Page 13 of Magic Unleashed

They stood there for a moment, the tension between them palpable, before Phoenix glanced toward the back of the bar. “Fontaine?”

Griff nodded. “He’s here, and he’s not alone. Whatever’s going down, it’s happening sooner rather than later.”

Phoenix’s lips pressed into a thin line. “This isn’t good. If Fontaine’s involved, we’re in deeper than we thought.”

Griff’s eyes darkened as he stepped closer, the heat between them reigniting. “And what if he’s not just involved? What if he’s the one pulling the strings?”

Phoenix’s breath hitched, her gaze locking with his. For a moment, the weight of the danger they were facing faded, and all Griff could focus on was her—the way her magic hummed in the air around her, the way his dragon responded to her presence.

He reached out, his fingers brushing against hers, and a spark shot through him. “Phoenix, this—whatever this is between us—it’s more than just a distraction.”

Her eyes softened, just for a second, before the walls came back up. “We don’t have time for this right now, Griff.”

But as much as she tried to brush it off, Griff could see the truth in her eyes. She felt it, too. Whatever was happening between them was real, and it was only a matter of time before they couldn’t ignore it anymore.

“Better we make time than have it overwhelm us at the most inopportune moment,” Griff murmured, his voice rough.

Before she could respond, the sound of movement from the back of the bar drew their attention. The oddly dressed figures were gathering, and Fontaine was at the center of it all.

Phoenix’s eyes narrowed, her body tensing as she prepared to move. “We’ll finish this later,” she said, her voice tight. They both knew they were playing with fire—both with the situation in the bar and with whatever was brewing between them—but now wasn’t the moment to delve deeper into either.

Griff nodded, his expression hardening as he focused on the task at hand. “Agreed. But keep close. I don’t trust what’s about to happen.”

Together, they moved through the crowded bar, sticking to the shadows as they neared the back room where Fontaine and his cloaked associates had gathered. The Thorny Rose had always been a den of secrets, a place where deals were struck in the dark, and tonight felt no different—except the stakes seemed significantly higher.

They paused, wanting to give the group a chance to get down the stairs. They then followed down a set of stairs at the back that led to a labyrinth beneath not only The Thorny Rose but the city itself. As they descended the stairs, trailing down a long hall behind Fontaine, they came to a closed door. Griff could hear murmured voices. A low chant, almost melodic, drifted from behind it, sending a chill down his spine. He exchanged a glance with Phoenix; she could feel the shift in the air, too—something dark was building inside.

What was the old saying?Something wicked this way comes.

With a quick motion, Phoenix reached for the handle, pausing just long enough to whisper, “On three.”

Griff gave a sharp nod. “One... two...”

On three, they burst through the door, and the scene before them made Griff’s blood run cold. Fontaine stood at the center of a dimly lit, cavernous room, surrounded by a circle of hooded figures, all of them chanting in unison. On the floor, etched in glowing red, was the same demonic symbol Griff had glimpsed on Fontaine’s wrist earlier. The symbol pulsed with dark energy, and Griff’s dragon stirred in response, his instincts roaring in warning.

Fontaine’s eyes snapped toward them, his face twisting with fury. “You!” he spat, stepping away from the circle. “You have no idea what you’ve just walked into.”

Phoenix’s hand crackled with magic, her fingers twitching as she prepared to unleash her power. “I know exactly what I’ve walked into, Fontaine. And it ends tonight.”

But Fontaine’s confidence didn’t waver. He smiled, a cold, cruel twist of his lips. “You think you can stop this? You’re too late. The ritual has already begun.”

Griff’s muscles tensed as he stepped forward, positioning himself between Phoenix and the group. “We’ll see about that.”

The room erupted into chaos as the hooded figures moved toward them, their voices growing louder, more urgent, as the dark energy in the room intensified. Griff’s dragon surged to the surface, his skin prickling with the need to shift, to tear through the enemy standing between them and the truth. Even though the room was enormous, it wouldn’t handle the size of his dragon form. Shifting might well pull the whole thing down around them.

He called on the strength of his dragon as Phoenix’s magic flared beside him, a wave of golden light shooting from her hands and colliding with the first of the attackers. Griff wasted no time, launching himself into the fray, his dragon strength amplifying every punch, every movement. He moved with lethalprecision, his focus locked on Fontaine, who was retreating further into the shadows.

But as the room descended into a blur of magic and violence, Griff’s mind kept slipping back to Phoenix—the way she moved, the raw power that flowed through her, the undeniable connection that sizzled between them. She was fierce, beautiful, and utterly untouchable, and yet here they were, side by side in the heat of battle, their lives intertwined in ways neither of them fully understood.

As the last of the hooded figures crumbled to the ground, Griff turned toward Fontaine, his chest heaving with exertion. The councilman was cornered now, his back pressed against the far wall, desperation flickering in his eyes.

“You don’t know what you’re doing!” Fontaine hissed, his voice shaking as he reached for something beneath his cloak. “You can’t stop this. The cult?—”

Griff cut him off with a snarl, advancing on the man with predatory grace. “The cult is finished, Fontaine. And so are you.”

But before he could close the distance, Fontaine’s hand emerged, clutching a dark, glowing crystal. He muttered something under his breath, and the air around them seemed to ripple, a sudden wave of energy knocking Griff and Phoenix back.

Griff hit the ground hard, the breath knocked from his lungs as the world tilted around him. Dazed, he pushed himself up just in time to see Fontaine vanish in a flash of red light, the crystal shattering in his wake.

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