HELLO Kellan and Jaxon fans! Yes, a chapter with both guys? Woo, you are in luck. Hope you enjoy the latest piece. :)

Floral notes scented the breeze, while Kellan tread water only a few feet away. "My brother has wanted the throne for years. This was just his excuse to make a play for it. With me out of the way, he's next in line."

The word death reverberated in my skull. I stood, letting the water drip down my body into the pool circling my waist.

"When were you going to tell me about the penalty for breaking the contract?" I pushed a couple of steps closer with the Fire Circle scarf clinging to my legs. "When Kellan?"

"Up until now, I haven't exactly had the opportunity, have I?"

He seemed too calm for someone facing the death penalty. "You knew this might happen."

He nodded and threaded a hand through his hair. "Everyday for the past three years your absence tortured me. When you were sad or scared, I felt everything you were going through as if you only this far away." He gestured to the distance between us. "But not being able to see you or feel your touch?"

He ran a finger down my arm and gazed into the pool. "Let's just say there's nothing I wouldn't do to be with you—including face death."

That was a statement I believed. "You're crazy."

If Otis had anything to do with it, Kellan wouldn't be facing charges—he'd be accepting them.

"And you're not?" He jerked his head up to look at me. "Who's the one who broke into the Fire Circle prison on a hope to break their mother out?"

"It worked didn't it?"

He glanced back at the shore and sighed.

I bit my lip and stared at the bright pink burns along the side of his face—the cost he'd paid for her freedom and my stupidity.

"Yeah, but I should have been there to help." He toyed with my fingers, hooking his with mine.

"I'm the one who locked the door between us, so I guess that's probably my fault." I cringed and gave him a lopsided smile. "And after dealing with all those emotions at once, I won't do that again—not ever."

"So you can be taught." He smirked and hugged me close to him.

"That's not funny." I smacked his arm.

He kissed the top of my head. "Yeah, it is."

"You know, when I decided to search for a way to reach you, it wasn't to make up."

"But you can't say no to awesomeness," he said with confidence.

He flexed his muscles with me still in his arms. I groaned and dropped my forehead to his chest. Kellan chuckled, making the water ripple around us. Then he pulled back and looked at me with a seriousness etched in his features.

"Let me guess. You came here to say goodbye."

He summed it up in one sentence.

"Uh-huh," I squeaked sounding like a mouse. "I also wanted to yell at you for leaving me."

"There are always two-sides to a story, the actions you see and the intentions behind them you don't." He guided my chin upward. "Still want to yell at me?"

"No..." I mumbled, feeling guilty for not believing he had a reason.

"I know you're in an impossible situation. Love will win the day, you'll see. There's no need for goodbyes yet."

Impossible didn't begin to describe the torment I was going through. Especially with everything Jaxon had done for my family and me.

The sky boomed overhead, shaking the ground, and making the water slosh against the shore.

"A thundershower?"

Kellan glanced at the sky and shook his head. "I'd be able to tell by the humidity and air pressure."

"Wren! You have..." Sage's words cut off and echoed around us like an invading god. "...home now."

"I think our time just ran out." I squeezed him tight against me. "How do I find you?

The sky erupted again in a thunderous roar, and the pool gurgled, making a sucking sound behind us.

"The pool's starting to drain!" I hollered over the rushing water. "Where do they have you?"

The water's strong current already had us in its grasp dragging us toward the spiraling whirlpool of doom.

Kellan wrapped his arms tight around me. "The guards hauled me away in the middle of the night. I don't know where they took me. The cell is near the ocean. I can hear the water crash against the shore all day and night."

"Give her back, you stupid book! So help me I'm going to barbecue your pages to roast marshmallows," Sage yelled.

The whirlpool spun faster, forcing us and the surrounding scene into the disappearing pit.

"Can't you slow the current?"

"To do what?" Kellan pointed to the blackness behind us. "We can't stay here. Everything is disappearing."

His grip ripped from mine, and I thrashed through the current struggling to catch him before he vanished.

"I love you," he hollered over the rushing water.

"I..." In a last desperate attempt to reach him, I thrust out a hand.

But he disappeared into the spinning water. Something wrapped my ankle and dragged me under. The water covered my head, pulling me into the whirling pit of darkness. The soles of my feet slammed into the solid wood floor of the library, and the sound of rushing water filled my ears.

