CHAPTER FORTY #2
“Okay, great! Well, let’s start,” she said, her voice high and beaming, but the smile still didn't reach her eyes.
Something was clearly wrong with her and Ryven.
"Hey, Morvain! Come on!" Asher’s voice shouted across the field.
I turned around as Darcy started jogging toward the guys.
She saw me, slowed her pace, and offered a small smile.
"Glad to see that smile back, princess," she said, giving my hand a quick squeeze.
I looked down at her hand as she pulled away, and my heart nearly stopped. There, tattooed on her wrist, was a small black crown.
My eyes almost fell out of my sockets, but I forced myself to play it cool.
"Oh, wow. Asher has one exactly like that too," I said, trying to sound nonchalant as I reached out and caught her wrist, pulling it closer for a better look.
"Yeah, we all have one. The three of us," she said simply. "It’s part of the Umbra house sigil."
My eyes widened as I stared at the ink.
She was right, of course—it was the Umbra sigil. Could it be that Umbra was honoring the Veyari in secret?
"Can I have my arm back?" Darcy asked, her voice pulling me back to reality.
"Sorry! Gosh, it’s just... it's so cool," I said, feeling like a total idiot.
She gave me a puzzled nod and jogged off.
I stood there, rooted to the spot, more fucking confused than ever.
"Are you okay?" Asher’s voice slid through the bond, low and grounding.
I looked his way and saw him stretching his calf muscle, his silver eyes narrowed with concern as he tracked my erratic thoughts.
“Yes, I’m fine. Seriously.” I sent back, flashing him a bright smile before blowing him a kiss across the grass.
He caught it against his palm and pressed it to his heart with a flourish that made all the girls on the squad coo in unison.
I just laughed, telling them to stop, while Asher’s smug grin grew wider.
“Show off,” I mused through the bond, shaking my head as I turned to join the others.
We started the routine with laps, and gods, I was exhausted.
My lungs burned, and I had to stop after the second circuit, bent over and gasping for air.
"Come on, princess, you had plenty of stamina last night," Asher’s voice rumbled in my head.
My gaze snapped toward the center of the field where he was standing shirtless now, dumping water over his face.
Behind him, a group of girls from our year were staring at his bare back like he was a five-course meal.
I saw red. Without thinking, I flicked my wrist and shot a fireball straight into the grass at their feet.
They screamed, scrambling away and sprinting ahead to get distance. Asher looked down at the blackened, smoking patch of grass and then up at me, his eyebrows arched.
The other guys had stopped to stare, too; Ezra was grinning like a maniac, while Mavrik’s jaw was practically on the floor.
Asher, however, just gave me a look of pure, heated hunger.
“Gods, my cock is twitching at your jealousy, darling,” he purred through the bond.
My eyes snapped to the prominent bulge in his shorts, and fucking hell, the memory of the bathroom last night hit me so hard I nearly buckled. I wanted him inside me, right now.
My desire rolled through the bond in a thick, heated wave, and I could see the exact moment he started fighting the urge to march over and claim me in front of everyone.
He slowly poured the rest of his water bottle over himself, and my mouth went bone-dry.
I watched every glistening drop trail down his neck, over the corded muscles of his chest, and follow the deep V-line of his stomach until it disappeared into his shorts.
His hand followed the path of the water down his body, before his fingers grazed his crotch and gave it a firm, deliberate squeeze—all while staring directly into my fucking soul.
Heat pooled between my thighs, heavy and insistent.
“You like that?” he whispered into my mind.
"Can you guys not eye-fuck each other for five minutes?" Mavrik groaned from beside Asher.
Without even looking away from me, Asher flicked out a shadow tendril. It whipped across the grass, snared Mavrik’s ankle, and yanked.
"What the fuck, man!" Mavrik yelled as he hit the ground with a dull thud.
My hand flew to my mouth to stifle a laugh.
Ezra burst out laughing, and the rest of the girls joined in as Mavrik scrambled to sit up.
Asher just grinned, finally breaking eye contact to offer his friend a hand up.
“You better know what you’re doing by making me wait, princess,” he sent through the bond, the dark promise in his tone sending a delicious chill crawling up my spine.
“Because when I finally get you back to that room, I’m going to make you pay for every second of this.”
···
The routine was fucking brutal. I spent the entire time trying not to watch Asher, but it was impossible.
Watching him use his magic was my favorite part of being his—he was lethal, a beautiful, dangerous creature that belonged entirely to me.
