“Where are we going?” I ask Raph, a few days later, as we walk out of last period physics.

It’s late afternoon, but overhead, the sun is already sinking low in the horizon. The shorter days signal the shift from autumn to winter and I can’t quite believe that I’ve managed to survive an entire season at Regency.

Raph takes my hand in his and as we walk hand in hand through the campus grounds, like it’s the most natural thing in the world, it hits me how surreal all of this is. If someone had told me at the beginning of the semester that this is how we’d end up, I would’ve laughed my ass off. After telling them to screw off, that is.

“I was thinking that we should start up your elements training again,” he replies, as we head further away from the main campus buildings and towards the training fields.

After that almost kiss in the forest and everything that happened since, needless to say, elements training with Raph had been out of the question.

I nod in agreement as we finally reach the vast training field.

Raph drops his backpack down on the grass at the edge of the field and I follow suit. He turns to me with a thoughtful expression, as if debating something in his mind.

“I’m thinking that maybe we should try something different,” he says finally.

“Okay …” I reply, although I’m not sure what he means.

I follow him to the center of the field and I expect him to run through the usual routine of talking me through how to connect with the elements. Instead, he stands facing me, as if we’re about to duel.

His next words confirm that’s exactly what he’s proposing and I can feel my body bristling in alarm. It’s one thing to face off against Layla but dueling with Raph is an entirely different ball game.

“I’m not so sure this is such a good idea …” I begin to say.

He flashes me that arrogant smile in response, which never fails to irritate the life out of me, even now.

“You scared, Jaz?” he asks.

Bastard. The challenge in his tone is clear and he knows me well enough to know that I’m not one to back down from a challenge. Especially not one from him.

“No,” I reply curtly. “I just don’t think it would be a fair match.”

His gaze softens then.

“The power that you unleashed in that duel with Layla? I’ve never seen anything like it, Jaz. I told you as much that day. You don’t need to be taught how to connect with the elements anymore; even I can see how deep that connection runs inside you. What you need now is to learn how to duel with it.”

I let out a long sigh then.

“What for? It’s not like I’ll ever have to fight in an actual duel. Unless you count the training duels in elements class,” I reply with a shrug.

In truth, I have no idea why students here even learn how to duel. I get why they need to learn how to use their elemental powers, but even then, as Raph has told me before, the elements usually run just fine on their own, unless there’s some kind of imbalance which requires the Seraph to step in. This dueling thing seems to be a hangover from a previous age. An odd tradition referred to in the pages of my Eden history textbook.

But something in Raph’s expression makes me wonder.

“You never know when it might come in useful,” is his only reply. His eyes are unreadable, but I feel a slither of discomfort nonetheless.

I don’t get the opportunity to respond, though, as he turns and heads to his end of the field.

I guess that means we’re dueling then.

Memories of that duel between Raph and Baron that I’d witnessed during my first few days at Regency flood my mind, and I say a silent prayer to the powers that be that I won’t come to regret this.

Not that I believe for a second that Raph would intentionally hurt me. At least not anymore. But I’ve seen how he fights. I’ve witnessed his raw power. The most powerful Seraph in his generation and I’m certain that he could incinerate me in the blink of an eye, even without meaning to.

Despite my apprehension, I feel a familiar wave of adrenaline rushing through my veins as I stand facing Raph from the opposite side of the field.

Overhead, the late autumn sunset paints the sky with hues of pink and purple, casting an almost magical glow on the lush green field.

I’m aware of other students crossing the campus grounds and on the other sports fields in the distance, but as I focus my senses, the entire universe narrows to just the two of us. As if we’re the only two people in the entire universe, with the elements surrounding us, our only allies. A whisper of premonition runs through me and for a split second, it feels like the very universe itself is watching, waiting. As if it’s been waiting for this moment since the beginning of time itself.

I sweep the ridiculous thought away, but the whisper of fate in my veins remains.

I expect him to make the first move. But he waits with the patience of a predator. My eyes lock with his momentarily and what I see there isn’t the face that I’m certain I, and I alone know. It’s the face of the heir to the throne of Eden. The face that everyone else in this world sees. The face that every single one of his opponents must see. It’s no wonder that no one is able to beat him.

Like a veil dropping, there isn’t even a hint of what I know lies beneath that mask. There is only the heir and as he stands there on the field, it is with the air of the crown that is his by birthright.

He read something in my expression, even across the distance. Because in an instant, that mask falters.

“You okay, Jaz?” His voice carries over to me across the vast field.

I pull myself together. Putting steel in my spine as I meet his gaze unflinchingly, I remind myself that I’m no damsel in distress or wilting flower. I’m a fucking badass. I didn’t let Raph get the better of me when we were enemies and I sure as hell won’t let him win now, even though his kisses make me feel like I’m going to faint every time.

