OPERATION WINTERSPINE (Strings Between Us Book 2)

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE: OF BLEEDING THREADS, STOLEN NAMES,

Then stared at his hand like it wasn't his.

"A-Alexie..." His voice came out fractured. "I—I didn't mean—"

His hands were trembling. "You startled me."

I felt the world tilt. My chest tightened, a mix of fear, disbelief, and something I couldn't name. The Echo-9. The Lucem. The man I thought I knew... gone. And all that was left was this... fragile, human flicker.

Seb, Alexie and Saichel were looking at him. Studying him. That wasn't a reflex. That was conditioning.

Programming.

"That was... fast," Seb whispered. "Frost Monarch, are you okay?"

KD didn't answer right away.

He looked down at his palm. The angle of his fingers. The exact control.

"Where did I learn that?" he murmured. "Why did I—?"

Everyone in the gym was frozen. Mouths slightly open, eyes wide. No one dared to speak. I guessed this was the first time they'd seen KD like that.

"Lucem slipped," Lyle's voice cut through my comm line, calm but heavy with meaning.

My heart clenched.

No.

Not here.

Not now.

"KD," I called out—low, steady, urgent.

He turned to me like I was the only real thing in the world. His whole body swayed, just slightly—unmoored, like the ground had shifted beneath him.

And when my hand met his chest—grounding, solid, familiar—he dropped his arm, like whatever instinct that took over had finally let go.

The second my hand landed on his chest—firm, steady, warm—his arm dropped.

His breathing slowed. The trembling stopped.

And for a moment...I felt him come back to me.

"It's okay," I whispered. "You're okay."

He didn't say anything. He just stared at me. Still confused. Still in shocked.

Everyone is still looking at us.

"Khaizer, are you okay?" Jodie rushed towards him. Full of concern. Behind her is Xylia, Errol and Mico. All giving worried look.

"I'm okay." KD whispered.

Seb then says, "Give the Frost Monarch some water. He was shocked by the way Alexie flirted with him."

Alexie just groaned. But I heard her whisper enough for us to hear through her comm. "You told me to do that. I almost got hit."

Xylia offered water to KD, and he accepted it quietly.

I didn't wait. I looped my arm around his waist and guided him toward the bleachers, away from the students' prying eyes. Away from all the noise, the whispers, the tension. Somewhere he could just... breathe.

I kept my hand resting lightly on his back, grounding him, steadying him. Every step, every motion careful. Because right now, he needed space, not the world.

He let out a soft sigh. "I didn't know what happened to me."

I sat down beside him and wrapped him in a sideways hug, letting him lean against me. His tremors had faded, but the tension lingered, and I wasn't letting go just yet.

"You were startled. Reflexes kick in."

"I almost hurt her. She's your friend. Saichel's girlfriend. If Seb wasn't fast enough..." His voice broke. He didn't like what happened.