Chapter 45
Forty-Five
B efore they could file through the portal, the ice exploded like frozen fireworks.
Alaire whipped her head around, trying to isolate what had caused the fissures. Until now, the cracks had only ever splintered the surface. This time, the ice shattered, opening to reveal dark, churning water below.
She startled as a deep, inky blackness slithered beneath the surface behind Kaia and Caius. An ocean of freezing water stretched beneath the tundra they’d been traveling across.
“We need to move—now,” Caius urged, pulling Kaia closer as they edged toward Alaire and Dawson. For once, she agreed with him. Foolishly, she’d assumed the worst dangers were above the ground. Her heart pounded, each beat a thunderous echo of dread.
A monstrous tentacle shot upward, wrapping around Kaia with alarming speed.
More limbs erupted from the abyss.
Kaia’s eyes went wide as the slimy appendage coiled around her torso, lifting her off the ground. Her hands clawed desperately at its grip.
“Kaia!” Alaire’s scream ripped across the ice as her friend was yanked toward the chasm.
She tried summoning her magic, begging it to answer. Nothing. The same emptiness that had plagued her for months. Why had it worked for Dawson but not now? What was different? Frustration burned in her chest, and she wanted to scream.
Unsheathing her daggers, she bolted toward the beast.
Caius was already moving as he fired arrow after arrow at the creature.
“Hold on, Kaia!” he shouted, desperation fraying his voice.
Kaia writhed in its grasp until her fingers closed around the hilt of her mace. She swung with all her strength, striking the thickest part of the tentacle. The creature let out a shriek so piercing Alaire flinched.
The tentacle only tightened. Kaia gasped, face paling as it began to crush her ribs.
The nightmare of battering appendages was relentless.
With a fierce screech, Solflara surged skyward, releasing a torrent of flames. Fire scorched the limbs that edged the ice, but the slick hide resisted her blaze.
Out of the corner of her eye, Alaire saw the portal’s glow contracting, dimming to a fragile flicker.
Hadrian, Onyx, and Beck unleashed lightning and wind in frantic bursts. Kaia’s thrashing forced them to hold back. For every tentacle they cut down, another rose to take its place, slippery and unyielding.
“The portal!” Dawson’s voice tore through the chaos. The gateway cracked, its edges flickering.
Kaia’s gaze shot first to Caius, then to Alaire. Blood trickled from the corner of her mouth.
Each arrow struck true, but the monster regenerated, ichor spilling only to reform stronger.
It was a losing battle. One Alaire refused to surrender.
Black blood splattered across her face as she cleaved through a writhing tentacle, blades crossing in a vicious “X.” She cracked her neck and raised her daggers again.
Then Dawson was there.
His arms locked around her waist like a python, unshakable and merciless, dragging her back with a force she couldn’t match.
“We need to go. Now .” His breath was ragged, grip unyielding. “The portal’s closing, Alaire, and we don’t know if it’ll open again.”
Her eyes stayed fixed on Kaia, still struggling in the creature’s grasp.
“No!” Alaire screamed, heels digging into the ice as he pulled her backward.
“I’m not leaving her!” She couldn’t abandon Kaia.
Not another friend. Not another name added to the graves already haunting her—Elodie, her parents, Blake.
Too many ghosts. Too much loss. She would not let Kaia be one more. Even if it killed her.
She didn’t have time for this conversation. Her hand went to the hilt of her blades to force him back. But he was faster—always fucking faster. His grip clamped around her wrists, twisting until her daggers clattered to the ground.
“Nice try, Firework,” he growled, voice edged with something dark, on the verge of breaking. She’d never heard him sound like this. “But you’ll have to do better than that.”
The portal crackled louder behind them, light flickering sporadically. Dawson dragged her back another few steps.
Her chest heaved. “Let me go!”
“Ever since we got the winterflame, something’s been wrong with this trial. We’re leaving.”
His hold tightened, unforgiving, like he was hanging on to his last lifeline.
“You’re leaving! I’m not going anywhere.”
