Chapter 16 #2
“Fuck you!” he snapped, and the shadows surged like they’d been waiting for his signal.
Fire sparked beneath my skin, rushing up my arms in glowing veins.
My hands ignited. The flames crackled and hissed at the edge of my control, and I barely blinked before the shadows launched at me.
I cast fire to meet them. The shadows hissed and recoiled.
He slammed me into the wall, and I wrapped my arms around his neck, using my momentum to flip him. We crashed into the rising water, me on top, shoving his head under. Cold splashed over my shoulders as he bucked, grabbing my hips and throwing me off. Now I was under.
The freezing water closed over my head, numbing my skin. Aiden straddled me, his weight forcing me down, but I summoned fire between us, and he jumped back with a curse. I burst out of the water, gasping, hair plastered to my face. He looked just as soaked and furious as I felt.
“What the fuck is your problem?” he snarled.
A bitter laugh escaped me. “You! YOU ARE MY FUCKING PROBLEM!” I slammed into him again, shoving him into the opposite wall.
The water was up to our thighs now. Our bodies collided in a chaotic struggle.
His grip was strong, infuriatingly strong; he lifted me by my thighs and pinned me hard against the wall.
I glared into his eyes, my breath coming in sharp bursts.
His fingers curled into the backs of my legs.
My heart thundered in my chest, not just from rage.
I tried to ignore the way it felt to be held like this.
I wrapped my legs around his waist, grabbed his throat, and pushed with all my might, submerging him again.
He broke free, grabbed both my wrists, and slammed them above my head, pinning me.
His ice surged to counter my fire, locking us in a heated standoff.
“Stop, Ruin,” he growled, voice low and dangerous.
“No! Get off me!” I twisted one hand free and punched him across the jaw, again. His head snapped to the side. When his eyes found mine this time, something in them flickered. Not just anger. Something… darker.
“Fine. You want to act like a child? His tone dropped to a guttural snarl. “Then I’ll treat you like one.” Before I could react, he grabbed me under my arms and spun me around, dunking me beneath the water. I thrashed, clawing at his hand, water flooding my mouth. I couldn’t breathe.
Then he yanked me back up, and I gasped violently, coughing.
“You done?” he asked coldly, as if I hadn’t nearly drowned moments ago.
I shoved him away. Fury poured out of me like flames.
I turned to the wall, summoned all my strength, and ignited the rune in a blast of fire.
The stone cracked and crumbled. Water gushed out, sweeping us with it.
We landed hard on the field. I didn’t wait for the lecture.
Didn’t look at Aiden. And I didn’t wait for Firebeard to speak.
I stormed off, soaked, fuming, heart racing because I couldn’t decide what scared me more: that I hated Aiden or that I didn’t.
I stomped all the way to Alaric’s dorm, not caring class would start in an hour or that someone might see me.
I needed comfort. I needed peace. When I slipped inside, the room was dim, the morning light just beginning to peek through the window.
The second-year dorms were slightly larger than the first-year rooms. Instead of two beds, there was only one—still a twin, but with more space around it.
Al’s desk sat facing the window. A training dagger rested on the surface beside a small stack of books, a bookshelf and closet lined the opposite wall.
They were nice rooms. Alaric was still asleep, curled beneath the blankets.
Without a second thought, I peeled off my soaked leathers and slid into his bed. His body was warm, his scent familiar, earthy, soft, safe. The moment I tucked myself against him, his arms instinctively wrapped around me.
“Ryn?” he mumbled, voice thick with sleep.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you,” I whispered, nuzzling my face into his chest. “I just… I needed to feel you.” His hand drifted across my back, slow and soothing. The tension in my body melted away.
“Why are you wet?” he asked groggily, brow creasing slightly as he gazed down at me.
“Firebeard stuff,” I muttered. “I don’t want to talk about it.
” He didn’t press. Only pulled me tighter, and for the first time since this morning, the fire inside me dulled to embers.
In Alaric’s arms, the world slowed. My pulse calmed.
I felt cherished, wanted. Maybe this was what I needed.
Not battles and biting words, not shadowed touches and confusing glances from someone who couldn’t decide if he hated me or needed me.
I couldn’t be with Aiden. We didn’t work.
Not really. Not outside the magic. Not without the chaos.
So, I let myself drift in the quiet safety Alaric gave me. Sleep came easier than I expected.
What felt like only a few minutes had gone by when Alaric gave me a gentle nudge.
“Come on, Ryn,” Alaric murmured. “We’ll be late for sparring.
” A groan escaped me as I buried my face deeper into the pillow.
It was so warm. So comfortable. I didn’t want to move.
But eventually, I sighed and rolled out of bed, shivering as I slipped once more into my cold, damp leathers.
Alaric chuckled softly, then wrapped an arm around my waist, pulling me against his chest.
He tilted my chin up, eyes searching mine with something tender and certain, and then pressed his lips softly to mine. I leaned into the kiss, humming gently as his hand brushed my hip. “I’ll see you after classes,” he whispered against my mouth before stepping back.
I nodded, watching him leave, and then turned to go my own way. But before rounding the corner, I glanced over my shoulder, catching one last glimpse of him disappearing down the hall. My heart swelled with affection, and a sharp ache settled behind it.
Every day, I was falling more in love with Alaric.
And yet, beneath that warmth, something deeper stirred.
My body still reacted to Aiden. My magic still hummed with his.
And my heart… it didn’t know what it wanted.
But my power? It remembered. And it craved the one person I was trying desperately not to need.