The frozen heart

Chapter 21: Behind Closed Doors

Chapter 21: Behind Closed Doors

Kaiden stood outside the heavy, rusted door of Anne's cell, his body rigid with frustration. His hands were clenched into fists at his sides, cold seeping from his fingertips as he fought to control the icy power simmering just beneath his skin. The corridor was dimly lit, the air thick with the dampness of the underground, and the metallic scent of blood lingered in his nose. He could hear the muffled voices of the assassins on the other side, but none of them mattered. The only thing that mattered was Anne, and she was behind that door.

He had done everything they asked. He had killed. He had controlled the ice, shaped it into weapons, froze his enemies, and bent the frost to his will, all to protect her. But still, they wouldn't let him see her. Still, she was suffering because of him.

His breath came in slow, ragged waves as he tried to keep his composure, but it was slipping, the anger bubbling beneath the surface threatening to explode. He thought of the moment when he froze the assassin—the one who dared to touch her, to look at her like she was a prize to be claimed. The ice had surged from him without control, colder and fiercer than anything he'd summoned before, encasing the man in a tomb of frost before he could even cry out. It had been a mistake, an unplanned release of the curse that now bound him. But even in that moment of icy triumph, he had felt Anne's pain. He could still hear her gasping, her soft cries of agony echoing in his ears.

Kaiden's chest tightened as the memory overwhelmed him. He hadn't been able to save her then, not truly. He had stopped the assassin, yes, but at what cost? The retaliation had been swift and brutal. They made her pay for his outburst, for his defiance. She had endured the punishment in silence, never once letting him see the full extent of her suffering, but Kaiden knew. He could feel it in the way her breath faltered, in the way her body trembled whenever they brought her before him, tied and bound, to make sure he was watching.

And now, after another successful mission, another day of bending to their will, they refused him. They kept her from him, punishing him by denying him the one thing that kept him grounded, that kept him human.

He stepped forward, his hand reaching for the door, ice creeping along the edges of the wood as his fingers hovered over it. The frost crackled softly, but he pulled back before he could lose control again. No. He had to keep himself in check. For Anne. If he unleashed his fury now, they would only hurt her more.

The door remained closed, the weight of its presence taunting him.

"She's paying for your failure," one of the guards muttered behind him, his voice dripping with mockery. "If you'd only learn to obey quicker, she wouldn't have to suffer."

Kaiden didn't turn around, didn't acknowledge the man's words. He couldn't afford to let them get under his skin. But inside, the cold was growing, hardening. Every word was a dagger, every taunt a reminder of the endless cycle they were trapped in.

He wanted to see her. He needed to see her. To reassure her that he was still there, that he hadn't given up on her, even if the world around them was crumbling.

His mind drifted back to the last time he saw her—her face pale, her eyes dull with exhaustion but still filled with that same unyielding fire. She had looked at him, even through the haze of pain, and smiled, a small, fragile thing, but it had been enough to keep him going.

But now...he couldn't reach her. He couldn't feel her warmth, couldn't hear her voice. The distance was suffocating, and Kaiden was drowning in it.

His body was trembling now, not from cold, but from the raw need to break through the walls between them. The ice coursed through his veins, urging him to act, to tear the door from its hinges, to unleash the storm within him. But he forced himself to stay still, teeth gritted, jaw clenched.