CHAPTER THIRTEEN – Something Between
Auriella
I didn't move for a full minute after Cassian left.
Didn't breathe right. Didn't think clearly. Just stood there, back against the bookshelf, like I'd been struck by lightning and hadn't quite figured out if I was dead or alive yet.
What the hell just happened?
One minute, I was talking to Alervon—cold, calm, unreadable Alervon—and the next, Cassian was in front of me, all heat and pressure and something that felt too much like claiming.
And both of them—both—looked like they were going to kiss me.
But neither of them did.
What was I supposed to do with that?
My heart was still racing. Not in that romantic, fluttery way. In the what the actual hell is going on kind of way.
And it wasn't just the closeness.
It was the look in their eyes.
Starting with Alervon.
He had me cornered earlier, one hand braced beside my head like he had every right to be that close. His voice was low—always low—but something about it that day felt different. There was a crack in it, barely there. A tension, maybe. Or maybe I imagined it.
Because Alervon doesn't crack.
He doesn't show anything. Ever.
He's made of ice and shadows, and if he ever bled, I swear it would be silver.
But for a breath of a second, while the world held still and he stood inches from me, I saw it.
Something in his eyes.
Like he wanted to say something but didn't trust himself to say it.
Or like he was at war with something inside him.
And I would've sworn on the moon that he was about to kiss me.
His gaze dropped to my lips. I felt the air shift.
Then he pulled back.
No explanation. Just cold silence and that same blank expression.
Like he hadn't almost done something reckless.
Alervon affected me like… pressure. Like a storm building in the distance. I couldn't read him, and I hated that I wanted to try. He brought out the quiet in me—the girl who second-guessed her next move, who wondered what would happen if she reached into the dark just one inch further.
He made me still.
Not weak. Just still.
And then… Cassian.
He was something else entirely.
Where Alervon was ice, Cassian was flame.
Too close, and you'd get burned. But gods, the heat felt alive.
Cassian didn't have to speak much. He just looked at me and I felt something shift in my chest. Something I didn't want. Didn't expect.
And when he stepped into the library, after Alervon had gone, and found me there—alone, reeling—it was like the air changed all over again.
He didn't say much. He didn't have to.
It was the way he looked at me. Like he already knew things about me I hadn't admitted out loud. Like I was a problem he wasn't trying to solve—just feel through.
And the worst part?
I wanted to let him.
When he reached out—barely touching me, brushing that strand of hair back—I thought he was going to kiss me too.
I wanted to know what that kiss would feel like.
But just like Alervon… he stopped.
Pulled back.
And then said something that's still echoing in my skull.
"I don't play games."
What did that even mean?
Was I the game?
Or was this his way of saying he meant it—whatever this was—too much to mess it up?
Alervon made me feel alive. Dangerous. Like I could do anything and the world would have to deal with it. He didn't quiet me—he pulled me out. He made me bold. Made me sharp. Made me want to break things just to feel them shatter.
Alervon challenged me to be better that who I was whole Cassian toldevthat was who I was.
Cassian made me feel like I could walk through fire, he made me bold, like could command a crowd and they would listen, like I could be the leader that everyone wanted me to be.
And now I'm stuck in the middle.
One boy made me feel like An Inferno that could destroy the world. The other made me feel like a weapon.
And I don't know which version of me I want to be.
All I know is this:
They both looked like they wanted me.
They both stopped themselves.
And neither of them said why.
"'''
Of course they were both in my next class.
Because the universe hates me and lives for chaos.
It was supposed to be a basic mission simulation: pick teams, plan an infiltration, retrieve the marked item from a hidden field base without getting "killed."
Easy.
Fun, even.
Until the instructor announced the pairings and said my name alongside two others:
> "Aurielle Duskthorn. Cassian Hartgrave. Aleron Vane."
Silence.
I blinked. My stomach dropped. And behind me, I felt it.
Two presences.
Both of them heavy.
Both of them watching.
I didn't have to look to know. I could feel their attention like a second skin.
Cassian—hot, intense, too loud even in his silence.
And Aleron—cold, unreadable, already bored of breathing the same air as everyone else.
> This is fine. Totally fine. Just a fire and an iceberg on opposite sides of me and I'm the idiot stuck in the middle.
I stood there, waiting to be struck by lightning or grace or—hell—even a fake injury to get out of it. Nothing happened.
So I walked.
Toward them.
They stood a few feet apart. Not facing each other. Not speaking. But the air between them could've sliced through bone.
Alervon looked at me first. His expression was stone, but his eyes flicked down—just once—to my lips.
Like he remembered.
Like he was daring me to.
Cassian's eyes never left mine. His jaw was clenched, arms crossed, leaning against the wall like he was ready to knock it down.
Neither of them said a word.
I cleared my throat. "So... teamwork?"
Cassian's lip curled. "You sure you're ready for both of us?"
There was weight in the way he said it.
Challenge.
Possession.
A flicker of heat that danced way too low in my stomach.
Aleron didn't flinch. "Don't slow us down."
Classic.
> "You could try not being cryptic for once," I snapped at him. "Just speak like a normal emotionally unavailable combat prodigy."
His brow lifted. Just slightly. "Why would I ruin your fascination?"
That shut me up for a second.
Cassian's body shifted next to me—like the tension in his shoulders had coiled tighter. His gaze slid to Alervon, and for the first time, I felt the crackle between them. Not just cold versus fire. Not just rivals.
Predators.
Both circling the same spark.
Me.
"Let's just get this over with," I muttered, turning toward the mission briefing tablet. "Retrieve the stolen dagger, don't get spotted, and don't die. Easy."
Cassian stepped up behind me, his voice low. "I never do anything easy."
Alervon came to my other side. "Don't confuse reckless with fearless."
And suddenly I was between them.
Two opposite storms.
Cassian's heat brushing against my back like a warning. Alervon's presence a whisper of ice at my side.
One pulse.
One heartbeat.
And somehow… I felt like I belonged right here.
Between danger and desire.
---
The Mission Start.
The simulation began just outside the academy's training forest. Sun dipping low. Air sharp.
We moved fast—Cassian up front, cutting through obstacles like they owed him an apology. Aleron moved behind, ghost-like, making no sound, no mistakes.
I tried to focus. I did.
But every time I looked at Cassian's broad back and the way his shirt clung to him when he moved, I remembered that moment in the library. That almost-kiss. That line he threw—
> "I don't play games."
Then Aleron brushed past me once, hand at the small of my back to steady me over a ledge. Just the lightest touch. But it lingered.
And I remembered his breath against my ear when he cornered me before.
I wasn't imagining it.
They both wanted me.
And they both refused to do anything about it.
Until now.
---
We reached the objective.
Cassian reached for it first. Alervon caught his wrist.
Their eyes locked.
I stepped between them.
"Seriously? You're gonna fight now?"
Cassian didn't look at me. Just muttered, "I don't like being followed."
Alervon's voice was colder than frostbite. "Then lead better."
The tension hit critical mass.
> "Okay, both of you need to chill," I snapped, stepping back.
Cassian looked at me then. Really looked.
"You keep letting him touch you like that, and I won't chill."
My heart stuttered. "He wasn't—"
"I saw you," Cassian said, voice low. "In the library. With him, he's bad new Auri"
Alervon took one slow step forward. "Mind your words wolf, she can choose whoever she wants"
> "I don't see you walking away," Cassian growled.
And then—then—they both looked at me.
Waiting.
Like I was the thing they'd been circling all along.
And all I could think was:
I'm in so much trouble.