Page 155 of House Ignis

The blade plunged into my other thigh.

A white-hot scream tore from my throat as my back arched against the chair, fire erupting through my leg.

“You don't want to play dirty with me, Ava,” he murmured, his voice almost sweet as blood poured down my skin.

I gritted my teeth, the taste of copper filling my mouth as I fought the black spots at the edges of my vision.

"What do you want?" I growled through the pain. "Where is Aether?"

Zorian tilted his head, the dagger in his hand now slick with my blood. "Oh, your panther?" He smiled, and it was the most terrifying thing I'd ever seen. "He won't make it through the night."

My heart stopped. The world went silent. "What. Did. You. Do. To. Him?"

"A rare little toxin," he mused, inspecting the blood on his blade. "One that's… specifically lethal to boundlings. A slow, agonizing fade into nothingness."

Rage, pure and incandescent, erupted in my chest, momentarily dulling the agony in my legs. "You're dead," I hissed, my eyes locking onto his. "When I get out of here, I will burn the skin from your bones."

But he just stepped forward, grabbed my braids, and yanked my head back until I was staring at the cracked ceiling.

His foul breath was hot against my ear.

"You're mine now, Ava. There is no 'getting out.”

Gods help him. Because I knew the shadows were coming. And when Asher found me, this place would drown in darkness.

"Why do you want me?" I spat, the words tasting like copper and bile. I was desperate to buy even a few seconds of time. "What's the matter, Zorian? Couldn't handle a little rejection?"

Zorian's grin spread slowly across his face, utterly disgusting. He didn't answer.

Instead, he dragged the tip of the dagger down the center of my neck, slowly, agonizingly, slicing through the fabric of my sports bra until the cold, stained metal hovered just above the swell of my breasts.

"Gods, Ava," he whispered, his eyes dark with a localized insanity. "You really are beautiful."

I flinched, my skin crawling so hard it felt like it might peel off my bones.

"But you didn't want to be mine," he continued, his voice dropping to a jagged murmur.

"So now? You don't get to be anyone's. Since you pulled that little stunt and got me expelled, I

've decided on a new curriculum. I'm going to break you down. I'm going to make you beg for me to claim you."

I felt a surge of nausea so violent I nearly vomited right on his boots. He turned to the two silent males flanking the door.

“Watch the entrance,” he ordered, his eyes never leaving mine. “Outside. I want some time alone with my sweet girl.”

His hand grazed the raw wound on my thigh again, and my vision swam.

But then—the bond sparked.

A flicker. A frantic, golden pulse. Fuck yes. Zorian didn't know. He didn't know about the blood-bond. He didn't know about the storm he had just invited into his house.

"Asher!" I screamed, throwing every ounce of my soul into the call.

Something pulled. Then it surged, dark and massive.

A roar of recognition tore through my mind, so loud it nearly drowned out the sound of my own heart.

"Ava!" His voice exploded through the connection, vibrating with a lethal intensity. "Where are you?!"