Chapter 8

The sea roared with fury, its waves crashing fiercely against the shore, challenging the level of the land. Leaves, torn from their branches, swirled wildly through the air, swept up in the relentless gusts. Bins stationed at every street corner toppled over, spilling their contents across the roads.

The choice Hayden and Miracle were about to make seemed to have angered nature.

When the twins saw a stranger at their doorstep, their expressions darkened, especially when they caught sight of the brutal condition of his chest. No explanation was needed; it was obvious he'd been attacked by Mynheex. What worried them was not the attack—it was the fact that he was still alive.

On top of that, bringing a mortal into their house wasn't a smart choice. True, their house was indeed a place to stay. But at the same time, it was a hideout for dragons to complete their missions in this world.

A place meant to be kept away from humans.

Standing with his legs apart, Kingsley folded his arms across his chest. A bath towel hung loosely from his shoulders, and he exuded a fresh, clean scent.

"Miracle, send him to the empty room upstairs," Hayden instructed.

Kingsley stepped forward to block. "Dad. We can't do this. It's against the rules."

"Dad, we can't keep him here," Lyn stressed, underscoring the seriousness of her brother's objection.

"It's only until he regains consciousness."

"But Dad!"

"I've made my point clear enough, Lyn." Hayden gave a slight push to Miracle. "Bring him to the room," he repeated, casting a glare at Kingsley when he still refused to make way.

"Dad—"

Lyn stopped her brother from arguing any further. "Don't." On tiptoe, she whispered in his ear, "Don't anger Dad."

As Miracle walked past them, she caught a glimpse of Kingsley's blue eyes flashing at his sister—sharp and rich, just like Hayden's. His muscles were tensed. Beads of liquid—sweat, water, or perhaps a mix of both—streamed down his neck.

Kingsley's jaw tightened, unease written everywhere on his face as he flicked a glance at the healing wound on the young man's chest. No mortal had ever survived a Mynheex attack. Yet here was this person, whose identity remained unknown, barging into their safety zone right under his nose.

The moment Miracle reached the top of the stairs, she heard Lyn saying: "Just bear with it for a few days." 

The room was dark. Miracle groped around the wall next to the door, searching for the switch. Before long, a soft, warm glow of dim orange light flooded the space. She grimaced, yanking back her strands of hair caught beneath the boy's arm draped over her. As she lowered him onto the bed in the corner, specks of dust danced into the air. She wavered a little, almost losing her balance.

He was undeniably filthy—his nails stained, his clothes torn in places where they had been hastily stitched, and his hands and legs caked in dirt. His hair was so disheveled that even his parents probably wouldn't recognize him if they were here. Watching his grimy form taint the crisp whiteness of the bedsheet, Miracle regretted for not cleaning him up first.

"Where did he get all these mucks from?" she mumbled.

Sighing, she walked to the shared bathroom and grabbed the cloth hanging from the towel holder. After picking up a plastic basin from the corner of the sink, Miracle adjusted the tap, angling it until she found the perfect temperature. As she looked at her reflection in the mirror, she was suddenly caught off guard by the sight of her swollen mark.

She ran her fingers across the bump. Redness was there.

"Breath of immortality," she uttered, staring deeper into her mirrored image. "Why are you so surprised, Miracle? A stain in the color, a drop in the lifespan. I know it well enough, don't I?"

And slowly, instead of herself, it was her master surfacing, bringing her back to the scene they had in Long Sheng Jie...

"The evils are evolving. They've eaten too many hearts and pearls that breaths of mortality no longer hurt them, unlike us." Qilong slumped his shoulders, and Miracle saw fear in his amethyst eyes. 

He continued, "Those days, the only reason we could protect them without harming our divine breaths was that they worshipped us. But now..."

"They no longer believe in our existence," she said.

Nodding, he cupped her face and traced the scales beneath the smoothness of her skin. "Our breath of immortality fades every time we use our powers in their world. That's why the evils can track us so easily. But what's even worse is when our identities have to be revealed because of the mortals' suspicions."

"Why can't we tell the mortals the truth about everything?"

Qilong held her stare. "You must never, never do that, Xue'er. It has been a long while since the mortals last believed in us. Even if you revealed your identity, the current mortals wouldn't understand. They will only doubt. And their doubts kill..."

It wasn't until the water overflowed and splashed onto her feet that Miracle snapped awake from her lost thoughts. Quickly, she shut off the tap and braced the basin against her waist. Tilting it to one side, she poured out the excess water, realizing she had drawn too much for just a simple wipe.

As soon as she stepped back into the room, Miracle heard the boy's teeth chattering. Was he cold? She glanced at the casement behind the pale blue curtains, noting that they weren't completely closed, letting in an unsettling chill. She grabbed the thick cotton blanket and wrapped it around him, leaving only his face exposed.

"I hope you'll never remember what happened today, little mortal," she murmured, wetting his purplish lips with the cloth. "Let this be a nightmare for you, a nightmare I pray hard it'll never repeat."

Like a mother, she stretched out his limbs and began to wipe him gently, worried that she might hurt him if she were any rougher. Her fingers flinched as they brushed against his new skin. The white light was still inside him, repairing his broken ribcage and rejoining the delicate networks of his blood circulation.

He was healing. His heartbeats were starting to stabilize.

Miracle breathed a sigh of relief, but she cringed the moment she touched his soggy fringe. The foul, rotting stench was so overwhelming that it kept her from getting any closer. Holding her breath, she hurried to the casement and poked her head outside, seeking a moment of fresh air.

"You got this, Miracle," she muttered.

Only then did it occur to her that his hair probably wasn't the only source of the odor; rather, it seemed to emanate from his entire being. His clothes looked as if they hadn't been washed in years.

Too tired to carry on, she pulled out the stool and yawned, resting her head on her arm atop the table. "I'll continue later..." Her eyelids drooped. 

She was about to call it a night when something not-so-important-but-still-important flashed at the back of her mind.

The 7 o'clock meet-up with Rex!

She shot up at once, her seat toppling over as one of its legs stuck in the tangled carpet fibers. She stole a quick glance outside the window, only to be met by the brilliant glare of the moon and the dazzling stars.

'He probably wouldn't be there by now,' Miracle thought, and there went her efforts at staying awake.

***

Half-awakened by the morning rays filtering through the sheer curtains, she furrowed her brows and fumbled at the table, searching for something to block the light. The unpleasant odor lingering in the room made her nose twitch, and her frown deepened as faint footsteps echoed across the floor outside.

"Miracle!"

She jolted awake to a loud thump from the next room. Pausing for a moment, she darted her eyes around—then they landed on the boy. She pursed her lips, memories from yesterday rising like fog.

As the blurry scenes sharpened in her mind, she rushed over to him. Color was slowly returning to his face, but he looked so dead that Miracle couldn't help but wonder if he was even alive.

Lyn continued calling: "MIRACLE! Fast! We're going to be late!" She had yet to know the door she was knocking on was holding nobody in.

"Mira—" Screeches from her right stopped her from continuing her shout. 

"Lyn, I got it."

"Miracle?" Lyn pointed at the room. "You were in there the whole night?"

"I lost track of the time," Miracle replied simply, brushing past Lyn to get ready for school. "Wait for me downstairs. Will be done in five minutes."