OPERATION WINTERSPINE (Strings Between Us Book 2)

CHAPTER FOUR: OF DAGGERS, HEARTBEATS, AND THE DEATH OF MY FRIES

And there he was, Xythe. His heartbeat didn't pound. It was calculated. Sharp. Rhythmic. Like a countdown to detonation disguised as calm.

He didn't just enter—he reset the room. Like the air had stalled, waiting to sync with his silence.

Obsidian uniform, edges cut like decisions. Double-breasted blazer, crimson-lined cuffs, gold-stitch rank glinting like a crown pretending not to be one. Storm-grey vest, tight and sharp, crimson-threaded buttons like quiet warnings. Reinforced trousers moved silent, ankle seams hiding drone ports. The shirt shimmered faintly under harsh lighting, silver-threaded and data-reactive. Knowing him, it was probably recording everything.

His shoes made no sound at all. Magnet-adaptive soles that clung or released depending on how many secrets he planned to walk over. He could stand behind you and you'd never hear it coming.

And somewhere beneath the lining of that blazer, tucked clean and silent, was his revolver—Hecate.

Xythe didn't arrive like someone entering a space. He walked in like the whole room had been arranged around his timing.

And behind him—silent as judgment—came Seb.

His blazer matched Xythe's, obsidian-black and clean-lined, but the sleeves were rolled just enough to expose the reinforced alloy threading—armor, but only if you knew how to read it. Underneath, a deep grey vest, buttoned tight with obsidian discs. Knife-proof. Not that you'd know unless you tried.

His pants were fitted, functional, and sharp, and his belt buckle? A blade sheath with a snap-release mechanism. You'd think it was just for show—until it wasn't. Combat loafers dressed up as something executive. But the heel was a taser.

Strapped beneath his arm, mostly hidden beneath the blazer, was Aegus—his ultra-high vibration knife. Fast. Lethal. Whisper-silent.

Seb's face was unreadable. Expression blank. Maybe a little smug. A man who moved through danger like he'd been born to it. He looked like someone you wouldn't notice until he wanted you to. And by then, it was already too late.

Seb answered as he arrived behind the chaos like it was a weather forecast. "We warned you, Saichel. You didn't listen."

He didn't even blink as he stepped around the dagger.

Bianchi and her council staff, approached us. And KD? He was just watching from above.

KD wasn't watching the chaos. He was watching me. Steady. Expectant. Like he was waiting to see if I still chose him, even now—daggers, and all.

I'm blaming Saichel for that. Sending a pulse link to him—just enough to feel me wanting to slap him with it.

Saichel then laughed. "Ari's pissed. Xythe's spiraling. This is fun."

"Quit it Saichel. You're pissing off the princess and the prince." Lyle said calmly.

Then he added, "I haven't decided where to bury you if Xythe accidentally kill you for real. So for now, quit irritating these two."

But before Saichel can come up an answer, another wave of static surged through the intercom.

This time, crisp. Cold. Final.

The Academy's air practically snapped to attention as Headmaster Antonio's voice followed:

"The Ardent Court will move to Eclipsa Sanctum Dormitory effective immediately."

Someone near the back gasped.

"The building was gifted to Supreme Allievo Academy by Headmaster Lazaro Soriano of Celestine Ardent Academy."

Figures. Headmaster Lazaro moves wrapped in foresight and silence. That man-made legacies feel like they had expiration dates.

"Xythe Nathaniel Alcantara has successfully activated its access protocol, as intended."

I didn't need to look at him to know he was standing smug, arms crossed, like the architect of fate just casually beat a puzzle that had outsmarted half the faculty.

"Eclipsa Sanctum now belongs to the Ardent Court. That is all."

Click.

Silence.

Alexie blinked. "What's Eclipsa Sanctum?"

"That pretty dormitory near Sovereign Court and Imperial Quarter," Xylia whispered.

"Rumor says no one who enters ever comes back out," Jodie added.

"Some students feel pressure in their chest or hear static if they pass by at midnight," said Mico.

"So it was haunted," I said flatly.

They all nodded.

"Oh, and the President tried to unlock it once," Mico added. "He couldn't."

Not the awkward kind. The sharp kind where even sound knows not to speak unless spoken to.

I sighed. "So. We will live in a haunted war bunker now."

Saichel was still laughing. "A haunted war bunker with mood lighting, thank you very much."

Alexie muttered, "This can't be real."

But it was.

Because in the world of the Ardent Court, apparently, ancient sanctuaries unlock themselves when bored tacticians get tired of waiting.

And somewhere in the middle of it we'd just been claimed by a building with better instincts than most people.

I sighed, picked up a fry, and finally took a bite. Cold. Lifeless. Murdered by Xythe's dramatics.