“ We’re leaving!” His composure shattered, all his careful restraint cracking apart. “I would rip this entire fucking world apart before losing you. There is no me without you!”
The words struck like a hammer.
Alaire froze for a heartbeat. Kaia’s grunt rang out nearby as she swung her mace again. “You, of all people, should understand why I have to do this. Why I can’t leave. You know .”
Dawson’s head jerked toward hers until their faces were inches apart. His eyes burned into hers, wild and fierce.
“I understand,” he snarled. “I know what it means to lose. To drown in it.” His breath seared her skin.
“But I will not lose you.”
Her heart stumbled, slamming against her ribs. The air between them stretched taut.
“Something’s wrong here, and my responsibility as your partner is to protect you .”
She wrenched against his grip. “You’re willing to leave Caius behind too—your best friend!”
Pain flickered across his features. “Caius can handle himself. He’s the best chance Kaia has.”
Caius’s voice rang out, cutting through the frenzy. “Go. I won’t leave Kaia. You have to go without us.”
His eyes locked on hers, unwavering determination blazing in them. Despite their contentious history, she knew he’d keep that promise—or die trying.
A tentacle slithered up, wrapping around her ankles.
Dawson’s control snapped. He trapped both of her wrists in one hand and hacked through the limb with the other. His sword clattered to the ground.
His free hand fisted into her braid, yanking her forehead to his, eyes burning with desperation.
“I barely survived those yeti’s claws, this is so much worse. If you stay, there’s a chance you’ll die. And if you die, I swear to every god, I will burn through every realm to drag you back. But I can’t—” His voice cracked. “I can’t take that risk, Alaire. I refuse .”
Her breath stalled. Her heart fell to her feet. The fight drained from her limbs.
She glanced over her shoulder, chaos blurring around her: Kaia struggling, the portal shrinking fast. No matter how much Dawson’s words gutted her, how much they meant, she couldn’t live with herself if she walked away knowing she’d abandoned her friend.
Reaching forward, she cupped his face, thumbs brushing his stubble. “And I couldn’t live with myself if I let her die, Dawson. Knowing I could’ve done something. You need to let me go.”
He didn’t move. His grip held her hands in place.
“No.” A vow. A promise.
Alaire threw her plea down the bond. “ A little help here .”
Soflara’s reply cut her to the core. “ The answers you seek — about your power , about what’s happening — they aren’t here . Dawson’s right . Something’s not right , and the only way to uncover it is to continue the trial .”
“ Of course ,” Alaire huffed. “ Taking his side .”
“ I’m taking yours . Even if you’re too stubborn to see it .”
“ You’re wrong . Every last one of you .”
“Hate me,” Dawson ground out. “But I swear to the gods, I will carry you through that portal myself if I have to.”
The portal had shrunk to the size of a window, edges sputtering.
“I won’t just leave her to that thing.”
“Go!” Caius roared. “Now!”
Before she could react, Dawson hoisted her off the ground and flung her over his shoulder, striding toward the collapsing gateway.
Alaire thrashed, fists pounding his back. “Dawson! Let. Me. Go!”
He didn’t slow. “Hate me all you want, but I will not let you die here.”
Betrayal splintered her chest.
He turned his head, eyes softening for just a heartbeat. “I’m sorry, Alaire. This is the only way.”
Tears of fury and fear stung her eyes. “Don’t do this. Don’t you dare.” She searched his face for a flicker of doubt, but all she found was cold, warrior’s resolve.
“I don’t care,” he said, voice like steel. “As long as you’re alive.”
“I. Don’t. Care. My life is not worth more than hers. Not even close.”
The portal flickered ahead, dying like a star. As Dawson barreled them through, Solflara and Beck right behind, the last thing Alaire saw was Caius standing his ground, bow drawn, with a look of fierce resolve.
Tears blurred her vision. Caius would save Kaia. He had to.
But Alaire was so sick of being trapped in the same nightmare—always running, always surviving, always leaving someone behind.