Page 302 of House Ignis

Ember reached out, pulling me into a brief, tight hug. It was the only crack in her armor she allowed me to see.

"Thanks, Ava," she whispered, her voice barely audible over the wind. She stepped back, her expression hardening once more into the fierce warrior I knew, and turned to leave.

I watched her jog off toward the gates, hopefully toward the one person who made the fear worth facing.

I stood alone in the training yard for a moment, the setting sun casting long, jagged shadows across the stone.

The illness. The crown. The way the bond felt like it was evolving into something primal, something different.

I had plenty of secrets. And tomorrow, the Trials were going to start digging them up.

•••

The sun finally dipped below the horizon, bleeding a bruised purple across the sky that matched the growing ache in my chest.

The training yard was nearly empty now, the rhythmic clack of wooden swords replaced by the haunting whistle of the winter wind through the stone arches.

I stood there alone, the sweat cooling on my skin, and felt the tether. It was a physical weight now, a golden-black cord that pulsed with every beat of Asher’s heart.

He was handling Ezra. He was being the leader, the soldier, the male who had survived Umbra and come back with silver in his eyes.

But as I looked down at my own hands,

I saw the faint, flickering embers of my magic—unsteady, beautiful, and dying.

The Trials weren't just a test of strength.

They were a countdown. I had to survive the different phases.

I had to survive the Veylaith, where the shadows spoke and the trees moved. And then, at the very end, I had to stand across from the only person who made my soul feel whole and fight him.

“Ava.” His voice didn't come through the bond this time. It was a low, rough vibration in the air behind me.

I turned to find him standing in the shadows of the gateway, his gear back on, his expression unreadable.

"Is he okay?" I asked, my voice barely a whisper.

Asher walked toward me, his boots heavy on the stone.

He stopped and reached out, his thumb skimming my jaw, his eyes searching mine with a terrifying intensity.

"He’s as ready as he’s going to be," Asher murmured. He leaned down, his forehead resting against mine, and for a moment, the world stopped spinning.

"But forget about them. Look at me."

I met his silver gaze, the fire in my blood rising to meet his shadow.

"Tomorrow, the world tries to break us," he whispered, his hand sliding to the back of my neck, his grip possessive and firm.

"Let them try. We are the flame and the ruin, Ava. And by the time the Trials are over, they’ll realize we aren't just playing for the Guard."

He leaned in closer, his lips brushing against my ear, sending a shiver of pure, cold heat through my entire body.

"We're playing to show them who the next queen will be."

He kissed me then—not with the hunger of the afternoon, but with

a solemn, bone-deep promise.