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FORTY-SIX

“T hank you for today,” Zina said finally. “I needed this more than I realized.”

“As did I.” Xai met her gaze across the steaming pool. “Council duties rarely allow for... personal time.”

“Is that what this is?” she asked, surprised by her own boldness.

Something shifted in his expression—a vulnerability she rarely glimpsed. “I’d like it to be.”

The simple admission hung between them, weighted with possibility.

“Five centuries,” she mused, moving slightly closer. “You must have known so many people, seen so much history unfold. Loved and lost many times.”

“Not as many as you might think.” His voice dropped lower. “Dragons guard their hearts carefully. Experience doesn’t eliminate fear—sometimes it amplifies it.”

“What frightens a dragon elder?” she asked softly, drifting closer still.

He studied her for a long moment. “Losing something irreplaceable before I’ve truly understood its value.”

The vulnerability in his admission touched her deeply. She closed the remaining distance between them, drawn by an impulse she couldn’t name.

“I need to tell you something I’ve never told anyone about dragon bonding—” he began, his expression solemn.

Multiple emergency alerts shattered the moment, their phones buzzing simultaneously from their robes. Zina lunged for hers, dread pooling in her stomach as she read the screen.

“Severin’s enforcers spotted near the spa,” she reported, already moving toward the changing area. “Bryn says they’re trying a different approach—magical sabotage rather than physical damage.”

Xai’s expression hardened as he checked his own messages. “Noven confirms. We need to go.”

The relaxed atmosphere vanished as they changed and rushed back to the car. The return journey transformed from leisurely to urgent, Xai pushing the vintage Aston Martin to surprising speeds along the mountain roads.

Zina coordinated their allies via phone, her natural leadership emerging under pressure. “Kalyna, ask Elder Willow to focus on reinforcing the perimeter wards. Thora, keep watch but don’t engage unless necessary. Bryn, evacuate any clients discreetly—use the plumbing issue excuse we rehearsed.”

Xai’s phone chimed with an incoming message. He glanced at it briefly before passing it to Zina. “Noven,” he explained.

The message included a GIF of a cartoon dragon with flames shooting from its nostrils and the text: “On my way! Save some bad guys for me!”

“That man is five hundred and forty-two years old,” Xai muttered. “Why does he communicate with cartoon images?”

Despite the tension, Zina found herself smiling. “They’re called emojis.” She rested her hand on Xai’s arm as she outlined her next thought—a casual touch that would have seemed impossible days ago but now felt completely natural.

“We should check the foundation first,” she suggested. “If Severin learned about the chamber’s location, he might try to access it from underneath.”

Xai nodded, muscles tensing beneath her fingers. “He’d need powerful magic to break through those ancient wards.”

“Which is exactly what Bryn reported—ritual components and spell fragments.”

The rest of the drive passed in tense strategy discussions. When they finally reached Enchanted Falls, the late afternoon sun cast long shadows across the town square. They pulled up to the spa to find Bryn, Thora, and Kalyna waiting outside with Elder Willow, whose silver hair gleamed in the fading light.

“Status?” Xai demanded as they approached.

“They retreated when reinforcements arrived,” Thora reported, her amber eyes scanning the perimeter. “But they left something behind.”

Elder Willow nodded, her wizened face grave. “Malevolent magic. We’ve contained it, but you should see this.”

They followed her through the spa to the utility room, and then down a narrow staircase to the foundation area. Ancient stonework contrasted with modern construction—a visible reminder of the building’s unique history.

Kalyna pointed to a section of exposed foundation stone where a malevolent rune had been freshly carved—its jagged lines pulsing with sickly green energy.

“Elder Willow identified it,” she explained. “It’s designed to fracture the ley line junction. Slowly destabilize the power node beneath.”

The elderly witch nodded solemnly. “Ancient magic, corrupted for destructive purposes. We’ve placed temporary containment wards, but a more permanent solution is needed.”