Page 2 of House Ignis

A protector, a power link, a shared mind—all that mandatory divine doctrine wrapped into a tether you couldn't sever.

Aether, my sharp-tongued, obsidian shadow panther, was a permanent reminder that I wasn’t just Ava Pyreson, an anxious first-year hiding outside the gates. I was the heir of Zymarra, and I wasn't permitted to falter.

In reality, it felt less like a divine gift and more like perpetual babysitting.

“Touché,” he drawled through the bond.

I ignored him.

“No backing out now,” I muttered to myself, forcing my weight forward into a stride—

“Ava!”

The shout cut through the morning air, and I barely had time to brace my stance before a whirlwind of crimson silk and auburn hair crashed into me.

I was instantly crushed into an unyielding embrace as the familiar, contrasting scent of sweet vanilla and harsh ash filled my lungs.

“Oh, Ava, I missed you so much over winter break,” Ember cried into my shoulder, squeezing tighter.

My cousin had always been dramatic about reunions, but this time her embrace felt like the only thing that mattered.

“The castle felt empty without you.”

Castle. The word echoed inside me like a struck bell. Home. It used to be a place of warmth, but now it was just a tomb frozen in time.

A place where a piece of my heart once lived.

He’s gone.

I pulled back, forcing a smile as I looked at her.

“I missed you too.”

Looking at Ember was like looking at a ghost—she reminded me so much of Jax.

The same piercing green eyes. That same mischievous smile that always promised trouble.

Our mothers were sisters, and while Ember and Jax had inherited their effortless royal beauty, I took after my father—the king. Quieter. Softer. Easier to overlook.

Not that Ember ever let me be overlooked for long.

"She missed you too," Ember said softly, nodding down at Luna.

Ember's boundling—a sleek orange-and-red lynx—wound around my legs, her molten fur radiating heat right through my leathers. I crouched, running my fingers through her thick coat as tiny, harmless sparks danced against my skin.

I had missed them both more than I cared to admit. But staying at the castle over winter break had been impossible.

The halls held too many ghosts, the air too thick with the ache of the dead.

Ember was bleeding from the same wound. She and Jax had bickered constantly, but they'd been best friends.

The three of us had been inseparable, and though months had passed, the grief remained sharp and raw beneath our royal masks.

Jax and I were only two years apart, practically attached at the hip. Losing him had shattered my foundation.

A soothing pulse traveled through the bond as Aether leaned his heavy shoulder against my leg.

His silent comfort seeped into my bones, easing the heavy ice tightening in my chest.