Page 209 of House Ignis

I dug my nails into Ezra's arm. “Ezra, he needs to fucking stop! Jeremy is going to explode!”

Ezra's jaw flexed, his sunset-orange eyes fixed grimly on the field.

"The Darkling is powerful," Aether rumbled through the bond, his fur bristling against my leg.

"Yeah," I hissed, fire beginning to lick at my fingertips, "but his ego is bigger than the damn stadium."

And then—it happened.

Jeremy lunged with a guttural roar, calling upon the earth with everything he had.

The ground beneath Asher erupted into a geyser of stone and root, jagged and sharp as spears.

Dust and shattered rock slammed into the stadium wards, sending the containment runes flaring into a violent, blinding violet.

The crowd shrieked, a wall of sound that hit me like a physical blow.

But Asher didn't fall. He stepped through the debris like shadow given flesh, untouched and unbothered.

His eyes were black. Not dark, not the silver I loved, but a solid, terrifying black.

A snarl tore from his throat.

His shadows surged, violent and completely unrestrained. They lashed out like obsidian blades, carving through the air with a whistle that set my teeth on edge.

Jeremy staggered back, blood streaking his lip, but he managed a grin. It was cruel and twisted.

"You think she'll stay with you when she sees the real you, Maddox?" Jeremy roared over the chaos, his voice raw. "When she sees what you are—she'll never love you. Not then. Not ever!"

The words punched the air from my lungs.

I felt the bond quake. Something inside Asher finally snapped.

His shadows exploded.

They were too fast, too wild. Jeremy was caught off guard, his earth-shields too slow to form.

The tendrils carved across Jeremy's side. Blood sprayed onto the dirt.

Gasps ripped through the stands as Jeremy dropped to one knee, clutching his ribs, crimson staining his t-shirt in a rapidly spreading bloom.

The whistle blew. The sharp, piercing sound meant it should have been over.

Asher had won.

But he didn't stop.

The shadows thickened, closing around Jeremy.

Asher's chest heaved, his face savage and unrecognizable. His eyes were nothing but night.

He raised his arm, and the shadows sharpened into a killing strike aimed straight for Jeremy's exposed throat.

The crowd screamed.

"No!" I shrieked, running to the edge of the wards, slamming my fists against the shimmering barrier.

Fire flared from my palms, searing the magic as if I could burn my way through. "Asher, STOP!"