Page 111 of House Ignis

"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.