Page 216 of House Ignis

Ezra caught her wrist before she could poke a hole in him, smirking down at her. "That's a broad category, Em. You'll have to be more specific."

"She woke up!" Ember shot back. "And I had to hear it from Aether. Who told Luna. You could have told me."

"I was making sure she didn't accidentally combust again," he said smoothly. "Priorities."

She shoved him again, though it lacked her usual bite. "You are literally the worst."

"And yet," he murmured, leaning slightly closer, his sunset eyes darkening, "you keep showing up."

Her glare faltered for half a second. Just half. Then she looked past him and saw me.

Everything in her shifted—the fire died down, replaced by raw, trembling relief.

"Ava!" she cried, ignoring him entirely as she rushed to the side of the bed.

She threw her arms around me, hugging me so tight I could barely breathe. “You absolute idiot,” she muttered into my shoulder, her voice thick and trembling. “You scared the hell out of me.”

A low, offended rumble came from the foot of the bed.

“She scared everyone,” Aether grumbled through the bond. “Some of us had to watch our Flame One attempt to become the sun.”

I glanced down. Aether was sprawled across the floor beside my bed, his massive obsidian body taking up an unreasonable amount of space, golden eyes fixed accusingly on me.

“I said I was sorry.”

His ears flattened. “You did not.”

“I was going to.”

“Liar.”

Despite everything, a laugh escaped me.

Weak and cracked, but real.

Aether huffed and rested his enormous head against the edge of the mattress. “Do not do that again, Flame One.”

The humor vanished from his voice, and something inside my chest squeezed.

I reached down, threading my fingers through the thick fur between his ears.

“I’ll try.”

His golden eyes narrowed. “That is not remotely reassuring.”

I hugged her back, burying my face in her neck, grateful for the familiar comfort of my cousin and best friend.

"I'm okay, Em. I'm okay."

She pulled back, her green eyes shimmering with unshed tears.

"You better be. Because if you do that again, I'll kill you myself."

Ezra walked over to the armchair and sat down, stretching his legs out. Then, without a word of warning, he reached out, snagged Ember by the waist, and yanked.

"Hey!" Ember yelped as she was pulled backward.

In one fluid motion, Ezra dragged her onto his lap. She landed with a huff, her hair a wild mess around her face. She twisted around to glare at him, her eyes flashing with mock fury. "What the hell, Valeor?"