When I wake up the next morning, I find myself surprised to roll over and feel the bed empty. Sitting up, I blink a few times to clear my vision and look around the room for traces of Leo. However, I'm met with nothing in sight, not even his things.

"Leo?" I call out, despite knowing I probably won't get an answer.

As I continue to look around, I freeze when I notice that my book is also missing, along with Leo and his things.

"You should stop trying to get close to me. It won't end well for you."

"No..." I breathe out, my heart clenching in my chest as realization hits me.

I race out of bed and over to my things, frantically sorting through them only to find that my bow is also missing. My heart sinks and I quickly get changed into my boots and a pair of skinny blue jeans and a teal top with off the shoulder lace sleeves. I clip my pendant around my neck and rush out of the hotel after grabbing my room key, leaving the rest of my things in the room for now to search for Leo and my things. As I rush out onto the road, I spot Leo's figure in the far distance and I sprint down the road as fast as I can, the air burning my lungs and my heart thrumming in my ears.

"Leo!" I shout, his figure still fairly far down the road. "Leo, stop!"

I nearly stumble over my own feet as I continue to run after him and I find myself grateful that the road is empty this early in the morning. My long red hair not in its usual braid, it whips into my face as I run, the wind lightly picking up. As I continue to chase after him, he stops walking and turns to the side, looking at me over his shoulder with a scowl.

"I told you, didn't I?" Leo says, his tone completely and utterly neutral, his eyes like ice in the dead of winter.

My breath hitches in my throat and I stumble to a stop in the middle of the road, roughly twenty feet left between the two of us, my lungs burning for oxygen.

"What's with that look?" Leo laughs bitterly. "Did you think we were becoming friends? I was using you to get Delphine's book, as requested by my heiress. This entire time, you were nothing but an errand to me. Now I suggest you leave before you stop becoming an errand and become a nuisance instead."

"If my book was so important to you, to your heiress, wouldn't my powers be as well?" I shout back. "Wouldn't you take those, too? If you left me with them, you can't truly feel as if I'm nothing to you!"

"I can't take your powers. Maybe if you actually read your damn book you'd know that. Now get out of my way, Rosaline," Leo says, his tone darkening.

"No," I say, clenching my fists at my sides.

Leo breaks his gaze away from me to look at the ground and he throws his stuff aside with his right arm, his left reaching for one of his daggers. I race towards Leo and as he turns to face me to grab his other dagger, I slide between his legs and grab the knife strapped to his thigh. I whirl back up and point the knife towards him, which lit up with energy in the blade upon the handle touching my hand. Flames ignite Leo's daggers and he lunges for me mercilessly. The two of us continue our battle, which consists of me mostly evading his strong attacks and getting in slashes at him during open windows that I spot.

"Running away, just like always," Leo bares his teeth.

"No," I meet his eyes, pressing my left palm forwards against his chest as he leaps towards me, "not anymore."

Leo flies backwards with a burst of light and lands on the road several feet away, his daggers clattering to the asphalt, and I watch as he slowly climbs to his feet and scowls, leaving his daggers abandoned on the ground.

"Okay," Leo laughs, flames swirling around his feet and embers flying into the air as hot winds blow around him, "have it your way."

Leo holds out his right arm and turns his hand so that his palm is facing upwards before he swings his arm diagonally, lava rapidly cracking through the pavement and making its way towards me only for a wall of flames to form in front of me, separating me and Leo. I turn on my heel to run around the flames but they rip up through the ground and form a circle around me, trapping me. I whirl back around and watch as Leo slowly walks through the flames, his right hand dragging a spear made of flames along the ground. Leo suddenly stops before me and grins, chaos flashing in his blue eyes, which have taken on a cold expression. He picks up his spear and twirls it around before he points the end directly at me, his smile widening.

"Run," Leo says, flashing his teeth as he grins.

"Not a chance," I hold my ground, raising my chin at him defiantly, despite how scared I am.

"Wrong decision," Leo says, tone completely flat as he spins around and lunges forwards with his spear.

My eyes widen as I instinctively catch the end of his spear with my hands, throwing his knife off to the side in the process.  I expect it to burn like hell, however, I watch with hitched breath as his spear of flames begins to dissipate and travel into my hands as light energy instead. Leo's own eyes widen in surprise as the light energy crackles between my fingers and I form it into a ball of light. Instantly, I shout as I hurl the light towards him and he flies even further than the last time, cracking the pavement where he lands.

I pick up Leo's knife from the ground and absorb the wall of flames with my free hand, turning it into light energy so that I may pass through and approach Leo. As I walk closer to him, I notice him trying to get up and I leap on him, straddling his hips as I hold his knife under his chin. As I look into Leo's eyes, I notice there's emotion swimming in them once again along with the chaos, an emotion that almost looks like guilt.

"You continue to surprise me, Rosaline," Leo breathes out as he stares in my eyes, winded.

"Never underestimate me," I scowl.

"I never said I did," Leo chuckles in return.

"I want you to get your things and go," I say, my eyes searching his. "You hear me? Turn around and never look back."

"Come now, what happened to our friendship, Rosie?" Leo grins teasingly.

"You burned it when you burned me," I say, climbing off of him.

I walk away from him and sort through his things until I find my book and my bow, pulling them out and picking up his daggers to stuff them inside instead, and then I turn around and throw his bags so that they land on his chest as he tries to get back up, making his back hit the ground again as he grunts.

"You're too cruel," Leo sighs. "Anyone I fight is a friend to me, you know."

"Strange way of showing friendship," I scoff and Leo laughs.

"Maybe," Leo winces as he sits up and moves his stuff off of him, "but I only vanquish my enemies."

"Right..." I trail off, feeling as if I'd hate to see him when he's actually trying his hardest if he considers what he just did some kind of friendly competition.

"I'll see you around, Rosie," Leo grins, throwing his bags over his shoulder with his right hand and putting his left in his front pants pocket before he turns around and walks away.

"Rosaline!" Selia shouts as she runs towards me, her eyes wide upon seeing all the ruins and burning flames. "Did that bastard hurt you? I knew he'd show his true colors eventually! Piece of shit, I ought to—"

"No," I breathe out, watching as he walks away in the distance, "it's okay. Let him go."

"What?" Selia's eyebrows furrow in confusion, a frown forming on her face. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah..." I sigh, "he won't be a problem."

"If you say so..." Selia sighs in return, "but if you ask me, he'll be back."

"What makes you say that?" I look over at her as she stands beside me.

"Because, once a flame finds his moth, he never lets her go until it's too late and she burns alive, but she doesn't mind the burn if it's for him," Selia says quietly, turning away to go put out the rest of Leo's fires before anyone else notices.

"Yeah..." I breathe out quietly, thinking back to Leo's words the other day, "or maybe I'm the flame."