The landscape of Idaho unfolded like a crumpled map of beige and sagebrush. They had left the dramatic peaks of the Rockies behind for the high desert, a place of stark beauty and deceptive emptiness.
Violet drove, the windows down, letting the dry heat whip her hair. She wore a tank top and shorts, the blue rose still vibrant behind her ear, drinking in the sunlight like a living thing.
William was navigating, his finger tracing a route on a topographic map. "Turn left at the next unmarked dirt road," he instructed. "According to the old ranger logs I read, there's a geothermal vent about five miles in."
"Unmarked dirt roads are my favorite," Violet said dryly, turning the wheel. The Subaru bounced over the washboard gravel, kicking up a cloud of dust.
They drove until the road dissolved into a trail, then hiked the rest of the way. The air smelled of sulfur and sage.
The hot spring was hidden in a small canyon, a natural pool of turquoise water steaming against the red rock. It was empty, save for a few curious lizards sunning themselves on the stones.
"Perfect," William breathed, dropping his pack.
He knelt by the water, dipping his hand in. "It's hot. Volcanic heat. Deep earth magic."
Violet joined him. "It feels... restless."
She could sense the pressure beneath the surface—the magma miles below, pushing against the crust. It was a destructive force, but contained. Like her.
They stripped down to their swimsuits (a concession to the possibility of hikers, though they hadn't seen a soul for hours) and slipped into the water.
The heat was intense, bordering on painful, but for Violet, it was bliss. Her Succubus nature thrived on it. The tension in her muscles melted away, replaced by a languid, heavy warmth.
William sighed, leaning his head back against the smooth rock. "This is better than a five-star hotel."
"Better than the Citadel," Violet agreed, floating on her back. "No wards to maintain. No politics."
She raised a hand, watching the steam curl around her fingers. She focused on the heat in the water, calling to it.
Rise.
The steam thickened, swirling into shapes. Tiny, ephemeral dragons made of mist danced over the surface of the water, chasing each other.
William watched her, his eyes lazy and golden. "Showing off again?"
"Practicing," she corrected. "Control. Making chaos beautiful instead of just... explody."
One of the steam dragons flew over to William, landing on his nose with a soft, wet poof. He laughed, wiping his face.
"My turn," he said.
He placed his palms on the underwater stones. He didn't manipulate the water; he spoke to the minerals dissolved within it.
The water began to glow. Not with fire, but with a soft, bioluminescent green—the color of deep moss. The algae on the rocks bloomed instantly, releasing tiny bubbles of pure oxygen that tickled their skin.
"You made a spa treatment," Violet teased.
"I enriched the mineral content," he said indignantly. "It's good for the skin. And the soul."
They drifted together in the glowing, steaming water, limbs tangling.
"So," William said, his voice dropping to a lower register. "Idaho. Then the coast. Then what?"
"Then we find a place," Violet said. "Somewhere with trees for you and a library for me. Maybe near a university."
"I was thinking... maybe we build something," William suggested. "Not a fortress. A home."
"With a garden?"
"With the biggest garden you've ever seen," he promised. "And a solarium. But one that actually works this time."
Violet smiled, but her attention snagged on something. A ripple in the water that didn't come from them.
She sat up, the water sloshing. "Will."
He felt it too. The earth around the spring shuddered—a subtle vibration.
From the steam on the far side of the pool, a shape emerged. It wasn't a Malefic Stranger or a vampire. It was a Geist—a local nature spirit, formed of steam and sulfur. It looked like a vaguely humanoid cloud, its eyes burning with yellow heat.
It hissed, territorial and angry. They were intruders in its bath.
William started to rise, his Alpha instincts flaring.
"Wait," Violet said, putting a hand on his chest. "It's not evil. It's just grumpy."
She turned to the Geist. She didn't use her destruction magic. She used the Succubus charm, but stripped of lust—leaving only pure, calming empathy.
We mean no harm, she projected, her mind touching the spirit's simple consciousness. We are just travelers seeking warmth. Like you.
She reached out, not to drain it, but to offer a tiny sliver of her own heat—a gift of pure energy.
The Geist paused. It drifted closer, sniffing the magical offering. It took the energy, absorbing it into its misty form.
It purred—a sound like a bubbling pot. Its yellow eyes turned a soft blue. It swirled around Violet once, playfully, then dissolved back into the steam, content.
"You bribed it," William accused, grinning.
"I paid the toll," Violet corrected. "Diplomacy, Alpha. Try it sometime."
William laughed, pulling her into his arms. "Why use diplomacy when I have a wife who can charm steam?"
"Wife?" Violet raised an eyebrow. "I don't remember a ring."
"It's coming," he promised, kissing her neck. "I'm just waiting for the right stone. Diamonds are boring. I need something... singular."
"Like obsidian?" she teased.
"Better," he murmured.
They stayed in the spring until the stars came out, bright and hard in the desert sky. They were alone in the vastness of the West, two powerful beings playing at being human, and succeeding beautifully.
As they hiked back to the car by flashlight, William stopped. He looked at a patch of dry, cracked earth by the trail.
"What is it?" Violet asked.
"Thirsty," he said.
He knelt and pressed his hand to the dirt. He didn't summon rain. He called the deep water up from the aquifer.
A tiny spring bubbled up through the cracks, clear and cold. Grass sprouted instantly around it, a ring of emerald in the beige dust.
"For the next traveler," he said, standing up.
Violet took his hand. "You're a good god, William Wolf."
"I'm just a gardener," he said.
They drove away, leaving behind a happy spirit and a new spring, their wake not one of destruction, but of life.
❖✜❖
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