Lin Xue fell like a white ribbon into black space. Her scream cut off, but her last word did not.
"CHEN WEI!"
That true name hit Wei Chen like a hook in his ribs. His body moved before his mind could think. He lunged forward, arm reaching, fingers clawing for her sleeve.
He missed.
The dark below opened wide, like a mouth waiting.
Wei Chen didn't hesitate. He jumped.
Cold wind slammed into his face. The hall above shrank fast. The edge vanished. Only falling stayed. His black sun brand pulsed, and the stolen name inside the dark answered like a command.
"Chen Wei…"
Wei Chen's chest burned cold. His limbs jerked, pulled forward by something he could not see. For one scary heartbeat, it felt like the dark owned his bones.
Wei Chen gritted his teeth. "No," he growled into the wind. Then he shouted down, loud and real, "LIN XUE!"
A faint voice came back, weak but sharp. "Wei Chen!"
The bond rope between their wrists flared warm in his mind, even without touch. That warmth fought the leash.
Wei Chen forced a grin through the fear. "Good," he yelled. "Stay loud!"
The dark whispered again, sweeter. "Chen Wei… turn away…"
Wei Chen spat into the wind. "I don't turn away from my woman," he snapped. "I turn toward her."
He kicked his legs, twisting in the air, searching. Far below, he saw a flash of white robe and silver hair spinning in the dark.
He threw his body toward it.
Lin Xue was falling fast, arms spread like she was trying to swim through nothing. Frost streamed from her sleeves. Her curse was panicking, pouring cold into the air.
Wei Chen reached her and wrapped one arm around her waist. The impact punched the breath out of both of them. Lin Xue gasped and clung to him like she was drowning.
Wei Chen held her tight, the way you hold something you refuse to lose. "I've got you," he rasped.
Lin Xue's eyes were wide. "Your name—" she started, shaking.
Wei Chen cut her off, low and firm. "Rules," he said, even while they fell. "Stop means stop. You choose."
Lin Xue's breath hitched. "Stop means stop," she whispered, pressing her forehead to his. "And I choose you. Don't let go."
Wei Chen's grin flickered, naughty in the middle of terror. "I won't," he murmured. "But later, you're paying for screaming my true name like that."
Lin Xue's cheeks warmed in the cold wind. "Idiot."
Wei Chen tightened his hold. The dark below rose closer. He saw jagged stone shapes like teeth.
Then purple light snapped above them.
A violet rope of demon qi shot down and wrapped around Wei Chen's arm like silk. It yanked hard, slowing their fall just enough to keep them from smashing into stone.
Su Mei's voice echoed from above, strained. "Don't die, pretty boy!"
Wei Chen looked up and laughed once, breathless. "Jealous you can't fall with me?"
Su Mei cursed. "Shut up and hold on!"
The rope burned, fighting the dark wind. Su Mei was holding it with raw strength, and her demon seal on Wei Chen's true name flickered like it was being bitten.
The dark whispered again, close as a kiss. "Chen Wei…"
Wei Chen's body jerked toward the stone teeth below. Lin Xue cried out and grabbed his face with both hands.
"Chen Wei," she said, clear and sharp. "Say my name. Stay real."
Wei Chen swallowed hard. "Lin Xue," he said.
"Again," Lin Xue demanded, stubborn even while falling.
"Lin Xue," Wei Chen said louder.
The bond rope flared warm between them, and the leash weakened. Wei Chen breathed out and pressed his forehead to hers. "Do you want a kiss?" he asked, clear. "For anchor."
Lin Xue's eyes held his. "Yes," she whispered. "Now."
Wei Chen kissed her.
It was not gentle. It was steady and deep, like a vow pushed into the soul. Lin Xue grabbed his collar and pulled him closer, not forced—chosen. Their breath mixed. His heat rolled into her, and her frost steadied him back. The bond rope flared gold and silver in his mind, bright enough to hurt.
The dark hissed like it hated the taste of choice.
Su Mei's rope snapped tighter, and she shouted, "I need more grip! Your brand is pulling the wrong way!"
Wei Chen broke the kiss just enough to say, "Rules."
Su Mei's voice was sharp. "Stop means stop. I know. Now say yes so I can seal the rope to your core!"
Wei Chen glanced at Lin Xue. "Are you okay with it?" he asked fast.
Lin Xue nodded. "Yes," she said. "Live."
Wei Chen looked up into the purple light. "I choose this," he shouted. "One seal. No chain."
Su Mei's violet qi surged down the rope like fire running along a line. It wrapped around Wei Chen's wrist mark, then around the black sun brand, biting it in a tight ring. Wei Chen hissed as it burned, but his body stopped jerking toward the dark.
"Good," Su Mei shouted. "Now hold her tighter!"
Wei Chen's grin returned. "I was already doing that."
Lin Xue pinched his side. "Focus!"
The rope pulled them sideways, away from the stone teeth. They slammed into a narrow ledge in the dark wall. Wei Chen hit first, turning his body so Lin Xue landed on top of him instead of the rock.
They lay there breathing hard. Lin Xue's cold hair brushed his cheek. Wei Chen's heat warmed her chest through their robes. For a moment, the world was only breath, heartbeat, and the bond humming like a quiet song.
Lin Xue stared at him, dazed. "You jumped," she whispered.
Wei Chen smirked. "Of course I did."
Lin Xue's voice shook. "Why?"
Wei Chen lifted her chin gently. "Because you're mine by choice," he said. "And I'm not letting a liar-box steal you."
Lin Xue's cheeks warmed again. "Shameless," she whispered.
Wei Chen leaned close. "Do you want me to stop?" he asked, low.
Lin Xue swallowed. "No," she whispered. "Don't stop."
Wei Chen kissed her again, slower this time, and Lin Xue melted into it like ice finally giving up. The bond rope steadied. Wei Chen's brand quieted for one heartbeat.
Then the ledge trembled.
Below them, something moved. A deep, hungry sound rose like a breath from a giant throat. Lin Xue's curse flared in panic, and frost poured off her like smoke.
The dark answered.
Two gold-black eyes opened in the pit below, bigger than the coffin's. The air turned sharp with hunger.
A voice rose from the darkness, not sweet, not gentle.
"Frozen Heart," it rumbled. "Mine."
Lin Xue went stiff in Wei Chen's arms.
And Wei Chen's black sun brand pulsed like it recognized the thing below.
To be Continued
© Kishtika., 2025
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