Page 215 of House Ignis

"Because I've never seen him like that!" Ezra's voice rose, a flash of his own suppressed terror breaking through. "Nobody has. He didn't explain it, Ava. He couldn't. He just looked at me and I knew—he had to leave. He had to go before he hurt anyone else. Before he hurt you."

My stomach dropped.

"When is he coming back?" My voice cracked. "Tell me it's today. Gods, tell me it's today."

Ezra's hands slid from my face.

He turned away, his fingers raking through his auburn hair. "

Two weeks," he breathed finally, his eyes closing.

I blinked. "Two weeks?"

He shook his head once, sharp.

"That's right before—"

"Yeah," Ezra's voice was flat now. "The Trials."

My chest hollowed out. I pressed my palms to my temples, pacing the small space of the infirmary like a caged animal. "

Two weeks. After what just happened... how can he leave me alone with this?"

Ezra didn't answer.

Ezra watched me, his eyes tracking every step as if he were trying to anchor me to the room with his stare.

"You don't rely on him. Your bond does," he said quietly, sounding like a soldier issuing orders he hated to give.

"He needs time, Ava. And after what you did out there, so do you. I'm here until he comes back. I'm not going anywhere."

My eyes burned.

My soul felt like glass splintering under a hammer, the silence where Asher's voice usually lived echoing in my skull.

"And Jeremy?" I managed to rasp.

Ezra dropped into the armchair beside the bed, his expression shuttering. "

He's fine. Battered, but the healers patched the holes."

Before I could press him for more, a sharp, frantic knock rattled the door.

Ezra went still, his eyes sharpening for the briefest second before recognition softened them.

A slow, crooked smile pulled at his mouth.

"Ah," he murmured. "My favorite hurricane."

"Open the door, Ezra, you asshole!" Ember's voice rang through, muffled but unmistakable.

"These two," I muttered, a weak, genuine smile tugging at my mouth despite the hollow ache in my chest.

Ezra pushed off the chair and crossed the room in three easy strides, yanking the door open as if he were stepping into the eye of the storm. Ember barreled straight into him.

Her palm hit his chest hard enough to make him take half a step back, the sound of the impact echoing.

"You," she snapped, jabbing a finger into his sternum. "Are the absolute worst."