Celeste sat up so quickly her head spun, breath uneven and heart racing before she was fully awake. She sat frozen, her pulse thundering as the remnants of sleep vanished beneath the rush of last night's memories crashing back into her.
Jase. His golden eyes, glowing in the dark. His fingers, brushing against her cheek, skimming down her jaw like a whisper, like a promise.
His lips on hers.
A small, startled sound escaped her, and heat rushed to her face. She buried her face in her hands, gripping the pillow as if it could erase what had happened, as if it could stop her from remembering every detail.
Did that really happen?
Celeste squeezed her eyes shut, trying to breathe and think, but her mind pulled her back into the moment with relentless clarity.
She had kissed Jase.
Or… no.
Jase had kissed her. And worse she had kissed him back.
Her stomach twisted, flipped, knotted itself into something unbearable.
What did that even mean?
Was it just a moment? A heat-of-the-moment impulse, something reckless and fleeting, something they could both pretend never happened? Or… did it mean something more?
Did it mean something more to him?
Celeste groaned loudly, collapsing backward onto her bed, staring up at the ceiling as her pulse refused to calm down, her entire body still humming with the remnants of something she wasn't ready to name.
This was a problem. A huge problem.
She was a Mortalis. He was a Luminary. They weren't supposed to—
Celeste grabbed her pillow and pressed it over her face, letting out a muffled scream, kicking her legs against the bed in sheer, frantic frustration.
What was she supposed to do now?
—
Jase stretched and rolled onto his back, arms folded behind his head as he stared at the ceiling. Unlike Celeste, he wasn't panicking or second-guessing. He knew exactly what had happened last night and what it meant.
There had been no hesitation in her, no pulling away. She had kissed him back. And that changed everything.
A faint smirk tugged at his lips, his golden eyes still bright from last night. Celeste could run, pretend it hadn't happened, call it a mistake. She could fight it all she wanted.
It wouldn't change the truth.
Jase's fingers tapped lightly against his stomach, his smirk deepening as he replayed the moment in perfect detail, the hitch in her breath, the rapid beat of her pulse beneath his fingers, the way she leaned in instead of pulling away. He had felt the moment the line between them vanished, burned away when her fingers curled into his shirt.
Jase smiled because he had felt it and so had she.
*****
Celeste did everything she could to avoid Jase the next day. She had mapped out a plan in her head the moment she woke up: avoid the main hallways, duck into classrooms if needed, never make eye contact, and act normal.
It might have worked, except the more she avoided him, the more aware she became of him. His voice cut through the noise of students. His golden gaze caught hers before she could look away. The smirk on his lips whenever their eyes met, as if he knew exactly what she was doing and wasn't fooled for a second.
It was driving her insane.
She had just finished stuffing books into her locker, mentally chanting calming affirmations to not spiral into another episode of what the hell am I supposed to do about Jase, when a shadow fell over her. A very familiar shadow.
"…Are you going to keep running from me?"
Celeste's stomach plummeted.
Oh no.
Slowly, she turned, heat already rushing to her face before she saw him. Jase stood there, leaning against the lockers with his arms crossed, looking calm and amused, as if her avoiding him all day had been nothing but entertainment.
Celeste swallowed hard, her fingers tightening around the edge of her locker. "I—I'm not running."
Jase's smirk deepened slightly, his golden eyes flickering with pure mockery. "Really? Because it kind of looks like you are."
She scowled, snapping her locker shut with way too much force. "I just—"
"Good."
Celeste blinked. "What?"
Jase stepped closer, his golden eyes dancing with something unreadable, his voice lower, more deliberate. "I said, good. Because last night… I think we had something important to talk about."
Celeste's face turned bright red.
Jase just watched her, his smirk widening, looking entirely too satisfied as she floundered for a response, trying desperately to pretend like the mention of last night wasn't sending her straight into cardiac arrest.
And then—
"Oh. My. Gods."
Celeste jumped, her stomach dropping as she spun around so quickly she nearly lost her balance. Amy stood there, violet eyes wide with glee, clutching Lucas's arm as if witnessing the greatest revelation in history. She practically vibrated with excitement, an energy that made Celeste's stomach twist.
"Do you see what I see?!" Amy squealed, her voice sharp enough to make Celeste flinch.
Lucas, standing beside her with the same all-knowing, entertained smirk, folded his arms across his chest and grinned. "Oh yeah."
Celeste panicked. "What?! There's nothing to see!"
Amy smirked.
That was never a good sign.
"Celeste, darling… you're glowing."
Celeste nearly died on the spot. Her entire body went rigid, her breath caught in her throat, her face burning so hot she was certain she would combust right then and there. "I AM NOT—"
Lucas snorted, shaking his head with that infuriating Lucas-like grin. "You totally are."
Celeste felt her soul leave her body.
But Amy? Amy wasn't done yet.
