Two claws shot out at once.
One snapped toward Lin Xue's wrist mark like it wanted to rip the bond right off her skin. The other lunged up toward Wei Chen's throat, thin and fast, aiming for his voice—aiming for his names.
Lin Xue moved on pure instinct. She slammed her palm onto Wei Chen's chest, frost exploding outward like a shield. The frost caught the throat-claw for half a breath, slowing it just enough for Wei Chen to twist his head aside.
The claw grazed his neck.
Cold burned his skin like ice-fire. Wei Chen sucked in a sharp breath, eyes flashing. "It wants my voice," he growled.
Lin Xue grabbed his chin and forced him to look at her. "Then don't give it one," she snapped. "Say my name. Stay real."
Wei Chen swallowed through the cold sting. "Lin Xue," he said.
"Again," Lin Xue demanded, because the tunnel was listening and rules needed to be loud.
"Lin Xue," Wei Chen said louder.
The bond rope flared warm—then flickered as the other claw reached her wrist mark again. Lin Xue hissed in pain. The law-thread tightened and pulled, chewing the bond thinner. Her wrist mark cracked at the edge, a thin fracture like a frozen lake starting to split.
Wei Chen saw the crack and his face went hard. "No," he snarled.
He snapped his fan open and slammed it down on the wrist-claw. Metal passed through shadow, but the strike still knocked it sideways for one breath. Lin Xue used that breath to wrap her other hand around her own wrist, frost pouring out, sealing the fracture like ice glue.
It held for a heartbeat.
Then the coffin wall behind them made a low grinding sound.
Knock.
Not from inside the tunnel.
From outside.
Lin Xue's blood went colder than her curse. Her head snapped toward the sealed wall. The stone had no seam, no light, no crack—yet the sound was real. The wall shivered like something heavy leaned on it.
Wei Chen felt it too. His black sun brand pulsed like a warning bell. "That's not us," he whispered.
Knock.
This one was slower. Testing. Like a patient predator checking if the lid was tight.
The copy of Lin Xue smiled in the pale light ahead. "Oh," it murmured. "It found the coffin."
Su Mei stood beside the copy, black eyes calm, body still. Her lips parted slightly, like she was listening to a voice through the stone.
Lin Xue's breath shook. "The Frost-Eater…" she whispered.
Wei Chen's jaw clenched. "If it breaks in," he said, voice rough, "we die."
Lin Xue grabbed his wrist hard. "Then we don't let it," she snapped, fierce. "Chen Wei—anchor to me."
Wei Chen looked at her, eyes sharp, then nodded once. "Rules," he whispered. "Stop means stop. Do you want me to burn the claws?"
Lin Xue swallowed through fear. "Yes," she whispered. "Burn them. But keep your heart."
Wei Chen's mouth twitched, that roguish grin trying to live even now. "Then you have to cool me," he murmured.
Lin Xue glared. "Idiot."
Wei Chen's eyes dipped to her lips. "Do you want me to stop teasing?" he asked, low and clear.
Lin Xue's cheeks warmed, angry at herself. "No," she whispered. "Just… do it."
Wei Chen nodded. He pulled her close, chest to chest, and pressed a kiss to her mouth—slow, deep, chosen—like he was carving a vow into stone. Lin Xue clutched his collar and held him there, trembling, not forced—chosen. Their heat and frost hummed together, and the bond rope flared brighter for a moment, like a rope pulled tight against snapping.
Wei Chen broke the kiss just enough to ask, "Do you want me to stop?"
Lin Xue shook her head. "Don't stop," she whispered. "Hold me. Burn."
Wei Chen inhaled and pushed his Nine-Suns fire into the crack again—thinner than before, sharper. Golden heat bit the shadow like a brand on paper. The claws hissed and jerked, smoke curling off their edges like burned ink.
The throat-claw recoiled.
The wrist-claw thrashed and tried to hook Lin Xue's mark again.
Lin Xue pressed colder frost around Wei Chen's brand, sealing the edges while his heat burned the center. Her palm trembled against his chest. "Stay shut," she whispered. "Stay mine."
The copy laughed softly. "So possessive," it purred. "Say it louder. Feed it."
Lin Xue's eyes snapped up, furious. "Shut up."
The copy only smiled.
Knock.
This time the sealed wall shuddered harder. Dust drifted from above. The runes flickered like frightened eyes.
Wei Chen's black sun brand pulsed in answer, like the door inside him recognized the knock outside.
Cold pressure rose under Wei Chen's ribs again, and his throat tightened as if a word was climbing up without permission.
A soft "yes" tried to form.
Lin Xue slapped her fingers lightly over his lips. "No," she whispered. "Not that yes."
Wei Chen's eyes widened, then softened with rough gratitude. He kissed her palm quickly, then held her hand to his mouth like he needed it there. "Stay," he rasped.
Lin Xue's cheeks burned. "I'm here."
The throat-claw shot forward again, furious, aiming for Wei Chen's neck.
Wei Chen twisted and caught it with his bare hand.
Cold bit his skin. His fingers went numb for a second. But his grip held the shadow like he was choking it.
Lin Xue's breath caught. "Chen Wei!"
Wei Chen's grin flashed, sharp. "I've held hotter things," he rasped—and his eyes flicked to Lin Xue's mouth for one shameless heartbeat.
Lin Xue's face turned red. "Idiot!"
Wei Chen used the moment anyway. He slammed Nine-Suns fire through his palm into the claw.
The claw shrieked silently and dissolved into smoke.
One claw down.
The wrist-claw remained, still reaching for Lin Xue's mark.
Lin Xue lifted her wrist, pain flashing. "It wants the bond," she whispered.
Wei Chen's face went hard. "Then we protect it," he said.
He grabbed Lin Xue's wrist and pulled it to his mouth, pressing a firm kiss right on her mark—warm, chosen, sealing. Lin Xue shuddered, cheeks burning, because it felt too intimate and too relieving at the same time. Her curse eased for a heartbeat under his heat.
Wei Chen pulled back just enough to ask, low and clear, "Do you want me to stop?"
Lin Xue's breath shook. "Don't stop," she whispered. "Keep… warming it."
Wei Chen's eyes darkened, but he kept his voice clean. "You choose this?" he asked.
Lin Xue nodded. "I choose."
Wei Chen kissed her wrist mark again—slower—then looked up at her, fierce and soft. "Then it's ours," he murmured.
The bond rope flared warm, and the wrist-claw hissed back like it hated the light.
The copy's smile cracked. "You're making it harder," it whispered, annoyed now.
Su Mei stepped forward, black eyes calm, and raised her hand.
Lin Xue snapped, "Stop!"
Su Mei did not stop.
Her hand slammed onto Wei Chen's chest, right on the crack.
Wei Chen's brand pulsed hard—too hard.
The wrist-claw surged out bigger than before, thickening, sharpening, turning from thin thread to a real shadow talon.
And the sealed coffin wall behind them shuddered—
not a knock this time.
A crack.
A thin line appeared in the stone, like the lid was starting to split from the outside.
To be Continued
© Kishtika., 2025
All rights reserved.