Chapter 21
Rynlee’s POV
I charged forward, slamming my fist into Aiden’s jaw.
His head snapped to the side, and for a moment, I thought I’d surprised him.
But then his shadows surged like living smoke, wrapping around me, and pinning me against the cold stone wall.
His eyes had gone pitch black—void of emotion, void of reason as he stalked forward.
I summoned fire to my fingertips, and the second the flames burst forth, the shadows recoiled, dropping me.
A fireball struck his shoulder, and he stumbled, steam rising from where the flame kissed his skin.
“Tell me why you resent me,” I snapped, hurling another flame.
I wanted to understand, wanted to know why.
He blocked it with a quick wall of ice, the impact hissing in the air.
“It doesn’t matter, Ruin, just drop it.” He lunged again.
I ducked, barely avoiding the swipe of his arm in the tight space Firebeard had encased us in.
But then something shifted. Water. It rushed up from the floor, swirling around our boots.
We both paused, breathless and stunned. “Firebeard, there’s water in here!
” Aiden called, slamming his hand against the stone wall.
“Oh, right. Forgot to mention,” Firebeard’s voice came through, faint and amused. “This isn’t just a fight. It’s a test of survival. Good luck.” My heart kicked into overdrive. He couldn’t be serious.
“Fuck,” Aiden muttered. He turned to me, jaw clenched. “Let’s postpone trying to kill each other and focus on not drowning.”
“Agreed,” I breathed, summoning fire to my palm to scan the walls. But unlike all the times before, the rune wasn’t revealing itself. “I can’t see a rune.”
“Don’t panic,” he said calmly, stepping forward. His shadows snaked from his hands and spread across every surface. But nothing revealed itself.
“Aiden… I really can’t find it,” I state, my voice rising with the water, which was already lapping at my thighs.
“We’ll find it,” he said again, but I could see it in his face; he wasn’t sure, either.
I pressed my hand against the wall. Something about this box was different.
Firebeard didn’t want us to find a rune.
He wanted us to fight. That was the key.
Without warning, I flung another blast of fire, hitting Aiden square in the back.
He spun around, fury flashing in his dark eyes. “What the fuck, Ruin!”
“Fight me,” I growled, casting another flame. He evaded it effortlessly.
“Fight you? Now? The water is almost at your waist!” he gestured, voice incredulous.
“Just fight me!” I shouted, grabbing a dagger from my thigh and throwing it.
He dodged, but the blade grazed his cheek, slicing a thin line of red. A sharp sting split across my own cheek. “Fine,” he snarled. He lunged again, splashing through the rising water, and this time grabbed me by the arms, slamming me into the wall.
The shock of the stone against my back stole the air from my lungs. I kicked him hard in the thigh, but he didn’t budge. His shadows surged again, binding me to the wall, curling around my arms and legs like living restraints.
I summoned fire, burning them away, and with a grunt, I kicked him square in the chest. He fell backward, crashing into the water.
But he didn’t stay down. He shot up from below, grabbing me by the thighs and lifting me.
I gasped, my arms flailing, instinctively locking my legs around his waist. Before I could regain my balance, my back hit the wall again, this time harder.
A rush of adrenaline shot through me. His hands were everywhere, restraining, gripping, controlling.
I shoved at his chest, trying to break free, but he caught both my wrists and pinned them above my head, sealing them with a layer of ice that sent cold seeping into my bones.
Our chests were pressed together, rising and falling rapidly.
His breath mingled with mine, shallow and heated.
My legs stayed wrapped around him, and I could feel every line of his body against mine, solid muscle, raw power, that damn infuriating warmth that made my heart race.
His fingers grazed my ribs with agonizing slowness.
Goosebumps followed his touch under my leather, and I hated that my body responded.
“Aiden…” I whispered, but I didn’t even know what I was going to say.
He dipped his head, burying his face in the crook of my neck.
When his lips brushed my pulse point, a soft gasp escaped me.
Something shifted. The tension in the air was no longer fury.
It was heat. Magnetic. Breathless. And gods, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to stop it.
“Gods, Ruin,” Aiden growled, his voice a low rasp, “you have no idea how much I want to fucking kiss you.” And gods, I wanted him to. Every fiber of me screamed yes. His hand slid up, fingers cradling the back of my head as his lips brushed my jawline, lingering there like he was fighting himself.
