Lin Xue's fingers were locked around Wei Chen's hand through the crack. His skin was warm—real—and that warmth wrapped around her curse like a blanket. For one precious heartbeat, her ribs didn't ache. For one precious heartbeat, she could pretend the world wasn't trying to eat them.
Then the black shadow-thread coiled around Wei Chen's wrist from the inside.
Wei Chen cursed, voice sharp with pain. "It grabbed me!"
The gold-black eye in the crack widened, pleased. The crack itself trembled and widened on its own, like the stone was deciding to open whether Lin Xue wanted it or not.
Cold breath poured out.
Lin Xue's stomach dropped. "No," she whispered. "Not wider."
Wei Chen's voice came through, rough and urgent. "Ice Queen—close it!"
"I can't," Lin Xue whispered back, teeth clenched. "If I let go, I lose you."
The Frost-Eater's voice slipped into the crack, sweet and cruel. "Hold tighter," it purred. "That's it. Let the gate choose."
Lin Xue's hands shook, but she didn't release him. She leaned closer to the crack, eyes burning. "Chen Wei," she snapped. "Say my name. Stay real."
Wei Chen's voice strained. "Lin Xue!"
"Again," Lin Xue demanded, like she could beat the monster with stubbornness alone.
"Lin Xue!" Wei Chen shouted.
The bond rope flared warm. The shadow-thread hissed, recoiling for half a breath. Lin Xue used that half breath like it was gold. She slammed her other palm onto the ice lotus runes and pushed frost into them, shaping the crack back into a thin channel.
"Only him," Lin Xue whispered. "Only his hand."
The crack narrowed slightly.
The gold-black eye blinked, annoyed.
Then the gate pulled.
Not Wei Chen.
Her.
Lin Xue felt it like a hook behind her ribs, yanking her toward the crack. Her feet slid on the stone floor. Her breath caught. Frost exploded from her sleeves as her curse panicked, trying to freeze the pull.
Wei Chen's hand tightened around hers. "Lin Xue!" he rasped. "Let go!"
Lin Xue's eyes flashed. "No," she whispered. "I choose you."
Wei Chen's voice went low and raw. "If you don't let go, it takes you."
Lin Xue swallowed hard. She could feel the crack pulling her, feel the stone wanting to swallow her like a seal. She was terrified.
And somehow, right in the middle of that terror, her cheeks warmed with a different feeling—because his hand was holding hers so tightly, because he sounded afraid of losing her.
Lin Xue whispered, almost angry at herself, "You're not allowed to die."
Wei Chen's rough laugh came through, breathless. "Neither are you."
Lin Xue leaned in, closer to the crack, and whispered the rule like a weapon. "Stop means stop," she said, voice shaking. "And I choose to stay with you."
Then she did something bold and foolish and honest.
She pressed her lips to his knuckles through the crack.
It was a kiss in the smallest space, but it burned like a vow. Her frost and his heat hummed together, tight and sweet, and the bond rope flared bright gold-silver like a rope pulled taut.
Wei Chen inhaled hard. His voice went husky. "Ice Queen… do you want me to pull you in?"
Lin Xue's breath hitched. She knew what that meant. If he pulled her in, she would be trapped with him in the tunnel, with Su Mei's black eyes, with the copy, with the Frost-Eater right there.
If he didn't, the gate might swallow her anyway.
Lin Xue lifted her chin and answered like an elder, even though her heart was shaking. "Yes," she whispered. "Pull. I choose it."
Wei Chen's hand jerked hard, trying to drag her through the crack.
The crack widened again—violently—like it wanted her body, not just her choice. Cold air roared out. The gold-black eye surged closer, huge behind the light, and the shadow-thread on Wei Chen's wrist tightened like a chain.
Wei Chen groaned in pain. "It's pulling me too!"
Lin Xue's palm slammed onto the runes again, frost pouring out. "Not him," she hissed. "Take me if you must—"
Wei Chen snapped, "Don't say that!"
Lin Xue's cheeks burned. "Then save me," she whispered, fierce. "And stop pretending you don't like being claimed."
Wei Chen's grin flashed through the fear, wicked and human. "I like it," he rasped. "From you."
That line hit Lin Xue like heat in winter. Her curse hesitated again. Her body leaned forward on its own.
Wei Chen yanked.
Lin Xue's shoulders slid into the crack.
Stone scraped her sleeves. Cold bit her skin. The crack felt like pushing through a mouth made of ice and law. She clenched her teeth and kept her grip on Wei Chen's hand.
Then the Frost-Eater spoke inside her head, close as breath.
Frozen Heart. Come home.
Lin Xue's chest iced over. Her curse surged, wild, trying to answer, trying to obey. Frost erupted from her hair, from her lashes, from her throat.
Wei Chen's grip tightened, desperate. "Lin Xue," he said, voice low and urgent. "Look at me. Say it. Choose me."
Lin Xue's vision blurred. She forced her eyes toward the crack, toward his hand, toward the warmth that was real.
"Chen Wei," she gasped. "I choose you."
The bond rope flared.
For a heartbeat, the whisper in her head screamed in anger.
Wei Chen pulled again.
Lin Xue's head and shoulders slipped through.
She was halfway in.
Halfway out.
The worst place to be.
And then Su Mei's voice came from inside the crack—soft, wrong, and laughing.
"Good," it whispered. "Now the gate has its seal."
Lin Xue froze.
Because Su Mei's voice wasn't coming from Su Mei's throat.
It was coming from the black sun brand.
Wei Chen's brand pulsed cold.
The crack widened like it was smiling.
And the stone behind Lin Xue—outside—began to close, sliding forward like a lid.
To be Continued
© Kishtika., 2025
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