Blood splurted out in front of us.
It wasn't Vivian's.
It was Thalor's.
For a heartbeat, I couldn't understand what I was seeing. Everything had happened too fast and too suddenly. One moment, the icicle was flying toward Vivian, and the next, Thalor was there.
Standing in front of her.
The ice shard had pierced straight through his side, blood staining his clothes a dark, spreading red. His body shuddered from the impact, but he didn't fall. He stayed upright, arms braced wide as if shielding her with his own body.
"Thalor—!" Auren's shout tore through the room.
Vivian froze, her eyes wide with shock. "You—why—"
Thalor coughed, blood staining his lips as he turned his head slightly toward her. "Don't," he muttered hoarsely. "Move."
Lucian snapped fully then.
The temperature plummeted, ice screaming outward as Lucian's power surged without restraint. The floor cracked beneath his feet, frost racing up the walls like living veins.
