HONEYED FIRE
Noelani hadn't meant to wake up glowing again.
But this time... it was everywhere.
The glow wasn't just her hands or her collarbone—it pulsed along her thighs, shimmered down her spine, a constellation under skin. She looked like she'd swallowed starlight. Or a love spell gone wrong.
And her body felt strange.
Warm. Achy. Like something was missing.
Like she needed someone's hands to press into the places that were humming.
Google, she thought desperately. Help.
She grabbed the tiny rectangle Lysander had tossed her days ago. A "phone," apparently.
She typed furiously.
"Why does my skin glow after hot men touch me."
"What is soulbond glow and why is it in my
Thighs??"
"Help. I am extremely attracted to four powerful
Dangerous men and they keep saying
Devastating things to me."
"How to survive if you're soft and blushy and
they all act like they want to eat you."
The answers were not helpful.
One blog post said glowing meant "deep-rooted magical compatibility with a high chance of soul imprinting."
Another said, "Warning: if bonded to multiple fated mates, intimate proximity may trigger instinctive arousal responses."
She shrieked into her pillow.
Then—
A knock.
Her head snapped up. "No—don't come in!"
"It's me," Rowan's voice, warm and unhurried. "You okay, starlight?"
"I'm-I'm fine! I'm just-Googling!"
"...That sounds fake."
She scrambled to hide under the covers. "You can't come in!"
"I wasn't asking."
The door screamed open, and Rowan stepped inside with the kind of slow, liquid grace that made her heart ache. He stopped when he saw her glowing. Again.
"Oh," he murmured. "You're brighter this time."
"I'm not trying to be!"
"Are you sure?" He walked closer, silver eyes dragging over every inch of her bare legs peeking from the blanket. "Because I think your magic likes being seen."
She shrank under the covers. "I think it likes being left alone!"
Rowan crouched beside her bed, resting a hand on the mattress near her knee. "Then why are you shaking every time I get close?"
She made a noise between a whimper and a protest.
Rowan leaned closer. His hand slid— slow, slow—under the blanket, brushing the outside of her calf. Featherlight. Barely there.
"You keep glowing," he whispered. "And all I can think about is how much brighter you'd get if I kissed you here—" his thumb brushed her ankle. "—and here—" it slid just above her knee. "And maybe right here."
His hand rested at the top of her thigh. Not touching. Just waiting.
Noelani forgot how to breathe.
"I—I was just Googling—"
"I know," he murmured. "But there's some things the internet can't teach you, sweet girl."
Then he kissed her temple.
Slow. Gentle. Promising.
And then—
A loud nock. The door flew open.
"Why does Rowan get to have all the fun?" Caeden stood there, shirtless, hair tousled, tattoos glowing low along his skin like embers.
Noelani let out a noise somewhere between a squeak and a soul leaving her body.
Caeden grinned like a devil. "Looks like we got another glow episode."
"She's radiant," Rowan said without looking up.
"Shes blushing like sin," Caeden said. "Even better."
He crossed the room in three strides and leaned down to her level, his mouth hovering close to her ear.
"You know," he whispered, "I dreamed about you last night."
She stiffened. "Y-You what?"
"You were in my bed. Whimpering. Glowing. Hands in my hair."
"I—I wasn't—I've never—!"
"Not yet," he said with a wink. "But keep lighting up like that, and I'll start thinking you want to be ruined."
"Caeden!" She yelped, burying her face in the blanket.
He chuckled and dragged a finger down her spine through the covers. "Mmm. That spot makes you shiver."
"You're a menace," Rowan muttered.
"I'm inspired."
Then—another voice.
"Oh for the love of starlight," Lysander said from the doorway, voice dry as dust and twice as amused. "Can't leave her alone for one night without you two trying to seduce her into a magical coma?"
"I—I'm fine," Noelani insisted from under the covers.
"She Googled again," Rowan said mildly.
Lysander raised a brow. "What'd you search this time, sweetheart?"
Noelani peeked out, shame on her face. "Um...'How to survive if you mates keep saying ruinous things and also look like they bench-press moons?'"
Lysander choked. "You did not—"
Caeden howled.
Rowan looked smug.
"I just wanted answers!" Noelani wailed.
Lysander crossed the room, crouched beside her other side, and brushed her cheek with the backs of his fingers. "Here's your answer, little star. You're driving us all out of our minds."
"I don't mean to!"
"Thats the best part."
Then he leaned in and whispered—
"If I ever get you alone, I'm going to teach you all the ways your body wants to be worshiped."
She fainted a little.
?
The dining hall was chaos.
Every student stared. Whispered. Snickered.
"She's glowing again."
"She's bonded to all four."
"She walks in and the air gets hotter."
Noelani tried to shrink into her uniform, clutching her tray like a life raft. She nearly made it to a quiet corner before a group of girls cut her off.
"Well, well," one said, arms crossed. "If it isn't the Blushing Bonded."
"I—I just wanted toast," Noelani said helplessly.
"You just wanted every hot, dangerous male in a fifty-mile radius."
"I d-didn't ask for them to bond to me!"
"You didn't have to ask. You just blink your big eyes and glow like a mating beacon."
Noelani's chest tightened.
And her fingers began to shimmer.
The air around her crackled.
"Uh-oh," one of the girls muttered.
Then—
A chill rolled through the room.
Aeryn appeared at her side like a shadow made of flesh, his hand brushing hers, grounding her.
"Say that again," he said, voice ice and velvet.
The lead girl paled. "W-We were just taking—"
"Say it again so I can justify breaking your nose."
"Aeryn—" Noelani whispered.
But his hand slid up her arm, fingers trailing sparks. "Your glows beautiful when you're angry. Makes me want to see what happens when you're writhing."
Her breath caught.
"Please stop saying things," she begged.
He leaned closer, his mouth brushing hers ear.
"I'm going to keep saying them until you stop pretending you don't want to hear them."
?
That night, she didn't sleep.
She Googled.
She dreamed.
She paced her room and ached in places she didn't have words for.
Eventually, she whispered to the silence, "I think I'm in trouble."
Magic curled under her skin.
And somewhere deep, deep beneath the Academy
—something ancient stirred. Whispered.
"Let them want you, little star."
"Let them break."
"You were made to burn."
~