Thin Ice Novels & Stories

Just as the lingering headache threatened to overwhelm her, a bright, cheerful voice broke through the silence. "Mommy! Mommy, we're back!" His cheeks still had stains from the chicken bread and he held a nylon with him. Leanor knew it contained chocolate bread immediately and couldn't help but smile at his cuteness. Instantly, the tension draining from Leanor's shoulders was palpable. She opened her arms and pulled him into a very tight and protective hug. Holding him close, a wave of fierce clarity swept through her: for this child, she could endure any lingering bitterness, face any past betrayal, and conquer any hardship.

"No treat?" He gave a long, slow shrug. "Should I expect one?" He turned around immediately. "See no. Just focus and watch me make you eat my dust." I skated a few laps, testing the ice, the glide, the sharpness of my turns. And damn, it was perfect. I glanced back at Tristan, who watched from the sidelines, arms crossed, his expression amused. "Not bad," I announced, gliding down and stopping right in front of him. "Makes it better that no one can hear us."

The northern lights exploded across the dark sky just as Kane and Elias stepped onto the frozen lake, painting everything in wild green and purple. "After everything we have seen, this still takes my breath away," Kane said, lacing his skates fast. Elias stood up and tested the ice. "Same here. This trip feels right. Just us, the lights, and old friends coming soon. Time to look back at it all." They pushed off together, blades cutting sharp into the quiet. The cold air bit but their moves stayed smooth after years of practice. Old teammates started showing up one by one, calling out hellos as they joined the ice.

It hadn’t felt that cold earlier. Laying my head back against the window, I couldn’t even feel excited about the snow. It was my favorite but all I could do was close my eyes and wish that everything would just go away. ‘Winter, don’t give up. Wake up. Stay strong. Please. He’s coming, Winter. Don’t worry, he’s coming for you.’

I get up, pull on gear without fully deciding to and walk to the rink. The ice at five-forty in the morning is a specific thing. The lights on half-power, the refrigeration hum, the cold that hits your face at the entrance and reminds you immediately that this is a real place and you are a real person in it. I lace up alone on the bench, no rush, nobody waiting, just the sound of the empty building around me. I step onto the ice.

“Get changed and meet me on the rink, let's have a warm up before the coach gets here.” The moment I stepped on the ice, the familiar feeling hit me. I pushed forward, my skates kissing the ice as I moved around to explore. This rink was new, since the old one was abandoned due to faulty buildings. My teammates joined me as we did our usual drills on the ice, the sun was already setting and our new coach who was allegedly a competitive player according to Jordan was nowhere to be seen.

I turn before either of them can see my face crack. I don't even think about where I'm going. My legs just carry me, fast, away from the courtyard, down the side hall, out through the side exit that leads to the rink. It's empty this time of day, dark except for the security lights humming over silent ice. I climb the bleachers and lie flat across the top row, staring up at the rafters, willing myself not to cry where anyone could theoretically walk in and see. I just need five minutes. Five minutes where I'm not the girl in everyone's phone.

His cousin and best friend, Sirius Blackheart snapped. Axel did momentarily, turning to him and saying "Could you not exist?" The male shrugged, his gold eyes glowing as he smirked "I try, but even the goddess likes admiring me" Axel rolled his eyes and looked back outside the window "It's so hot" "Axel" A low voice said next to him, her eyes on him "It's snowing" "Well it's not cold" Axel replied, turning to her "How do the wolves here survive?"

“It looks like it.” At this point, Alex scanned the environment again. It seemed far too quiet an atmosphere to have followed such a terrible storm. He looked over at the river running not far from them, except that it was no longer running. It was now completely frozen over. He walked over to the river with growing curiosity. As he gazed upon it, something strange caught his attention. His mind had to be playing tricks on him from the exhaustion he was feeling. As he stared down at the water, it did not look frozen solid. It appeared to be motionless.

he said. They walked and the lake moved beside them in its cold February way and the city sat behind them in its dense self-satisfied presence and the wind was the kind that pressed rather than merely chilled and neither of them was cold, or if they were it was the kind of cold that was simply weather rather than the other kind, the kind that got into your joints and stayed, the kind that had nothing to do with temperature. At some point his hand found hers.