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“You don’t want to pursue this?” he growled, his eyes shadowing.
“That’s not what I mean,” I sighed, dropping my chin. “Of course I want to pursue this. The feelings I have for you… I don’t understand them, but they consume me. I think about you all the time. I look forward to being with you every moment.”
“I feel the same way,” he agreed slowly. “Why do I feel like there’s a giant ‘but’ coming up?”
I shook my head. “I’m saying I’m also really scared.”
His expression softened. “Of what? You have protection—more protection than me most of the time. I didn’t let anything happen to you at the gala, and I won’t let the Order come for you again.”
“It’s not the Order of Souls,” I mumbled, although I wasn’t sure that was true. “I’m scared of what I can’t remember.”
“Ah.” He untangled his fingers from mine and raised his palm to my cheek, caressing it slowly. “The future scares you.”
“The past scares me!” I corrected him. “What if… what if I’m married, for example?”
Shock overtook his face. It was clear he hadn’t considered that.
“Or if I’m part witch?” I added quickly.
Zen’s hand fell from my cheek, and he cleared his throat. “The witch bit… well, that might explain the anomaly in your DNA,” he chuckled lightly.
“The what?”
He cast me a sidelong look. “Endora ran a DNA test on you. There was some kind of discrepancy, but no one can quite figure out what it is.”
“Discrepancy?” I echoed. “Like… I’m sick?”
He shrugged. “You don’t have any illness known to the lab technicians,” he offered lightly. “There’s something else.”
“Like what?” I choked.
“We’re working on that.” His eyes brightened, but only slightly. “However, I didn’t think to run your blood against the Continental Marriage Registry.”
“The what?” I asked again, starting to feel stupid in all my ignorance. He smiled softly, but he shifted uncomfortably in his seat.
“Whenever a marriage is registered in Mystara, a blood sample is submitted to the registrar’s office. If you are married, there will be a match in that system. I’ll have Endora look into that immediately.”
Another cloud crossed over his face, and I understood why. A positive match could only mean bittersweetness.
“You see why I’m concerned?” I whispered, my hand reaching for his face now. He captured my fingers in his and kissed the inside of my palm.
“If it means getting you the answers about who you are, Mirielle, I’d fly to the moon.”
“And if I am married?” I rasped shakily. His eyes locked with mine, and he shook his head.
“Then we’ll burn down that bridge when we come to it, all right?”
In spite of myself, I laughed at his idiom blend, dropping my forehead to his.
“And if I’m a witch?” I teased, our noses rubbing.
“Then I’ll have someone on hand to do long-distance locator spells. It will be a win-win for everyone,” he replied, kissing my lips playfully.
I returned his embrace tightly and exhaled, wishing now that I’d told him everything, but the moment had passed.
Let’s see what the Marriage Registry says,I thought, but it was just another tactic for procrastination.
I had gotten too comfortable not knowing, but I fully realized even then that those days were numbered. The truth was coming out. It was just a race to see who would learn it first: me or Zen.
