Suoh couldn't breathe.

His back was pressed against the closet door, his hands shaking as he brought them to his mouth to keep his breaths silent. Ice stretched from his bare feet, across the ground, and up the wall, growing with each terrified beat of his heart. He tried to will the ice to stop, knowing that it would lead the intruder right to him, but it was out of control and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't calm down, not with the sound of the lock being tampered with loud in his ears.

This was all his fault. He was seen because he had been curious, drawn by the joyous sounds of the crowd and the allure of the idea of the princess being on the streets. He thought he had been discreet, looking only from gaps in the curtain, sure no one would see him. But then the princess looked right up at him and he knew she knew what he was; he could feel it deep in his bones as his body screamed at him to run. But where could he go other than this apartment? If he left, he risked being seen by those guards. At least in here, maybe he could defend himself.

Ice coated the tips of Suoh's fingers, desperate to be released.

Could he do it, though? Could he actually control the magic?

He'd never tried—never thought he'd have to, sure he would just live his short life within these walls with his piano and his books and his sister by his side.

Yona.

She had gone to work earlier that morning. She even warned him about the princess's visit because she knew—she knew—that the royal family were the ones responsible for executing anyone who showed signs of magic, even if they were only just learning how to read. He knew all about that, having read all about it in the many books that were stacked beside his bed.

Five hundred years ago, when The Twisted Emperor unearthed magic in order to make himself more powerful, an uncontrollable, invisible force was unleashed. The magic, too intense for him to handle, turned on him and destroyed him from the inside out, causing him to drown in his own blood. Since then, magic seemed to be everywhere in small doses and often seen in small children when they were old enough to control their own bodies. Suoh's magic started to manifest when he was around five years old and his once jet-black hair became speckled with white. It was then that the reason behind the twins' mother's passing after giving birth became clear. The magic poisoned her, like it did to all mothers who gave birth to cursed children. The most curious thing, however, was that while Suoh was cursed, Yona was left completely untouched by the magic. Their father, upon this realization, felt nothing but hatred for the monster that killed his beloved wife. Suoh didn't remember a lot of his childhood, his mind blocking it from him, so all he really knew about the man was that he was hateful and mean until he was gone and it was just him and Yona forced to face the world alone before they were tall enough to see over the fence.

Yona stepped into the role of protector immediately. She was the one who had found places for them to sleep and though they were cold and uncomfortable, they were dry and as long as he had her, he felt safe. She would go out during the day and return at dusk with pockets full of bread and silver. Suoh never asked where she got it from; deep down, he already knew the answer.

But that didn't matter. Nothing mattered when she returned and would link her pinky finger with his, press their thumbs together, and then nuzzle his forehead because they were together.

They always had to stay hidden, though, because Great Empress Alida was determined to destroy magic, having seen its destructive capabilities firsthand. The royal family was tasked with destroying magic whenever they saw it, and that fact was still true all these centuries later. As he read about her rule and how it brought peace and security, Suoh couldn't help but wonder how an empress could be so great when she was murdering so many.

The front door of the apartment opened, squeaking against the hinges and plummeting Suoh’s thoughts back to the tiny closet he was huddled in, his heart an uncomfortable lump in his throat. She was in the apartment; Suoh could feel her, the hair on his arms standing on end. Her footsteps were loud in his ears. It was only a matter of time before she found him. The ice would give him away, the inside of the closet completely coated in it now.

Suoh's first thought was that he wished Yona were here, but that thought was immediately extinguished when a voice in the back of his mind spoke up.

How pathetic. You can't rely on your sister to save and protect you all the time. You're a man, aren't you?

Suoh hiccuped, his breath catching in his throat as tears pricked his eyes and fogged his vision.

Protect yourself or you'll be killed right here in this apartment and Yona will be the one to find your body.

The possibility of his sister finding him dead filled Suoh with an intense dread. Adrenaline began to coarse through his veins. He couldn't just sit here and wait to be killed. No, he had to fight if he ever wanted to see Yona again.

Gritting his teeth, Suoh reached for the door handle just behind his head, his arm shaking all the way to his shoulder. He steeled himself, listening to the magic as it pumped through his veins like an icy fire, and opened the door.

The room was quiet aside from the crackling of glittering ice that lined the walls. His piano was also coated in a thinayer of ice, cold steam rising up from the ivory keys. Suoh's heart pounded loudly in his ears, making him jump at every little sound.

Where is she?

She was here; he knew she was. So why couldn't he see her?

It happened all at once. She was on him before he could react and they both went tumbling to the ground, the weight of their bodies cracking the ice on the floor. Suoh grunted and gasped as he felt a sharp elbow dig into his chest, sending the air right out of his lungs. She was on top of him, her legs holding him in place as she straddled him, her skirts flowing over the both of them like a pink cloud.

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Something sharp glittered in her hand as she lifted it and brought it down, the blade cutting a deep slash on Suoh's cheek as he turned his head to stop her from slitting his throat. Blood dripped down his cheek, hot and slick against his skin. He hissed, wiggling under her weight. For someone so small, her legs sure were strong as they held firm as he thrashed and kicked.

Then Suoh saw the blade again and panic welled deep within his bones, adrenaline pumping through his veins as his heart beat erratically.