My head spun and made me feel like I just rode the Tilt-a-Whirl at the county fair for way too long. I peeked my eyes open and watched a massive wave pour over the second story balcony onto the bookcases below. Astra is going to kill me.

Sage looked stunned, with the dented Water Crafting volume soaking in a puddle of water at her feet. Her mouth hung open like she hadn't expected the book to spit me out.

The fire poker she held dropped from her grip and clanged to the ground. "Oh... crap."

I glanced down at my bare toes and realized the stupid book had a twisted sense of humor. It'd stolen my clothes and left me wearing the skimpy bikini.

I groaned in frustration. "As if my life isn't complicated enough."

Sage's sight rested on Kellan's unfrozen ring marking my chest. "I think it's about to get more complicated."

Heavy footsteps splashed through the cascading water drenching the staircase. Sage gestured to her coat on the table next to me and mouthed the words, put it on.

She didn't need to tell me twice. I snatched the coat off the table and flipped it on, just as Jaxon rounded the tall study area bookcases.

My hair dripped on to the floor, each splash marking the passage of time.

Jaxon's lips drew into a thin line. "I thought you said she wasn't here."

"Well, she wasn't when you asked." Sage crossed her arms. "Unless you think there's normally a river of water that flows through the middle of the library."

Care to elaborate? Jaxon voiced in my head.

The answer to that question was definitely a no. But standing in the library soaking wet wearing only a bikini and a tangled Fire Circle scarf was probably something that demanded an explanation.

"This stupid book took a liking to her." Sage gave it a nudge with the toe of her shoe. "Wren touches one book, it takes her swimming. And me? I touch one, and it tries to gnaw my arm off." She held up her arm showing a set of teeth marks. "Word of advice don't handle the books in this section."

Jaxon raised an eyebrow and glanced at the book lying in a puddle. "And the title of this enamored book?"

I cringed knowing he wouldn't like the answer, then crouched down and placed my hand in the puddle of water. I clawed my fingers like Kellan had when he flipped the stone. The water responded cresting beneath the volume, shoving it in my direction until it slid to a halt at my feet. It was a weaker effort of what Kellan had done, but it netted the same result. I picked up the book and hugged it to my chest.

Hurried footsteps splashed up the stairs, then slowed just before we could see our latest arrival round the corner. Jessica waltzed into view tossing her hair over her shoulder with her hand. The trace mark glittered on her arm—a reminder of the broken engagement between her and Kellan.

"Oh—it's you." She pursed her lips and scowled at me.

"You expected someone else?" Sage smirked and swiped her foot through the water launching a spray of droplets. "Someone like Kelllaaan?"

"Best mind your own business, Sage." A sickening sweet smile grazed Jessica's face. She glanced at the scene in front of her and looked at me. "My, you are a handful, aren't you?"

"Speaking of minding your own business." Jaxon glared at her. "No one asked for your opinion."

"Dear Cousin... I'm just here to cover your back." She patted his shoulder. "A spiral ring? And I thought you were insane for taking her back. But that explains a lot." The edges of her lips turned up. "Won't that be the surprise of the century when the Fire Circle court finds out."

Jessica let out a tiny laugh that snowballed into a loud, boisterous one. "I'm sure Otis will love this water talent of hers too."

Jaxon's eyes lit up a bright amber, and a few of the stones on the leather around his neck started to flash on and off. Jessica's laugh cut short, and she backed up a couple of paces holding up her hands.

"Jax... I'm not telling you anything you don't already know," she said.

"This will be the only time I remind you." He gripped her jaw in his hand and jerked her face in my direction. "Wren is my chosen, and that spiral flame marks her as my equal. So that makes her the first lady of our court, and you will not talk down to her. Got it?"

"Yes..." She nodded, tears welling in the corners of her eyes. "Jaxon... I've got it."

He released his grasp on her, and she stumbled backward. Scarlet fingerprints marked her face.

"My apologies for my rudeness." Jessica bowed her head and backed up a few steps. "I'll see if I can find you something more suitable to wear."

I'd almost forgotten I'd been standing here in a bikini the whole time. "Thanks, that would be helpful."

Without another word, she jogged off, sloshing through the puddles as she went.

