Page 47 of Ash and Burn

They gathered around a workstation where other healers huddled over optical microscopes. "We prepared slides. The cellular interaction is distinctive," Dorn said, his voice tinged with anticipation.

Arvid leaned in and adjusted the focus on the microscope. Within seconds, her body went very still, and she let out a sharp gasp. "Oh my god. Look at that." She straightened, her eyes wide with professional excitement. "It's not identical, but the pathogenic mechanism—the way it targets and degrades the cells—it's nearly a mirror of Dragon's Blight."

Calix moved closer, his shoulder brushing hers. "What does that mean?"

She turned to him, and the hope in her face was a brighter flame than the Undying Flame. "It means the treatment protocol Maggie and I have been developing for Dragon's Blight on Earth… it could be the blueprint. The foundational architecture. We'd need to adapt it for dragon physiology—swap out components, find a biological bridge—but the core approach might work." She looked at Dorn. "We have a starting point. A real one now."

Dorn's exhaustion seemed to lift. "Tell me everything about your protocols. Dosages, delivery systems, everything."

"Let's get to work," Arvid said, pulling up a stool.

Calix wanted to stay, to be part of the solution, to watch her brilliant mind at work. He hovered for a moment, feeling the unfamiliar itch of being out of his depth in a room full of science.

Suddenly, the lab door slammed open and Ryx filled the doorway, his face a grim mask and his blue eyes scanning the room and locking onto Calix.

Calix's instincts snapped to high alert. "What's wrong?"

"It's Cevryn," Ryx said, his voice low. "He's gone. Not in his council office. Not at his residence."

Calix stilled. A missing council member during a crisis was not an oversight; it was a statement. The bad feeling in his gut crystallized into cold, hard suspicion. "Is he sick?"

"No. He's just… gone."

Calix looked at Arvid, who had turned from the microscope, her scientific fervor replaced by a commander's sharp assessment. He felt the pull—toward her, toward the cure being born in this room, and toward the shadowy threat slithering away.

"I need to go," he said to her, the words an apology and a promise.

She gave a sharp nod. No argument, no plea to stay. She understood the layers of the battlefield. "Go. We have this covered."

He crossed the distance between them in two strides, cupped her jaw, and kissed her—searing and fast.

Be safe, he projected through their telepathic link.

Always. Be careful, her voice whispered back in his mind.

He pulled back, his gaze holding hers for one more second, then turned to Ryx, his authority settling around him like armor. "Let's go."

Calix stormed from the lab, Ryx at his flank, the warmth of his mate's presence at his back and the cold fire of a hunt blazing in his veins.

Minutes later, Calix moved through the corridors of the council building with a focused stride that Ryx had no trouble matching. Ryx's gaze kept flicking to him, a knowing glint in his eyes. The change in Calix's scent was undeniable now—a complex, rich tapestry woven through with lilies and rain and something uniquely Arvid. It marked him as unequivocally claimed.

As they passed under a high, arched window, Ryx finally broke the companionable silence. "I see you figured out the logistics."

Calix didn't slow his pace. "Logistics?"

"Of having your fated mate under your roof." A ghost of a smile touched Ryx's mouth. "Seems the arrangement worked out favorably."

The possessiveness that surged through Calix was primal and instant. He shot Ryx a look that was pure alpha warning. "Careful."

Ryx merely raised his hands, the picture of innocence. "Just an observation." He dropped the levity, his voice softening into genuine warmth. "I'm happy for you, Calix. It's about damn time."

Calix let out a controlled breath, his shoulders relaxing a fraction. "I couldn't deny the bond." He glanced at Ryx as they turned down another hall lined with ancient tapestries. "But it was more than that. The more time we spent together, the more I saw her and the more she saw me. Then she chose me, Ryx. Knowing everything. Knowing the mess, the danger, the duty." Calix paused for a moment. "She chose to stay."

"She's got a spine, that one," Ryx acknowledged, a flicker of respect in his blue eyes. "I saw that the moment she threw herself into this Ash Fever investigation. But truly Calix, I'm glad you trusted your heart. Sounds like she did, too."

"She did," Calix said, the words solidifying the reality.

The golden thread of their completed bond hummed contentedly in his core. But the satisfaction was immediately poisoned by a darker, colder current.