Page 88 of House Ignis

They didn't say a word. They just mirrored each other with identical, wicked grins.

"Jeremy says I'll feel him instinctively," I muttered, watching Maddy begin to brush my wet hair. "But I'm going to fight it. I'm going to try not to feel a thing."

Ember cackled, turning on the dryer. "Oh, come on, Ava. You've almost combusted just looking at him. Literally."

"Fair," I muttered, closing my eyes.

By the time Jules and Darcy returned, I was glowing. Ember had dried my hair into a silken mane, and Maddy had applied enough gold shimmer to make me look like a celestial being. But when Jules held up the garment bag, the room went silent.

I took it gingerly and pulled the fabric out. I nearly screamed.

"Oh my gods," Ember breathed.

It was translucent. Gold. Ethereal. A sheer Veyshari veil designed to cling to every curve, leaving absolutely nothing to the imagination.

"I don't think he'll have any restraint, Ava," Maddy added, staring at the liquid starlight fabric. "He's going to lose his mind."

I groaned, clutching the gold-threaded lace bra I'd picked out to go underneath—a set enchanted to shimmer against my skin. "It's fine," I hissed, though my palms were sweating. "Wait… who did Asher choose as his witnesses?"

The realization hit me, and my heart plummeted.

"Two other males," I whispered, horror dawning. "It's going to be Ryven and Ezra, isn't it? The smugness will be unbearable. I'm going to be standing there half-naked in front of the three most arrogant males in the first-year class."

My breathing quickened, the corset of the ritual dress tightening around my ribs.

Then the balcony doors creaked. Aether padded in, his obsidian fur gleaming, golden eyes judging the room. He sat on the bed and let out an audible huff of amusement.

"Relax, little one," he murmured through the bond, curling his tail around his paws. "You are a lioness. Act like it."

"I can't breathe," I muttered.

"You don't need to breathe," Maddy said, giving the last golden thread a sharp tug to lock the dress in place. "You just need to survive the gaze of Asher Maddox."

Ember leaned in, her eyes reflecting the candlelight. "I cannot wait to see his face when you walk into that Temple."

CHAPTER ELEVEN

The path to the Temple of Ignis was a gauntlet of flame, fire dancing along wrought-iron braziers that lined the dark stone walkway. Every step felt like a slow descent into a furnace. Beside me, Maddy and Ember moved like white-robed ghosts, Maddy’s long blonde hair and Ember’s wild dark curls caught in the heat-shimmer of the night. Jules led us, her human gold and brown robes flowing like parchment licked by flame, her orange curls a halo of chaos.

Aether padded ahead, fire-born crowns curling around his ears. He was silent, but the bond thrummed with a jagged, predatory alertness. He was ready for whatever came next. I was just trying to keep my knees from buckling.

The temple loomed, a titan of dark stone veined with glowing red ore. The statue of Ignis glared down at us, obsidian eyes judging every secret I carried. Flame eternal, see us in truth, I prayed, the words tasting of smoke. Let what burns be worthy.

The grand doors groaned open on their own. Ignis was waiting.

Inside, the hall was a sanctified arena of tiered marble and hovering torches. Jules stepped onto the dais, her command echoing through the Temple with enough force to make the very air vibrate. "Ava Pyreson, Heir to the Throne of Lyr'n'dell, Daughter of Fire!"

That was my cue. I took a breath that scorched my throat and stepped forward.

The golden threads of my Veyshari veil brushed my skin like hot silk, nearly transparent under the divine light. My heartbeat was a war drum, loud and frantic, but it stalled the moment I saw him.

Asher stood beneath the hanging braziers, a sculpted tribute to shadow and sin.

He wore loose, brown ceremonial trousers that sat dangerously low on his hips, revealing the deep, carved V of his abdomen—a temptation etched by the gods themselves. I followed the lines of his body like forbidden runes, my breath hitching in my chest. He looked up, his molten eyes locking onto mine, and he didn't just look—he hunted.

I trembled. My bare feet hit the cold marble, but my blood was a wildfire. The torches flared higher as I passed, casting orange light over the damp strands of hair sticking to his neck. He had clearly just come from the water; I could still see a stray drop glistening on his collarbone, reflecting the fire.

Zya sat at his side, a regal, deadly silhouette of shadow. Across the way, Ryven and Ezra sat in their ceremonial whites, their presence as witnesses making my skin prickle with a different kind of heat. They were seeing me like this—nearly bare, draped in nothing but starlight and expectation.