Her sharp gaze snapped to Jase, and Celeste barely had a second to prepare herself before Amy zeroed in on her new target, her entire face lighting up with the kind of excitement that meant nothing but absolute doom. "Did you kiss her?"
Celeste choked. "AMY—"
Jase smirked. He didn't deny it or correct her.
He just sat there, looking cool, unbothered, and insufferable, his golden eyes flickering with amusement, his lips curling just enough to infuriate her. Celeste swore this was the most obnoxious she had ever seen him.
Amy, who should have been banned from speaking forever, let out a scream and clutched Lucas like she was witnessing the scandal of the century. Lucas shook his head in mock admiration, giving Jase a look that was both teasing and impressed. "Damn, Jase. You work fast."
Celeste covered her face, mortified, wishing for the earth to swallow her whole. She had never wanted more time to rewind or reality to glitch.
Jase just chuckled, completely satisfied with himself. His golden eyes gleamed with smug self-satisfaction, the kind that made her want to throw something at him.
Amy waggled her eyebrows, grinning like a cat with cream. "Sooo… soulmate glow confirmed?"
Celeste froze and her heart stopped.
Her wide-eyed panic snapped to Jase, terror flooding her chest. Was he really going to answer that in front of everyone?
Jase leaned in, too close, too deliberate, his golden eyes locked on hers. His smirk widened, his voice low and teasing, every word dripping with smug satisfaction.
"…Wouldn't you like to know?"
Celeste threw a book at him.
*****
By the time Celeste left school, the chaotic whirlwind from earlier had faded, replaced by a creeping unease that settled deep in her chest. The streets were quiet and the silence pressing against her ears like an invisible weight.
She shivered, an unexplainable chill running down her spine. Then a shadow flickered.
Celeste froze.
Her breath hitched as she turned sharply, scanning the empty street behind her, but… there was nothing. The air was too still, the unnatural hush making her stomach twist.
They're still watching her.
Fingers tightening around her bag, she quickened her pace, her pulse hammering in her ears. What did the Abyssals want from her? And why did she have the terrible feeling that something big was coming?
She had just reached her doorstep when she felt a presence, close, familiar, waiting. The shift in the air sent a ripple of unease down her spine, a quiet but certain awareness pressing against the edges of her senses, setting every nerve on edge. Someone's there. Her fingers curled slightly at her sides, her heart already picking up speed before she even turned around.
"Jase?"
The moment she saw him, her breath caught. He stood by her gate, arms crossed, golden eyes glinting in the dim evening light, watching her in a way that made her heart skip. He looked relaxed, too relaxed, but the way he held himself, controlled and deliberate, made her stomach twist. He hadn't just happened to be here; he had been waiting for her.
"Why are you here?" she asked, swallowing against the unease creeping up her throat, though she wasn't sure if it was from the quiet tension in his stance or the way her pulse refused to settle when he looked at her like that.
Jase's expression didn't waver. "Because I don't trust them."
Celeste frowned, confusion flickering through her. "Who?"
He stepped closer, slow and deliberate, the kind of movement that set off every warning in her mind, but she couldn't move away, couldn't look away. "The Abyssals."
Her body tensed instantly, the memory of that eerie, suffocating darkness crawling back into her thoughts like a shadow that refused to be forgotten.
"You think they'll come back?" she asked softly, the words barely escaping past her lips.
Jase's jaw tightened, his golden eyes sharpening, unreadable but certain. "I don't think so. I know."
The conviction in his voice sent a shiver through her, the weight of his words pressing heavily against her chest. There was no hesitation, no doubt. Jase wasn't guessing. He knew. And that realization alone made something cold coil deep in her stomach.
And then—
His smirk returned.
The teasing curve of his lips was infuriating, a complete contrast to the tension from only seconds ago, but the gleam in his golden eyes sent a different kind of shiver through her—one that had nothing to do with fear. Something dangerous. Something reckless.
"Besides… now that I've kissed you, it wouldn't be very Luminary of me to leave my soulmate unprotected, would it?"
Celeste froze.
Her entire face burned as his words sank in, the casual, effortless way he had said them, like it was fact, like it was already decided, like it wasn't something that was currently wrecking her entire existence.
"Y-YOU—"
Jase chuckled, stepping closer, his smirk deepening, his voice lowering into something that made her entire body betray her. "Thinking about it?"
Celeste didn't think—
She acted.
The bag in her hands flew before she even processed the movement, aimed directly at his infuriating, smug face—
But of course, he caught it effortlessly, barely even fazed, his expression shifting into one of pure, insufferable amusement as he tilted his head, clearly enjoying this too much.
"Get some rest," he murmured, his voice lower, softer, and infinitely more dangerous. "I'll see you tomorrow."
And then—
Before she could yell, argue, demand what the hell he meant, or throw something at him, he turned and disappeared into the night, completely unbothered, leaving her standing there, completely, utterly wrecked.
Celeste clutched her bag against her chest, her breath uneven, her thoughts spiraling, the heat in her face refusing to fade.
…She was in so much trouble.