Page 127 of House Ignis

I couldn't speak. I couldn't even breathe. The bond was a live wire between us, crackling with a raw, undeniable truth. There was no Jeremy anymore.

There was only the shadow and the flame.

Asher's jaw worked, a muscle leaping in his cheek as he fought to drag himself back from the edge of the abyss. Slowly, painfully, the silver began to bleed back into his eyes, though the darkness remained rimmed with a predatory red. He stayed there for a long moment, his forehead resting against mine, both of us shaking with the force of the outburst.

“I am hanging onto my sanity by a fucking thread, darling.”

Well, fuck. Same here.

Finally, he stepped back, the shadows retreating into his skin with a reluctant hiss. He didn't apologize. He didn’t look back.

"Let's go," he said, his voice flat and terrifyingly controlled. "Before I decide to prove just how much of a lie 'strictly sex' really is."

The air was still vibrating with the ghost of his shadows as we pushed deeper into the damp, lightless passage.

Every footstep felt like a strike against a drum, echoing the frantic, uneven rhythm of my pulse. I couldn't stop looking at the back of his head—at the rigid set of his shoulders and the way his hands were clenched into fists at his sides.

The guilt hadn't vanished; it had just been charred black by the heat of his anger.

The second we stepped out of the tunnel's mouth, the transition was jarring. The stale, underground air was replaced by something thick, ancient, and electric.

Magic—wild, raw, and unbound—pulsed through the Veylaith Woods like a living thing. It brushed against my skin and coiled deep inside my chest, humming a long-forgotten song that made my fire flicker in response.

Asher sent a pulse of warmth down the bond—a silent, grounding anchor after the storm in the tunnel. I offered a shaky nod, and he let go of my hand, moving ahead into the gloom.

"Solstice still can't sense him," Aether's voice crackled through the bond, his mental tone sharp with frustration.

"Maybe the closer we get," I whispered, hopping over a massive, gnarled root. "The bond can't be completely severed... not unless the wielder dies."

The fog began to gather between the trunks like breath held too long, turning everything into a world of silver-blue ghosts. The sun barely pierced the canopy, and the deeper we walked, the quieter the forest became. The birds were gone. The insects were silent.

And then—the mist surged.

It didn't drift; it attacked. It moved so fast I couldn't draw a breath. One second, I could see Asher's back—the next, the world was gone.

"Asher?" I gasped, my voice swallowed by the white-out.

Silence. Then, his voice came through the mental link, low and rough. "I'm here. Stay still."

He was suddenly beside me again, eyes narrowed, his shadows coiling around his boots like defensive vipers. Aether pressed tight to my leg, his fur standing on end as a low growl vibrated in his throat.

Something grabbed my leg.

I didn't even have time to scream before I was yanked off my feet. My back slammed against the forest floor, and I was dragged through the dirt and sharp branches with terrifying force.

"ASHER!" I shrieked, clawing at the mud, my fingernails scraping over bark and stone.

"AETHER!"

Nothing. The fog was a physical barrier, isolating me in a world of grey. Then the bond screamed, flaring like wildfire with his panic.

"Ava!" "Hold on!" "Zya! To the left—!"

I couldn't see them. I couldn't hear anything but the rush of blood in my ears and the sickening drag of my body being pulled deeper into the brush. Roots tore at my skin until, suddenly, the movement stopped.

A sharp tug on my ankle hoisted me into the air. I swung there, dangling upside-down in the thinning haze. My chest heaved as the mist cleared just enough to reveal the nightmare below me.

A massive creature emerged from the earth, half-submerged in stone and soil. Its hide was a jagged mosaic of violet crystal shards that pulsed with a faint, toxic light.