I fell silent.
Emotions coursed through me with such intensity that I couldn’t even begin to sort through them.
“Tell me,” Orion said loudly.
Corvus didn’t bother to admonish him as more students gathered around us. He held his breath like he was also waiting to hear.
I bit down on my lower lip.
They were still my mates, and I didn’t want to hurt them.
This one would hurt.
“Tell him,” Corvus said roughly, and the unspoken tell me hung heavy in the air between us.
I tipped my head back and rested it against my Ignis’s warm arm. “She bled. That was her first time with a man.”
Corvus’s skin sizzled as fire danced off his skull. He clenched his jaw and breathed roughly.
“Corvus, cut the flames!” John yelled across the field.
A long moment stretched.
My Ignis shook with rage and barked back, “I can’t.”
He trembled. He was losing control.
I put my hand on his shoulder to offer comfort, but my fingers shook. I felt the same way.
A few seconds later John jumped through the flames with Arabella in his arms. His footsteps rustled the grass as he walked toward us.
Corvus grunted.
There was an insidious crackling, then a loud fizzle. Half the lawn exploded into flames.
Somewhere behind us Lothaire swore and shouted at servants to put it out. He knew about Corvus’s inability to control his flames.
None of us said anything as they approached.
When John walked past, Corvus and Orion followed him toward the academy.
Fire spread across the arena, and it sounded like the world was burning.
You didn’t mess with my Ignis.
The ancient House of Malum was revered for a reason.
More and more circumstances were spiraling out of our control, and nothing good ever came from us and disorder.
You didn’t trap us.
We killed our way out of a corner.
A dark feeling stabbed my gut, and I dug my nails into the back of my Ignis’s neck to reassure myself. Orion grabbed my hand with his to offer comfort.
It didn’t work.
As I rubbed at the tattoo on my hip, I had an awful feeling.