Chapter 15: Fevered Bloom
The world outside screamed.
But inside, it was worse.
⸻
Aria writhed in her sleep, sheets tangled around her long limbs, sweat soaking the collar of her shirt. Her breath came in gasps, heat rolling off her body in waves—unnatural and wild.
Selene had seen fevers before.
But this… this was something else.
A storm beneath her skin.
Magic, barely leashed.
She watched from the corner of the room at first, arms crossed tightly. She wasn't good at gentle. Wasn't good at closeness. Not anymore.
But when Aria whimpered—
Whispered something like "Don't leave…" in a cracked voice—
Selene moved.
⸻
She knelt beside the bed.
Aria's skin was scalding.
Fingers twitching like she was gripping something in her dreams—fire, perhaps. Or time itself.
Selene hesitated.
Then took her hand.
And that's when it happened.
⸻
Aria pulled her.
Not with strength.
With need.
With something deeper.
⸻
Their bodies touched—Selene half-falling against her, arms instinctively catching her waist as Aria buried her face in Selene's neck.
Selene gasped.
Because she felt it—
The flare of heat sink into her—
And fade.
Not completely.
But enough.
Enough that Aria's breath stopped shaking.
Enough that her fingers relaxed.
Enough that she sighed softly, her forehead pressed to Selene's shoulder.
⸻
Selene's core was cold. Always had been.
A byproduct of her ice affinity.
And now, it was the only thing that calmed the girl glowing like an ember.
She didn't pull away.
Not even when Aria murmured, half-conscious, "You smell like winter…"
Not even when her hands curled into Selene's shirt, delicate fingers knotting in silent plea.
⸻
Selene closed her eyes.
And for a moment… let herself forget.
Forget the death.
Forget the blood.
Forget that this wasn't her Aria. Not yet.
She wrapped her arms around her anyway.
Held her like the world was already gone.
Because in some ways—it was.