Page 28 of House Ignis

Whispers drifted through the crowd—prayers, hollow condolences, and the sharp, jagged edge of disbelief. Even the most cynical nobles looked shaken.

Jax had never been just a title to them; he had been hope.

The sky darkened slowly, the clouds bruising into deep purples and grays as if the gods themselves were bowing their heads in mourning. Then the rain began.

It was soft at first, a gentle weeping, before turning relentless. It soaked through silk and velvet, plastered hair to skin, and turned the fresh soil into slick, dark mud around our polished boots.

Fitting.

One by one, the mourners retreated toward the reception hall, fleeing the storm beneath the safety of embroidered canopies.

But I stayed.

I watched until the last shovelful of earth sealed him away forever.

I watched until the mound rose where my brother had stood only days before—laughing, alive, burning so bright it hurt to look at him.

My friends lingered just long enough to squeeze my hands, their touch a fleeting anchor, before they slipped away to give me the space that grief demanded.

And when the silence finally settled, and I was truly alone in the downpour—

I broke.

I dropped to my knees in the mud, my palms sinking into the soaked, freezing earth as my hair plastered itself to my face.

Rain ran down my cheeks in relentless streams, a cold shroud that hid the tears I no longer had the strength to fight.

"How could you leave me?" I screamed into the belly of the storm, my voice breaking apart against the wind. The sound tore out of me—raw, desperate, and jagged.

Thunder cracked overhead, shaking the very foundations of the hillside. And when I finally lifted my head—I wasn't alone.

A figure stood only a few feet away, half-swallowed by the roiling grey shadows of the rain. He was tall, perfectly still, and watching.

Those eyes were cold, pale, and utterly unforgiving.

My breath hitched.

I pushed to my feet, my boots slipping in the slick mud as I tried to stumble backward, but he moved with me. Closer.

The darkness around him began to stir, thickening and rising from the saturated ground like black smoke from a dying fire. It breathed. It pulsed with a heartbeat that wasn't human.

And then it struck.

Shadows lashed toward me like whips, coiling tight around my wrists, my throat, and my waist.

They tightened with a crushing, absolute pressure, stealing the air from my lungs before I could even gasp. I clawed at them, my nails dragging through the void, but my fingers met nothing solid—only an ancient, biting cold.

I tried to scream Jax's name. Nothing came out.

The world blurred at the edges, the grey sky bleeding into black. The roar of the rain faded into a terrifying silence. All I could see were those icy eyes.

Watching. Unmoved. The shadows dragged me down, swallowing me whole into the abyss—

"Ava. Wake up!"

The bond hit like a strike of lightning.

I jolted upright with a violent gasp, air tearing into my lungs as if I'd been held underwater for an eternity. My heart hammered against my ribs, sweat slicked my skin, and hot tears were already trailing down my temples.