Frostbound Hearts

Chapter 5: The Frost Kickoff

Isla's POV

The ballroom fell into an uneasy silence.

"What was that?" someone whispered.

No one answered.

Another c***k echoed through the room. This time it was louder. The figure behind the mirror moved closer, pressing against the glass until the surface bulged outward.

Students stumbled backward, their nervous laughter fading into frightened silence.

Then the mirror exploded.

Glass shattered in every direction as a blast of freezing air tore through the ballroom. Students screamed and threw up their arms to shield themselves from the flying shards. The warm, lively atmosphere vanished in an instant, replaced by panic.

Something crawled out of the broken mirror.

At first, Isla couldn't make sense of what she was looking at.

It looked like smoke and shadow woven together with living ice. Its body twisted in ways that shouldn't have been possible, long limbs dragging across the floor as glowing blue eyes slowly swept over the terrified crowd.

Then it screamed.

The sound wasn't a roar or a growl. It sounded like dozens of voices crying out at once, their pain blending into one horrifying, endless shriek.

The sound sent a chill racing through Isla's entire body.

Chaos erupted.

Students ran in every direction, knocking over tables as they fought to escape. Someone slammed into Isla's shoulder before disappearing into the crowd, while another student cried out in fear as the creature lunged forward.

Its claws sliced through the air, barely missing a student who stumbled away at the last second.

"Run!"

Someone shouted.

As if anyone needed to be told.

Isla searched desperately for Poppy, but all she could see were frightened faces disappearing into the chaos. Students pushed past one another, crying, shouting, and casting spells in blind panic.

Fire burst across the room.

A powerful gust of wind slammed into the creature.

Bolts of light streaked through the air.

None of it made any difference.

The attacks passed through it as though they were little more than smoke.

Fear tightened around Isla's chest.

Slowly, the creature turned toward her.

Its glowing blue eyes locked onto hers.

Every instinct in her body screamed that she had been seen.

No...

The thought had barely crossed her mind before the creature charged. Time seemed to slow, people screamed around her and somewhere in the crowd, someone shouted her name.

But Isla couldn't move.

Her feet felt rooted to the frozen floor, and fear stole the air from her lungs as the creature closed the distance between them in seconds.

Then instinct took over.

The same instinct she'd spent years burying.

A freezing rush of power surged through her veins, stronger than anything she had felt in years. It spread beneath her skin like a river of ice, refusing to be contained.

She didn't choose to use her magic.

It chose her.

Ancient frost burst from her outstretched hands.

Ice raced across the ballroom floor with incredible speed, covering the polished stone in shimmering white. The creature stopped instantly as frost climbed over its body, trapping it inside a prison of crystal clear ice before it could reach her.

For one impossible moment...everything stood perfectly still.

But the frost didn't stop.

It raced across the ballroom floor before climbing the walls in waves of ice. In seconds, it spread over the ceiling, wrapped itself around tables and chairs, and transformed the grand hall into a frozen landscape.

Snow began drifting gently through the air.

Gasps echoed from every corner of the room.

The temperature dropped so sharply that students wrapped their arms around themselves, their breath turning to white mist.

Isla stared at her trembling hands.

Horror settled deep in her chest.

This wasn't supposed to happen.

She had spent years learning to keep her magic buried, convincing herself she could control it no matter how frightened she became. Yet now, with hundreds of people watching, that control had shattered in an instant.

"No..."

The whisper escaped before she even realized she'd spoken.

The frost continued spreading.

Then silver light flared beneath her skin. Ancient symbols slowly emerged around her wrists, glowing through her sleeves before curling across her hands like living ice.

They were beautiful, elegant and absolutely terrifying.

A collective gasp swept through the ballroom.

Then came silence.

Not ordinary silence.

The heavy, suffocating silence that follows disaster, when no one quite knows what they're looking at but everyone understands that something has changed.

Every face in the room was turned toward her.

Every pair of eyes.

Isla's heart seemed to stop beating.

