DAGON MANSION

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE: AT DAGON MANSION

Twilight bled over the water, smearing violet across the horizon. Mia and Randolf walked along the quiet shoreline outside town — far from curious eyes, far from the life Mia knew would soon shatter.

Randolf was radiant with hope he tried to hide.
Mia, with the ocean wind in her hair and a fierce clarity in her gaze, was devastatingly beautiful to him — a woman sharpened by fate.

"Thank you for coming," she murmured.

"It's always a pleasure," he replied, voice soft, almost reverent.

She hesitated — a single breath, gathering courage.

"I'm going to tell you something that cannot leave this place. I need someone who understands the supernatural. And someone I trust."

Randolf straightened — not as a doctor, not as a werewolf, but as a man who loved her.

"You have my confidence," he said.

Mia looked out at the darkening water, the waves like restless spirits.

"Ryan is escaping. Tonight. He must reach the Dark Dimension to stop Alexandra. To end the curse once and for all. Theo and I will go with him."

The words cut through the air like a blade.

Randolf's jaw tightened. "You're going with him."

"Yes," she said quietly. "Theo wants to be there. And I... I can help. My powers matter."

A muscle worked in Randolf's cheek — a storm building behind his measured calm.

"I could help too."

"I know," Mia whispered. "But Ryan... isn't fond of you."

Randolf barked a humorless laugh. "He's jealous."

Mia's lips curved in reluctant amusement, though her eyes remained sad.
"Maybe."

A beat of silence. The wind trembled around them.

"I had to tell someone," Mia confessed, voice breaking the slightest bit. "I worry for them. And for Scarlett."

Randolf softened — instinctively, gently.

"I'll watch over her," he promised.

Relief flickered in Mia's eyes. "Thank you. Truly."

They walked back in silence — Randolf thoughtful, Mia already stepping into destiny.

Jealous of me, Randolf thought, unexpected pride warming his chest. So even legends bleed.

Night swallowed the prison in shadow and stillness.

Ryan moved through the corridors unseen — a spectral silhouette sliding across concrete and steel.
Jeremiah's distracted steps echoed in the distance, a necessary betrayal echoing through the air.

With each breath, Ryan felt his strength fray — invisibility draining him like poison.
But he kept going.

Freedom tasted like iron and winter wind.

When he reached the forest edge, he collapsed, panting, sweat chilling on his skin. The stars churned uneasily overhead — as if they, too, knew what was coming.

When he could stand again, he walked into the dark.

Brisa waited in a parked car beneath the trees — headlights off, hands clenched on the wheel.

When she saw him, she burst into a relieved laugh, throwing her arms around him.

"You made it," she whispered, voice shaking. "I thought..."
She didn't finish.

Ryan brushed a thumb over her cheek, tender despite his exhaustion.

"I'm here. Thanks to you."

Brisa smirked to hide the emotion. "Let's go, prisoner. Women are waiting."

Ryan's mouth curved into a tired, knowing smile.
"Yes," he murmured. "They are."

The engine hummed to life. The forest swallowed them whole.

The great doors opened.

The mansion breathed him in like it had been starving without him.

Theo rushed forward — radiant relief, trembling joy.

"You're safe," she gasped, kissing him, clutching him as if she feared he would vanish.

Mia stood behind her — silent, spine straight, heart storming behind blue eyes.
She didn't move. Didn't breathe.

Her love was desperate, forbidden — and she anchored it with sheer will.

He belongs to her, Mia told herself. And I belong to my purpose.

Xena slipped beside her, squeezing her hand.

A quiet solidarity.

Two women who had both loved dangerously, and lost pieces of themselves in the process.

Brisa spoke first, still breathless.

"Near misses, tense moments — but we made it. He's home."

Ryan's gaze found Mia.

For a moment, the world paused — thick, electric, aching.

"Hello, Mia," he whispered.

Her answering smile was small, fragile, brave.

"Welcome home."

Theo sensed the fracture beneath the politeness — like glass under pressure. She placed a hand on Ryan's arm.

"We're all exhausted. Rest. Tomorrow, we plan."

Ryan nodded, relief flickering across his face.

"Yes. Tomorrow the real battle begins."

One by one, they drifted down dim corridors — fear, longing, loyalty, and destiny trailing like shadows.

In the silence that followed, the mansion seemed to breathe.

Old walls remembering old wars.

A storm ready to break.

And somewhere unseen — in the cracks between worlds — something watched and waited.