OPERATION WINTERSPINE (Strings Between Us Book 2)

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

And I was falling. Until strong arms caught me mid-collapse.

"I got you," Saichel whispered, his voice stripped of all mischief. "I got you, Princess."

I could feel his hand pressing against my back, grounding me. The Pulse Chain hummed with static—he felt it too. My fear. My spiral. My scream that wouldn't come.

Not again.

Not again.

I couldn't breathe.

I couldn't see him.

Alexie was in front of me in an instant. Lyle moved beside her, taller, broader—blocking my view entirely.

"Don't look," Alexie said firmly, cupping my face. "Ari, don't look. Focus on me."

"She's pale," Lyle muttered under his breath. "Get her some air. Now."

The air was full of screams. Students were bleeding too—dozens of them. Not all serious—scratches mostly. But too many for it to be ignored. Shards had scattered across the Commons like shrapnel—slashing legs, arms, faces. Cups overturned. Chairs broken. A datapad still flickered with someone's half-finished essay on diplomacy, now soaked with blood.

The High Chamber was already rushing down. At the center of it—Larraine Zobel, the High Chamber's, Secretary and the Council of Student Safety and Emergency Response, stepped forward and took control without hesitation.

"Initiate the D.V.-Omega Protocol," she ordered sharply. "Hospital transport only. Full escort. Call the Ice President's parents — now."

She raised her voice again, this time to the students and staff already trying to move the injured.

"No one lifts them without clearance. Medics are en route. We wait. No sudden movements — we are not risking secondary trauma."

She turned to the student aides nearby. "Triage priority: arterial bleeds, head wounds, and concussions. Anyone ambulatory with minor injuries, move to the west corridor and sit against the wall. Do not walk unassisted."

Then louder: "Dorm leaders — take headcounts. I want confirmation of every student's name and condition within ten minutes. Faculty — stabilize the perimeter and stay calm. You set the tone."

There was no hesitation in Larraine's voice. No doubt. Just urgency. Just command.

"I have medical training," Keryn said quickly, already moving. "I can help. Xythe's bleeding — I've stopped it for now."

Larraine gave her a tight nod. "Stay with him. Do not leave his side until the medics arrive."

"Not exactly how I planned my morning," Xythe muttered, wincing as Keryn adjusted the pressure on his arm. "Remind me never to babysit royalty again."

Keryn didn't glance up. "You're alive. Stop talking like it's optional."

She turned her head slightly, speaking calmly but clearly to KD, who was still on the floor beside him.

"You're stable, but you're bleeding. Do not move until they clear you. Do you understand?"

KD nodded once—stiffly. Jaw tight.

Alexie and Lyle were still in front of me, shielding the worst of it from my view.

But I was already trembling.

My ears were full of static.

The Heartbeat Pinky Ring on my left hand pulsed—hard. A fractured spike of fear slammed into me—Xythe. His heartbeat pounded like shattering glass. Erratic. Strained. He was trying to hold himself together, but I could feel it—his focus fracturing, his thoughts spiraling. He was terrified. Not for himself. For KD. For me.

And then there was KD. His pulse, racing. Distant through the Velaris thread—but close enough. His breath was shallow, like he was trying to stay conscious. I could feel the burn of his blood leaving his body, the sharpness of his panic rolling toward me through the thread. Not enough. Not enough—his voice, weak but urgent, filtered through:

"Riyee—!"

KD's voice tore through the noise—raw, desperate.

He tried to push forward, even with blood still dripping down his arm, but Keryn caught his shoulder.

"Don't—you're still bleeding," she warned.

My chest felt too tight.

The air, static.

The threads twisting.

My knees buckled, legs limp—

"Ari—hey, hey—!" Saichel's voice broke through, steady but alarmed. His fear slammed into me. Heavy. Crashing. Not sharp like Xythe's—no. Saichel's pulse was a tidal wave, sudden and suffocating. It didn't spike—it collapsed, like someone throwing their whole weight into catching me before I hit the ground. He was holding on. To his calm. To me.

But the sync made it impossible to ignore what he was really feeling—that he couldn't lose me or Xythe. Not like this. Not now.

But before everything blacked out, my gaze flicked—just once—toward the south archway.

And I saw him.

Rowan Lopez. Standing like a shadow behind the chaos. Expression unreadable.

Then—a smirk.

Small. Cold. Like he was proud.He wanted me to see it. And I did.

Then the world tilted. And I fell.

Darkness rushed in like a curtain. And the last thing I felt... was Saichel catching me.

The last thing I heard—

KD, still calling out.

"Riyee—please—love—stay awake—don't—"

Then silence.