CHAPTER TWO #2
I pressed a hand lightly to my abdomen, hoping the movement looked casual instead of desperate.
"Well done, cub," Aether purred through the bond, smugness dripping from every word.
I tilted my chin up at him, narrowing my eyes.
"Proud?" I asked, daring him to admit it.
"Don't push it," he muttered.
But the bond thrummed with warmth, pride pulsing through like sunlight, and despite the ache twisting through my stomach, I smiled.
"Students," Silas called, his voice rising above the noise.
"It is time to report to your assigned houses and receive your official leathers. May the best house win this year. You are dismissed."
The hall exploded into chaos—benches scraping, voices rising, bodies surging toward the doors.
"Fuck yes!" Ryven whooped, spinning on his heel.
The frenzy rattled through the hall, but my heart was still flailing somewhere near my stomach.
I was supposed to be basking in the afterglow of my Orb reveal—flames, applause, my name thundering off the stone walls.
Instead, my thoughts were a tangled mess of shadows and that maddening gaze from across the chamber.
Get it together, Ava. You're not some wide-eyed faelet. You're not going to unravel over a smirk.
…Right?
"You're going to cause chaos," Aether drawled through the bond, far too smug for my liking.
"Thanks. Helpful as always," I muttered, trying not to trip as Ember practically dragged me through the crush of bodies.
The moment we spilled out of the Grand Hall, the pressure of all those watching eyes finally lifted from my chest.
I sucked in a breath—and my stomach immediately twisted in protest. Gods.
The familiar ache burned low in my abdomen, sharp and unwelcome. Too much magic. Too much adrenaline. Too much everything.
I swallowed it down and kept walking. Ember steered me toward a bench outside the hall and pushed me onto it before my knees could betray me.
"Oh, Ava, you look pale," she said, pressing a flask of water into my hands.
I gulped it down, the coolness sliding down my throat. "Just… a lot," I managed, forcing my voice to stay steady while the pain simmered under my ribs.
Her green eyes searched mine, concern softening the usual spark in them.
"I'm fine. Seriously," I lied.
"Whoa!" A shout split the air.
Ryven bounded over, grinning like an idiot, with Maddison thrown over his arms like a sack of grain. She squealed, smacked his shoulder, and demanded, "Put me down, Caldar!"
He dropped her only to press a kiss to her forehead. She rolled her eyes, though the smile tugging at her lips betrayed her. Gods, they were disgustingly perfect.
"You don't look good, Pyreson," Ryven said, lifting a brow at me.
"I'm fine," I snapped, pushing to my feet a little too quickly. The movement sent a hot twist through my stomach, heat still flickering restlessly beneath my ribs.
"It was probably that mysterious male watching you," Maddison sang, grinning wickedly.
I nearly choked. Gods, if only I could set her hair on fire.
"Dorms?" I asked quickly, desperate to change the subject before she said something worse.
"Yes!" Ember squealed, looping her arm through mine again. "Let's get our asses to House Ignis."
Maddy clapped her hands together, practically glowing with excitement. "Enjoy, girls! We'll see you at dinner."
"Good luck, Pyreson!" Ryven hollered, flashing his signature shit-eating grin before turning toward the House Ventus path with Maddison. Their boundlings padded after them, wings and fur weaving easily through the dispersing crowd.
Ember squeezed my arm tighter, practically vibrating with anticipation.
And me? My pulse still hadn't settled. The memory of that storm-colored gaze lingered stubbornly in my mind, and all I could think was—gods help me—this year was going to kill me.
We made our way toward the Ignis path.
Ember was already chattering about how incredible the Orb had felt, how the fire had rushed through her veins like music—wild, bright, alive—but her words barely reached me.
My chest still felt tight. My stomach burned faintly where the magic had twisted through me earlier.
At my side, Aether prowled with a low, irritated rumble, his tail flicking every time Luna's fiery coat brushed against him.
"You're thinking too loudly," he muttered through the bond.
I ignored him. We slipped through the crush of bodies in the courtyard, the crowd breaking around us like a river.
And then my heart dropped. Because there he was.
Leaning against a pillar like he owned the entire courtyard stood Asher Maddox, surrounded by the dark-clad students of Umbra.
His gaze found mine immediately. And held. A slow, wicked smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.
"Someone's watching you," Aether murmured in my head, smug.
