CHAPTER FOURTEEN
"He left you there?"
Ember practically choked, her eyes bugging out as I recounted the humiliatingly electric final moments of last night's incident. I nodded, my hand absently stroking Aether's fur where he lay sprawled beside me, his tail flicking in annoyed judgment.
"He just said that and walked away?" she pressed, sitting bolt upright now, looking thoroughly scandalized. "Gods, Ava, that male is chaos in a hot body."
"He is the darkness, Em," I muttered, the echo of the bond still humming faintly in my chest like a low-voltage wire. "And apparently, his ego enjoys dramatic exits."
Aether made a sound somewhere between a huff and a growl, not bothering to lift his head. "Zya and I could feel everything," he grumbled through the bond. "You're going to need to give in at some point, little flame. The bond's only going to get more demanding."
"Not helpful," I snapped back mentally. He flicked his tail like he couldn't care less about my internal crisis.
I sighed, leaning further into the cushions. Ember was lounging beside me on the bed, her glitter makeup from last night still clinging to her skin like stubborn moonlight. She rolled onto her stomach, chin propped on her hands, her gaze turning sharp.
"You're one hundred percent into him."
My pulse quickened. "No, I'm loyal to Jeremy," I said quickly—far too quickly.
Her eyes narrowed, reading me like a forbidden scroll. "Mmm-hmm. Sure. But you're also thinking about him. All the time. The bond. The danger. The way you never know what you're getting with Asher—that's part of the pull, isn't it? You like the edge."
I said nothing, focusing on rubbing slow circles into Aether's side.
Ember grinned, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. "He definitely has kinks."
"Ember!" I hissed, a pillow flying at her head. She dodged it with a cackle.
"I'm just saying! The way he talks, the control, the whole dark-prince-sin-incarnate thing? That male has a dungeon somewhere, Ava. Mark my words."
"Stop!" I groaned, covering my face. But a traitorous part of my brain was already spinning images of what that might look like, and gods help me, the bond hummed in approval at the thought.
Jeremy was gone for the next few days, off with the second-years beyond the borders for their field trials. I had promised to come to him when it became too much. But now? I was wondering if my resolve would even last until he got back.
After Asher left me last night, I'd barely made it back to my dorm in one piece. But once I showered—letting the scalding water try to burn away the memory of his touch—I had crashed like a stone. Surprisingly, I'd slept better than I had in weeks.
Ember stretched like a cat and glanced at the clock on the wall. "Alright, your pity party's over. It's time to get ready."
I blinked. "Get ready for what?"
She raised a brow like I was losing my mind. "The Terra guys are hosting another Riftball match today—cheer tryouts are this afternoon, remember?"
I groaned, flopping back onto the pillows. "Ember, it's Saturday. I have a mountain of things to do. I need to go to the library to research this bond, and I still haven't seen Jules—something's up with her. She's been ghosting everyone."
But Ember wasn't listening. She gasped as if she'd just remembered something holy and bolted from the room.
I barely had time to sit up before she burst back in, arms overflowing with folded black and crimson fabric. She tossed one of the outfits at me. "I knew you'd chicken out, which is why I brought the heavy artillery."
I caught the top mid-air and stared at it. Cheerleader gear. High-stretch crimson silk trimmed with black, matching the Ignis House colors perfectly. It was short. Extremely short.
"You are not serious."
"Oh, I'm dead serious."
I opened my mouth to protest, but she cut me off, her grin turning feral. "The entire Riftball team will be there, Firecracker. Including the broody captain."
My eyes snapped to hers, and she smirked, knowing she'd landed the hit. "I knew that would get your attention."
I tried to look unimpressed and failed miserably. "And?"
"And," she said, holding the pleated skirt up to the light dramatically, "what better way to get him back for leaving you in the woods than showing up looking like a goddess and ignoring him completely?"
A slow, wicked grin spread across my face. Revenge was a dish best served in a very short skirt.
"Fine," I said, standing up and reaching for the fabric. "Give me the damn outfit."
"That's my girl," Ember beamed, already digging out the jars of ruby glitter.
···
The Terra Riftball pitch was a chaotic masterpiece of high-octane music, emerald-green grass, and enough glitter to blind a dragon.
Everywhere I looked, clusters of girls were warming up in tiny skirts and cropped tops.
Maddy was a blur of sapphire blue, bouncing on the balls of her feet in her Ventus gear.
Even Sera was there, clad in head-to-toe bold pink, standing next to Zaria—the girl who had absolutely leveled Ezra during combat trials.
Ember and I navigated the sea of pom-poms to join them.