"Now, that's one way to put Jessica in her place." Sage watched Jessica over the ledge. "Scary, but efficient."

"Her almighty attitude was overdue for an adjustment." Jaxon's eyes cooled to green. "She's been driving me nuts this whole trip."

But the burns? I almost couldn't believe I was defending Jessica.

His shoes touched the tips of my toes, with only the book separating us. They'll heal. "If Jessica tried that in the Fire throne room, the court would throw her in the dungeon—permanently."

The more I knew about the Fire Circle, the more terrifying it sounded.

He tucked a lock of hair behind my ear. "So this book of yours..."

"It's not mine. It belongs to the guild library." I turned the book around so he could read the title.

Elemental Water Crafting? He pinched the bridge of his nose. That explains the water. "I can't wait to hear you explain to Astra what caused this natural disaster."

"My aunt is going to kill me." I placed the dented book on the library table, and it spat out a puddle of water when it dropped from my fingers.

"She might have reason to be angry." He tilted his head, and his eyes sparked a bright kelly-green. "This isn't your coat, is it?"

My hands went clammy, and my breath hitched.

"It's mine." Sage picked up the fire poker off the floor and put it on the table. "What? I couldn't very well let her stand around freezing in a string bikini."

"I don't think I've ever seen someone use the Fire Circle scarf as a sarong before."

"The book took my clothes, and all it left me with was this bikini and the scarf." I shook the wet fabric from my leg. "So I improvised."

Standing around without a towel to dry off with, I started to shiver.

"Turn." He made a circular motion with his index finger.

I followed his instructions. "Why?"

"Because you look like you're freezing, and your lips are turning blue." He reached for the scarf's knot at my waist. His fingers tickled my skin as he worked to free me from the wrap.

"Here you go." He tugged the wet scarf from me, wrung out the water onto the floor, then passed it to me.

My teeth started to chatter, so I clutched the coat tighter around me. "Th-th-thanks."

Jax rubbed my arms, then dragged his fingers over the top of the spiral flame. The fiery mark warmed to his touch.

The corners of his lips turned up into a smile. "I could warm you up, if you wanted."

I had no idea what exactly he meant by that offer, but I was sure whatever he had in mind would break every courting custom known to Acklemar.

Sage cleared her throat. "I am still here you know."

"Too bad, because that option would be way more fun." Jaxon kissed my forehead. "You should give Sage back her coat. You can wear mine."

Jaxon shrugged off his leather jacket and held it out.

Sage scoffed and pushed his coat back at him. "Don't play sly. You just want to see her in the bikini."

"What guy wouldn't want to see his girl in a bikini?" He grinned, hopping up on the table next to the book. "But it's not proper for the leading family to accept charity."

"Then consider it a gift."

"Sage..." Astra stood next to the railing holding a pile of clothes.

Sage froze and cringed at the sound of Astra's voice.

"You can't gift property that belongs to the guild. But you can help clean up the water downstairs. Come on." Astra gestured for her to follow, then piled the stack of Fire Circle clothes on the table and grabbed the fire poker. "Once you're better attired," she said to me, "you and I need to have a conversation."

Astra placed a hand on Sage's shoulder, guiding her downstairs.

Jaxon whispered, "I didn't even hear her walk up those stairs. She traveled here, didn't she?"

"Probably. Having a secret portal on this floor wouldn't surprise me. It sure would make shelving books easier."

He hopped off the table and stood in front of me. "Can we be honest with each other for a minute."

"Okay." I nodded. "What do you want to know?"

"How about I start?" He sighed and picked up my hand, and rubbed the back of it with his thumb. "There's a reason why you don't want to take the coat off, isn't there?"

I hung my head and stared at the ground—he knew. Jaxon was a good guy, I didn't want to hurt him, but he deserved the truth. The whole truth. I took a deep breath, unbuttoned the front of the coat, and let it drop to the ground.

***

Thanks for Reading all! Another chapter coming next Sunday.  I'm sure Jax will have a response for Wren. (O.O) Until then leave a comment, hit that star, add to your library, but most of all come back for more!

Recently I was interviewed by @wrightstory If you'd like to check out the interview here's the link: https://www.wattpad.com/494896163-interviews-with-writers-big-and-small-on-wattpad

Cheers,

Amber