His question catches me off guard.
“Besides accidentally electrocuting someone, revealing my magic to the entire school, and being shipped off to the Council to have them do who knows what to me?” I ask.
“Besides that.” His tone is patient, genuinely curious. “What scares you inhere?”
And then, in the most un-Logan like move ever, he puts his hand on his heart.
I pull my knees to my chest, considering, wanting to give an answer worthy of what he’s asking.
“That everyone will see what I’ve been trying to hide,” I finally say. “Not just the electricity, but that I’m a fraud. A rich girl playing at being special. Couldn’t get into a real college, so I got shipped off to magic school instead.” My voice gets smaller.“And that everyone I’ve ever cared about will leave, and I’ll never belong anywhere.”
He’s quiet for a long moment, and when I look up, there’s something in his eyes that makes my chest tight. Understanding, maybe. Or recognition.
“I won’t leave,” he eventually says, like it’s a fact instead of something he’s saying to make me feel better. “I promise.”
A breeze stirs around us, and every bone in my body aches to close the distance, to feel his arms around me and his lips against mine. But then the memory of him telling me that last night was a mistake flashes through my mind, like a whip lashing across my heart that catches my breath and forces me back into focus.
“Don’t make promises you can’t keep.” I try to smile, but it shows up strained. “Anyway, what about you? What scares the great Logan Ashford?”
He’s quiet so long I think he won’t answer.
“Losing control. Not being strong enough when it matters.” His fingers run over the intertwined wedding bands beneath his shirt as he continues to think. “Failing the people who trust me, losing them because I wasn’t there when they needed me the most, and not being able to fix it, no matter how hard I try.”
The weight of his admission hangs between us, and I want to reach out, but he’s got that invisible wall up again. The one that sayslook but don’t touch.
“We make quite a pair,” I say softly. “The girl who can’t control her power and the guy who can’t stop controlling his.”
“Maybe that’s why this works. Maybe we understand each other in ways others can’t.”
“Is that what this is?” I ask carefully. “Understanding?”
“Among other things.” For just a second, his control cracks, and I see heat in his eyes. The fire he works hard to bury deepinside. Then, as quickly as it appeared, it’s gone. “Now, come on. We’re not staying here.”
“Where are we going?” I ask, but he’s already standing, offering me a hand up. I take it, and he pulls me to my feet, but lets go immediately.
The absence of his warmth on my skin feels colder than it should.
“The Ember Ring,” he says simply. “If you’re going to learn control, you need to practice where your magic is amplified, not suppressed. Think of it like training with weights. Master the hard version, and the easier one will be a breeze.”
“That sounds like a terrible idea.”
He shakes his head slightly in frustration. “I’ve told you—you’re safe with me, Jade,” he says, and when we reach the Ember Ring, I can feel the difference, even from the outside.
Where the Void Pit was empty and dead, this circle hums with potential. The air in it shimmers slightly, like heat waves rising from summer asphalt, as if every molecule is packed with magic.
My electricity hums stronger the closer we get, like it can’t wait to break free.
“Ready?” Logan asks, but he’s already stepping through the boundary into the Ember Ring, as if he doesn’t care if I’m ready or not.
Which, likely, he doesn’t.
“Absolutely not.” I follow him anyway, and when I cross the threshold, bolts of electricity arc between my hands, crackling through the air with violent intensity. One shoots off without warning, and Logan has to dive sideways to avoid it.
The bolt leaves a black scorch mark on the ancient stone.
“Shit!” I try to pull the electricity back, but power pours out of me in silver streams, lighting up the ring. “Get out! I can’t?—”
“Don’t fight it,” he says as another bolt cracks past his shoulder. “Jade, listen to me?—”
