Chapter 21
Jace POV
Morning comes heavy. The jungle feels different in daylight—not safer, just… deceptive. The mist clings to the ground, curling like living fingers, and every step sounds too loud.
Avery walks ahead, Sparkle padding silently beside him. The beast's size should make her impossible to miss, yet she moves like a shadow, fur swallowing light. I watch the way Avery carries himself—back straight, eyes sharp. He's in his element here, cautious but confident, while I feel like every rustling leaf is about to lunge at me.
"Keep your eyes open," he says without looking back. "Camouflage or not, they can't hide their hunger. Pay attention to the air—distortion means they're close."
His voice is steady, matter-of-fact. He's done this before. Too many times.
I nod, even though he can't see me, and tighten my grip on my mana gun.
We move deeper into the jungle, the air thick with moisture and tension. The further we go, the quieter it gets. Not a single birdcall. Not even the buzz of insects.
Avery crouches suddenly, brushing his fingers against the dirt. "Tracks," he murmurs. "Lots of them. And recent."
I step closer, and Sparkle immediately lowers her head between us with a low growl. Avery's hand comes up to stroke her fur, soothing her like you'd calm a child. She relents but doesn't take her glowing eyes off me.
I swallow my irritation. "So we're close."
"Very." His gaze flicks to the thick undergrowth ahead. "Too close."
That's when the first tongue lashes out.
I fire without thinking, blasting the appendage to ash before it reaches us. A shriek echoes from the trees, guttural and sharp. Then, all at once, the jungle shifts—branches swaying, leaves parting, the faint shimmer of distorted air closing in from every direction.
"Fuck," I mutter, raising my guns.
"Don't get sloppy!" Avery barks. He rolls aside as another tongue shoots from nowhere, Sparkle intercepting with a swipe that sends a chameleon crashing into a tree trunk. Its skin flickers through shades of green and brown before it dies, camouflage failing.
More tongues. More distortion. We're surrounded.
I fire, but Avery's right—my aim is wild, and I waste more crystals than I should. He moves with lethal precision, guns blazing, eyes sharp enough to catch the faintest ripple in the air.
"Focus!" he snaps. "Look for what doesn't fit. The shadows. The reflections."
I grit my teeth and force myself to adjust, watching for the shimmer in the leaves, the unnatural bends in light. Slowly, I start landing cleaner shots. But for every one that drops, three more appear.
"Too many," I growl, back pressing against Avery's as we turn in a circle.
"Then stop holding back," he shoots back.
"What—?"
"You heard me. You've got a destructive ability, don't you? Use it!"
I hesitate. My ability isn't neat. It doesn't discriminate. It obliterates.
But looking around—at Avery firing relentlessly, at Sparkle slashing and snarling, at the swarm tightening their circle—I realize I don't have a choice.
I shove my guns back into their holsters and spread my hands. Mana surges in my chest, raw and violent. The air hums. Leaves tremble. The earth itself shudders.
"Get back," I warn, voice low.
Avery glances at me, hesitation flickering across his features, but then he whistles sharply. Sparkle leaps, grabbing him in her jaws like he weighs nothing, and bounds clear of the clearing.
I let go.
The explosion rips through the jungle like a thunderclap. Mana flares white-hot, devouring everything in a perfect sphere. Chameleons screech, their camouflage useless as they're disintegrated in the blast. Trees snap, the ground quakes, and when the light fades—
Nothing remains. Nothing but a crater, wide and smoking, stretching fifty feet across.
I fall to my knees, chest heaving. My body aches from the strain, not exhaustion but more of I haven't done this in a while.
From the edge of the crater, Avery appears with Sparkle beside him. His eyes scan the devastation, then land on me.
"Overkill," he mutters, holstering his guns.
I give a humorless laugh. "Worked, didn't it?"
He doesn't argue. Instead, he watches me quietly, and for once there's no hostility in his gaze.
I pull out the flare gun, loading it with shaking hands, and fire into the sky. The crack echoes through the jungle, a signal to the others that the threat is gone.
The smoke trails upward, and silence falls heavy in its wake.
I sit back, exhausted. Avery approaches, and Sparkle pads protectively beside him. For a moment I think he's going to walk past me entirely—but then he crouches in front of me, close enough that I can see the faint sheen of sweat on his skin, the smudge of dirt on his cheek.
"You alright?" he asks.
"Yeah." My voice comes out rough. "Just… drained."
Something flickers in his eyes—concern, maybe—but then he hides it behind that guarded wall of his. He stands and offers me a hand.
I hesitate. Then take it.
His grip is firm, warm, pulling me to my feet. For a moment, too long, neither of us lets go.
We start walking back toward the treeline, but the ground is uneven, roots and vines tangled like traps. I'm still shaky, still light-headed from the blast. My boot catches on a root, and before I can fall, Avery's hand shoots out, catching my arm.
Our bodies collide.
I grab his waist instinctively, steadying myself, and suddenly we're too close. His breath brushes my cheek, his hand lingers against my chest, and our eyes lock.
Everything else falls away—the jungle, the smoke, the silence. It's just him. His lips, parted. His gaze, stormy and unreadable.
I lean in—just slightly. Too slightly. Enough that the world tilts on its axis.
But before the moment can break, Sparkle growls low and deep, tail swishing dangerously between us. The spell shatters.
Avery pulls back, clearing his throat. "Watch your step, Commander," he says coolly, though his voice isn't as steady as he wants it to be.
I force a smirk, hiding the way my heart hammers in my chest. "Noted."
That wasn't just almost a fall. That was almost a kiss.
And I wanted it.