Defend.

The voice in the back of his mind was clear and, without thinking, Suoh reached out and he managed to wrap his slender fingers around her wrist—and he squeezed.

The girl wailed in pain and fell back onto the floor, Suoh's grip remaining strong even after her weight was gone from his midsection. He waited until her fingers moved and the blade slipped from her hand, clattering to the floor. Then he let go and shuffled his body away from her, his rapid exhales of breath leaving his lips as clouds.

She was huffing, too, her hand shaking as she examined her wrist. Her skin was pale white and turning a deep purple where Suoh had grabbed her, the frostbite a full circle around her wrist in the shape of his hand.

Her face, once beautiful, was twisted into something demented and almost tortured. And when she met his eyes, Suoh wanted nothing more than to shrink down into himself and disappear.

"Monster," she muttered between short breaths. She gritted her teeth and glared daggers at him. "Die!"

In a swift movement, the princess who no longer looked like a princess at all grabbed her dagger with her other hand and threw it. Suoh shifted his body and the blade only grazed his arm before clattering to the ground somewhere behind him, blood dripping down his arm and gathering in the crook of his elbow.

"Please," Suoh breathed, his voice catching in his throat as he struggled to his feet. "I don't want to hurt you anymore."

"Bullshit!"

The princess scrambled to her feet and grabbed the dagger. She was just as skilled with her left hand as she was with her right and Suoh had a hard time dodging her swings, especially when his back was against the wall and he had nowhere else to go. He saw the glint of the blade in the air and, without thinking, Suoh reached out and grabbed it with his right hand, the blade of the dagger pressing hard into the flesh of his palm as the princess pushed the dagger into his skin. Suoh hissed and groaned, the pain almost unbearable as he tried to shove the dagger away, blood running from his palm down his forearm like a river. He felt it as it drove down—deeper, deeper—into his skin and he cried out, spots lining his vision.

Let go.

He didn't recognize the calm voice that spoke up in the back of his mind, but it was right and he listened.

Suoh's desperate cry morphed into a determined scream as he wrapped his fingers more tightly around the blade and pushed. The cut deepened, but the blade began to freeze over and the princess stumbled and he was able to get the dagger out of her hand, tossing it across the room. It shattered on impact, completely frozen by the time it hit the ground.

The princess, frustrated, wailed. She flailed her arms, desperately hitting his chest.

Suoh grunted, her punches strong, even with the frostbite on her wrist. His ribs would surely bruise and his right hand was throbbing wildly, blood dripping out of the deep wound in hastened clumps. He needed stitches—and fast.

"Please stop," Suoh begged, his voice cracking, utterly desperate. He felt the tears as they rushed down his cheeks, his head spinning as the sound of dripping blood filled his ears. "I don't want to hurt you."

"Shut up!" she shrieked, her hits gradually getting weaker as the strength left her body like a breath and suddenly she was crying, too, as shaking hands grabbed the fabric of his shirt and squeezed. She was furious and desperate and terrified and Suoh's heart felt for her because he felt all those same things. "You're a monster," she hiccuped. "I hunt monsters. I—I have to kill you. Why—why won't you just die?"

Suoh gritted his teeth, ignoring the pain as he pressed his index finger against the angry wound on his palm and began to write on the wall behind him, his eyes never leaving the princess's—and she was too infuriated to realize what he was doing. Just one word. Yona would understand what it meant. She had to.

"I don't want to die," Suoh whispered, a whimper rising up his throat.

The princess met his eyes. "You aren't meant to be alive."

The words stung and Suoh flinched. "No," he agreed after a long silence, "but I am."

The princess knitted her brows, her jaw working.

"My name is Song Suoh. I have a name, given to me by my mother days before she died." Of hypothermia, which, at the time, was thought to be a result of giving birth in the dead of winter. Suoh didn't say that part. "I may not be entirely human, but I am alive. I deserve to live just like everyone else. I didn't—I didn't ask to be born with this curse."

The princess's eyes seemed to waver, but that shift in expression only lasted a moment before she shook her head. "You're out of control," she said, gesturing to the ice around them and the frostbite on her skin. "You don't deserve to draw another breath and I can't let you get away. I have to kill you."

Suoh frowned. "Then I have no other choice."

With his uninjured hand, Suoh covered the princess's mouth and focused his magic into his palm, something he'd been practicing in secret. The princess's muffled protests behind his hand slowed as her eyes rolled to the back of her head and she collapsed in his arms.

Suoh held her up, pressing two fingers against her neck. A steady pulse thrummed under her skin.

Unease rose from Suoh's core as he frantically looked around the disheveled apartment, the distant murmur of the crowd outside sounding as though it were part of another world.

He had to get out of here. They would start looking for her soon.

Suoh closed his eyes, sending a mental apology to Yona. He swallowed the dry lump in his throat and shifted the princess's weight so she was leaning against his back. Heart thumping, he focused his energy and his magic on remaining unseen. He wasn't sure if it would work as his magic was unstable, but he had to try. He looked down at his injured palm that was coated in a thin layer of ice, the bleeding stopped for now.

He closed his fingers over the wound, standing up straighter against the princess's unconscious weight.

"Forgive me, Yona," he whispered. Then he held the princess's legs and left the apartment.