CHAPTER TEN
I practically flew down the spiral staircase of the west tower, each boot step echoing with a jagged, white-hot fury. My breath came fast, searing my lungs, and the air around me distorted with the rising heat of my Core.
Aether stalked at my side, his tail lashing like a whip, heat radiating from his black fur in visible, shimmering waves.
Behind me, Asher's boots struck the stone with a rhythmic, infuriating calm. His shadows trailed mine on the floor, bleeding into my own as if they belonged there. As if he already had a right to my back.
Fuck no.
The moment we hit the landing, I spun on my heel and slapped him. Hard.
The crack echoed down the long corridor like a gunshot. His head snapped to the side, and a sharp, angry red mark bloomed across the high plane of his cheek.
Zya hissed instantly, her sleek body tensing into a spring, silver eyes flaring with predatory light.
Aether stepped forward, a wall of living muscle, flames curling from his ears in a silent, lethal promise. "Try it," he warned, his voice a low vibration in the stone.
But Asher? Of course, he didn't snap. He didn't even snarl. He slowly turned his head back, his fingers tracing his split lip, thumb brushing away a faint, dark smear of blood.
Oh, darling,” he drawled, his voice dropping into a register of pure velvet sin "You could've just told me you liked it rough."
"What the fuck did you just do?"
The smirk didn't disappear; it just sharpened.
"Answer me!" I snapped.
His eyes shifted, the silver turning to cold, hard steel. "I saved you," he said, the teasing gone, replaced by a cutting edge. "Standard protocol usually involves a 'thank you' or two."
He turned to walk away. Just like that. Like he could simply pivot after detonating the architecture of my entire life. I lunged, my fingers digging into the hard muscle of his arm.
"Do you even understand what you've done?" My voice trembled with a frantic, dangerous edge of panic. "We'll be blood-bound, Asher. That's not a title. That's permanent. You just tied your very soul to mine."
He spun back so fast I nearly lost my footing. He closed the distance until we were toe-to-toe, our breaths colliding in the narrow space between us.
"Oh, gods, Ava," he murmured, his voice low, reckless, and vibrating with an intensity that made my skin prickle. "I do understand."
He leaned in, the heat radiating from him matching my own. Shadows slid over his collarbone like living silk, reaching for me.
"And I can't imagine being bound to anyone else."
I couldn't breathe. The air was too thick, too hot.
"May Veyros flip the coin," Aether muttered dryly through the bond. "And may he flip it hard."
I stared up at Asher—beautiful, infuriating, and utterly impossible. "Why do you care?" My voice cracked, the fire in my throat turning to ash. "You barely know me."
My lips were bone-dry. I wet them without thinking, and I saw his eyes drop instantly, tracking the motion with a hunger that made my knees weak. Heat flared behind his silver gaze—dark and concentrated.
He stepped even closer, until I could feel the thrum of his heart against my chest. "I already do," he said, the games finally falling away. "I've watched you since day one, Princess. You don't bend. You don't break. You burn."
His shadows rose in a restless tide behind him. "You challenge every god-forsaken thing in front of you. You don't ask permission to exist. You just take the space you want."
A flicker of something raw and almost vulnerable crossed his face, stripping away the mask of the elite shadow-wielder. "You are exactly what this continent needs."
It wasn't a compliment. It was a vow.
Aether went silent beside me, sensing the tectonic shift. And gods help me—I was unraveling. I didn't know if I wanted to slap him again or fist my hands into his hair and pull him down.
The bastard smiled—slow, dangerous, and perfectly aware of the effect he was having. He leaned in just enough for his lips to brush the shell of my ear, his voice a ghost of a whisper.
"I cannot wait to see you at the Temple tonight," he murmured. "Ignis favors the flame... and you wear it far too well."
His voice dipped even lower, vibrating against my skin. "Try not to set the altar on fire before we finish."
Then he stepped back, the shadows coiling around him like obedient, dark creatures. He walked away with a casual, predatory grace, as if he hadn't just shredded every defensive wall I had left.
By Ignis's flames—I was so royally screwed.
Hours had passed, and my mind was still a storm of shadow-cursed fury. Aether wasn't helping, muttering through the bond about being tethered to "multiple imbeciles."
I rounded the courtyard corner, ready to hunt Asher down, but stopped dead. He was leaning against the fountain, absurdly casual, eating an apple. He bit into it lazily, juice glinting at the corner of his mouth, looking almost ordinary in the sunlight. It made him ten times more dangerous.
Movement to my right made my stomach drop. Jeremy.
