Page 305 of House Ignis

Hundreds of bodies in black leather launched into the air, a synchronized leap of faith into the shifting machinery.

The Crucible had begun, and we weren't just running. We were hunting.

•••

The drones whirred above, their runic eyes recording every inch of our descent into the Pit.

The light from the ward screen above the dome reflected in the sweat on my brow, projecting our every move to the screaming masses.

“Gods, this is fucking eerie,” I muttered, my flame flaring brighter to chase the encroaching shadows back from the towering stone walls.

“Stay alert,” Asher drawled, his voice a blade’s edge.

Shadows seeped from his boots, licking over the stones, tasting for danger. He looked like pure death in motion, and gods, it was hot.

“Ava.” His voice sharpened—warning, not plea.

My teeth caught my lip. Wrong time. Wrong place.

I shook my head and forced my lungs to steady.

We were alone in this section of the Gauntlet, just us and the panthers.

Ezra and Ember were somewhere else in this shifting hell, fighting their own war.

In here, it was only the House of Ignis and the House of Umbra.

“We need to find a way out of this shithole,” he mused, his silver eyes scanning the high, dark walls.

“Get to the end,” Zya purred through the bond, her voice like velvet shadow.

Aether’s growl licked fire through my veins. “And burn anything in our way.”

The Pit groaned, stone grinding as it shifted again—passages sealing, new corridors yawning open, and the distant, wet snarl of beasts echoing in the dark.

“Thirty minutes,” Asher said grimly. “Kill what you can. Survive what you can’t. And whatever happens—” His hand brushed mine, shadows sparking with my flames. “We don’t stop.”

A screech split the air. Then a scream—high, desperate, and cut short. The sound ripped through The Pit, rattling straight down into my bones.

Above us, across the barrier dome, a team’s names flared bright in red before burning away in smoke.

Eliminated.

Dread pooled low and sharp in my stomach. Gods.

That could’ve been us. Would be us if we faltered.

Before I could suck in another breath, Asher’s hand caught my jaw, tugging me toward him with lethal certainty.

His mouth crashed against mine, raw hunger pouring through the bond like lightning.

My knees gave, my flames sputtered wild, and I swore the whole Arena shook.

The crowd went feral. I couldn’t see them, but I could hear the roar of tens of thousands crashing like thunder against the dome.

The drones dived lower, capturing the moment fire and shadow ignited together.

“Ignis!” one side of the stands thundered. “Umbra!” the other howled back. “Together! Together!”