Rose
The room felt too small.
I paced like a caged thing, the walls pressing in on me, the silence between council sessions thick enough to choke on. My chest burned with fury, my palms itched for the weight of steel. Every smirk from Adrian replayed in my head, every word from Shadowhand echoing like a curse.
The fire in me demanded violence. My body was still wired for war, not politics. Politics made me want to bleed something just to remind them all I was still Chaos, not some pawn they could maneuver across a board.
"You're panicking."
His voice cut through the storm. Low. Calm. Unshakable.
I froze, then turned. Asher King stood in the shadows near the window, arms crossed, his presence like a blade drawn in silence. His eyes tracked me, steady, sharp, dissecting, icy.
"I don't panic," I snapped. My words came out harsher than I intended, defensive.
One corner of his mouth twitched, not a smile but a knowing tilt. "Yes, you do. You just hide it under rage. You think if you snarl loud enough, no one will see your hands shaking."
I stilled. My hands were trembling. From fury, from exhaustion, from the endless grind of pretending I was unbreakable. My nails dug crescents into my palms to steady them.
"You don't know what the hell you're talking about," I bit out, pacing again just to avoid his gaze.
But he didn't move, didn't let me escape. "I know exactly what I'm talking about, Rose."
The way he said my name not Chaos, not Lord, not heir Rose. It stripped the armor from my skin in a single word.
I hated that, I hated the effect he had on me.
"Save your lectures, Detective," I spat, throwing the title at him like venom. "You're not here to analyze me like your case. You're here because I allow it."
That should have pushed him back. It should have built a wall between us, the way I always did.
But Asher was not like the others. He didn't retreat when I bit. He advanced.
"Careful," he said, voice low, dangerous. "You keep pushing me, one day you'll find out I don't move the way Cassian does."
The comparison sliced deeper than I wanted it to. Rage flared, sharp and defiant, because how dare he stand there and think he had any claim over me? HOW DARE HE?
So I smirked. Cold. Sharp. Teasing. like a dagger.
"Or maybe you're just jealous, Asher. Watching from the shadows while Cassian has what you want. Must sting, doesn't it?" I teased
I expected him to snap back. To scowl. To storm out.
Instead, he moved. Fast.
One second I was standing tall, the next his hand clamped around the back of my neck, strong and unyielding, forcing my head back just enough to meet his gaze. His eyes burned, dark fire licking at the edges of restraint.
"You think this is a game?" he growled, voice like thunder trapped in steel.
"I thought you liked long games detective" I stared into his eyes. I never really pay attention to his eyes. They were Blue. Like the sea, beautiful and bottomless... "say my name"
Before I could answer, his mouth crashed onto mine.
The world tilted.
The kiss was not gentle. It wasn't sweet. It was fire raw, consuming, a storm unleashed after too long caged. His lips bruised, his grip on my nape held me in place, claiming, commanding. His other hand caged me against the wall. I shoved at his chest once, twice, denial sparking through me, but it only dragged me deeper. The harder I pushed, the fiercer he kissed, until my resistance melted into heat.
His teeth grazed my bottom lip, pulling a gasp from me I swore I'd never give. My hands betrayed me, fisting in the fabric of his shirt, dragging him closer when I should have shoved him away.
Every breath, every second, every piece of me felt branded by him. And when he finally tore his mouth from mine, I was left gasping, dazed, my knees weak beneath me. My lips burned, my pulse thundered, my entire body shivering from the aftershock.
He didn't let go of my neck right away. He kept me there, inches apart, his forehead nearly touching mine. His breath fanned hot against my lips as he spoke.
"Remember this, Rose," he murmured, voice deep, intimate, lethal. "We are bound in fire and chaos. You can deny it, you can fight it, you can hate me for it but it will consume you all the same."
I swallowed hard, trembling despite myself. Rage, want, denial all of it tangled into a knot I couldn't cut through.
"You arrogant bastard," I hissed, shoving at him again. This time he let me go. My body staggered back, dazed, burning.
But his words clung to me like smoke. Bound in fire and chaos.
I hated how much they rang true.
Before I could gather the shards of my composure, the door creaked open.
Adrian stepped in.
His smirk was a blade, sharp and gloating. His gaze swept over me, taking in the flush on my face, the disheveled state of my hair, the way I still breathed too fast.
He didn't see the kiss. He didn't know. But his eyes narrowed just slightly, suspicion and rage simmering beneath his polished mask.
"Well, well," Adrian drawled, his voice dripping mockery. "Look at you, little cousin. Already cracking under the weight of the throne? What a shame. All those years of Chaos, and now you can't even sit through a council without breaking."
"Fuck off," I snapped, my voice venom. My hand was already at my thigh, fingers wrapping around the grip of my gun.
But before I could raise it, Asher's hand closed around my waist. Firm. Grounding. Stopping me. His touch seared through the layers of my suit, a silent command: Not here. Not now.
My chest heaved with fury, but I forced myself to drop the gun back into its holster.
Adrian chuckled, but I caught the flicker of rage in his eyes. He wanted me to lose control. He wanted me to bleed for him.
Instead, I leaned forward, my voice a razor's edge. "The next time you walk into my chambers uninvited, Adrian, I won't stop at pulling my gun. I'll put a bullet between your eyes and let Shadowhand clean up the mess."
His smirk faltered, just for a heartbeat. Then he bowed, mocking, and turned on his heel.
When the door shut behind him, the silence roared louder than a battlefield.