Page 22 of Fired Up Love

The oil bottle slipped from Zina’s suddenly numb fingers, creating a fragrant splash across the hardwood floor. Her pulse thundered in her ears as pieces clicked into place with sickening clarity. The convergence point. The magical wellspring her mother had guarded with her life. Severin didn’t want her business—he wanted to control Enchanted Falls’s magical foundation.

“Are you all right, dear?” Mrs. Plumworth’s voice seemed to come from very far away. “You’ve gone pale as moonlight.”

“Fine,” Zina managed, forcing herself to continue the massage with trembling hands. “Just surprised.”

“Well, of course, you are! Imagine, sitting on top of all that power without even knowing it.” Mrs. Plumworth’s voice dropped to a conspiratorial whisper. “Geraldine says there’s more to it than just the ley lines. Something about old family histories and sacred protections. The Madrigals believe they have some ancestral claim to this land, though your mother always insisted otherwise.”

Zina barely heard the rest of Mrs. Plumworth’s monologue, her mind racing through implications. Every strange occurrence since she’d opened, now the sabotage—all traced back to what lay beneath her spa.

As soon as Mrs. Plumworth departed, promising to spread word about Zina’s “divine healing touch” to her entire book club and possibly the mayor himself, Zina rushed to find Bryn.

Her assistant crouched on the supply room floor, surrounded by cleaning supplies and muttering creative curses about proper storage techniques while mopping up the spilled oil.

“Dragon fever strike again?” Bryn looked up, then immediately sobered at Zina’s expression. “Or did our favorite gossip actually deliver useful information for once?”

“There’s a power nexus under the spa. That’s what Severin wants.”

The mop clattered to the floor, forgotten. “Holy shit.” Bryn stood slowly, processing the implications. “That explains everything...” She glanced toward the damaged circuit breaker. “He’s trying to force you out.”

“Or make running the spa impossible.” Zina’s lioness paced anxiously, recognizing a threat to their territory that went far deeper than property lines. “If he can’t buy it legally?—”

“He’ll make damn sure you can’t keep it.” Bryn finished grimly. Then, attempting to lighten the mood: “Maybe we need some dragon fire for security upgrades. Or at least your dragon’s scary face. One molten glare from those golden eyes would send any saboteur running for the hills.”

“He’s not my dragon,” Zina protested weakly, though her lioness purred at the thought.

“Save it for someone who didn’t watch you two practically combust on the dance floor.” Bryn’s expression turned serious again. “But this changes everything, boss. Madrigal isn’t after prime real estate. He wants primal power.”

The weight of generations pressed on Zina’s shoulders. Her mother hadn’t just left her a spa—she’d entrusted her with safeguarding a crucial piece of Enchanted Falls’s magical ecosystem. The responsibility felt crushing.

“I should talk to Luciana.” The thought formed as she spoke it. “She seemed genuine at the dinner. Maybe she knows more about her brother’s obsession with this location. There’s something about family histories that Mrs. Plumworth mentioned—maybe this feud goes back generations.”

“Or maybe we just call your dragon and let him roast?—”

The front door chimed, cutting off Bryn’s suggestion. Both women tensed until Elena Childers’s melodic voice called out a greeting. Their first scheduled appointment of the day had arrived.

TWENTY

“Seriously, Elena,” Zina said as she prepared the witch’s crystal healing session, arranging rose quartz and amethyst in precise patterns. “There’s nothing romantic happening between Elder Emberwylde and me.”

Elena raised a perfectly groomed eyebrow, her expression suggesting she found Zina’s denial amusing. “Then why are Madrigal’s men photographing your building?”

Zina’s heart stuttered. She moved to the treatment room window, trying to appear casual as she peered through the gauzy curtains. Two lion shifters stood across the street, making no effort to conceal themselves. One held up a phone, openly capturing images of the spa’s foundation. The other made notes in a small book, occasionally pointing at different structural elements.

“Those aren’t—” she began, hoping against hope.

“Not your dragon’s men, no. But they are Madrigal’s.” Elena’s voice dropped to a whisper. “I’ve seen them at council meetings, always hovering near Severin like overgrown guard dogs. The magical energy here is extraordinary, Zina. No wonder you’re fighting off corporate raiders.”

As Elena spoke, one of the lion shifters looked directly at the window. His eyes flashed gold as they met Zina’s, and his lips curved in a predatory smile that made her lioness snarl.

The afternoon crawled by with agonizing slowness. Each glance out the window revealed new watchers—a rotating surveillance team cataloging the spa’s routines and vulnerabilities. They made no effort to hide their brazen presence a message in itself: We’re watching. We’re waiting. We’re coming.

Her lioness grew increasingly agitated, recognizing the predatory patterns for what they were: hunting behavior. The preliminary stalking before the kill.

“Boss, maybe you should call someone,” Jamie suggested during a brief lull between appointments. Her perpetually escaping dark curls framed a worried face. “The sheriff, or?—”

The phone rang, cutting her off. Zina grabbed it on the second ring. “Purrfect Oasis Spa, how can I help you relax today?”

“Stop using the dragon elder as a shield,” a gravelly voice growled. “The nexus belongs to those who can properly harness it.”

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