Dragon Fires Everywhere, page 33
As another new year dawns, we wish the same for all of you that we wish for ourselves:
Love. Hope. Unity.
And the best way to step into these wishes and make them come true is involvement in the St. Cyprian community. Our next town hall meeting will be at the end of January. Please join us and let your voices be heard!
Azrael puts the newsletter down on the nightstand next to him with a dramatic sigh. “And what, pray tell, do the humans read when they pick up such nonsense?”
I am sitting at my table, cleansing my crystals, Octavius curled in my lap. He was the first student enrolled in Frost’s fabulae school, and he comes home exhausted every day. But he is learning, and we’re finally communicating.
“Mostly just a recap of all the festivals, and Emerson had to assure them there was nothing satanic about including Yule decorations in the Christmas Around the World parade.”
I finish what I’m doing, lift Octavius and cradle him like the baby he is, then gently place my fairy cat on his bed on the window seat.
Then I turn to my dragon. My love. He has healed up nicely from his injuries at last year’s winter solstice. He still gives me his little gifts, only now I can thank him properly. I am, it turns out, very thankful.
But then, so is he.
We show each other all the time.
He surprised everyone, except perhaps me, with his committed involvement in coven business the past year. I think they all expected him to be . . . well, mercurial is the word of choice, and Azrael is nothing if not that, but he is also a stalwart supporter in bringing together the different factions the Joywood divided us into.
At last.
He has traveled the world searching out fabulae Healers for the witch hospital here in St. Cyprian. He has worked with a group of fabulae and witches to search the far corners of the earth to ensure all fabulae were released from their curses. And he has been an ever-vigilant caretaker of the dragon-princess statue that destroyed black magic once and for all, letting the bricks of St. Cyprian be a refuge once more.
But most of all, he has been by my side. The partner of my dreams I once talked myself out of.
The love of all my lives.
Tonight, he flashes that mischievous dragon smile at me, holds out a hand. “My own, my Georgina. Let’s go for a ride.”
And so we do, soaring over St. Cyprian and the confluence, our friends and family, and the marvelous world full of the people we saved. The unfiltered light and power of the confluence glows for us. A ghost waves from the cemetery.
Every day, our home looks more like the vision of this magical place that Ellowyn showed us at the ascension trials.
Higher we go, until I can see Crow Island winking in the river, revealed at last—until we are so far into the stars that we see nothing at all but each other. It’s a real fairy tale, my dragon and me. It’s a dream made real. It’s something I thought I couldn’t have just a year ago, and it didn’t require that I compromise who I am to get it.
I just had to be me. Books and all.
He remembers all the lives we’ve loved in, and then lost. I can’t remember the details, but I can feel the weight of them every time we touch.
And I know a secret.
This life is going to be the best one yet. Because this time, we’re going to do the hardest thing of all and live our way into an ever-after. We’re not going to die for love. We’re going to live it all the way through.
I can’t wait.
All those books have it right—we just have to be willing to fight our way to the good stuff. Because we’re all worthy of fairy-tale endings, happy-ever-afters, and the love of a thousand lifetimes.
We’re all the princess in our own story. Don’t let anyone tell you different.
And it’s up to you to pick up that sword and fight for your own heart, no matter how dark it gets along the way to a life full of light.
I’ll see you there.
* * * * *
About the Author
HAZEL BECK is the magical partnership of a river witch and an earth witch. Together, they have collected two husbands, three familiars, two children, five degrees, and written around 200 books. As one, their books will delight with breathtaking magic, emotional romance, and stories of witches you won’t soon forget. You can find them at www.Hazel-Beck.com.
Praise for the novels of Hazel Beck
“The magical world of St. Cyprian is one readers will never want to leave. Small Town, Big Magic is an absolute triumph of a debut . . . Hazel Beck has created the perfect blend of magic, humor, world-ending peril, friendship and romance, brewed into a spellbinding combination that readers will adore, and that will have them desperate for the next book!”
—New York Times bestselling author Maisey Yates
“Emerson Wilde is a smart, funny protagonist whose unshakeable belief in herself will charm the reader from the very first page of Small Town, Big Magic. A diverse coven of witches, an enchanted history, and a dangerous adversary all add up to an absolute delight of a magical tale.”
—Louisa Morgan, author of The Age of Witches
“A fresh, fun, zany spin on paranormal romance, Small Town, Big Magic casts a big spell. Take one girlboss witch, add a magical journey of healing and self-discovery, and sprinkle in a dash of romance, and you’ve got an enchanting read perfect for fans of The Ex Hex and Payback’s a Witch.”
—Ashley Winstead, author of Fool Me Once
“[A] spellbinding magic-infused rom-com . . . Beck delivers a wonderfully realized heroine with a voice so clear readers will feel like one of her friends. This is sure to be a hit with any fan of paranormal romance.”
—Publishers Weekly
“Beck’s second entry in the ‘Witchlore’ series brings back a charming cast of characters and offers a heart-rending story of personal strength, growth, and fated love.”
—Library Journal
Books by Hazel Beck
Small Town, Big Magic
Big Little Spells
Truly Madly Magically
Copyright
ISBN: 9781038955111
DRAGON FIRES EVERYWHERE. Copyright © 2025 by Megan Crane and Nicole Helm.
First published on Gadigal Country in Australia in 2025
by HQ Fiction
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Cover Illustration: Magen McCallum - Cover Art Direction: Sean Kapitain
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Hazel Beck, Dragon Fires Everywhere
