Alle Kapitel von The Ice Between Us : Kapitel 11 – Kapitel 20

DERICK'S POVI followed Ciel and Leo out of the rink, my legs still unsteady from the hour of crossovers and the single lift that had somehow worked. The cold air of the hallway hit my face, but I barely noticed it. My mind was stuck on the way Ciel's body had felt in my arms, the brief moment of weight and warmth before Leo's voice shattered it.We walked fast. The conference room was on the other side of the main building, and Warren was waiting. The article was already out. My father's fixer had us cornered, and we were walking straight into his hands.I hated it. Every step felt like surrendering.Ciel walked ahead of me, his spine straight, his jaw tight. He looked like a soldier marching into battle. Leo was beside him, talking quietly about what Warren might want, but Ciel wasn't responding. His eyes were fixed on the double doors at the end of the corridor.I wanted to reach for his hand. I wanted to tell him we didn't have to do this, that I could walk in there alone. But I'd

CIEL'S POVThe news broke before sunrise.My phone wouldn't stop vibrating, dozens of notifications piled up like snow against a window. I sat on the edge of my bed in the dark, still wearing my practice clothes from the night before, my ankle throbbing beneath the tape I'd wrapped too tight. The photo was everywhere. Me on the ice. Derick slipping something into my locker. The headline screaming about a secret relationship.But I couldn't stop staring at the note in my hand.I'd found it when I returned from the rink, tucked through the vent of my locker. At first, I thought it was a threat. Another message from Warren, maybe, or one of the anonymous haters who'd been circling since the article dropped. But when I unfolded it and read the words, my chest went strange.You are not alone. Rest, your body is not your enemy.The handwriting was messy and rushed, like someone had written it without thinking, just let the words spill out. I didn't recognize it, I'd seen Derick's handwriti

DERICK'S POVCiel's mother's voice echoed from a hundred phones. She was calling Ciel a predator. My father's fixer had already twisted the video. Now Mara was twisting the story even further.Then my own phone buzzed with a number I recognized.Marcus Blackwood.I stepped outside into the cold and answered. "What do you want?""Is that any way to greet your father?" His voice was smooth, almost pleasant. "I'm in the parking lot. Come have dinner with me. We have much to discuss.""I'm not hungry.""You will be." He paused. "Unless you'd prefer I walk into that cafeteria and have this conversation in front of your little friends."I looked back through the glass doors. Students were still glued to their screens, whispering, pointing at me. The last thing I needed was my father making a scene."Fine. Five minutes."I hung up and texted Leo that I was stepping out. Then I walked across campus to the east parking lot, where a black town car idled like a waiting coffin. The back door open

DERICK'S POVI stood outside the dormitory building, my phone pressed to my ear, my jaw tight with fury I could barely contain. The night air bit at my skin, but I didn't feel it. My father's words from the car ride still echoed in my skull like a curse.Acquire him or I will.I hadn't slept, I couldn't. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Ciel's face when the edited video played. I saw my father's cold smile. I saw the contract sliding across the leather seat, waiting for a signature that would damn us both.So I called Marcus Blackwood."Two months is too long," I said, my voice low and harsh. "You'll be dead by then if you touch him."His laugh crackled through the speaker. "Bold words from a boy with no money and no power. What exactly will you do, Derick? Bleed on my shoes?""I'll find a way to stop you. I always do.""You've never stopped me. You've only delayed the inevitable." A pause. "But I admire your spirit. It's the only thing you inherited from me."My grip tightened on t

DERICK'S POVThe hours after leaving the rink blurred into a haze of cold air and darker thoughts. I walked the campus paths until my legs ached, replaying Ciel's words over and over in my head.You just love the chase.Was that true? Had I confused obsession with love? Had I spent so long treating people as games that I couldn't tell the difference anymore?By the time night fell again, I'd made a decision. I couldn't let it end like this, not without a fight.I knew where he'd go. The maintenance entrance with the broken latch. The dark rink where he went to escape the world. The place where I'd first watched him from the shadows like a predator.This time, I wouldn't hide.I found him there just before midnight. The side door hung open, a thin blade of moonlight spilling through the crack. I stepped inside and let my eyes adjust to the darkness. The ice gleamed like a mirror under the high windows, and Ciel stood at its center, motionless, his back to me."You followed me," he said