The Blood Rite

Chapter 6

Asteria and Silas had practically collapsed onto the ground after their training session. They'd both forfeited since neither of them could gain the upper hand the entire fight. The whole time Silas had been correcting her stance and pointing out openings she'd left as they fought. It had been a little while since Aster had used her wings, she forgot how much strain it put on her back muscles.

"Kill me now", Aster groaned, trying and failing to roll over onto her stomach. Her wings were being pinched by the tough ground.

Silas chuckled, "I forgot what it's like to fight with a challenging opponent".

"You kept pointing out my openings every few seconds", Aster huffed, resting on her elbows.

"But you always corrected them immediately before swinging back with more force", Silas stated.

Aster sighed, allowing herself to soak in the coolness of the ground. To think she was freezing earlier, and now she wanted nothing more than an iced bath.

"Come on", Silas said standing up and offering his hand, "let's go get a drink of water".

Aster took his hand and he hauled her up until they were only standing a few inches from each other. Every time she stood next to him, she forgot how tall he was and how muscular. Aster felt the heat radiating from his body and for some reason wanted to lean into it - into him. She caught herself before she could look like an idiot.

She had to force herself to step back, "water. Let's go get water".

Aster cleared her throat and walked directly towards the water table, she heard Silas following behind but keeping his distance. Gods, was she attracted to Silas? She barely knew him, sure he was attractive but she thought her willpower was better than that. But Cauldron, he looked so good glistening in sweat - nope! She refused to let herself think like that. They were sharing a house! Having feelings for him would only complicate the whole issue.

Aster poured herself some water before drinking it as fast as she could, allowing no time for Silas to question her.

"I'm going to catch up with Nyx and Jasper", she said hurriedly, "I'll see you back at the house, we had plans of going to the Tavern tonight if you want to come".

"Okay", he said in a clipped tone.

Aster nodded once before she scurried off towards Nyx and Jasper's training ring. Had she just ruined everything? What if Silas acted funny around her now? I mean she had practically breathed in his scent, that was embarrassing.

"Hey little sis!" Nyx called as she got closer, "Cassian and Azriel are coming tomorrow so I hope you have an explanation for our house guest".

Aster mentally face-palmed herself, she forgot Az and Cass would be coming to check on them soon.

"I'll just tell them the truth", Aster said crossing her arms, "I've got nothing to hide".

Asteria had never inherited the daemati gift of her parents, a small part of her hated that she'd always be left out of her family's mind-to-mind conversations. She doesn't know why she didn't inherit the daemati gene but it has always bothered her. Nyx always had to convey messages from her parents to her.

"You up for a fight?" Jasper asked as him and Nyx broke away.

Aster sighed, feeling the pain her back was in, "no I think I'll pass, Silas made me fight with my wings and I haven't done that in a while".

Jasper raised a brow at her but didn't say anything as Aster made her wings disappear and sat down on the closest bench. She watched Nyx and Jasper fight for a while, politely correcting any openings she saw or commenting on any way they could improve. Before Silas they used to always fight like this, two people in the ring, one person watching from the outside. The extra set of eyes always helped when picking up on mistakes, it was nice to fall back into this routine. She wasn't sure why but in recent years Devlon had allowed novice warriors to train themselves for the Rite. For the six months leading up, he'd leave them unsupervised, she supposed it was to test their own mental strength and talent.

After watching a few more rounds of fighting, Aster made her way back to the hut. She had plans of going to the Tavern and getting completely smashed. Avoiding Silas's room, which he was clearly sitting in, she rushed to have a bath and get ready. Aster dressed in a simple short, black dress, before braiding her hair and grabbing a coat. While it was cold outside, she had plans of dancing and dancing until her feet hurt. By the time she was ready, Nyx had arrived home and started getting dresses too.

"You'll freeze".

Aster paused mid-step as she passed Silas's room, his deep voice washing over her. She took a deep breath before turning to face him.

"I'll be fine", she said crossing her arms, "it's always hot in there anyway".

Silas frowned before he said, "I'm not coming. I plan on getting an early night".

"Okay", Aster shrugged before she made her way into the lounge room, impatiently waiting for Nyx to finish getting ready.

She didn't realise Silas had followed her before the sound of pots and pans in the kitchen made her jump. She hesitantly walked over, leaning on the counter across from him.

"What are you doing?" She asked curiously.

"Cooking dinner", he said in a duh tone, "want some before you go?"

She shook her head, "I'm not hungry".

Silas frowned and Aster sighed.

"You do that a lot", she stated.

"Do what?" Silas asked as he began rummaging through their cupboards.

"Frown".

He shrugged, "I just think you should eat before you go, especially if you plan on drinking".

Aster hated that her heart fluttered at the thought of him caring whether she ate or not. She was being naive, he was just being kind.

"I appreciate the concern but getting smashed happens a lot faster when your stomach is empty", she replied as she began leaving towards the door, she'd just heard Nyx exit his room.

"It also comes back up a lot faster", Silas said grumpily.

"Bye Silas!" She called, "don't wait up!"