special Hexes Volume III. And there are things that are prohibited, even feared, in all races — like dragons.
Dragons are dangerous, and were once notoriously hunted down by most races. In order to protect them as well as us, one of the rules laid down by the High Council — an all-powerful authority made of leaders from every race — is to not breed or keep dragons.
"She knows," I say. "But it's here. And I can't abandon it."
"I can see that," he says. "You're taking it to your home? Won't you get in trouble?"
"I had a werewolf in my home once, so I think I can manage this egg."
He smirks. "You weren't too excited to have me in your place, like you do with the egg."
I get up, picking up the basket. "And why do you think that is?"
With that, I leave the pub and head home. As soon as I enter my place, I light the fireplace and place the egg in front of it. Then I add layers of protection shields around my home, so the egg will stay safe and undetected from anyone outside.
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A/N — Please vote on your favorite chapters :)