We spent the hour sending delicious, filthy threats through the bond, and the girls had to snap me back into focus more than once.
They all understood, though; we’d been starved for each other for two weeks, and the hunger was clawing at both of us.
For now, I shoved the mystery of the crown to the back of my mind and focused on only one thing: the end of practice.
Maddy finally blew her whistle, the sharp sound cutting through the humid air.
“Okay, girls, well done today. See you all next week,” she panted. She looked like she’d been running from her own thoughts all morning.
I made a mental note that I needed to chat with her soon—something was definitely off between her and Ryven.
As the squad started packing their bags, my gaze snagged on Asher across the field.
Asher was standing there, arms crossed over his bare, sweat-slicked chest, watching me.
He looked like a predator that had finally cornered its prey, and my blood spiked in response.
The heat roared inside me, a physical ache that made it hard to breathe.
I forced myself to pry my eyes away for a second, catching sight of Ezra waiting for Ember.
She looked up at him with those hard, guarded eyes of hers, but then I watched her shoulders finally slacken.
He pulled her under his arm, tucking her into his side, and they walked away arm in arm.
Another note for later—I needed to check on them, too.
When I looked back to the center of the field, the space was empty. Asher was gone.
A shiver of anticipation raced down my spine.
He wasn't waiting anymore. He was hunting.
The sun was already setting, and the sharp, biting chill of the upcoming winter began to settle in my bones, but it was no match for the heat radiating between my legs.
My flame licked at my skin in restless, hungry waves, and the bond purred with a predatory vibration that made my heart hammer against my ribs.
I whipped my head around, searching for him.
"So, you promised after practice, firecracker. What’s my reward?" his voice purred directly into my mind.
My head snapped back toward the field, and there he was, standing in the exact same spot as before, arms crossed, staring me down with a look that promised a beautiful kind of ruin.
He was taunting me, standing perfectly still while the air around him seemed to warp with shadow.
I smiled wickedly, the fire in my veins rising to the challenge. "Catch me if you can."
“Fuck,” he murmured through the bond, the single word dripping with a lethal, carnal intent.
He started running at me, and I let out a squeal, pivoting on my heel and bolting as fast as I fucking could.
I didn't even know where I was going, my feet flying over the grass as my flames roared in response to the chase.
I didn't dare look back; I could feel the cold, heavy weight of his presence right on my heels, a shadow-wrought storm gaining on my light.
I raced past groups of students who watched me with wild, wide eyes as I blurred past, a streak of orange and gold.
I finally skidded to a stop near the edge of the training grounds, bent over and taking a frantic breather. When I looked back, the path was empty. He wasn't there.
“You’re on fire, darling,” he murmured through the bond.
I looked down and realized I literally was.
My magic had been so much more potent, so much more alive since he’d returned.
The familiar flare that usually followed heavy magic use hadn't reared its head yet, though the secret of it sat heavy in my gut.
I still hadn't told Asher about the toll my magic took on my body—but that was tomorrow’s problem. Right now, I wanted to be hunted.
I grinned wickedly into the twilight, but then something cold and slick snagged at my ankle.
My gaze snapped down to see a shadow tendril coiled around my leg, caressing my flames with an ethereal touch.
“Gods, they love your magic,” he whispered.
The shadows continued their slow, agonizing crawl up my legs, licking at the fire dancing on my skin.
I moaned out loud, the sound unbidden and raw.
A few passing students stopped to gape, but I didn't give a flying fuck. Their stares only turned me on more, fueling the exhibitionist streak that Asher always managed to set ablaze.
“Mine,” his pleasure poured through the bond in a thick, intoxicating wave. He was getting off somewhere nearby, watching me unravel from the shadows.
I didn't wait for him to reveal himself.
I followed the tether, my feet pounding against the gravel paths of the gardens.
"Warmer," he purred into my mind. I could feel the friction of his own touch through the bond—he was getting himself off, and the sensation was bleeding into my own nerves. I needed him inside me, right fucking now.
"Ah," he moaned, the sound vibrating through our mental link.
I literally whimpered at the sound, my knees buckling for a split second.
"Hotter," he groaned again, and I could feel his heart beating as fast as mine. Then, the sensation vanished, the tether stretching thin.
"Hmmm, colder," he murmured.
"You're teasing me," I whispered back, my voice thick with a mix of frustration and hunger.
"But you love the chase," he chuckled.
I did. Gods, I fucking did.