The fire in the common room burned low, snapping in the silence left behind after Lo and Elio drifted away. Garnexis leaned in toward Orivian, earrings chiming faintly as she muttered something to him. His answering smirk carried heat that curled in Garnexis’s posture, and she flicked a glance at me before brushing past Orivian to exit our quad. Orivian followed with unhurried strides, throwing a mocking salute over his shoulder before vanishing out into the corridor after her.
That left only Aster, standing near the mantel, firelight gilding her profile. Her arms folded in front of her. Shadows danced along her student robes, darker violet glints catching in her light blue hair.
I rose from the couch and crossed to her. The warmth of the hearth gave way to something more intoxicating in the space between us.
“We did it.” The triumph in my voice echoed our earlier celebration when we’d finally Transmutated the plant. “And tomorrow we save Halven. We save Nythral. We save everyone.”
Her chin tipped slightly, the smallest acknowledgment.
“And,” I added, stepping closer, “you’re safe. You don’t know how grateful I am for that.”
Her eyes brightened, violet catching the firelight, steady and unflinching. “Safe? Someone still dies tomorrow. Do you think that matters less if it is not me?”
My words stilled. The smile that had touched my mouth faltered, and I studied her as the fire popped again. “No. It matters. But when Isa said it would not be us, I… I could breathe again. Even if it’s selfish, I could breathe.”
She did not turn away, though her arms tightened around herself.
I lifted a hand, brushing her forearm until she let her arms fall open. I stepped closer, easing her into the circle of my body. Her weight tilted toward me without resistance.
I lowered voice as my mouth neared her ear. “And in that moment, I thought of the kiss you let me steal.”
Her lips parted, and I didn’t wait. My mouth found hers. The press was firm, eager, a reclaiming of the heat we had left unfinished weeks ago. Aster leaned into me, hands braced against my chest, but she did not push away. The soft exhale against my mouth was enough to drive me to want more, to pull her with me toward my room, to lose ourselves for just one more night.
I angled her back toward the couch instead, walking her with slow steps until her knees caught the edge. She sank into the cushions, and I came down over her, caging her between the armrest and the breadth of my body. Our mouths crushed together, hungry, searching, my tongue sliding against hers.
Aster matched me, fierce and unyielding, tugging at my shirt with sharp fingers. Heat roared through me.
My hands slid to her robes, pulling at the ties until the fabric loosened and fell aside. A dress lay beneath, thin straps trembling under my touch. I pressed kisses down the line of her throat, tasting her pulse, then caught her nipple through the dress in my teeth, tugging until she moaned. I moved to the other, my mouth merciless, while she arched against me. Her legs shifted around me as she lay back, the press of her body against the hard line of my cock sending fire racing down my spine.
I kissed her mouth again, desperate. The memory of her beneath me once before tangled with the urgency of now. I wanted to sheath myself in her, to be lost in her until nothing else remained. The thought of waiting another night, another breath, scraped at my ribs.
My hands slid lower, along the curve of her hips, up her thighs beneath the dress. Her body shivered against mine, the sound of her moan threading heat straight into my bones. My fingers advanced further, inch by inch toward where I wanted her most.
Her hands caught my wrists. “Ardorion.”
I lifted my head. Her eyes were dark with desire, no a trace of anger on her face.
Her voice steadied, even as her chest rose and fell with uneven breaths. “Wait.”
I froze above her, lips parted, heat straining against restraint.
She searched my face. “We’re celebrating killing something. Tomorrow it won’t be a plant. How can we pretend this doesn’t matter?”
The shift in subject cut through me like a splash of cold water, yet I forced myself to listen. The truth of it pressed against the heat between us. I pushed up slightly, hovering over her.
“Whoever it is, they will give themselves willingly. If they choose it, who am I to tell them they cannot?”
Her gaze didn’t soften. “What if it isn’t a choice? What if it only looks like one?”
I thought of Isa’s commanding presence, the weight of Yukari’s cold voice. Doubt flickered sharp, but I shook my head. “I don’t believe Isa would allow that. We will know the truth tomorrow.”
I bent again, capturing her mouth, trying to burn away the unease with another kiss. My tongue swept hers, insistent, my body pressing into hers again.
She kissed back, hungry still, but when my hands slid once more up her thighs, she caught me again.
Her lips broke from mine, lingering inches away, breath hot on my cheek. “I can’t. Not tonight.”
I rested his forehead against hers, drawing in her uneven breaths.
“My mind is too muddled. Exams. Tomorrow night. Halven. All of it. It isn’t that I don’t want you. But with everything happening, I can’t even figure out if we’re good together.”
My hand cupped her cheek, thumb brushing across her skin. “We are good together. You know it as well as I do. But I’ll wait. As long as you need.”
Her chest trembled with her next inhale, and she turned her face slightly to press her lips against my palm. Then she pushed against my chest until I eased back, letting her sit upright.
She searched my face. “What do you think Yukari will do with the vial? That energy. She still has it.”
I shook my head. “I have no idea, but the things that could be done with that power…” My words tumbled, vivid and restless. “An army raised. Cities healed or destroyed. If it were mine—”
“Ardorion.”
I raised my hands. “I would never. Not for power. Not like that.”
She seemed to believe me, loosening something in my chest.
Her voice was quiet but certain. “That energy exists because we killed something. We broke a living thing down until nothing remained but magic. It’s really unsettling.”
I understood what she meant, and she was probably right, so I gave her a nod.
She rose from the couch, tying and smoothing her robes back into place, but she didn’t walk away immediately. Her fingers brushed the back of my hand, warm, a tether that she released only after a pause too long to be casual.
Without words, I knew this meant we still had a chance once this was all over.
I watched her go, the scent of her still clinging to my skin, the taste of her mouth still burning on my tongue.
