Nathan grunted, pushing closer. "What do you need me to do?"
Vivienne didn’t look at him. "Clear the room."
He went out, but reluctantly, ushering a crowd that had gathered in the doorway, making them back up. I couldn't spare another thought for them.
I glanced at Krystal, who looked ready to collapse. I shifted my grip and pulled her upright. "Stay with me," I said. The mate bond throbbed, filling me with a wild hope.
Vivienne started her incantation, low at first, then rising. The sigils she’d drawn began to glow, forming a lattice that wrapped around Bryce’s body. The room pressed in, thick as tar.
Bryce arched backward, then let out a scream so loud I thought my eardrums would split. The light in him pulsed once, twice, then erupted, shooting through the containment lattice like lightning through a fence. The force knocked me and Krystal back a step, but we didn’t let go.
Vivienne’s arms snapped out, catching the overflow. Her hands moved faster, weaving the energy into tight bands. The color changed, shifted from blue to violet, then finally settled into a pale green that hung in the air like a fog.
The tension bled from the room. Bryce sagged in his mother’s arms, sweat pouring down his face. He was alive but wrung out.
Vivienne took a shaky breath, then fixed her gaze on me. "You have no idea what you’ve got here," she said, not bothering to hide the wonder. "This isn’t just raw power. It’s something new."
Krystal hugged Bryce close, rocking him, sobbing. I kept my hand on both of them, the bond a white-hot thread through my chest.
Aurelia spoke shakily. "We have to siphon the excess, or it’ll just happen again."
Vivienne nodded, her attention already on the next step. She bent over Bryce, whispering something I couldn’t catch. He nodded, dazed.
Krystal clung to me harder, her grip desperate. I held her, and for the first time, fully leaned into me, not fighting, not trying to stay upright on her own.
I looked down at Bryce, who blinked up at me. His eyes were brown again, but there was a shimmer in them that hadn’t been there before.
"You okay, bud?" I asked.
He nodded, then whispered, "I was flying."
I smiled, blinking back the sting in my own eyes. "You sure were."
Vivienne finished her work, then turned to face me. Her expression was a mix of triumph and warning. "We need to talk. Soon."
I nodded. The crisis had passed, but only barely. Bryce slept now, cocooned in the safety of his mother and me.
I watched Vivienne as she watched us and made a vow. She was up to something far more than just helping my son. Whatever game she was playing, I would not let her win.
Vivienne waited until the rest of the room emptied before cornering me and Krystal. Bryce was asleep, bundled in a heap of throw blankets, his hair a sweaty tangle against Krystal’s chest. Aurelia, already in crisis manager mode, had commandeered the kitchen table to assemble what looked like a field surgical kit for witches. Mortars, herbs, a string of onyx beads, the works. Eleanor hovered near the fridge, arms crossed, face ashen.
Vivienne swept into the living room with that predatory glide, her gaze skipping over Krystal and pinning me, then darting to the sleeping boy. She didn’t bother with pleasantries. "We need to talk, Zaden. Privately."
Krystal’s hand went tight on Bryce’s back, but she looked at me and nodded. "If she says anything weird, you let me know."
I followed Vivienne into the hallway, feeling the mate bond tug at my spine with every step. The moment we were out of sight of the kitchen, Vivienne spun on me, eyes too bright, pupils a pinprick set in a disc of amber.
"Do you understand what he is?" she hissed. "Male dragons never manifest witch magic. It’s almost physically impossible."
"Almost," I shot back. "So what’s the catch?"
She bit the tip of her tongue, excitement brimming. "Hybrids aren’tthatrare. Uncommon, yes. They either manifest as one or other of their parents’ animals. But this?" She jabbed a lacquered nail toward the living room. "A male dragon with dominant witch magic? That’s a myth. If he survives puberty, he’ll be able to rewrite magical hierarchy from scratch."
The room seemed to dip in temperature, or maybe it was the ice in my bloodstream. "So what, you want to study him? Run tests?"
"I want to help him. And you," she said a little too quickly. "But I want to be clear. If he loses control, it won’t be a mess for your clan or the wolves. It’ll crater the ley lines under half the county. There’s no precedent. I can't be sure what all could happen. A dragon male with this much resonance has to be anchored, helped, or you’ll lose him."
There was a glint in her eye, as if she’d rehearsed this warning, working every angle of concern and urgency. But her hunger was real, the kind that didn’t just want to witness the apocalypse, but to come out on top when the dust settled.
