Semua Bab Christmas in ashes : Bab 21 - Bab 30

The scream never actually makes it out of my throat.One second I’m standing between Noelle and Lucien, debating my own supernatural doom… the next, the floor splinters like cheap cardboard and gravity yanks us straight into hell.Milo’s tiny hand slips from mine...“No!” I lunge blindly, but the darkness swallows everything.All I hear is Milo’s muffled cry, Lucien shouting my name, and Noelle’s delighted little shriek like she’s on a rollercoaster.Then... Impact.Hard, cold, breath-stealing impact.I slam onto stone so cold it feels like it’s sucking warmth from my bones. The air is damp, metallic, and wrong—like an ancient place that’s been waiting far too long to be found again.I groan, rolling to my side, trying to figure out if any of my ribs stayed behind on the way down.“Lucien?” My voice echoes in a low, hollow chamber. No answer.“Milo?”Silence.Dread climbs up my spine like frostbite.I push myself up—slowly this time—until my fingers brush something gritty. Salt? Dust?

We run.Not the normal kind of running—the kind fueled by panic, by adrenaline, by “a psychotic Christmas angel is hunting me and I did not stretch for this.”Lucien leads the way, blue light pulsing faintly in his palm, illuminating the narrow stone tunnel twisting ahead of us. Milo clings to my coat like a terrified shadow, his breath quick and uneven.Behind us, Noelle's voice echoes through the cavern, sing-song and horrifyingly cheerful:“Eloraaa! Don’t make me chase you. I’m wearing heels!”I swear under my breath. “She’s a demon with good posture.”Lucien doesn’t look back. “She’s not a demon.”“Great,” I pant. “So you’re telling me she chose violence and glitter willingly?”“Focus,” he snaps.The tunnel narrows, forcing us to turn sideways. I bump my shoulder into cold stone and bite back a yelp. Milo squeezes tighter, burying his face against my side.His voice,still raspy, still fragile—whimpers, “She’s coming.”“I know,” I whisper, brushing hair from his forehead. “Just hol

The shadow wrapped around my ankle like a freezing bracelet,soft, almost affectionate, which somehow made it even worse. I tried to jerk my leg back but it held me gently, firmly, as if I were something precious it didn’t want to break.Lucien lunged first.“ELORA!”His arms wrapped around my waist, yanking me backward, but the thing behind the door tugged in the opposite direction. For one horrifying moment, I was suspended between them like a rope in a very personal, very supernatural tug-of-war.Milo darted forward, tiny hands grabbing my jacket, face pale with a courage no child should have.“Don’t let go!” I shouted, even though Milo wasn’t the problem—I was slipping.Aunt Ruby screamed my name, but her voice sounded far away, smothered by the low, melodic hum vibrating from the broken door. The creature was calling to me—literally calling—like it had waited years for this moment.“Elora…”The voice slid through the air, smooth as honey.Too familiar.Too gentle.Too wrong.Lucien

The church loomed ahead of us like a crooked spine jutting out of the snow,old wood, warped beams, and a steeple that leaned just enough to look unsafe. The stained-glass windows flickered with candlelight, which should have been comforting, but instead felt like eyes watching us. Judging. Waiting.We sprinted across the icy ground, Ruby panting behind me, Lucien gripping my hand like I’d vanish if he loosened even slightly, Milo darting silently at our heels like a shadow trained to follow only me.And behind all of us…A pressure.A coldness that wasn’t temperature.A presence wearing a crown made of winter itself.I didn’t look back. I couldn’t.If I saw him, I knew something in me would break.We crashed through the church doors just as the air behind us tightened—like a claw almost closing around my shoulder.Lucien slammed the doors shut, whispering something under his breath. Symbols glowed faintly across the wood, then dimmed.Ruby collapsed onto a pew. “I swear, if I survive this

I step..And the church reacts.Not the dramatic explosion kind. Worse. The quiet kind. The kind where the air tightens and every rune carved into the floor flares at once, screaming without sound.Lucien’s hand snaps out, fingers grazing my sleeve. Not grabbing. Not stopping.Just… hoping.“Elora,” he whispers.Ruby’s breath catches. “Sweetheart...”The Frostbound King’s eyes brighten like frozen stars.And I stop.Right there.Between worlds. Between lies. Between every version of myself that’s ever existed.“I’m not coming with you,” I say.Lucien exhales shakily.Ruby sags in relief.Milo squeezes my coat like it’s the anchor keeping him on Earth.The Frostbound King doesn’t move.“Then why did you step forward?” he asks gently.I swallow. My voice shakes—but it doesn’t break.“Because I’m done being afraid of you.”The temperature spikes—up, not down. Ice fractures under his boots.“You should be afraid,” he says softly. “You are standing between yourself and annihilation.” “Maybe,” I