The moment the door swung open, I shouted, "Don't come in! Stay there!"
Lucian froze at the threshold. His eyes were sharp and glacial, slowly softened as they swept over me from head to toe. "It's okay. It's just me," he said quietly.
'Of course, it's you!' I wanted to scream. 'I just don't want to die again because of your freezer-level body temperature, you overgrown lizard!'
My jaw tightened as the air grew heavier and colder, every breath a visible puff of white mist.
Lucian's gaze lingered for a beat before he turned slightly, murmuring something under his breath. Sebastian and the others exchanged quick glances, then silently exited the room, shutting the door behind them.
Now, it was just the two of us and the suffocating chill between us.
Lucian took a step forward, and the air instantly grew colder. I sucked in a sharp breath, shivering as frost prickled over my skin.
"W-wait—" I managed, wrapping my arms around myself. "Do you… always have trouble controlling your ice, or is this your way of saying hi?"
He froze mid-step, his expression unreadable. The frost on the floor cracked faintly as he glanced down at his own hand, his knuckles were pale, a faint mist curling from his fingers.
"I don't," he said quietly, almost to himself. But the air still trembled, colder with every heartbeat, as if even he didn't understand why.
"Lucian—stop!" I blurted out, stumbling back a step as the chill clawed up my legs. My breath hitched, turning to mist in the air. "Don't come any closer! Just… calm down before I freeze to death again!"
He halted immediately, his eyes widening ever so slightly. Frost shimmered beneath his shoes, spreading like cracks in glass.
"I'm not—" he began, but his voice caught a visible puff of frost leaving his lips. He looked down at his trembling hands, the faint blue glow beneath his skin pulsing out of rhythm.
"I'm not even angry," he murmured, more to himself than to me.
"Then tell that to your magic," I muttered, hugging my borrowed shirt tighter around me. "Because it's definitely having a meltdown."
The cold hit harder with every breath I took. My knees gave out, and I flopped onto the floor, clutching the oversized shirt tighter around me. "Lucian, please—stop. You're going to kill me again at this rate!" My voice cracked, a mix of fear and frustration. "Or is that really what you want?"
His entire body went rigid. The frost creeping across the floor halted mid-spread. His expression flickered, panic flashing beneath that calm, practiced mask.
"What are you talking about?" His voice came out hoarse, unsteady. "You—" He stopped, running a trembling hand through his hair as if to ground himself. "I really didn't do anything…" He stepped forward, "Your flame, do it!"
"I—I can't," I shook my head while holding onto my chest.
Lucian's brows drew together, confusion flashing in his icy eyes. "What do you mean you can't?" His voice was rough, almost desperate now. "You're a phoenix… your flame should've ignited the moment you felt danger."
I shook my head weakly, every breath turning white in the freezing air. "Well, unfortunately, I don't have a manual for that! I didn't even know I could burn anything…"
The air between us pulsed, his control slipping again as frost began to crawl up the walls. He clenched his fists, forcing himself to stay still. "Damn it…" His gaze softened, worried, bleeding through the sharpness. "If you don't light your flame soon, you'll freeze."
"Then stop making it colder!" I snapped, teeth chattering as I curled tighter into myself. "You're literally the problem here!"
Lucian exhaled sharply, forcing his power to recede but even then, the room remained bitterly cold, as if his presence itself refused to be tamed.
"Lucian…" My voice started to crack and I had a hard time letting the sound out, "Calm down, don't panic…"
Lucian froze, his chest rising and falling unevenly. The sound of her voice, fragile and trembling, snapped through the haze clouding his mind. He hadn't realized how far his power had spread until he saw the frost climbing my bare legs and my lips turning pale.
"I'm not panicking," he muttered, though the tremor in his voice betrayed him. He took a cautious step back, trying to contain the cold leaking from his body. "I just—" His words faltered as his gaze swept over me, seeing how small I looked wrapped in only his shirt. "You're freezing… I am… I am afraid."
But I couldn't even answer. My throat felt tight, my breath shallow, my vision dimming around the edges. The last thing I saw was him moving, fast and desperate as his coat flew from his shoulders.
"Wear this for now…"
The heavy fabric settled around me, still carrying his cold but oddly comforting scent. He hesitated for only a heartbeat before retreating toward the door, as if afraid staying too close would kill me again.
"Sebastian!" His voice thundered through the hall. "Call that damn doctor—now!"
I wanted to say something, maybe a thank you or perhaps a complaint but everything spun. The air around me wavered, colors dimming as warmth and cold tangled until I couldn't tell which one was winning.
"Stay awake," I heard him say, his voice suddenly closing again. A faint shimmer of frost lingered on his lashes, his usually sharp tone cracking into something raw. "Don't disappear on me again."
As if his words were a command, my eyes barely hanging open, trying to obey.
The door burst open and someone like a doctor barreled in, breathless, a compact medical kit in hand. He skidded to a stop at the sight of me with coat half-hanging, cheeks ghost-pale and his face went white beneath the stubble.
Quickly kneeling beside me, fingers expertly hunting for a pulse. His hands were steady, but his jaw clenched when he looked up at Lucian. "Lord Drake… this is delicate. I can try a controlled thermal stimulation, but if—"
Lucian didn't let him finish. His voice snapped through the room, sharp as ice. "Just do it! If she dies, you die!"
The threat landed like a physical blow. For a beat the air held, then the doctor's shoulders sagged and he nodded once, forced but focused. "Understood." He flipped open a panel on his kit and pulled out a small device that hummed with a faint, warm light, not like fire, but a calibrated pulse of heat designed to jump-start metabolic functions in... maybe phoenix?
"Keep back," he ordered. "This is going to be quick, but precise." His hands hovered for a second above my sternum, then the device released a slow, radiating warmth. It smelled faintly of ozone and metal, clinical and oddly comforting.
My fingers twitched. My lungs dragged in air that didn't hurt this time.
But then… something shifted.
The warmth spreading from the device didn't stop at my skin. It sank deeper, sinking into my chest until it felt like my heart was burning from the inside out. The faint orange light flared brighter, flickering beneath my ribs like a spark that had finally found fuel.
The doctor's head snapped up, his eyes wide. "No—no, this isn't right." He stumbled backward, nearly dropping his device. "Everyone, back away from her! Now!"
Lucian froze. "What are you—"
"She's overheating!" the doctor shouted. "She couldn't control them… if that flame breaks loose, she might—"
Before he could finish, the air around me shimmered. A wave of heat surged out, meeting the lingering frost and hissing violently as steam filled the room.
I heard Lucian call my name through the haze, his voice almost drowned by the sound of cracking ice and roaring fire.
And then everything went white.