THE ICE PRINCE
834 Words
(Season 1)
CHAPTER 8
KALEN didn’t move.
He just stood there, in the doorway, staring at the girl.
LIORA.
Hair damp. Eyes red. Clinging to Zach like he was the only solid thing in the world.
Her face.
It didn’t make sense.
That jawline. Those eyes. The way the light hit her.
_This can’t be right. Why does she have that face? What is going on?_
The room was holding its breath.
*RYAN, KAI, ZACH* all stared at her too. Shocked.
They knew she’d want to leave eventually.
But something in them had already decided: she wasn’t leaving.
Not yet. Not like this.
They didn’t know what they were protecting her from.
They just knew she wasn’t safe out there.
“*Why... I mean, you don’t have to,*” Ryan said, voice rough.
Liora shook her head.
“*I can’t.* You guys helped me enough. I’m fine now. I have to leave. I can’t stay here forever...”
She hated saying it.
But staying meant dragging them into Mrs. Brown’s mess.
“*I’ll take you back home if that’s what you want,*” Zach said.
Liora’s head snapped up. “*No!* I mean— I can find my way back.”
Too fast. Too panicked.
Zach’s eyes narrowed. Suspicious.
Before anyone could press her —
BAM.
LUCAS burst in. Panting. Sweat on his forehead. Eyes locked on Kalen.
“*Michael’s men are on their way here, boss. And Vince said—*”
“*What did Vince say?*” Kai cut in. Voice steel.
Lucas swallowed. “*We lost all our men in the East Wing. Vince was shot.*”
The temperature dropped.
Liora didn’t know where the cold came from. But the air turned heavy. Dark.
Goosebumps rose on her arms.
Kalen's voice cut through it. Low. Final.
“*_Ryan. Get the girl to safety.
Zach. Evacuate everyone from the mansion.
I want all of you out before they get here.__”
Liora startled.
Why was he so calm? So cold?
No anger. No fear. Just... empty.
And that made him more terrifying than if he’d yelled.
“What about you? You’re coming, right?” Ryan asked.
He already knew the answer.
Kalen didn’t look at him. “*Do what I said.*”
He turned. Started up the stairs.
Stopped.
Right in front of Liora.
Her breath caught.
His eyes.
God.
The most beautiful eyes she’d ever seen. Ice blue. Sharp.
Beautiful and cold. Like looking at a glacier that could kill you.
She couldn’t look away.
Her heart was hammering for no reason.
It was like he’d reached into her chest and squeezed.
And his face? Perfect. Blank. Nothing.
How could someone be that beautiful and that empty at the same time?
“*You have five minutes to leave,*” he said. Then walked past her.
The second he was gone, Ryan turned to her.
“*What was that about? The intense stare?*”
Liora shook her head, dazed. “I... I don’t know.”
Zach and Zod shared a look.
They knew something.
And neither of them was saying a word.
✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨
Another mansion. Bigger. Quieter. Colder.
Liora didn’t care about the marble floors or the chandeliers.
Her head was pounding.
_Why did we run? Who is Michael? Why is everyone so tense?_
*RYAN* couldn’t sit still. He kept checking his phone.
“*Did you call him already?*”
Zach was silent. Too silent. Staring at nothing.
“*Calm down, Ryan,*” Kai said. Too calm. “Kalen doesn’t answer when he’s working. He’s fine.”
But beneath Kai’s calm was rage.
All he wanted was five minutes alone with *MICHAEL*.
He wasn’t worried about Kalen.
Because he knew what lived under that ice.
A beast. And it only came out when Kalen lost control.
And Kalen _never* lost control.
Ryan sighed and sank into the couch next to Zach.
Zach hadn’t spoken in hours.
“What kind of monster brains do you guys have?” Ryan muttered.
“Kalen the ice prince who protects everyone but himself.
Zach the genius who sees the future.
And Kai the one who’d burn the world down for us.”
Hours passed.
Finally, Zach spoke. “*How is Liora?*”
“*She asked a million questions. Then she crashed. Asleep for a while now,*” Kai said.
Zach nodded.
Of course she did. Anyone would.
But that wasn’t what was eating him.
There was something he’d been ignoring.
Something impossible.
Until Kalen’s look earlier confirmed it.
If he wanted answers, he’d have to go back.
Back to *TENEBROUS*.
The place none of them talked about.
The place Kalen swore they’d never return to.
Zach stood.
“I need to make a call.”
Ryan sat up. “To who?”
Zach didn’t answer.
Because the only person who could tell him if Liora Valor was who he thought she was...
was locked behind the gates of Tenebrous.
TBC
- Writer
