CHAPTER 264

**WINTER** 

His arm wrapped fully around me, dragging me closer as if he could shield me from the memory itself.

“No,” his voice rasped, raw and almost breaking.

“No, look at me.”

But my mind was slipping back—into that nightmare.

The way he fell.

The sound of his body hitting the ground.

The helplessness that had ripped through me, leaving me hollow.

His hands framed my face, firm and grounding, pulling me out of the dark.

“Open your eyes.”

It took everything I had, but I did.

He was there. Breathing. Warm. Alive.

“I’m right here,” he whispered, his forehead pressing to mine. “Alive. Breathing. Holding you.”

Something inside me cracked open—fragile, aching, real.

“I saw you fall,” I whispered, my voice splintering. “I saw you—”

The moment hit, and my whole body shook.

He pulled me onto his lap, my legs straddling his thigh, his chest pressed against mine until I could feel his heartbeat thrumming steadily beneath my palms.

“Hey. Breathe with me,” he murmured, his tone soft but unyielding.

He inhaled slowly, deeply—and I followed. My breaths hitched, stumbled, then found his rhythm.

Inhale. Exhale.

Until the panic began to loosen its claws.

“It felt real,” I whispered, my voice breaking. “I watched you bleed out and I couldn’t move. I couldn’t save you.”

His nose brushed mine, gentle enough to steal my breath.

“Snowflake,” he murmured, voice rough and tender all at once, “nothing in this world is taking me from you. Not nightmares. Not the past. Not anyone. I’m not going anywhere.”

My fingers curled around the back of his neck, clinging—not because I thought he’d let go, but because I couldn’t bear the thought of not touching him.

“I hate sleeping,” I confessed, the words trembling out of me.

“I hate closing my eyes,” I whispered, voice trembling. “Because I know I’ll see it again.”

His hand slid into my hair, fingers tracing soft, calming circles against my scalp.

“It’s just a dream, Snowflake,” he murmured, voice rough, protective—but burning with something darker beneath. “He got near you once,” his jaw flexed, words like broken glass,

“but never fucking again.”

His hand fisted in the back of my shirt, pulling me closer, his breath hot against my temple.

“Not while I’m breathing.”

He shifted closer, his breath brushing my temple.

“Not tonight. Not while I’m here. I’ll stay awake if I have to. I’ll hold you through every second. Nothing’s getting past me.”

I lifted my head slowly, meeting his gaze—those dark, unyielding eyes that somehow made me believe him.

“You mean that?” I asked softly.

He didn’t hesitate, not even for a breath. 

“I don’t make empty promises,” he said, his voice rough with conviction. 

“And I sure as hell won’t leave you to fight your demons alone.”

I didn’t realise I was crying until his thumb brushed the tears from my cheeks, slow and careful.

I curled into him, trembling, and he pulled me closer—like the thought of space between us was unbearable. 

His arms locked around me, one circling my shoulders, the other firm around my waist, anchoring me to the rise and fall of his chest.

“Shh… I’ve got you,” Zion whispered, his voice low and rough against my hair. His fingers threaded through the strands, each pass a vow, each breath a promise.

He didn’t just hold me—he claimed the moment.

Every tremor. 

Every breath. 

Every part of me is still trying to outrun the dark.

My eyelids grew heavy, the panic slowly melting into exhaustion. His thumb traced lazy circles at the base of my neck, steady, hypnotic.

“Close your eyes, Snowflake,” he whispered, lips brushing my temple, soft and possessive. 

“Sleep. I’m right here. No one’s taking you from me.”

“You’re safe,” he murmured again, the words rumbling against my skin like an oath.

I buried my face in his chest, listening to the slow, powerful rhythm of his heartbeat. His hands never stopped—tracing my jaw, combing through my hair, grounding me with every touch.

A broken sigh escaped me. I burrowed deeper, letting the sound of him—his breath, his pulse—drown out everything else.

He pressed another kiss to my hair, his voice a low growl edged with devotion.

“You’re safe, Snowflake. Because I’m not letting go.”

The terror bled away, replaced by a bone-deep calm I hadn’t felt in years.

“I’ll keep you safe,” he murmured, the promise sinking into me like warmth spreading through my veins. 

“Always.”

And with that, the world softened, fading into silence as I drifted off—held tight in the arms of the one person who had fought every shadow just to bring me peace.

........

*I jolted awake, books clattering to the floor in a sharp, metallic symphony.* 

*The library was silent—eerily so. Dust motes floated in the faint shafts of moonlight, but no one was there.* 

*"When did I get here?" I whispered under my breath, scanning the empty stacks, my hands shaking.*

*Okay, calm down. Just a dream… probably… hopefully… I muttered under my breath, scanning the empty stacks.* 

*My hands shook, and I swallowed hard. Seriously, Winter, this is not the time to freak out like a caffeinated squirrel.*

*Then I heard it—heavy, deliberate footsteps, echoing off the high shelves.*

*“W-who’s there?” My voice trembled, small and desperate, cutting itself off halfway.*

*No answer. Just the ominous rhythm of footsteps, deliberate, echoing off the high shelves.*

*Then… a low, morbid laugh slithered through the shadows.*

*“Alone… all alone, and no one to save you,” the voice hissed, each word dripping with menace.*