He was striding across the stone, every step vibrating with earth-shattering rage. I ducked behind a pillar, dragging a hissing Aether with me.
Asher didn't flinch as Jeremy closed the distance. He just tilted his head, silver eyes glinting. "Jeremy," he drawled.
"Maddox," Jeremy snapped, his voice a low, lethal vibration. "I'm going to fucking kill you."
Asher tossed the apple and caught it. "Bold opening, Prince. What's the occasion?"
Jeremy stepped into his space, chests nearly brushing. Earth magic pulsed faintly beneath his skin. "You know why. What the hell did you just pull with Ava?"
"Oh," Asher said lightly. "You mean the part where I kept her alive?"
"You don't touch her," Jeremy growled, the air thickening. "You stay the fuck away from her."
Asher's expression sharpened, the playfulness vanishing into something cold and whetted. "Interesting. Does she know you're staking a claim, or are you just hoping she'll fit in the cage you've built for her?"
"You'll ruin her," Jeremy hissed.
Asher leaned in, his voice a velvet threat. "Maybe she doesn't need someone like you protecting her from the very fire she owns." He paused, a slow, cruel smile spreading. "I'm exactly the kind of male she chooses."
Jeremy snapped. He swung.
His fist connected with Asher's jaw with a sickening crack. The apple hit the stone and rolled away. Asher staggered, then straightened. He didn't retaliate. He didn't summon a single shadow. He just rolled his jaw, wiped a smear of blood from his split lip, and smiled.
"Guess I struck a nerve."
"You think this is funny?" Jeremy's hands trembled with the effort of restraint.
"I think," Asher replied quietly, "you should stop pretending you can protect her from me. She'll be blood-bound to me tonight. And when she is, you won't be able to do a damn thing about it."
The courtyard went silent. Then, a thin tendril of shadow slid across the floor, curling around the base of my pillar. He knew I was there.
Jeremy didn't answer. The ground did.
A violent tremor ripped through the courtyard, splitting the stone in sharp, splintering lines. The pillar at my back jolted, dust choking the air. Jeremy stood at the center of the upheaval, earth magic bleeding off him in uncontrolled waves.
A jagged fracture shot outward from Jeremy's feet, racing toward Asher like a spear. It hit a sheet of darkness beneath Asher's boots and simply... died. The earth refused to cross into his territory.
Asher looked bored.
The tremors intensified. The pillar behind me groaned, a sharp snap echoing through the stone. Jeremy stepped forward, his voice vibrating with restrained violence. "You'll regret this, Maddox."
"I doubt that."
For one heartbeat, I thought the earth would rupture and swallow us all. Then, Jeremy dragged it back. The stones dropped. The fountain stilled. But the fractures remained—jagged scars in the floor.
Jeremy turned and stalked away, his steps still heavy with residual power.
Only then did Asher's shadows retract. Only then did his gaze shift—slowly, deliberately—to the pillar. To me.
The faintest smirk curved his mouth, and then he walked away, leaving me shaking in the ruins of the courtyard.
By Ignis's flames. What was I going to do with him?
···
"A blood oath?" Ember shrieked so loudly the windows rattled.
I launched myself face-first into my pillow. "Yes. A blood oath. The shadow-cursed menace volunteered himself like he was presenting a heroic offering at a feast."
Ember slowly grinned. "Well, congratulations, Princess. You've officially secured the most lethal male at the Academy as your personal property."
Sera just smiled, looking like she was enjoying every second of my misery. "That ritual isn't just romantic," she said quietly. "Once it's sealed, he's yours. Body. Magic. Soul."
I groaned into the pillow again. Outside on the balcony, the boundlings were in a tense, growling circle. Aether's dark form paced, Zya lounged like a queen of chaos, and the others watched with varying degrees of irritation and fascination. Aether's agitation pulsed through our bond like static.
"He says this is not amusing," I muttered, sitting up. "Apparently, among boundlings, blood-binding is sacred. He's in a tailspin."
"He's not the only one," Maddy said, her face tight. "What about Jeremy?"
I accepted the champagne Ember shoved into my hand. "I don't know. I love him, but I haven't spoken to him since he nearly split the courtyard in half."
Ember's eyes glittered. "But Asher makes you feel things Jeremy never has."
The champagne fizzed against my tongue as I closed my eyes. "That doesn't matter," I whispered. "I'm betrothed to Jeremy. And now I'm blood-bound to a cocky, infuriating—"
"—Daddy Darkness," Ember finished sweetly. The girls burst into laughter, champagne nearly fizzing out their noses.