CHAPTER ONE #2
He squeezed my hand once and let go. Kora fell into step beside him as he disappeared back into the crowd, quiet and dignified as always.
I exhaled.
"Gods," I breathed into my hands.
"You okay?" Ember appeared at my shoulder.
"Yeah," I said. "I think so."
"Pyreson!"
The voice barely registered before I was lifted clean off the ground. The world spun, my vision flipping upside down as I was suddenly airborne—slung over a shoulder like a sack of grain.
The scent of rain-washed air filled my lungs, sharp and unmistakable.
"Gods, Ryven! Put me the fuck down—now!" I shrieked as he spun.
"For gods' sake, put her down, Caldar!" Maddison's voice cut through my shrieking.
A moment later, I was unceremoniously plopped back onto solid ground. I staggered, glaring at the smug idiot responsible.
Ryven stood there with that infuriating grin, storm-blue eyes glinting beneath a curtain of shoulder-length black hair.
Jax's best friend since childhood. Practically my brother. And completely, incorrigibly himself.
"Miss me, Pyreson?" he teased.
"You're such an ass."
His grin widened. It was the most normal thing I'd felt all morning.
A blur of blonde hit me next—vanilla, passion fruit, and warmth. Maddison.
I laughed despite myself, squeezing her back.
"I missed you both," I said, and meant it.
After the funeral, I couldn't stay in Zymarra—the halls held too many ghosts—so I'd run straight to Auroria and spent most of winter break getting spectacularly wasted with these two.
Jeremy thought I was on a retreat.
Healing. Reflecting. Close enough.
"Oh my gods, I'm so excited to spend this year with both of you!" Maddy squealed, pulling back with a bright grin.
I already knew the chaos these two were about to unleash—Maddy and Ember were practically the same person, which was either a gift or a disaster depending on the day.
Me? I was the quiet one—the bookworm with a knack for potions and an ever-growing reading list.
"I think you are adequate," Aether chimed in dryly.
"Thanks," I muttered.
A sudden gust swept through the courtyard as Solstice—Ryven's hawk—descended in a graceful arc and landed on his outstretched arm. Beside him, Skye, Maddy's white-winged fox, touched down just as smoothly. Aether prowled at my heels, tail twitching, deeply unimpressed by the reunion.
"Are we ready, ladies?" Maddy chirped, linking her arms through ours like we were about to storm a runway instead of a sorting ceremony.
Behind her, Ryven already had his arm slung around her shoulders, and she was leaning into him like it was the most natural thing in the world.
They'd been like that as long as I could remember—two people who made being in love look effortless.
Gods, I envied it. Because Jeremy was perfect. And perfection had never made my pulse race.
Fae were animalistic by nature. More instinct than restraint. We felt everything harder than humans did—anger, hunger, attraction, love.
Every emotion lived closer to the surface, like our magic had stripped away whatever sensible barrier humans had been blessed with.
And gods, don't even get me started on our sex drives.
Restraint wasn't exactly our strong suit. We fucked like bunnies and somehow still had the audacity to call ourselves the superior species.
Finding your mate only made it worse. That soul-deep recognition, that instinctive pull toward another person? Everything intensified. Desire. Possessiveness. The need to touch, protect, claim. The stories made it sound romantic.
Personally, I thought it sounded fucking exhausting.
Not that I would know.
Jeremy and I had been together for years, and whatever ancient, animalistic part of me was supposedly meant to lose its damn mind over him had remained irritatingly quiet.
We walked through the courtyard toward the central hall, where our fates would soon be sealed.
The space was alive with movement—fae and human students bustling about, boundlings weaving between them in flashes of fur, feathers, and magic.
It was easy to tell the years apart—first-years in plain black leathers, second and third-years with house colors trimmed into theirs.
The humans moved through it all in brown and gold robes, quieter and more deliberate.
We approached the towering doors of the Grand Hall when a strange sensation crept up my spine—like someone was watching me.
I paused, glancing over my shoulder, but the crowd was thick, faces blurring together. I couldn't spot them.
I shook it off and followed the others inside, where we all gasped together.
It was massive. Like a coliseum carved from stone and starlight. Rows upon rows of benches curved around us in ascending rings, and above it all, a giant glass dome looked out into the sky, the morning light spilling in like liquid gold.
At the center stood the Celestial Orb, pulsing with swirling colors, alive with energy. Pain twisted through my stomach like a bolt of lightning.
This is it.
"Let's find some seats," Ryven murmured.
We followed him to the first tier—first-years at the bottom, second-years behind us, third-years above them, and at the very top, boundlings watching us like silent sentinels.
Aether peeled off without a word, stalking up to join them, tail flicking in dark warning.
"Please. No humiliation," he muttered through the bond.
I inhaled slowly.
We found seats—Ember on my right, Ryven and Maddy across from me, and Maddy basically draped over his lap.
The room quieted as a wave of magic shimmered through the air, brushing against my skin like static.
I looked up—and there was Jeremy, sitting with the second-years. His gaze was fixed on me across the arena.
Intense. Unmoving. I gave him a small smile and looked away as the rhythmic click of polished shoes echoed across the hall.
Headmaster Silas stood on the dais in crimson-trimmed robes that glowed faintly, his long white hair catching the chandelier fire.
"Today," Silas said, his voice a steady blaze, "marks the beginning of your trials. You will step forward and touch the Celestial Orb. You will feel the gods' gift flood your veins. Your fate will be sealed. Your blood marked."
Murmurs rippled like sparks through dry grass. My heart plummeted. Ember's hand found mine.
"You're losing it," Aether murmured through the bond.
I was fine. I was completely fine.
Celestial asshole.
"This year is especially momentous," Silas continued, his voice catching like kindling. "For among you walks Zymarra's Flame—the Heir herself."
Fuck.
The hall erupted. Cheers, whistles, cups raised. Sound crashed over me like a tidal wave until I could barely breathe. I wanted to crawl under the bench and disappear.
"May the gods gift you plenty," Silas finished, raising a golden chalice.
A thousand voices lifted in unison, thunderous. "May the gods gift you plenty."
I raised my cup with the rest, lips forming the words while my heart begged to vanish with them.