*Panic coiled tight in my chest, hot and suffocating.*

*I scrambled to my feet, heart hammering, and ran blindly, legs burning, weaving between the towering shelves, desperate for refuge. The stacks became a blur as my hands scraped against spines of books, knocking them to the floor with a clatter that barely seemed to register in the oppressive darkness.*

*I shoved through the double doors.*

*Darkness swallowed me whole.*

*My lungs heaved, each breath sharp and ragged, heart hammering against my ribs like a wild drum. I pressed myself against the wall, straining to hear anything—footsteps, a whisper, a sign I wasn’t truly alone.*

*..*

*A whisper, cold and close, curled around my ear.*

*“Boo.”*

*I screamed, stumbling back, heart hammering, lungs burning. My hands flailed blindly, trying to push something away, to break free—but strong, bruising hands caught my wrists before I could move an inch.*

*“No! Get off me!” I yelled, kicking, twisting, desperate. Panic coiled tight in my chest. My vision blurred with fear as I struggled against the grip, the world narrowing to the feel of his hands and the terrifying proximity.*

*My legs pumped, arms flailing, but he was impossibly fast, impossibly strong. Every instinct screamed escape, but every move was met with iron restraint.*

*“You’re not going anywhere,” a low, teasing voice rasped near my ear, sending chills crawling down my spine.*

*I twisted harder, teeth gritting, adrenaline screaming. “Let me go!”*

*“You little bitch,” the voice rasped in my ear, low and venomous.* 

*“Haven’t you learned you can’t escape me?”*

*I struggled, twisting and writhing, but terror froze me.* 

*Tears streaked my face.* 

*My whole body trembled as my gaze was drawn to the floor.*

*Zion.*

*He was lying there, sprawled across the cold library floor, drenched in blood.* 

*His body was unnervingly still, every inch rigid, eyes wide and blank, staring past me as though he’d already left. My stomach lurched, bile rising, chest tightening like a vice. No… no… no…*

*I wrenched my arms free from the grip that held me, bolting toward him. Each step felt heavier than the last, my legs quaking under the weight of dread.*

*“No… no, no, no!”* 

*I dropped to my knees beside him, trembling hands hovering over his body. His skin was icy, slick with crimson that pooled beneath him, soaking into the floorboards.* 

*My fingers brushed against his jaw, sweeping the hair matted to his forehead aside.*

*“Zion! Please… no!”* 

*My voice cracked, raw and unrecognisable, swallowed immediately by the cavernous silence around us.*

*He didn’t move.* 

*He didn’t breathe.* 

*He didn’t blink. Just stared. Just stared.* 

*The world narrowed to the sound of my ragged breaths and the metallic tang of blood that stung my nose.* 

*Every nerve in my body screamed in protest.* 

*Helplessness wrapped around me like suffocating chains, the same panic from before—magnified a thousand times.*

*I pressed myself to him, clutching his chest, my face buried against his bloodied shirt.* 

*I whispered frantic pleas, every trembling breath a prayer, every heartbeat a desperate wish:*

*“Please… please don’t leave me… don’t… please don’t…”*

.........

“Winter, wake up!”

My first instinct was to fight the hands that gripped me, slender but unyielding. 

Panic surged, and I yanked free, swinging wildly at the shadow hovering over me.

No…… Zion… blood…no..…

My hand flailed, hitting someone—or something—through the haze of the library, the dream still clawing at my mind.

“Ow!” a sharp, indignant voice yelped, muffled by my panic. 

Something soft caught my fist.

“Winter! Stop! It’s me!”

That voice…

Blinding light stabbed my eyes as I bolted upright, gasping. 

Muscles coiled, ready to strike again, but another pair of hands pressed me firmly back against the mattress.

Blinking past the pain and the brightness, I froze. 

A freckled, pale face hovered inches from mine, framed by tousled red hair that had clearly seen better mornings. 

My heart thudded erratically, hammering in my chest like it wanted to escape.

“Claire!” I choked out, panic still tangled in my words. 

My lungs felt tight, as if invisible hands were squeezing them.

Claire’s eyes were wide, worried. 

Her hands held me firmly, grounding me in the now. 

Behind me, Ariel sat, arms wrapped around me, looking like she had no idea what she was supposed to do.

Claire’s lips curved, a teasing glimmer breaking through her panic. 

“Seriously, Winter—‘wake up’ doesn’t mean ‘throw hands.’ I like my face the way it is.

Seriously—next time you feel like throwing hands, at least give me a helmet first...You nearly broke my nose!”

I couldn’t help a shaky laugh, the sound strangled and uneven. 

My fingers curled into the sheets, trembling as my chest heaved, lungs clawing for air.

“It was just a dream,” Claire said softly, her voice steady, grounding me like a lifeline.

A dream…

No one was chasing me. 

No shadowed library. No blood. And Zion—he wasn’t lying on the floor, lifeless. He was alive. He was okay.

I blinked, slow, letting reality seep back in like sunlight through fog. 

Claire’s voice pulled me back, slow and steady, unravelling the terror still coiled tight in my chest.

My body wouldn’t stop shaking—every breath scraped raw, my skin prickling with leftover fear.

I licked my lips, tasting salt and tears, my throat tight. The nightmare still clung to me like smoke I couldn’t breathe through—Zion’s blood, his eyes, the stillness.

A shiver ran through me.

No.

I wouldn’t let that become real. Not ever.

I’d die before I let anything happen to him.

....