My breath hitched, a shiver racing down my spine as warmth pooled low in my stomach.
When our eyes met, his deep jade locked with my bright blue, his thumb ghosted over my lower lip, making it tremble.
“Fuck it,” he hissed. Then his mouth crushed into mine.
I barely had time to register it before his hand tangled in my hair, tilting my head as he deepened the kiss.
His tongue swept over mine, stealing the breath from my lungs and pulling a soft moan from my throat.
The kiss wasn’t sweet or careful; it was wild.
Desperate. Like he’d been starving for this.
For me. The box, the water, the war, everything vanished.
I melted into him, fire roaring to life beneath my skin, craving more.
I broke my wrists free from the ice without even thinking and slid my fingers into his dark hair, tugging enough to make him groan against my mouth.
The sound sent heat spiraling through me.
For one reckless, impossible moment, I imagined staying like this forever.
And then he broke away. Aiden stepped back abruptly, hands dropping as he set me down on my feet.
We stood there, chests heaving, breaths ragged, staring at each other like we’d just crossed a line neither of us knew how to uncross.
“Fuck,” he muttered, dragging a hand through his wet hair. The water had climbed to my shoulders, cold creeping back in now that his warmth was gone. And with the kiss broken, the suffocating weight of reality came rushing back.
“Aiden?” I whispered, my chest still heaving, unsure whether it was from the fight or the kiss.
“Don’t speak, Ruin,” he said, his voice quieter, his gaze turning away from me like he couldn’t trust himself to look.
“W-why?” His body moved before his eyes did. In a blink, he was back in front of me, arms braced on either side of me. I could feel his breath on my lips, close enough that one more inch would have shattered everything, but his expression had changed. Guarded. Tight. Controlled.
“Because if you keep talking,” he said, tone rough, “I’m going to want to kiss you again. And we can’t.”
My heart stuttered. “W-why?” I asked again, the strength draining from my voice.
He exhaled sharply, jaw flexing. “Have you forgotten I still resent you?” His voice softened, as if he hated the words even as he said them. “And not to mention this bond, it’s what’s confusing us. It’s not real.”
The words hit like a blade to the ribs. Of course, it was the bond. I clamped my mouth shut, nodding tightly as I looked away, refusing to let him see what that did to me.
“Now let’s get the hell out of here,” he stated, already stepping back, already burying whatever had just happened between us.
The water was up to our chins by the time we shattered the box, both of us gasping as we broke the surface.
Firebeard stood waiting, arms crossed over his broad chest, eyes sharp.
“So,” he said dryly, “you two work it out in there?”
“Yup,” Aiden replied curtly. He didn’t look back at me. And then he was gone, vanishing into his shadows like the kiss had never happened at all.
“Yarrows,” Firebeard called, his tone gentler, “did you two figure things out? We can’t keep having setbacks with you two.”
“Yeah,” I replied, brushing soaked hair from my eyes. “We worked it out. I’ll be better. I’ll work with him.”
“Good,” Firebeard said, nodding once. Before he glanced around, as if checking for listening ears. His voice dropped. “So… have you found out anything more about Erebus?”
I let out a sigh, but I was thankful for this distraction, anything to keep my mind off that kiss. “Not really. Just that when I fought him, he bit me… and the wound never really healed. And he was strong. Like, really strong. More than anyone I’ve ever fought against.”
Firebeard’s expression darkened. He stepped closer, stroking his beard. “The bite never healed?”
I nodded. “Yeah, see?” I pulled my hair aside, revealing the mark near my neck.
He examined it, rubbing his jaw slowly. “Strange,” he muttered.
“It seems he’s marked you. I’ve heard of dark magic like that, spells sealed through blood.
A binding.” We made our way across the snow-covered field, his boots crunching against the snow.
“Did you notice anything afterward?” he asked, his tone oddly calm for such a loaded question.
“Yes,” I answered, voice low. “I started having nightmares. Hallucinations. That’s part of why I…
why I killed that boy from Athena’s group.
I thought I was fighting demons. I thought I was seeing the truth.
” He hummed again. Not alarmed. Not surprised.
Just thoughtful. We strode a few more paces in silence before I touched his arm, halting him.
“You know something,” I said, meeting his eyes. “About Erebus. About the mountain.”