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“Thank you.” I glance at the photographs spread across the table. “What are those?”

Ezra taps the first image. “This is where I found the stone, before I moved it.”

The photo shows the old recovery channel in winter light, water low enough to reveal cypress knees and tangled roots. Near a hollow in the bank, half-covered by leaves, the route stone rests beside a line of pale shell grit.

I lean closer. “You took this?”

“I take reference photos when I collect textures for art. Bark, water, cemetery gates, dramatic rocks.” His smile turns sheepish. “I didn’t know it mattered.”

My pulse picks up. “It does. Thank you for letting me see them.”

Theo sets a mug beside me. The tea smells like peppermint, ginger, and my mother’s kitchen. Honey glints at the bottom, generous enough to make my teeth feel preemptively judged. I take a sip and nearly sigh into the cup.

“The man can steep,” I say.

Theo’s eyes warm.

Ezra points at the second image, an overlay he made on his tablet. “I lined up the route stone symbol with the Love Stone photo Scarlet sent last night. The carving style is related, but look here.”

He rotates the image. The Love Stone lines curve inward, closing around the three central marks. The route stone opens outward, the three water lines flowing through the circle instead of being held inside it.

“Protection and release,” I murmur.

“That’s what you said yesterday.”

“I like when I’m right. It gives me a lovely little energy boost.”

Ezra’s grin flashes. “Then get ready for another boost. The photo from the recovery channel shows the stone’s open side facing moving water.”

Theo leans over the table, one hand settling on the back of my chair. “What does that mean?”

I trace the air above the image without touching the tablet. “The placement matters. The stone wasn’t just carved with an open symbol. It was positioned so the opening faced the channel. That makes it directional.”

“Route marker,” Ezra says.

“A bossy route marker,” I add.

The house answers with a knock beneath the back hallway.

Ezra lifts both brows.

I sip my tea. “See?”

Theo’s hand brushes the back of my neck once, a grounding touch that sends warmth through my shoulders.

A truck rolls up the drive before any of us can follow the house’s knock.

Theo’s body changes instantly, protective alpha instincts rolling off him and pressing into the atmosphere of the room. He looks at me and says, “Looks like you have visitors.”

“Okay,” I say. “It’s probably Wes and Roman. Scarlet said they would be bringing supplies. You can growl politely.”

“I always growl politely.”

Ezra coughs into his hand. “Debatable.”

Wes and Roman arrive with two equipment cases, a small cooler marked with Dr. Cole’s name, and a paper bag from Sweet Tooth.

Roman holds up the bag first. “Bribery.”