“Oh gods,” he sighed, looking mortified. “That’s a boring and sad story.”
“Not to me,” I smiled, taking a sip of my latte. “Where do you come from? What’s your family like? I’m not from this realm, so I’m always curious.”
Ash smiled shyly, wrapping his hands around his enormous caramel drink. “I’m from a small town you’ve probably never heard of in rural Ohio. It’s mostly humans with a few magical families scattered around.”
“And yours is one of those magical families?” I leaned forward, genuinely interested.
“Technically, yes.” His eyes dropped to the table. “But we’re not exactly respected. Two centuries ago, my family was involved in... well, let’s just say some unethical magical practices involving dragons.”
“Dragon hunting?” I guessed, remembering some of the darker chapters in magical history.
He nodded, looking surprised. “How did you know?”
“We have history books in the Twilight Realm too.” I caught myself too late, realizing I’d mentioned home. That was a topic I wanted to avoid. “I mean, dark elves study magical history extensively.”
“Right.” Ash took another sip of his drink, leaving a dot of whipped cream on his upper lip that I desperately wanted to wipe away. “Anyway, my family’s been basically shunned ever since. Most of us lost our magic entirely. My parents can barely light a candle with theirs.”
“But you have shadow magic,” I prompted, wanting to hear more about him specifically.
“Yeah. Nobody knows why.” His fingers drummed nervously on the table. “Professor Blackwood says it’s a genetic throwback to some ancestor, but my parents think I’m cursed.”
“Cursed with incredible power,” I said with a smile. “Seems like a good curse to me.”
He laughed, and the sound did something strange to my chest. “Try telling that to my mother when I accidentally turned our living room into a portal to somewhere else when I was twelve.”
“You did what?” I couldn’t help but laugh. “Where did it lead?”
“No idea. My dad threw a chair through it, and we never saw it again.” He shrugged, a small smile playing on his lips. “It took him nearly six months to rebuild the floor after the portal put a giant hole in it. Then there was that time I nearly teleported into the restricted area of a bank by accident…”
I found myself fascinated by every word. Most people I met at Widdershins came from prestigious magical lineages, their family histories polished and proudly displayed like trophies. Ash’s story was refreshingly honest.
“But what about you?” he asked, finally meeting my eyes directly. “What’s the Twilight Realm like? I’ve only read about it.”
I tensed slightly, unsure how much to reveal. “It’s... beautiful, in its own way. Perpetual dusk, purple skies, silver-leaved trees. But it’s also very traditional. Lots of rules and expectations.”
“Is that why you left? To escape the rules?”
His question hit closer to home than he could possibly know. “Something like that,” I admitted. “I wanted to experience something different before...”
“Before what?”
“Before life gets in the way,” I finished lamely. “There’s not exactly a lot of fun waiting for me back home.”
I saw something shift in Ash’s expression, a flicker of curiosity mixed with concern. His eyes, those deep sapphirepools, searched my face like he was trying to decode a particularly complex spell.
“What’s waiting for you back home?” he asked softly.
I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. This wasn’t a conversation I wanted to have on a first coffee date. How could I explain that what awaited me was a crown, a kingdom, and a bride I’d never met?
“Responsibilities,” I said vaguely. “Family stuff. Nothing exciting.”
Ash nodded slowly, like he understood more than I was saying. “I get that. Family expectations can be... suffocating. My parents expect me to save our entire family from shame. You know, no big deal.”
“Exactly,” I replied, relieved he wasn’t pushing for details. He seemed to understand it was a subject neither of us really wanted to talk about.
“So,” Ash said after a moment, “why did you ask me out? Really?”
The question caught me off guard. Most guys didn’t question why someone wanted to date them. They just went with it, especially when that someone looked like me. But Ash wasn’t most guys.