“I’m fine,” I reply, flashing him a smirk which I know will set his temper alight. “Just don’t try to take it easy on me.”

His responding grin is nothing short of wicked.

“I wasn’t planning to.”

And with that, the duel begins.

I open with a tornado which I’m pretty damn proud of. But Raph makes quick work of dissipating it until it’s nothing more than a gust of wind. Bastard.

He counters with an almighty heat storm which feels like it’s about to burn through my skin. I barely manage to summon a rainstorm in time to stop myself from bursting into flames.

Then we’re really fighting. No holds barred. Any pretence of politeness falling away, and I fucking love it.

We match each other blow for blow, countering and attacking seamlessly, as if we’ve been opponents for a lifetime. As if we were created for this very purpose. The field quakes as every season, every element known to the universe is unleashed over the vast field. The sight would be terrifying, if I wasn’t so fully immersed in it.

When our powers clash, it’s raw, primal, all-consuming. Just like that night on Rockford Cape, it’s like two halves of a whole snapping together, as seamless and as ancient as day shifting into night. He is my equal and I’m his.

But there is one key advantage that Raph has over me. His skills are honed, refined. He knows his way around a duel and he executes each move with tactical precision. He knows each move I’m going to make before I make it, and he knows exactly how to neutralize and counter against it.

It’s in this that Raph really shines, and I know with certainty that raw power will never be enough to best him. Because Raph was made for this, and it’s for this reason that he is undefeated.

Still, I’m not about to let him win so easily. I don’t know how long we stay locked in battle. I lose all track of time and space as we clash against each other, but I’m certain that it’s longer than his duel with Baron.

I feel my body tiring, weakening. But gathering my last ounce of strength, I focus on the call of the darkness. That same power I felt in that duel with Layla. The sky above the field darkens and I’m not entirely sure if it’s the natural cycle of night descending on the campus grounds, or if it’s my own power bringing it forth.

Either way, tapping into that power, so potent in my own veins, feels exhilarating and terrifying all at once. Nothing can describe it. Nothing can come close to it.

I feel the shadows gathering around me and for a moment I’m scared to unleash them. But as I lock eyes with Raph across the field, the fear dissipates. The look in his eyes tells me he knows exactly what I’m about to unleash and that he’s capable of withstanding it all. He knows everything I’m capable of and he wants it all.

I let go then, the shadows rushing out of me like a tsunami covering the entire universe and for a split second, there is nothing but darkness.

Then in that darkness, I see a flash of light. Growing brighter and brighter with each passing second, until it consumes the darkness. Until not a single shadow remains.

When the darkness clears, I see Raph standing a few steps away, moving to my side of the field. He’s encased in the afterglow of the daylight he’s just unleashed, but I can feel him shielding me from the burn.

The light dims, then finally fades into the night as he holds out his hand to me.

I take it, and for a moment neither of us speaks as we stand there at the center of the decimated field, our ragged breaths filling the space between us.

There’s something like wonder in his eyes and I’m certain it’s mirrored in my own.

The silence is shattered by the sound of loud applause, ringing out through the field.

I’d been so immersed in the duel, that I hadn’t even noticed the crowd that seems to have gathered around the edges of the vast field. Raph seems equally surprised as he takes in the cluster of students surrounding us.

He turns back to me with a grin.

“Not bad, Jaz.”

“I second that,” Baron’s voice travels over to us as he jogs across the field in his soccer uniform, Lance and Keller in tow.

“So, this is why you missed soccer practice today? So that you could get your ass almost handed to you by Jazmine?” Lance adds with a smirk.

I hold back a chuckle at that, as Raph shoots Lance a look of death.

“It wasn’t that close,” Raph grumbles.

“It was pretty damn close,” Keller interjects, flashing me a wicked smile.

“Yeah, and I thought your duel with Layla was badass. This one was fucking incredible.” Baron says, grinning at me.

“It looks like Raph might finally have met his match,” Keller says to Baron, with a knowing look as they grin at each other.

Raph turns back to me, all laughter gone from his face. His eyes darken to a midnight blue as they lock onto mine.

“Yeah,” he says, quietly. “I guess I have.”

He kisses me then. In front of the other Dynasty heirs, in front of the entire crowd.

I close my eyes and kiss him back, not caring that everyone is watching and at the same time, feeling like we’re the only two people in the entire universe.

I know with an unshakeable certainty that I’ll never again stand in a room full of people and still feel alone. Because among the faceless crowd, Raph will always be there. The missing piece of my universe that I didn’t even know I’d been searching for. But now that I’ve found it, I’m certain that I’ll never again feel whole without it.