Page 180 of House Ignis

There were little notes about Solas. Gods, I missed her.

She'd always been a fierce phoenix, demanding perfection from Jax.

Solas had simply vanished. Everyone assumed the loss of Jax had taken her too.

The Astral Guard claimed he'd been killed by a creature. Solas had simply vanished—likely succumbed to her own heartbreak.

I swallowed hard and kept reading.

I've been checking on Scott often and gods—it feels normal again. To have him here, next to me, kissing him—

I froze, my brows shooting up. "Gods, Jax… you were sleeping with him?" I whispered, stunned.

"Not entirely surprising," Aether's tail twitched.

I shook my head and skipped the intimate details, my chest tightening.

He thinks this is over. But the cure is fragile. I need to test further. Tonight I will go back. I was wrong about where the Eclipsa thrives. I need to gather more. The bud only blooms on a full moon, and that might be the key. will use the tunnels. I will bring back proof.

Jax was mad. He'd been playing with wildfire.

It took me and Solas a few hours to reach the place where the Eclipsa grows. The forest here… it felt wrong. The magic was heavier, tainted in a way I couldn't name. Even Solas's feathers bristled—she warned me without words.

My fingers clenched the leather.

Then, there was a sound in the trees. I called out—told them to show themselves...

"Jax," I muttered. "Are you insane?"

But then… eyes. Not the black void I expected. No—these were crimson.

My heart stuttered. I shook my head, convinced I’d imagined the word. I closed my eyes, then opened them again.

But then… eyes. Not the black void I expected. No, these were crimson.

My blood ran cold.

Veyari.

They were real. He found one, or one found him.

A shiver ran through me, uninvited, as if the words had claws.

Before I could dive further into the revelation, the door swung open.

I barely had time to shove the journal under the bed before Asher stepped inside, Zya slipping in ahead of him and curling into the corner with a proprietary air.

He closed the door with a quiet, final click, dropped a packed bag, and let his gaze drag over me.

It was slow. Deliberate. Devouring.

I was still in my sports bra and tights from training, sweat still drying on my skin.

His eyes burned hotter with every inch they traveled.

Up,” he ordered, his voice carrying the unmistakable weight of command.

I obeyed. In three strides, he had me stripped bare, shadows winding around my wrists as his hands roamed my body. Then he scooped me up and carried me into the bathroom.