I’ve been walking for days. Maybe weeks. Time stopped making sense the moment we entered the spelled area that Thane showed on the map.
Each breath scrapes my lungs raw. The thin air burns, leaving nothing but ache behind, and still, I keep moving. Because if I stop—if I let the cold win—I’ll never find her.
My Rowan.
Her name is the only thing left that still feels alive inside me.
The bond between us used to stir within, steady and certain, a quiet pulse in the back of my chest that was waiting to claim her—breathing, patient, andliving.Butnow it’s shattered. Faint. Like trying to listen for a heartbeat through stone.
Every time I close my eyes, I see her face the night she disappeared. The flash in her eyes. The way she didn’t fight any longer once that bastard appeared and she accepted his hand. The worst part? I can’t even blame her.
I failed her. We all did when she was put into a position to use a power she didn’t yet understand.
The snow deepens, dragging at my boots with every step, but I push harder. My wolf paces beneath my skin, restless and angry, desperate to tear through this endless white until he finds the scent we’ve lost.
She’s close,he insists, though we both know it’s a lie.I can feel her.
“You said that yesterday,” I growl under my breath. “And the day before.”
There’s no answer, just the wind keening like laughter in my ears.
I stop at the edge of a frozen ridge, chest heaving, and stare out across the expanse below—miles and miles of snow, ice, and ruin. The world looks dead here. Empty. Like even the sun gave up on this hell.
I should also be worried that I don’t see Elias or Liz. We thought spreading out to cover more ground would be better, but it’s been well over a day since I’ve heard either of them.
Still, I continue. My mate’s out here somewhere. I can feel it. Maybe it’s just madness, or maybe it’s something deeper—something even the gods themselves couldn’t strip away. Nothing will stop me.
“I’ll find you, Rowan,” I say into the abyss. “Even if it kills me.”
The mountains don’t care, but I swear they listen.
The air thickens, swirling around me, and for just a heartbeat, I think I hear something—a whisper, faint and familiar, curling through the storm, but it’s gone before I can name it.
I take one more step forward, snow crunching beneath my boots, and keep at it. Because stopping means losing her. And losing her isn’t an option.
Not now. Not ever.
And after I know she’s safe…
I’m going to fucking kill Malrik Vane.
Chapter 10
ROWAN
Steam curls through the air like ghosts, twisting into delicate ribbons before vanishing against the cold stone ceiling. I don’t know what game Malrik is playing, but if he wants to bribe me with luxury, I’ll enjoy it for however long I’m still here.
The tub appeared sometime while I was eating dinner in the dining hall with Malrik tonight, where he rudely pointed out that we’ve now been together for two weeks. A fact I hate more than anything, but I’m not sure I’m ready to do anything about it yet.
During all this time, Malrik and I have fallen into a steady routine of train, nap—for me at least—train again, then dinner before I’m back in my room for the evening.
I thought today would be much of the same, but something has been off. Malrik was extra aggressive and didn’t crack a single smile at any of my insults. The bruises and burns on my body are proof of that. Though I’ve become numb to most of them.
Sleep was the only thing on my mind when I enteredmy room, through an actual door I can now control, and not a sliding panel that made me feel like a prisoner before. I mean, I know that hasn’t changed, but still. It’s the small things I try to be grateful for, like a door with a handle and even the teeniest, tiniest window in the history of mankind that appeared inside my room a few days ago.
I can’t squeeze through it, but it lets in light, and that alone nearly broke me. Much like this soaking tub. Polished to a pearly shine, full of glittering hot water and lavender-scented bubbles. Even jets simmer beneath the surface, soothing my aches and pains.
If prisons came with amenities, this one’s making a solid case for five stars.
