The day passed without alarms.
Without etings.
Without the usual pressure humming under the skin.
No need to attend classes, and no need to review the college exam materials.
It should’ve felt strange.
But sohow, it didn’t.
Ethan stretched out on a cushioned recliner near the mansion’s lower courtyard pool—a gleaming strip of water shaped like a crescent blade.
The inner do above shimred faintly, its transparent film filtering the ultraviolet rays pouring through from the sky-high solar canopy.
A few feathered scout drones hovered at a distance, nearly invisible unless you were trained to see them.
One passed through the outer ward and blinked green.
All clear.
Good.
A soft breeze carried through the hedges, which weren’t normal plants either. Their leaves held low-grade sensory charms woven into them—an extra layer of defense, though you’d never know unless you touched one wrong.
He let out a breath, eyes closed, the scent of citrus and sun-ward stone in the air.
Soone had set low-tempo synth-jazz over the speaker nodes hidden inside the vines. Just enough to keep the silence from feeling too still.
"You look like soone who just claid his own planet," Isabella’s voice called from behind him.
He cracked one eye open. "Feels like it."
She stepped around the recliner, holding a tall glass of pale pink liquid. The cubes inside shimred faintly—cooling crystals, not ice.
Probably one of the alchemic blends she made for the bar she is running.
Her violet hair was tied in a high ponytail today, swaying behind her with every step. Light caught on the gold clasps fixed at the ends.
Her swimsuit was dark crimson with thin tallic straps—a combat-grade weave, disguised as fashion. It sparkled faintly where it caught the sun.
"Enjoying it a little too much, maybe." She sank down at the edge of the pool and dipped her legs into the water, her drink balanced on the side.
"Isn’t that what the next few days are for?" Ethan said, lazily shifting his weight.
From the opposite path, Liliana erged, a towel around her neck and a quiet alertness in her eyes. Even now, she scanned the rooftops as if expecting a sniper.
Her swimsuit was minimal but strong. Black with silver linings around the seams. High-waisted bottoms.
Crossed straps in the back. You could see the definition in her abs and the quiet muscle in her legs, refined over years of battle conditioning.
Isabella gave a low whistle. "Soone activated stealth-siren mode."
Liliana tossed the towel onto a chair. "It’s swimwear. Not a weapon."
"It could be," Isabella said, eyes amused.
Ethan raised a hand. "You both look dangerous. That’s a complint."
"We know," Liliana said flatly.
"Still counts," Isabella added.
A mont later, the sliding door opened with a faint chi.
Seraphina stepped out next, dressed in a sleek navy one-piece with a translucent sh wrap that hung lazily off one hip.
Her hair was down today—rare—and shimred with a soft enchantnt that kept it from tangling in the wind.
She walked with a tablet in one hand, eyes flicking across the screen.
"You’re not even swimming?" Ethan asked.
"In a minute. Just finishing the last network sweep."
"I thought we were off-duty."
She didn’t look up. "We are. That doesn’t an I stop being ."
Isabella rolled her eyes and flicked the corner of Seraphina’s tablet. "Do you at least have it on vacation mode?"
"It’s a classified AI interface. There is no vacation mode."
Liliana handed Ethan a bottle from the bar cart. Cold. Still misting.
He cracked the seal and took a long drink. The water had a faint mineral tang—high-grade hydration infused with low-tier recovery boosters. The kind only used by elite units.
They didn’t need it. But it felt good to indulge.
Eventually, Isabella got tired of waiting and kicked a splash at Ethan.
"Up, lazy king. Get in."
He didn’t argue.
He dove in.
The water was cool, perfectly filtered, and faintly infused with microcirculation enhancents.
He didn’t float, he just glided—eyes open, arms cutting through the water in slow, even strokes.
Liliana practiced underwater turns at the far end. Ethan caught glimpses of her slicing through the pool like a torpedo, barely rippling the surface.
Isabella attempted to do a handstand mid-pool, failed, and ca up laughing, flipping her hair back.
Seraphina entered the water last, setting her tablet on a sealed shelf before sliding in with the grace of soone who calculated angles even when relaxing. She didn’t swim much. Just drifted.
Ethan found himself floating beside her.
"Thanks for rerouting the Astralis offers," he said quietly.
"I didn’t want the noise reaching you. Not yet."
He looked up at the sky do. "You always know what I need."
"You’re easy to read," she said. Then added, "When you’re honest with yourself."
By afternoon, the pool day began to wind down.
They dried off. Changed and lingered over fresh fruit platters and herbal teas served by the silent staff moving like shadows between hedges. No one talked about what ca next.
When evening ca, the group gathered again—this ti in the private garden behind the estate.
The sky above shifted from clear blue to copper, then to muted indigo. The fire pit in the center had already been lit.
Pale gold fla danced in the breeze, powered by a floating core crystal set beneath the stones.
Lilith was already there, seated with her shawl wrapped loosely over her shoulders. Her long legs were crossed, and she held a vintage paper book in one hand—sothing old, probably from a lost archive.
Seraphina stood off to the side, tablet gone. Isabella sprawled on one bench, arms behind her head. Liliana stood nearby, eyes tilted upward.
Ethan sat near the fire, letting its warmth settle into him.
He didn’t speak. None of them did, for a while.
Then Lilith closed the book and looked toward the fla.
"I’ve seen fires like this before," she said. "But they always ca before sothing worse, before we lost soone. Before the next wave ca."
Ethan looked over. "And this one?"
"This one feels... special," she replied. "Like we finally had a say."
He didn’t answer right away.
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