His entire body went still.
“Touch her for another fucking second,” Jakobav said, voice low and clear, “and you won’t leave this balcony alive.”
Caelen didn’t release her.
He didn’t flinch.
“Jake—wait. You don’t know what he’s capable of.”
Caelen turned his head slightly, his grip still locked around Ella’s wrist. “You can go back inside now,” he said calmly. “We have catching up to do. I apologize if I worried you, but she’s taken care of.”
“Ella,” Jakobav said, his eyes fixed on Caelen’s hand, “come here.”
She tried to step back; Caelen’s hold didn’t budge.
“How bold of you to bring your leash into Orchid, Ellandria,” Caelen murmured.
Jakobav bared his teeth, releasing a low warning growl. “Careful,” he said softly. “You’re confusing which one of us is on a leash.”
Caelen straightened, color climbing his cheekbones. “You don’t realize who you’re up against, brute. No matter. You’ll learn. Ellandria was always meant to stand beside me. That was the plan before she ran off to”—his gaze dragged slowly over Ella, voice dropping low—“play in enemy beds.”
Jakobav’s hand twitched toward his blade, and Ella’s chest tightened.
“Jakobav,” she hissed under her breath.
But Caelen only smiled wider. “Tell me, Ellandria—does he touch you the way I will? Does he know everything you’re destined to become? Everything that was promised to me.” His eyes gleamed as he leaned closer, his voice barely above a whisper now. “Think of it. The power we would wield as a mated pair.”
The last tether snapped. Jakobav reacted, closing the distance, a cold fury radiating from him.
The sword sang free of its sheath, slicing through the air.
Caelen’s grip didn’t lessen. Fire bloomed across his arms, crawling like molten veins until his skin glowed from within. The heat rippled outward, piercing and metallic, like iron left in the forge too long. Sweat prickled at her brow, her silk skirt clinging damp against her legs. He flexed his fingers, and flame snaked down them in dark-orange threads, eager to ignite.
“Veinfire,” Ella whispered to Jakobav, knowing a warning wouldn’t save him from it.
Caelen’s grin turned venomous, and his other hand closed around her forearm before she could twist away, power licking across her skin, her veins flaring with sudden light. Ella gasped and yanked back, a thin scorch streaking across her arm like venom. Veinfire behaved differently than any other Orchid flame. It couldn’t burn cloth. It was hungry only for flesh, eager to sear deeply, devouring its victim from inside out, from soul to skin.
It was the only fire Ella couldn’t bend to her will.
Jakobav moved. His sword slammed down between them, sparks flaring as metal met flame. The smell of scorched skin permeated the air. His gaze snapped to her arm, to the faint glow beneath her skin, and something inside him seemed to lock into place. His voice came out low and very calm.
“You should never touch a woman who wants nothing from you,” Jakobav said, each word slow and lethal. “You are nothing.”
His sword hit Caelen hard, driving him back a full step and ripping his hand off her. Ella stumbled free, scrambling behind Jakobav as he stepped forward, placing himself squarely between them.
Caelen’s hand shot toward Jakobav’s throat.
If he got a grip, those deadly veins would blaze under Jakobav’s skin—and strength wouldn’t matter. Veinfire would kill him.
But Jakobav moved faster.
Steel clashed against fire, sparks flying. Caelen swung again, and this time, the Veinfire latched onto Jakobav, searing across his knuckles and spreading up his arm. He didn’t pull his arm back.
Why wasn’t he moving?
Fuck.
Ella’s stomach plunged.
