Page 250 of House Ignis

She rolled her eyes so hard I was surprised they didn't combust. “Fine,” she muttered, pushing herself upright. “We’re just friends.”

“Uh-huh. And what happened?”

She stopped and turned, her face hardening as the fire shutters slammed down. “Ava, we don’t have time for this.”

“Deflecting,” Aether murmured helpfully.

I stepped directly into her path and grabbed her shoulders.

“Ember. Don’t do this. I know you. You’ve held me together for two weeks… please, talk to me.”

For a second, I saw the crack. Her eyes fluttered closed. “I… I don’t know,” she muttered finally.

“You fought,” I prompted. “Because?”

Her throat worked. Silence stretched. Then— “He told me he loved me.”

My heart sank. Not because he loved her, but because I knew exactly how terrified Ember was of being loved. And how badly that could hurt them both.

“Love is a battlefield,” Aether muttered dryly. “Some of you are just particularly bad strategists.”

“Oh, Em…” I whispered. “What did you say?”

She didn't believe in love. I'd seen the way her eyes followed him all week, but I knew those walls.

“I…” she started.

A sharp knock cut through the room. Her eyes widened. Ezra.

The door opened before either of us could move. And there he was.

A perfectly tailored suit that made him look older. Sharper. Dangerous. But the shirt beneath the dark fabric was emerald green.

Matching Ember.

Oh gods.

His eyes met mine, raw and unguarded, and somehow I knew exactly what he wasn't saying.

I’m fucking heartbroken.

My skin prickled.

A strange warmth slid slowly up my spine, settling somewhere deep in my chest like something ancient had just stirred from a long sleep.

My brows knit in confusion—but the sensation vanished as quickly as it had come, leaving me hollowed out and reeling.

Then Ember turned.

And gods… his entire world shifted.

His eyes tracked her as if gravity itself had suddenly changed direction. “Ember,” he breathed. The way he said her name sounded like it physically hurt him to pull the air from his lungs.

The look in his eyes stole my breath—hungry, reverent, and absolutely ruined.

It was the same way Asher looked at me when we were alone in the dark.

I could have sworn I heard Ember swallow, the sound loud in the sudden silence of the room.