She knew exactly what they were seeing. The Everhart markings. The same symbols she'd spent years hiding. The same symbols people feared because they had become forever tied to the Winterfall Disaster.

Her greatest secret had been exposed.

Her worst nightmare had become reality.

The creature remained trapped inside its prison of ice.

No one moved, no one spoke and no one looked away.

The silence pressed against her until it became impossible to breathe.

She had to leave.

Now.

Before someone recognized her. Before anyone started asking questions she couldn't answer. Before it was too late.

Without thinking, Isla turned and ran.

She pushed through the stunned crowd, slipping past terrified students and faculty members rushing into the ballroom. By the time she burst through the doors, people were already gathering outside, trying to understand what had happened inside.

She didn't stop.

Cold air struck her face as she ran across the snow-covered campus. Her boots crunched against the frozen ground, her lungs burned with every breath, and her heartbeat thundered in her ears.

She couldn't stop.

If she did, she'd have to face what had just happened.

The ancient symbols. The magic she had sworn never to reveal. The fear she'd seen in everyone's eyes.

Everything she'd worked so hard to bury had been exposed in a matter of seconds.

Years of hiding...gone.

The campus became a blur around her. Buildings, lanterns, and falling snow melted together as she ran without any real destination in mind.

She only knew she had to get away.

As far away as possible.

She didn't stop until she reached the edge of the hockey arena. The area was quiet, hidden from the crowds gathering around the ballroom. She bent forward, struggling to catch her breath. When she looked down, the silver markings had finally faded from her skin.

But the panic hadn't.

She pressed both hands against her face, trying to steady the thoughts racing through her mind.

What had that creature been?

Why had it ignored everyone else and come straight for her?

And how was she supposed to hide the truth now that half the academy had seen exactly who she was?

As she was lost in thought, she heard a crunch echo through the snow behind her.

Isla froze.

Her breath caught as every muscle in her body tensed.

Someone was there.

Of course someone was.

After what had happened in the ballroom, she should have known she wouldn't be alone for long.

Slowly, she turned.

Her stomach dropped.

Cas.

He stood several feet away, his hands resting at his sides as snow drifted quietly between them.

Neither of them spoke.

For a long moment, the only sound was the wind sweeping across the empty arena.

Then Cas let out a slow breath.

It sounded as though he'd been running just as hard as she had.

"You run fast."

Isla stared at him.

Out of everything he could have said...

That was his opening line?

"What do you want?"

The faint hint of humour disappeared from his face.

"I need to talk to you."

"No."

"Isla."

"Don't."

His voice caught her off guard.

The way he said her name felt strangely familiar, as though she'd heard it somewhere long before Silvercrest.

It sent an uneasy chill down her spine.

"Please."

There was something different in his voice.

Not confidence.

Not charm.

Desperation.

It made her hesitate.

She didn't trust him.

She definitely wasn't ready to trust him.

But curiosity rooted her to the spot.

Along with something that felt dangerously close to fear.

Cas took one careful step forward, making sure not to come too close.

"I know what those symbols mean."

The words stole the air from her lungs.

"No..."

The whisper escaped before she could stop it.

He couldn't know.

He wasn't supposed to know.

No one was.

Cas held her gaze.

For the first time since she'd met him, every trace of teasing had disappeared.

There was no arrogance.

No easy smile.

Only quiet seriousness.

Only concern.

Only fear.

"You're an Everhart."

The words landed like a blow to her chest.

Isla felt the world tilt beneath her feet.

Snow swirled silently around them, but the night suddenly felt unnaturally still, as though the entire academy had stopped breathing.

The worst part wasn't hearing the words.

It was realizing he wasn't guessing.

He knew.

For a long moment, neither of them spoke.

Then, without taking his eyes off her, Cas slowly reached into his jacket pocket.

Isla's pulse quickened.

For one impossible second, she didn't kno

w what he was about to pull out.

Instead, he unfolded something old.

Something worn with age.

Something he handled with surprising care.

A photograph.

Cas held the photograph between them.

Then she looked closer and almost immediately, color drained from her face.

It was a picture of her family.