Page 317 of House Ignis

"Sienna," Jeremy warned, trying to silence her. I looked at him, searching his face, and saw the flicker of guilt. My heart began to hammer against my ribs.

“Firecracker…” Asher’s voice tried to thread through the bond, but I shoved his presence aside. I needed to hear this.

I needed to hear this. Asher’s eyes went deadly, but Sienna wasn't finished. She stepped forward, her blue eyes fixed on mine.

"Well... I suppose I should thank you," she finished, her voice a sharp blade. "I certainly enjoyed warming your side of his bed while you were gone."

I went absolutely molten. The world turned white at the edges, the heat in my core roaring so loud it drowned out the sound of the forest.

"Sienna!" Jeremy shouted. He moved forward, his hand outstretched. "Ava, listen—"

But Asher was already there. He moved like a localized eclipse, stepping directly in front of me to block Jeremy’s path.

He didn't just look angry; he looked like death given flesh.

"I should have finished you when I had the chance, Earth Prince," Asher hissed, his voice a low, terrifying promise. His shadows didn't just boil; they solidified into jagged blades that hovered inches from Jeremy's throat. "I should have let the shadows take your heart while you were still screaming."

“How dare you?” My voice cracked, the betrayal stinging worse than the illness ever could.

I looked at Jeremy then, really looked at him, and for a moment the chaos of the Trials faded.

I saw the history we shared, the male who had been my first love, the one who had held my secrets before

Asher ever knew my name. To see him standing there with her, hearing those words... it felt like a knife twisting in an old wound I thought had finally scarred over.

The timer above the dome was a screaming red blur.

“Should we eliminate them?” Asher asked through the bond, his mental voice suddenly soft—his rage turning into a shield for me.

He looked back, his eyes searching mine, waiting for the word to end them.

I looked at Jeremy one last time—at the ghost of the male I used to know and the girl who was wearing his secrets like a crown. My heart felt like it was cracking, but I forced my chin up.

“Not worth it,” I sent back.

I reached out and grabbed Asher’s hand, my fingers digging into his leather gauntlet.

I wasn't going to give them the satisfaction of a breakdown.

I was ready for the transport magic to take me again, to drag me anywhere but here.

"I'm so sorry," Jeremy tried to say, his voice breaking as the transport runes began to glow beneath our feet.

I didn't let him finish. I looked him dead in the eyes, my gaze cold and final, stripping away every ounce of the history that once bound us.

"Goodbye, Jeremy," I said.

The words were a death knell. Before he could even blink, the light consumed us.

The Earth Realm dissolved, and we were gone.

The transition was a violent, suffocating squeeze that felt like it would never end, and when the light finally shattered, I didn't land—I collapsed.

The impact with the cold, unyielding stone was jarring, and the moment the transport magic released its grip, my stomach revolted for the third time.

I doubled over, retching until my throat burned, dry sobs tearing through my chest.

It wasn't just the travel anymore; it was the anger, the heartbreak, and the sheer, crushing weight of what Jeremy had done.