“She is the last Deskyiara.” Florian turns to him and grabs his shoulder, shaking it as he is determined for him to believe. For me to believe. Because I sure as hell don’t.
“The Deskyiara bloodline is gone. It has been for many years. She is nother.” Koen grabs Florian’s hand, gripping it tightly. “No matter how much you want her to be the one you lost… she will never be her.”
“She didn’t die!” Florian raises his voice, the veins in his neck pulsing with rage. “There is not even a scratch on her body! No one, unless they’re a Royal or they’ve been gifted the pendant from the Gods, can travel through the stones.She did.Explain that.”
Koen’s bottom lip drops to speak, but he bites it, yanking his body away from us with his hands against his head. His curls fall down to his shoulders and sway as he shakes his head with anger. He grunts before letting out a raging yell that is as if he has been holding in for years.
“Impossible.” He shifts his body towards Florian, pointing his finger directly at him. His arm shakes, his eyes widening with a fire flickering in them.
“You’re mad because I am right. You just don’t want to believe it.”
“We were teens! The Deskyiara bloodline had hair of silver and pure white. Serene’s is black, like the midnight sky. She is not her. She is not Viveon. Viveon Deskyiara died, just like her sister and parents. The Deskyiara bloodline isgone.”
“I’ll prove it to you.” Florian pushes through us. “I’ll find the answers in the archives.”
THE FROZEN WATERFALL SEEMS ALLURINGLY close yet just beyond our grasp as we trudge through the snow, which gradually turns into a slick sheet of ice. The archives lie hidden behind the waterfall, a place that only those of the Ice Nation bloodline may enter. Therefore, I am bound to remain outside.
By myself.
The ice is dangerously slippery, and our boots skitter and slide with every step. I find myself reaching out to steady myself on Koen’s shoulder with each step over the icy terrain. His soft eyes lock on mine once I grab him again, almost in an unspoken plea for me to speak to him. But I don't. I won’t.
The smokey sky is filled with dark clouds, no view of the sun, and the temperature feels as if it’s dropping by the second. Ice begins to freeze on the small hairs of my bare arm, my eyelashes flicker for the ice to fall off and my teeth chatter uncontrollably.
“Shouldn’t have ripped off that sleeve.” Florian looks over his shoulder at Koen and me, his golden hair whipping at his cheeks. “Still unsure why you did that.”
I swallow, my throat tightening.I did it for Koen.I’m unsure why the hell I did something like that for a man who would rip another woman's heart out without even a second thought. I feel sorry for Lykia. Even though I don’t know her.
I ripped my sleeve for…Koen.The more I think about this, the more I sound insane. I care about the way he sees me. I want him to still see the Serene he saw in his mother’s room. I don’t wantto be unfamiliar. Maybe I am just worried he won’t look at me the way he did before.
How pathetic am I?
I am not this woman. I am the woman at the bar with her sister and friend, throwing drinks at the drunken bastards that get handsy on us. I am the woman who burns my ex’s shit in a box outside of his front door for cheating on me.
I am not this woman. I can’t be this woman. I want the old me back. What is Koen turning me into?
Now, I am freezing once more in the Ice Nation, on the edge of dying, when I could have been warm in the new suit Florian gifted me. But I destroyed it, just to have the chance for Koen’s eyes to linger on me once more.
Oh if Tilly and Alice could see this, they would die of laughter. And I would die from embarrassment.
“Why did you do that?” Koen glances over towards me as I walk beside him, my boots slipping and sliding around the ice as my hands dart out to the side.
“It was bothering me.” I clear my throat, catching a deep breath as I almost slip and fall. “I was used to my old suit, and the new one felt uncomfortable.”
Florian halts, turning his chest towards us. “That was for your protection!” he growls, his eyes narrowing. “Now you have a weak spot.”
“It's just an arm.” My lips form a tight smile, catching up to him as Koen walks beside me, ready to catch me if I fall.
“It’s not just an arm.” Florian hovers over me as I take my last step up to him. “You know nothing about the prophecy. You need your body. You need to stay alive.”
“Aren’t you glad you didn’t kill me now?” I choke on a laugh. My eyes glint as I tease him. “That would have sucked for you.”
Florian rubs his lips before pulling them into a smile. He adjusts his daggers against his waist. “That would have sucked.But not only for the curse part.” He pauses, his eyes locking onto mine. “Also the dying part.”
“You’d miss me.” I shove his shoulder, moving past him on the ice.
Koen grunts, his eyes rolling away from us. “What curse?”
Him and Florian stride up beside me. They walk on the ice as if they have been doing this their whole life. Meanwhile, I am struggling, catching my breath every second as this is burning my muscles. I strain with each step, trying my best not to fall and slam into the frozen lake beneath us.