My stomach clenched. Asher tilted his head slightly, that smile sharpening into something far more dangerous. Then—gods help me—he winked. Again.
My brain short-circuited.
Ember leaned close, her breath warm against my ear. "You're eye-fucking him."
My cheeks went molten. Perfect.
I dragged in a breath, trying to collect the pieces of my composure, but the heat crawling up my throat had nothing to do with simple embarrassment.
A tight twist burned low in my abdomen—the familiar, jagged pain that always followed a surge of magic or a spike of emotion.
"You're already humiliating yourself," Aether said dryly through the bond.
Noted.
I tore my gaze away from that storm-bright stare before I could do something even more pathetic and grabbed Ember's arm. I dragged her along with me while she laughed, clearly finding this the most entertaining thing she'd seen all day.
We wove through the gardens, past blazing flowerbeds and charmed flame-lilies, until House Ignis rose before us.
Its spires were wrapped in eternal fire, its stone walls radiating a heavy, steady heat that vibrated in the air.
Ember squeezed my arm tighter, still grinning, but I kept my eyes fixed forward, my magic still restless and sparking beneath my ribs.
The towering obsidian arch shimmered with veins of emberstone, glowing faintly as though the rock itself remembered the very first fire that had ever touched it.
Crimson and gold banners cracked like whips in the wind, each one bearing the blazing sigil of Ignis—a rising phoenix.
The courtyard beyond was alive with motion.
Lava-laced paths split the grounds into glowing veins of molten light, threading through gardens that smoked and bloomed in equal measure. Third-years sparred in the open arena, their blades striking with sharp bursts of sparks while controlled flames hissed and danced around them like hungry pets.
Boundlings prowled the stone paths or soared overhead, a living storm of claws, wings, and fire.
House Ignis didn't whisper power. It roared it. It was pride and discipline. Heat and control. Home... and war.
The weight of it pressed hard against my ribs. Too many sounds. Too many people.
Too many memories rising all at once, unbidden and sharp.
My stomach twisted violently again, the ache flaring beneath my ribs until my vision tilted and the world swayed for a sickening moment.
"Ava?" Ember's voice softened, the laughter dying as her hand brushed my arm. "You okay?"
I forced a nod, swallowing hard against the lump in my throat that felt like a stone. "Yeah… it's just—Jax."
Ember's grin faltered, grief flickering across her green eyes. She reached out and pressed two fingers lightly against my chest, right over my heart. Her eyes glistened.
"He's right here with you," she said quietly. She leaned closer, her voice low but fierce, as if she could stitch the cracks inside me back together with her words.
"And he's totally watching us right now. Arms folded, smirking like the arrogant ass he was, just waiting to tease you the second you chicken out."
A breathy laugh slipped out of me—shaky, but real. I could almost see him there, standing in the shadow of the doorway.
Crooked grin. Leaning against the frame like he owned the entire godsdamn place, just waiting for me to stop hesitating and move.
Aether brushed his sleek shoulder against my leg, golden eyes smoldering as he sent a pulse of warmth through the bond to settle my nerves. My stomach still ached faintly, the earlier magic leaving its usual sting behind, but I forced myself to straighten my spine.
You're okay. You're fine.
I repeated it silently as we stepped through the heavy doors of House Ignis.
And then my breath caught.
The entrance hall soared high overhead, the vaulted ceilings threaded with charmed flames that curled and danced like living banners against the stone.
Torches burned in brackets of emberstone, their light mingling with drifting fae-lights that shimmered through the air like golden fireflies. Heat rolled off the walls in steady, pulsing waves—warm, but not suffocating. It felt like standing within the hearth of a god.
We moved deeper into the lounge, which stretched out toward a massive balcony suspended high above the Zymarran Sea.
My chest tightened at the sight. The sea spread vast and endless below us, its waters as dark as obsidian glass, broken only by the glow of molten rivers spilling from volcanic cliffs into the crashing waves.
In storms, they said the sea roared with fire.
Even now, the tides glowed with a faint emberlight, as if the gods themselves were stirring beneath the surface.
Sailors swore they'd seen fire-serpents rise from those depths—scales blazing like live coals before vanishing back into the abyss.
In the calm of daylight, the water shimmered with a crimson sheen, reflecting the jagged volcanic peaks in the distance.
Beautiful. Terrifying. Entirely alive.
Behind us, the lounge buzzed with restless energy.