He tightened his grip on Fenred instead.
Ice Bear, he thought, with something that might one day be grim amusement.Fine.
He could be whatever the hell Lunarion wanted.
So long as Dani was standing.
Chapter 23 - Dani
Morning dawned slowly.
Not because of clouds, there were none, but because everybody in Skymist moved like it had been hollowed out and stitched back together overnight. The air smelled of smoke and melting frost, and beneath that, the metallic ghost of blood. Snow on the tree line had been trampled into dirty slush by shifter paws and boots. The witches’ wards flickered faintly, drained as their casters slept scattered on cots, couches, and any flat surface that hadn’t already been taken.
Dani sat on the steps of a shifter’s house, nobly donated to the witches to set up their healing stations, with a mug of tea she couldn’t feel her hands around. Her arms, legs, ribs, everything ached. A bone-deep weariness clung to her bones like wet cloth. When she tried to reach for her magic, it sputtered like a dying ember.
Across the street, Chase and Theodore argued about patrol routes. Julian leaned against the inn’s exterior, eyes half-closed, looking maddeningly elegant for someone who’d spent the night tearing hybrids apart. Witches moved in and out of the makeshift clinics, tending to bruises and bites.
Someone had set up a space heater near Dani’s feet. She wasn’t sure who. She hadn’t asked.
Her gaze kept drifting toward the house across the street.
Arthur hadn’t come out yet.
He’d collapsed last night from exhaustion, half-shifted, covered in frost and sweat. She and Chase had half-carried, half-dragged him back to his room before he finally stopped fighting the inevitable and slept. The Ice Bear’s power hadn’t fullyreceded; she could still feel its echo in the bond, crackling, too bright, like embers under snow.
Her tea sloshed as she lifted it again. Her fingers trembled. She stared at the town, willing calm into her lungs.
But the quiet was dangerous.
Too quiet.
Too soon.
A soft thud of footsteps approached. Dani didn’t look up until a small, cold hand slid into hers.
Aurelia.
Her daughter leaned into her side, curls a tangled halo, eyes puffy from sleep but steady, assessing. She’d insisted on staying in the clinic until every witch had been accounted for. She hadn’t left Dani’s sight since.
“You okay?” Aurelia asked, voice small beneath her usual bravado.
Dani squeezed her fingers. “Areyou?”
Aurelia shrugged. “I couldn’t sleep. Every time I closed my eyes, I heard screaming.”
Dani pulled her closer, pressing a kiss to her hair. “We’re safe now.”
Aurelia didn’t answer. She didn’t believe it yet, either.
A shadow shifted across the snow. Aurelia stiffened first, then Dani looked up.
Arthur.
He walked slowly, as if his limbs were heavier than they had any right to be. His ribs were wrapped in fresh bandages. His shirt hung open halfway down his chest because Chase hadapparently decided buttons were optional for convalescence. A fading bruised frost pattern shimmered faintly across his skin, the last mark of the Ice Bear.
But his eyes…
His eyes found them immediately.
