Page 102 of House Ignis

I dragged my folded easel over to the corner where the light hit just right, propped a fresh canvas on it, and rolled out my paint cloth. Tin cans, glass jars of pigment, and charcoal pencils were all lined up in careful chaos. I reached for my pouch of extra pencils and finer brushes, sorting the ones I wouldn't need today into a neat pile.

I moved to open the top drawer of the desk—one I'd never bothered with before, since I always kept my own things in travel cases. It wouldn't budge. I frowned and tugged again. Still stuck.

"Seriously?" I muttered, crouching down and yanking harder. Nothing. Fine.

With an exasperated breath, I grabbed the slim, bone-white spell rod we'd been issued in potions class. I traced a quick unlocking sigil midair—a simple spell, nothing dramatic—and flicked my wrist toward the drawer.

Click.

It creaked open just a little. I smiled to myself, then slid it open the rest of the way. Inside was dust, a cracked ink bottle, a few faded notes, and a worn leather notebook. It was brown, unmarked, and a little thicker than my sketchbooks, its edges curled with age.

I picked it up, flipping it over. My fingers froze. There, in gold-etched script across the front.

Jax Pyreson.

My breath caught. I dropped it with a soft thud against the desk.

"By the gods," I whispered.

I was still staring at the brown notebook, my pulse roaring in my ears. Jax's name was scribbled across the cover in his own handwriting. My brother's. I barely had a second to think before—

Knock, knock.

I panicked, shoving the notebook back into the drawer and slamming it shut just as the door burst open.

"Hellooo, party queen!" Ember sang as she strutted into the room with a full glitter entourage behind her.

Darcy, Maddy, and Sera spilled in after her like a whirlwind of sequins. It looked like the stars had exploded and chosen my dorm as their battlefield. Darcy was already vaping, dressed in a black glitter tank, combat jacket, and pants—equal parts rebel and nightclub menace. Maddy twirled into the room in a sapphire-blue glitter jumpsuit, beaming from ear to ear. Sera shimmered in a pastel-pink blazer and shorts combo that made her hair look like a magical candy cloud.

And Ember? She was wearing a red glitter halter dress and knee-high boots that screamed "heartbreak incoming."

I stared at them all. Then at myself. Then back at them. "...Did I not get the memo on glitter?"

"It was on the flyer, Ava!" Maddy said, scandalized, already diving into my closet like a raccoon on a mission. Before I could stop her, she pulled out the dress. It was a tight-fitting, midnight-purple glitter dress—something I didn't even remember owning.

The room collectively gasped.

"You have to wear this," Maddy said, clutching it like it was spun from fate itself.

"No," I blurted, shaking my head. "Absolutely not. That's—that's Umbra colors!"

"Exactly," Ember purred, flopping onto the bed with a wicked grin. "He won't know what hit him."

"And if you make out with Jeremy in that?" Sera added, twirling a cherry around her finger. "He'll explode."

"Utter chaos," Darcy approved, exhaling a puff of smoke. "Delicious."

I stared at the dress like it was a cursed relic. Then back at them. "...Fine," I sighed, defeated. "Let's make him weak."

They screamed. Glitter literally shook off their clothes from the sheer force of it.

We walked out of my dorm in a flurry of perfume, glitter, and attitude. My hair was braided in my signature double Dutch crown, each plait sleek and precise, falling into long twin braids over my shoulders. Purple glitter shimmered across my cheekbones and was threaded into the braids like stardust—because if I was going to survive tonight's chaos, I was going to do it looking like a damn queen.

Confidence practically oozed from our group. But me? I was waiting for one thing: to see Asher Maddox's face.

Boundaries were just that—boundaries. And I looked like sin in purple. If he wanted to play the game, then tonight, I was going to show him I knew how to win it.

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