OPERATION WINTERSPINE (Strings Between Us Book 2)

CHAPTER THIRTEEN: OF HEADMASTERS, FREEZING ORDERS,

His voice was colder now. Sharper. Commanding.

"Send three units. Now. I don't care if they're prepping for surgery—reroute. Prioritize campus dispatch. I want full certification, trauma assessment, vitals. And bring enough staff. You're treating two schools, not a batch of interns."

We all froze. Even the Court.

Alexie leaned in, whispering, "The Ice President is trying to freeze everyone again. He's scarier than Lyle and Xythe combined."

Lyle and Xythe just looked at KD.

"I think he can freeze an entire nation," Seb muttered.

"Maybe he's an avatar," Tofer deadpanned.

Thirty minutes later, three white vans rolled into campus, all bearing the unmistakable insignia of Dela Vega Medical Center.

KD's family hospital.

One of the staff—a middle-aged nurse—approached and bowed slightly.

"Sir Khaizer. Everything is ready."

And yes, she said Sir.

KD turned to the assembled crowd, voice clipped and cold.

"All students from the Airsoft simulation will now be divided into three clusters."

"First van: minor injuries."
"Second van: signs of trauma, dizziness, bruising."
"Third van: if you're perfectly fine, let the doctor confirm it. No self-assessments."

"No one leaves the lot without a written certificate. My staff will hand them to your dorm leaders."

No one argued. No one dared.

Just—quiet, efficient obedience.

Seb leaned toward the Court again. "I take it back. He doesn't just freeze nations. He rules them."

"Confirmed. Code name: Frost Monarch," Tofer muttered.

"Silence. He might hear you.," Thres said.

I couldn't help it. I giggled. "For the record, he hears, though."

Because that was Khaizer freaking Dylan. He noticed everything. Heard everything. Nothing missed when it comes to him.

I turned to the Court, smirking. "Don't tell me the Ardent Court is afraid of the Ice President?"

Before anyone could answer—KD stormed toward me.

"You," he said, cold as steel, "should start getting yourself checked instead of sitting around provoking my reputation."

"Ow!" the Court chorused in unison behind me.

He dragged me gently—but firmly—toward the nearest van. And I let him.

The nurse waved me toward the third van—"no visible injuries, but subject to confirmation."

KD didn't leave my side. Not even when the thermometer beeped. Not when the nurse frowned at the bruise forming under my ribs. Not when she scribbled notes and told me to rest, to stop "jumping off balconies like it's part of the sport."

KD said nothing through it all. Just stood there, hands in his pockets, eyes locked on the floor like he was holding back winter itself.

When we finally stepped out into the quiet evening, I caught his profile under the dusk light. Cold. Composed. So perfectly unreadable.

I used to think it was annoying—how KD always looked like he could freeze a wildfire with a single breath.

Now I knew better. It wasn't ice to distance. It was ice to protect. From others. From chaos. From things he couldn't control. From me.

I glanced sideways at him as we walked back toward the dorms.

He was silent again.

So I spoke instead. "You didn't have to call the entire medical center, you know."

He didn't stop walking. "Yes, I did."

"You scared people." I grinned. "Seb thinks you can freeze a nation."

"He's not wrong."

"Tofer called you Frost Monarch."

That earned me a tiny smirk. Blink—and—miss—it.

"Are you mad again?" I asked, softer now.

He didn't answer immediately.

"I'm not mad."

A beat.

"I'm just... learning what kind of war you're willing to walk into."

And there it was.

That quiet vulnerability he never let anyone else see. That slight tremble beneath the frost. It sat in my chest like an ember, steady and burning.

I slipped my hand into his. He didn't stop me.

"You'd freeze the world to spare me the pain," I said quietly, "and I'd burn through heavens and history to thaw the sorrow you never speak."

He didn't say anything. He didn't have to. Because the fingers he laced into mine were warm. And for once, his silence didn't feel like winter.

It felt like peace.

Then his brow twitched—just slightly. His gaze dropped to our joined hands. To the ring on his middle finger. The one Keryn had given him which I didn't know he'd actually wear.

"Wait," KD murmured, a crease forming between his brows. "I... I just felt something."

I smiled. Soft. Certain.

"Felt that?" I said. "That was my heartbeat."

His eyes narrowed slightly, confused. "How?"

I leaned in a little. "Remember when Keryn said she gave you accessories as punishment?"

He blinked. Then slowly nodded.

I grinned. "She wasn't lying. She gave you a Pulse Link accessory—one connected to mine."

His eyes widened. His gaze snapped to my pinky, then back to his ring. "Wait... will I hear the others too?"

I laughed, shaking my head. "No! I have a different accessory linked only to your ring."

Then I showed him a slim platinum chain—the bracelet Keryn had given me, still faintly glowing, hidden under my clothes all this time.

The Silent Starlink.

"This one's just for you," I said, voice low. "No Court. No Council. Just... us."

KD stared at it for a long second. Then back at me. "Then... why didn't I feel yours earlier?"

I paused. My fingers brushed over the necklace as I met his eyes.

"Because it only activates when I let it," I answered softly. "And during the manhunt... I couldn't risk you thinking I was in danger. I didn't want to send a distress signal. Not when it was still just a simulation. Not when I knew you'd come running."

I looked up at him, voice softer now. "You already worry too much when it comes to me. I couldn't let that pull you in... not unless it was real."

He didn't speak. Just looked at the bracelet, then at me. Like the silence between us wasn't empty anymore.

Because now he understood. That no matter how far the world pulled us apart, our pulses still found a way to meet in the middle.