“You’ll never save her,” he says quietly, his voice cutting through the roar of the magma below. “You’ll only bury her beside the others.”
My rhythm falters, and his corrupted Frostbite slashes across my chest, cutting through fabric and skin. Pain flares, hot and sharp, but I tighten my grip on my sword’s hilt, forcing myself to ignore it.
“Is that what you tell yourself?” I demand, circling him carefully now. “That everyone you loved died because you couldn’t save them?”
His eyes narrow. “Love makes you weak. It clouds judgment. It leads to failure.” His voice drops lower. “Our father was right to have hardened you.”
I flinch at his words as my father’s lessons, brutal and unforgiving, echo in my mind. The weight of them, the shame of never being enough—never being cold enough, controlled enough, or perfect enough. Not until I killed my own men. Not until I stopped time and became the weapon he tried to forge me into.
“Maeris died because of you,” the Lonely King presses his advantage, both with blade and words. “Everyone you love will die because of you. She’ll be scared of what you become. She’ll hate you. Maybe not yet, but she will. And then, when she does, you’ll be ruined. You’ll becomeme.”
Ice surges through my veins, and I strike wildly, slashing with no rhythm, no control. Just raw force that never seems to be enough.
“You should have stayed cold,” he continues, each syllable precise and cutting. “The Winter Prince. The perfect weapon. Instead, you let her in. You let yourself feel.” His lip curls in disgust. “And what has it cost you already?”
With a gesture of his hand, ice erupts from the platform beneath me, climbing up my legs and locking me in place. I struggle against it, but this ice isn’t like mine. It’s unyielding and absolute. My own magic can’t melt it.
The Lonely King approaches slowly, savoring his victory.
“You failed Maeris,” he says softly, his corrupted version of Frostbite gleaming in the volcanic light as he raises it to deliver the killing blow. “You’ll fail her, too.”
“No,” I growl, my voice steady despite the ice creeping up my waist. “I’m not you. I neverwillbe you.”
“You will when she leaves you,” he says without so much as faltering.
“Shewon’tleave me,” I say, power flaring hot insideme. “You don’t get it, do you? Her love isn’t something fragile enough to break. It’s fierce enough to rewrite destinies and shatter curses. It’s powerful enough to save even someone likeme.”
“Are you blind, boy?” The Lonely King sneers. “Iamyou. I’m the culmination of all your past actions and all your future mistakes. And trust me when I say that when she leaves, your heart will freeze so completely that you’ll never feel warmth or love again. Numbness will be your only escape from the pain of losing her. Especially when you realize you never deserved her at all.”
My first instinct is to scream. To say he’s right. To repeat what my father drilled into me more times than I could possibly count.
But then my mind drifts back to the Lost Temple, when I saw myself the way Sapphire sees me. I remember the reflection of a man I didn’t recognize at first—a man radiant with quiet strength, fierce loyalty, and unbreakable devotion. Not a perfect weapon, but something far more powerful: someone worthy of being loved. And at the memory, strength surges through me again, unstoppable and absolute. Because Sapphire loves me—not despite who I am, but because of it. And that love is stronger than any ice, any fear, and any shadow.
“Love isn’t about deserving,” I say steadily, my voicehard as steel as I keep my gaze level with his. “It’s about choosing, over and over, even when it’s hard. And Sapphire chose me. She sees everything I am, every mistake I’ve made, and shestillchose me. Your fear doesn’t stand a chance against that. Nothing does. And it never will.”
RIVEN
The Lonely King hesitates,confusion flickering across the sharp lines of his face.
In that second, I reach for the bond I share with Sapphire. Despite being dulled by my earlier withdrawal, it’s still there—warm and alive. A heartbeat of starlight in the dark. And with it, my power surges, starting to melt the ice trapping me, fueled by an emotion so fierce it nearly overwhelms me.
The Lonely King steps back.
“What are you doing?” he demands, uncertainty creeping into his voice.
“You think you know loss?” I say, cold and lethal, my magic raging inside and around me. “You know nothing. Sapphire isn’t just the one I love—she’s the core of who I am. And if anything tries to take her from me, it won’t be numbness that awaits. It’ll be vengeance. Cold,merciless, and absolute. I would become the nightmare evenyoufear. Because you underestimate how deep—how dangerous—my love for her truly is.”
He falters, his corrupted blade shaking slightly in his grasp. “No,” he says, more to himself than to me. “That type of love isn’t strength—it’s madness. It will burn you from the inside out. It will consume you until you drown in it.”
“Then let it consume me,” I say quietly, my voice deadly calm. “As long as Sapphire’s there with me when the flames die out, I don’t care what else is left. Because as long as she’s with me, I’ll still haveeverything.”
Fear flashes openly across his face, raw and unchecked.
“No one can survive a love like that,” he snarls, desperation bleeding through every word. “It will rip you apart piece by piece, until there’s nothing left but ashes and regret. You’ll lose everything you are, and everything you could be. And then, eventually, you’ll becomeme.”
For a heartbeat, my breath catches as his words echo with a clarity I can’t deny. Because the destructive potential of my love—as obsessive and consuming as it’s become—is powerful enough to reshape me entirely. It alreadyisreshaping me entirely.
And for her, I’ll let it.