"Ava! I'm so glad you finally decided to come!" Maddy beamed, her ponytail whipped around as she adjusted her shimmering uniform.
"Well, Ember gave me no choice," I grumbled playfully, shooting a mock glare at my red-haired shadow.
"Ava, this is Zaria," Sera said, gesturing to the girl beside her.
Up close, Zaria was striking. Her skin was porcelain-pale, contrasted by sleek black hair tied into twin ponytails that shimmered with blue undertones. Her eyes were a steady, calm ocean-blue. Around her neck, an enchanted vial of water pulsed with magic—the containment for her boundling.
"Hi, I'm Ava," I said, offering a hand. "You really killed it the other day in class."
Zaria gave my hand a firm, confident shake. "Thanks. Nerida was just showing off."
She said it so casually, as if being bonded to a serpentine sea beast the size of a cathedral was just a Tuesday. Her House Tideris uniform—ocean blue with silver trim—fit her like a second skin. She looked like she was born to lead.
Before we could talk shop, a woman in House Terra colors marched toward us, clipboard in hand. "Okay, ladies!" Coach Everlyn shouted over the thumping bass. "I'm looking for ten candidates. Precision, strength, style, and magic. Don't hold back."
A wave of nervous excitement rippled through the first, second, and third-years. Girls were already murmuring incantations, prepping elemental flares for their routines.
And then, the air shifted.
The bond sparked. It wasn't a nudge; it was a hook, reeling me in toward the center of the pitch. My gaze drifted, betrayed by my own soul, and landed right on him.
Asher.
He was shirtless. Godsdammit. He was already slick with sweat, his black training shorts hanging dangerously low on his hips.
Every muscle in his back and chest rippled as he tossed a water bottle to Ezra.
Then, as if he'd sensed my heartbeat spike, he turned.
Silver eyes locked onto mine, tracking the red and black silk of my uniform.
Ember's elbow found my ribs with pinpoint accuracy.
Game on.
Asher started across the grass, flanked by Ryven, Ezra, and Mavrik. They looked like a walking advertisement for bad decisions. When Asher reached us, he didn't stop until he was deep in my personal space, his shadows curling lazily at his heels like smoke.
"Morning, Darling," he murmured. His voice was pure, unadulterated velvet sin.
"Morning, Bond," I replied. I kept my voice syrupy sweet, flicking my braids over my shoulder with a deliberate sway of my hips as I turned to walk toward the other girls.
The response from the bond was a deluge of liquid heat. Approval. Dark, heavy, and thick.
And then... his walls came down.
He let me feel it all. The lust that tasted like ozone. The greed that felt like a hand around my throat. The raw possession and the power. Most of all, I felt the flickers of every wicked, dirty thing he was currently imagining doing to me against the locker room wall.
I swallowed hard, my throat suddenly dry.
Gods help me, I loved this game. He was the darkness, and I was starting to realize I didn't want to be the light—I wanted to be the fire that burned right alongside him.
···
The sun was scorching as we watched the tryouts, sweat slicking my back and soaking into the crimson silk of the outfit Ember had so "generously" thrown at me.
Under the canopy of a thick, enchanted tree, our boundlings were sprawled in the shade—Zya lazily swatted at Aether's ear, and I bit back a laugh at the celestial panther's murderous scowl.
"This is your fault," Aether hissed through the bond, his golden eyes fixed on the grass. "Because not only do I feel everything you feel thanks to this blood-tethered disaster, I now get to feel everything Zya feels, too. And let me tell you, she is insufferable."
I suppressed a grin, but it faded the moment I felt the shift behind me. The males were in the stands, but Asher wasn't just sitting—he was looming. His long legs bracketed either side of my body, his presence a constant, dark buzz against my spine. Possessive asshole.
Then, he grabbed my braid. He just casually started playing with the end of it, twining the hair around his fingers like I was some kind of doll. I whipped my head around to glare at him.
He only smirked, his silver eyes gleaming with a challenge.
To my right, Ember sat with Zaria, while behind them, Ezra leaned over Ember's shoulder, his arms resting there with a lazy arrogance. Ember kept shooting him daggers, her fire simmering just under her skin.
"Those two are constantly fighting or flirting," Asher murmured into my ear, his voice low and smooth as silk. I pointedly ignored him, focusing on the field, but he leaned closer until his breath fanned my neck. "Hated leaving you so wet, darling?"
My spine stiffened, a violent shiver racing through me. My fingers dug into my knees, my knuckles turning white. "Boundaries," I said through clenched teeth.