Chapter 2Winter's Reckoning

My hand stopped, hovering.

He... he didn't even know?

Before I could speak, the new bride, Lyra, whispered, "Kaelen, don't listen to her. You know how Seraphina lies."

"She... she cut up her own dresses last month, just to blame me."

Kaelen's eyes sparked. He believed her.

"That... that woman," he seethed. "I never knew how manipulative she was. She's faking her own death just to stop me from marrying Lyra?"

I was shaking with rage.

When Kaelen had overused his magic, shattering his own life-force, it was Frost who saved him. She'd traded her own life-source, her system points, for his. She had been wasting away ever since.

She made me promise not to tell him. She didn't want him to feel "burdened."

And this... this was his gratitude.

I hit him again. "Say her name one more time, and I'll rip your tongue out."

Lyra shrieked and lunged at me. "You witch! You're just doing her dirty work!"

I dodged, grabbed her wrist, and twisted.

She screamed.

A small body shot past me like a cannonball, tackling me at the knees.

"You hurt my mommy! Get out, you bad woman!"

A little boy. Five, maybe six years old. He was beautiful. And he looked... he looked just like Seraphina.

Her son. Kaelen's son.

And he was protecting this other woman.

"Frost... what kind of hell were you living in?"

My heart shattered. I looked at the boy. "You're Frost's son. Why are you calling her 'Mommy'?"

The boy's face twisted with a hatred far too old for him. "Don't say that! She's not my mother! Lyra is my mother! You can't hurt her!"

Oh, Frost. Do you see this?

I laughed. A horrible, broken sound. I grabbed the kid, my whip lashing out, and tied him to my side.

"Frost was too soft to teach you. I'll do it for her."

If he were my kid, I'd have abandoned him. But this was Frost's. I had to at least try to save him.

Lyra was hysterical. "Kaelen, she's taking Ash! Stop her!"

Kaelen was furious. "Let him go, Luna! This is between us! He's just a child!"

I pulled the rope tighter. "He became 'between us' the moment you let him call another woman his mother. Do you even remember what Frost went through to give you this child?"

We weren't supposed to be able to get pregnant here. She had to trade more of her life, endure a blood-magic ritual... just to have his baby.

She was so happy. "I'm not just saving you, Moon," she'd said, "I'm finding my true love."

Now she was a corpse with one arm.

Kaelen flinched, but his voice was hard. "She's a thief. I will not let my son be raised by a thief."

"She stole what?"

"She stole Lyra's title! She stole her power, her credit, everything!"