My phone vibrated in my pocket again. The fifth time in the last hour. I knew who it was without looking, but I pulled it out anyway, staring at my father’s name flashing across the screen. Ignoring him would only make it worse.
“What?” I answered, my voice tight.
“Is that how you address your father?” His voice was cold. The voice that had critiqued me since I could walk, that had never once told me I’d done enough.
I pinched the bridge of my nose. “I’m at a gathering, sir. Did you need something urgent?”Gatheringwas a loose term for this fuck fest out here in the woods.
“Your future is urgent, Aiden. The Assembly has been inquiring about your axis prospects. Third year without one is unacceptable for a Reece.”
My jaw clenched so hard I thought my teeth might crack. “I’m aware of the timeline.”
“Are you? Because your mother and I bonded in our first year. Your sisters all secured their bonds by their second. Yet here you are, the only son, still running that shield without proper foundation.”
I turned away from the party, walking deeper into the trees. “The Nightfall Shield has the highest success rate in the academy without an axis. Our combat scores?—”
“Are irrelevant if you can’t complete the bond. The Assembly is losing patience. They’re prepared to arrange a match if you can’t manage it yourself.”
The magic inside me flared hot beneath my skin, gold light flickering across my knuckles. “I don’t need them meddling in my fucking life.”
“Don’t you? Your grandfather sat on the Council. I’ve served the Assembly for thirty years with my shield. The Reece name means something, and I will not have you tarnishing it with your stubborn pride.”
“My shield is mine,” I growled. “I’ll choose our axis when I find someone worthy.”
“You have until the end of term.” His voice dropped. “Or I’ll have the Assembly step in. There are several candidates they’ve been monitoring. One in particular they seem quite invested in.”
“That’s not how this works,” I said, even though we both knew it was exactly how it worked for families like ours.
“Your sister called yesterday. Even Eliza asked if you’d managed to secure an axis yet. What do you think I told her?”
I stopped walking, my free hand curling into a fist. “I don’t give a fuck what you told the little kiss ass.”
“Watch your language,” he snapped. “You have until term end, like I said. After that, I’m making the arrangements myself. Don’t embarrass me, Aiden.”
The call ended, and I stood there in the darkness, breathing hard, the magic in me swirling beneath my skin like molten gold. The rage built until I couldn’t contain it anymore. With a snarl, I slammed my fist into the nearest tree trunk, my magic coiling around my knuckles in bright arcs. The bark split with a satisfying crack, splinters flying as my power scorched the wood.
I hit it again. And again. The pain shooting up my arm was nothing compared to the fire in my chest.
When I finally stopped, my knuckles were bloody beneath the fading glow of my magic. The tree had a crater the size of my fist burned into its trunk, the edges still smoldering.
Perfect. Another fucking expectation I couldn’t meet. The golden son who couldn’t live up to the family legacy. The disappointment.
I leaned back against a different tree and pulled a joint from my pocket, lighting it with a snap of my fingers. The first inhale burned my lungs in the best way, and I held the smoke as long as I could before releasing it toward the night sky. The tension in my shoulders eased slightly as the high began to settle in.
“There you are.”
I didn’t bother opening my eyes. I knew Melissa’s voice, one of the many girls who’d been circling the shield since first year, hoping to catch our attention. Taurus designation. Powerful, but not particularly interesting.
“Not now,” I said flatly.
“You look tense,” she murmured, and I felt her step closer. “Bad call?”
I took another long drag. “Something like that.”
When I finally opened my eyes, she was standing right in front of me, her hair falling in waves over her shoulders, her eyesreflecting the distant starlight. She was pretty enough, with full lips, a nice figure, and more importantly, she knew the score. No expectations, no complications.
She reached for the joint, and I let her take it, watching as she inhaled deeply before handing it back. Without a word, she sank to her knees in front of me, her hands already at my belt.
I didn’t stop her as she unbuttoned my jeans and pulled down the zipper. I didn’t care enough to. When her mouth found me, I simply leaned my head back against the tree and closed my eyes again, taking another hit from the joint.
