I smiled faintly. “Is he winning?”
“Not even close.” He pushed away from the railing and faced me fully. “Torrin wants you bound, maybe worse. The Frostfather’s too far gone to argue. Kaelith’s the only reason they haven’t dragged you to the dungeons yet.”
“Then why do I feel like the dungeon would be warmer?”
That made him chuckle, quiet and genuine. “You’re getting good at this—laughing in the face of doom.”
“Maybe I’m learning from you.”
“Dangerous teacher.” His grin faltered, replaced by something gentler. “I’m leaving at dawn.”
The words settled between us like falling ash. “Leaving?”
“The Summer Court needs to know what’s happening. If the Veil breaks, it won’t stop at Winter’s border.”
I looked back at the sky. The fractures had widened, spilling threads of light that looked almost alive. “So you’ll go warn them.”
He nodded. “Someone has to prepare defenses. Kaelith can’t, not anymore.”
Something tight coiled in my chest. “And you’ll leave him here? Alone—with this?”
Kael’s eyes darkened. “He chose that. He’s always chosen Winter, even when it’s killing him.”
“He’s still your brother.”
“That’s why it hurts,” he said softly. “Because I can’t save him from himself.”
A gust of wind cut through the balcony, scattering frost into the air like shards of glass. Kael caught a few in his palm; they melted instantly against his skin. “See? That’s the difference between us. He freezes everything he touches. I burn through it.”
I hesitated. “You think that’s why the Veil’s breaking—because of what you are?”
He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “I think we all break things when we care too much. But no, I don’t think it has anything to do with me.”
Before I could answer, the doors below burst open. Kaelith strode into the courtyard, armor half-unbuckled, frostlight glinting erratic and unsteady. Even from above, I could feel the cold rolling off him—fierce, restless, barely restrained.
He looked up. Our gazes met.
“Inside. Now,” he called. His voice echoed against the ice walls, sharp as a blade.
Kael leaned over the railing. “Still bossy for a man who just got dethroned.”
“Inside,” Kaelith repeated. “The Veil’s bleeding through the wards.”
A tremor ran through the stones beneath our feet. Fine cracks webbed the balustrade, glowing faintly with that same white light. Kael muttered a curse.
“Guess the conversation’s over,”he said.
I started toward the stairs, Kael right behind me. When we reached the lower landing, Kaelith was waiting, breath fogging the air in short bursts.
“Where were you?” he demanded.
“Admiring the apocalypse,” Kael said.
Kaelith ignored him. His eyes cut to me, quick and searching. “Did you feel anything?”
I blinked. “What?”
“When the cracks widened. Heat, pain, a pull?”
