OPERATION WINTERSPINE (Strings Between Us Book 2)

CHAPTER FOURTEEN: OF FRACTURES, FIELD ORDERS, AND THE GIRL WHO

A bruise. Blue-violet. Ugly. Blooming. Right under her ribs. And I stopped breathing again. The nurse said something about balconies. About safety.

I didn't hear a word. I was too busy plotting how I'd find whoever planted the shockline that did this. Too busy blaming myself for not getting there in time. For letting her fight in a world that wasn't supposed to be real. For loving a girl I couldn't protect the way I promised I would.

When we stepped outside again, the sky was a mess of dusklight and drifting clouds. It looked peaceful. It felt wrong.

She glanced up at me like she was trying to read my thoughts.

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

"Yes, I did."

"You scared people."

She smiled like she hadn't just scared me more than anyone ever has.

"Seb thinks you can freeze a nation."

"He's not wrong."

"Tofer called you Frost Monarch."

I almost smiled. Almost.

She nudged gently.

"Are you mad again?"

I shook my head. But the truth was more complicated than that.

"I'm not mad," I said quietly.

I was hollow.

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

And I wasn't sure I could follow. I wasn't sure she'd let me.

But I knew this: if the battlefield ever demanded her again-if the ghosts came back, if the traps weren't simulations next time—I wouldn't just follow.

I'd burn down the map before they reached her. I felt her hand slip into mine. Her fingers laced through like she'd done it a thousand times. And for a second, I let go of the frost. Because in that silence—with the bruise still lingering beneath her ribs and the night falling soft-

I didn't feel like a president or a son of a dynasty. I just felt like hers. And for once, that was enough.

Then something shifted.

Barely there—a flicker in my chest.

My eyes dropped to our hands. Her fingers wrapped around mine. And then... to the ring on my middle finger. The one Keryn gave me last week. I wasn't supposed to use this but I chose to wear it today.

"Wait," I murmured, feeling a strange pressure beneath my skin. A pulse that wasn't mine. "I... I just felt something."

She smiled. Soft. Certain. Like she already knew exactly what was happening.

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

My eyes narrowed slightly, confused. "How?"

She leaned in—close enough that I could see the flicker of light in her eyes.

"Remember when Keryn said she gave you accessories as punishment?

I blinked. Slowly nodded.

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

My breath caught.

I looked down at the ring again, like it had suddenly transformed. Then up at her. Then back.

"Wait... will I hear the others too?"

She laughed—light, certain, the sound grounding me. "No! I have a different accessory linked only to your ring."

Then she pulled out a slim platinum chain—silver and faintly glowing bracelet.

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

I stared.

Something in my chest ached. "Then... why didn't I feel yours earlier?"

She paused. Her fingers brushed over the glowing pendant, her eyes meeting mine like they'd been waiting there for days.

"Because it only activates when I let it," she said quietly. "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 would've. God,I would've ended it. Quietly. Efficiently. The whole game, reduced to nothing—if I even suspected she was in danger.

Her voice softened even more, barely above a whisper. "You already worry too much when it comes to me. I couldn't let that pull you in... not unless it was real."

I didn't say anything. Just looked at the bracelet. Then at her.

And somehow, the silence between us didn't feel like silence anymore.