Page 84 of House Ignis

Hours had passed, and my mind was still a storm of shadow-cursed fury. Aether wasn't helping, muttering through the bond about being tethered to "multiple imbeciles."

I rounded the courtyard corner, ready to hunt Asher down, but stopped dead. He was leaning against the fountain, absurdly casual, eating an apple. He bit into it lazily, juice glinting at the corner of his mouth, looking almost ordinary in the sunlight. It made him ten times more dangerous.

Movement to my right made my stomach drop. Jeremy.

He was striding across the stone, every step vibrating with earth-shattering rage. I ducked behind a pillar, dragging a hissing Aether with me.

Asher didn't flinch as Jeremy closed the distance. He just tilted his head, silver eyes glinting. "Jeremy," he drawled.

"Maddox," Jeremy snapped, his voice a low, lethal vibration. "I'm going to fucking kill you."

Asher tossed the apple and caught it. "Bold opening, Prince. What's the occasion?"

Jeremy stepped into his space, chests nearly brushing. Earth magic pulsed faintly beneath his skin. "You know why. What the hell did you just pull with Ava?"

"Oh," Asher said lightly. "You mean the part where I kept her alive?"

"You don't touch her," Jeremy growled, the air thickening. "You stay the fuck away from her."

Asher's expression sharpened, the playfulness vanishing into something cold and whetted. "Interesting. Does she know you're staking a claim, or are you just hoping she'll fit in the cage you've built for her?"

"You'll ruin her," Jeremy hissed.

Asher leaned in, his voice a velvet threat. "Maybe she doesn't need someone like you protecting her from the very fire she owns." He paused, a slow, cruel smile spreading. "I'm exactly the kind of male she chooses."

Jeremy snapped. He swung.

His fist connected with Asher's jaw with a sickening crack. The apple hit the stone and rolled away. Asher staggered, then straightened. He didn't retaliate. He didn't summon a single shadow. He just rolled his jaw, wiped a smear of blood from his split lip, and smiled.

"Guess I struck a nerve."

"You think this is funny?" Jeremy's hands trembled with the effort of restraint.

"I think," Asher replied quietly, "you should stop pretending you can protect her from me. She'll be blood-bound to me tonight. And when she is, you won't be able to do a damn thing about it."

The courtyard went silent. Then, a thin tendril of shadow slid across the floor, curling around the base of my pillar. He knew I was there.

Jeremy didn't answer. The ground did.

A violent tremor ripped through the courtyard, splitting the stone in sharp, splintering lines. The pillar at my back jolted, dust choking the air. Jeremy stood at the center of the upheaval, earth magic bleeding off him in uncontrolled waves.

A jagged fracture shot outward from Jeremy's feet, racing toward Asher like a spear. It hit a sheet of darkness beneath Asher's boots and simply... died. The earth refused to cross into his territory.

Asher looked bored.

The tremors intensified. The pillar behind me groaned, a sharp snap echoing through the stone. Jeremy stepped forward, his voice vibrating with restrained violence. "You'll regret this, Maddox."

"I doubt that."

For one heartbeat, I thought the earth would rupture and swallow us all. Then, Jeremy dragged it back. The stones dropped. The fountain stilled. But the fractures remained—jagged scars in the floor.

Jeremy turned and stalked away, his steps still heavy with residual power.

Only then did Asher's shadows retract. Only then did his gaze shift—slowly, deliberately—to the pillar. To me.

The faintest smirk curved his mouth, and then he walked away, leaving me shaking in the ruins of the courtyard.

By Ignis's flames. What was I going to do with him?