Page 159 of House Ignis

I fell straight into his arms, and he anchored me against the world.

"I've got you," Asher whispered, his voice rough with a lingering rage and something much deeper—something that sounded like a prayer.

The black closed in, heavy and inevitable. Shadows curled around me like a second skin, and I felt a strange, chilling peace. The last thing I realized before the world went dark was that I wasn’t afraid of the darkness anymore.

I was a part of it.

And gods help me, I never wanted to leave.

•••

I groaned as the pain hit like a gods-damned avalanche, rolling over me in waves.

My eyes shot open, and the world was a throbbing mess of light and blurred edges.

"Ow," I muttered, my voice sounding like I'd swallowed sandpaper. I clutched at my skull, trying to anchor my brain inside my head.

"My head feels like it's been put through a meat grinder."

"Darling."

The word was a low vibration that smoothed over my jagged nerves. I blinked, and as the haze cleared, there they were. Silver eyes. My favorite fucking color.

"Asher," I breathed, the air leaving my lungs.

He was watching me with a look that was part predator and part relief, his jaw tight like he was barely holding himself together.

"Gods, Ava," he exhaled, the sound thick and wrecked.

I was ready to throw myself at him, consequences be damned, when a familiar black blur launched onto the mattress.

“Flame one!” Aether snapped, his mental voice ringing through my head like a bell.

"AETHER!" I shrieked. I practically threw myself at him, burying my face in his obsidian fur as my arms wrapped around his neck.

I inhaled the scent of starlight and home, my heart finally finding its rhythm again.

He let out a dramatic, long-suffering huff. "I'm glad to see you're alive, too," he muttered into my mind. He glanced over his shoulder at Asher. "Be careful, Asher. She's always this dramatic when she wakes up from a kidnapping."

"As if you're not," I mumbled against his neck, then pulled back to inspect him with frantic eyes. "Are you okay? Zorian said... he said the toxin was lethal."

Aether licked a paw with the casual arrogance of royalty.

"Of course I am. I'm a celestial panther with ancient glory and very sharp fangs. A little human poison isn't enough to dim my shine."

I rolled my eyes, a watery laugh escaping me. "Okay. He's fine. His ego is fully intact."

"I'm more worried about you, princess," Asher murmured. His voice was closer now—closer than I expected.

He was leaning over the bed, his silver eyes locked on mine with an intensity that made my skin hum.

I glanced down at my leg, expecting to see a bloody mess. Instead, there was nothing but a clean, silver-pink scar.

The wound Zorian had carved into me was gone, replaced by the mark of high-tier healing.

"I would've killed him," Asher said suddenly. His voice had gone flat, his jaw so tight the bone looked ready to snap. “I should have drowned him in darkness right there in that cell.”

I looked at him, really looked at him, and saw the fury still vibrating through his shadows.