The flames of Firefly Manor’s hearth threw restless shadows against the high, cracked ceiling. Carlos stood in the entry hall, a storm barely contained in the rigid lines of his body. The air stank of dust and iron, but underneath pulsed something older, heavier, the stink of a presence he had not felt in centuries.
War Dragon loomed at his side, his shoulders radiating heat. Smoke curled from his lips as though the man-shape could no longer contain the beast within. He said nothing, but his silence was an iron weight pressing down on the room.
Then, slow and measured, footsteps echoed on the stairwell.
Carlos’ eyes darted upward, and the world tilted.
A tall figure descended the stairs as though he had been waiting for this moment for an age. The smirk on his mouth, the amused glint i
