تسجيل الدخولCressida's pov Something was different.I felt it the moment I woke up. The air was the same and the room was the same and the candles were the same. But my body was different. My skin was different. My magic was different. Everything was different and I did not know why.I sat up and the blanket fell to my waist and my hands were pale and my nails were blue. The frost was gone but the cold was still there. I could feel it. Waiting. Pulsing. Alive.I pressed my hand to my chest and my heart was pounding and my breath was shallow."Easy," Raven said.I looked up and she was sitting beside my bed and her dark curls were wild and her eyes were tired."Raven.""Hi.""How long was I out?""Three days."I stared at her and my voice was weak. "Three days?""Three days."I shook my head and my hair fell across my face. "I feel different.""Different how?""I do not know. Just different."Raven reached for my hand and her fingers were warm and her grip was firm. "You were in a fire. You almos
Lucian's pov The morning came slow and the light was gray and Cressida was still sleeping.I had not left her side since she woke and I did not plan to leave anytime soon. The fire was out and Sha was locked up and the academy was quiet. But the killer was still out there and the border was still vulnerable and the council was still breathing down my neck.I sat beside her bed and watched her sleep. Her dark hair was spread across the pillow and her face was peaceful and her breathing was steady. The color had returned to her cheeks and the blue had faded from her lips. She looked alive. She looked whole. She looked like she was going to be okay.I reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. Her skin was warm and her breath was soft and her hand was curled around the blanket."Sleep," I whispered. "Rest. I will be here when you wake."She did not stir.The door opened and Kade walked in.His face was pale and his eyes were dark and his jaw was tight. He crossed the room a
Cressida's povMy eyes opened and the world was wrong.The ceiling was white and the walls were stone and the air smelled like herbs and smoke and something that made my chest ache. I blinked and the light was too bright and my head was pounding and my body was heavy. My hands were cold and my feet were cold and my heart was pounding.I tried to sit up and my body screamed."Easy," a voice said. "Take it easy."I turned my head and Lucian was there. His face was pale and his eyes were red and his hands were shaking. He looked like he had not slept in days and his hair was a mess and his shirt was rumpled."Lucian.""I am here.""What happened?""The fire. The dressing room. Sha locked you in and set it on fire."I closed my eyes and the memories came. The flames and the smoke and the heat. The ice and the cold and the fear. The voices outside the door and the laughter and the words.Let me know if you'll survive the real fire.I opened my eyes and my voice was flat. "She tried to kill
Lucian's pov The corridor was cold and the torches flickered and I could not stand still.I paced from one end of the hall to the other and my boots were loud on the stone and my hands were shaking and my chest was tight. The door to the infirmary was closed and the candles inside were bright and the voices were low. Madame Voss was in there with Cressida and she was performing the ritual and I was out here and I could not breathe.I pressed my hand to the door and the wood was cold and my fingers were shaking."Please," I whispered. "Please let her be okay."No one answered.I paced again and my wolf was restless and my curse was pulsing and my mind was racing. The ritual was dangerous. Voss had said it could kill her. But she was already dying. She was already slipping away and I could not let that happen.I thought about Cressida and her dark hair and her dark eyes and her smile that made my chest ache. I thought about the way she said my name and the way she held my hand and the
Lucian's pov The infirmary was chaos when I carried her through the doors.Madame Voss took one look at Cressida's pale face and her blue lips and her limp body and she was already moving. She cleared a bed and shouted orders and the healers scrambled. I laid Cressida on the mattress and her body was cold and her eyes were closed and her chest was barely moving."What happened?" Voss demanded."Fire. Smoke. She collapsed.""She was in a fire?""Sha set it. Sha locked her in the dressing room and set it on fire."Voss's face went pale but her hands were steady. "Get out.""No.""Alpha—""I said no." My voice was low and fierce and my wolf was close to the surface. "I am not leaving her."Voss stared at me and her eyes were sharp. "Then stand back and let me work."I stepped back and my hands were shaking and my chest was tight. The healers moved around her and their voices were low and their hands were quick. They checked her pulse and her breathing and her pupils and their faces were
Lucian's pov Something was wrong.I felt it in my chest before I saw it. A cold spike of fear that had nothing to do with the curse and everything to do with her. Cressida had been in the dressing room for too long. The play was over and the applause had faded and the actors had dispersed but she had not come out.Raven was talking to me and her voice was bright and her eyes were happy."She was amazing," she said. "Did you see her? She was absolutely brilliant.""She was brilliant," I agreed."I am so proud of her.""I am so proud of her."Benita was nodding and Tasha was leaning against the wall and the night was warm and the air was full of celebration. But something was wrong. The feeling in my chest was growing stronger and my wolf was restless and my hands were shaking."Excuse me," I said.I walked away from them and my boots echoed on the stone and the torches flickered and the tapestries moved. The corridor was empty and the theater was quiet and the dressing room was at the
Lucian's povI didn't go to class.Not because I forgot. Not because I was tired. Because I couldn't leave her. The sun had risen hours ago. The bells had rung. Students had flooded the corridors, rushing to lectures, to practice, to meetings. I heard them through the door. footsteps, voices, laugh
Cressida's pov Everything kept coming back to me.Not in order. Not clearly. Just flashes. His wolf's sanctuary...the cracked walls, the fading light, the way he had looked at me like I was the only thing keeping him alive. The storm that had ripped through us, cold and hungry, draining me until I
Lucian's povMy boots pounded against the stone floor. My wounds screamed so loud and my side burned. But then again, I didn't care. Nothing mattered except getting back to her.Kade was beside me, breathing hard, his face pale. We didn't speak. There was nothing left to say. We had the scroll. We
Lucian's povI couldn't lose her.The thought crashed through my skull like a wave, relentless and cold. I had been injured before. I had bled before. I had almost died before. But I had never felt anything like this...this hollow, gaping terror that threatened to swallow me whole.She was on the b







