OPERATION WINTERSPINE (Strings Between Us Book 2)

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE: OF ICE, BLOOD, AND THE TACTICIAN WHO MOVED FIRST

"You just said chaos court."

Touché.

I headed to my usual table — where Jodie, Errol, Mico, and Xylia were already seated with coffee, croissants, and mid-level trauma.

I glanced at Jodie. Jossette Dian Dela Vega Anderson. She and KD still believed they were cousins. But after what we'd learned... I wasn't sure anymore.

Would she break if she found out it was a lie? Or worse — did she already know?

"You're calling us the peace table now?" Jodie asked with a smirk.

"Compared to them? You're saints." I gestured to the Court across the room, currently arguing over territory markers and ice cream rations.

"We accept trauma dumps. Free consultation," Xylia grinned.

"No, we should start billing you," Mico snorted. "You and The Prince both think we're your therapists."

"Speaking of The Prince — where is he?" Errol leaned forward.

Right then, the doors creaked open. Xythe strode in. Spinning a silver dagger between his fingers, eyes cold and unreadable.

"Ah, the brooding storm himself returns!" Saichel called from across the room. "Come to grace us with your complicated emotions and deadly accessories?"

Xythe didn't even glance his way. "Only here to babysit the heartcase," he muttered, heading straight for me.

I rolled my eyes. "Heartcase, really?"

Saichel stood dramatically, arms wide. "You wound me, Tactician! Is that any way to treat your handsome partner in crime?"

Xythe stopped. Flicked his wrist. The dagger flew and embedded itself in the wood an inch from Saichel's hand.

Silence.

Complete.

The entire Commons froze. Chairs stilled. Forks paused midair.

The High Chamber leaned forward upstairs.

"You should stop teasing the Tactician before he's had coffee," Keryn said, sipping her fourth cup. "You'll die."

"I agree," Seb added, twirling his steel cuffs like he was auditioning for villain-of-the-week.

"Are we just gonna pretend Seb walks around bringing actual handcuffs?" Jodie whispered.

"They're for Saichel," Xythe said dryly. "If he doesn't shut up, he'll be in them."

"Or chains," I added. "Tofer always has chains."

"WHAT?" Xylia squealed.

Xythe shrugged. "Saichel's dramatic. He needs dramatic consequences."

Mico and Errol burst out laughing, almost choking on their muffins.

Then—

Freeze.

Not a pause.

Not silence.

A shift. A pull. A ripple across the room.

KD entered. And just like that, the air changed.

He was in full Ice President mode, his silver insignia gleaming under the lights. But his hair... still a little messy, tousled from sleep. He hasn't gelled it back since the suspension. He looked like he belonged on the cover of a magazine. But the tension in his jaw said otherwise.

He walked toward us, quiet and composed...

Snap.

Only the Court heard it.