Page 15 of Autumn L.A.W

“And this is Lioness.” On the opposite love seat, Lioness groaned into a pillow, her golden blonde hair a tousled halo of misery. Spirit Lion crouched beside her, glowing and huge, its amber eyes locked on Ezra like he was vetting him for a job interview. Which he was.

“Where’s Magda?” Joell asked.

Sahara waved vaguely in the direction of the kitchen. “Went to get chamomile tea.”

Ezra assessed the room. “Tea won’t fix this. They’re worse than I expected.”

Lioness lifted her head an inch. “I’m fine. Just dying politely.”

“You’re not dying,” Sahara muttered. “You’re leaking magic.”

Ezra knelt beside Sahara first. “My name is Ezra. May I help you, Sahara?”

She nodded, trembling. Ezra set his leather kit on the table and opened it.

Sahara blinked. No crystals. No runes. No bones or vials or anything remotely mystical. Just gauze. Compression wraps. Alcohol wipes. Nitrile gloves. A tourniquet folded with obsessive neatness.

She stared at it for half a second too long. Ezra didn’t comment. He simply pulled on gloves, movements practiced and calm, then knelt beside her. Prepared, she thought dimly. But for what?

He hovered one gloved hand above her solar plexus. The air shifted. It felt warm, gentle, and steady. Then he removed his gloves, and a golden thread of energy extended from Ezra’s fingers, weaving through Sahara’s fractured aura.

Sahara inhaled sharply. “Ohhh… Sweet relief! My brain stopped folding in on itself like origami.”

Ezra’s lips twitched. “That’s good.”

Rayna side-eyed him. “Do you flirt while healing people? Because we don’t have time for that.”

“That wasn’t flirting,” Ezra murmured.

Lioness croaked weakly, “If flirting feels that good, I could use some flirting over here.”

Ezra moved to Lioness.

Spirit Lion blocked him with a rumbling growl that vibrated the floor.

Ezra bowed his head. “I want to help her. She has nothing to fear from me.”

“Down, boy,” Lioness added.

Spirit Lion stared him down for a long, tense moment before stepping aside.

Ezra hovered his hand over Lioness’s back. Another golden thread unfurled, sinking into her trembling aura. Lioness gasped, relaxing as the nausea faded and the world stopped spinning.

“Holy—okay,” she exhaled. “I will absolutely marry you. Sahara, put that in your notes app.”

Sahara rolled her eyes. “She’s delirious.”

“She’s honest,” Joell muttered. “Or delirious most of the time. Hard to say.”

Ezra stood, shoulders tight. “It wasn’t a curse. It was resonance. An ancient magic recognized something in Sahara.”

Sahara stiffened. “It recognized me?”

“I’m not surprised,” Rayna said. “She’s an Egyptologist and archaeologist.”

“Your magic reads ancient things,” Ezra said gently. “Sometimes ancient things read you back. Lioness was caught because she was close.”

Lioness shuddered. “Wait. I got cursed because Sahara is smart?”