I landed face-first on the ground as I was ejected from the same place where the dungeon had begun from. I opened my eyes a little to see, I was dropped directly on a stretcher.

  My senses were fading. I knew that the worst of things were behind me, but so I could only notice a few things. The most prominent in all of it was Ronnie’s loud shouts.

  “How could the Hunter Association be this reckless!? Why are these gates mutating, damn it! What if something had happened! To her!?”

  He was screaming, chewing out the two representatives from the Hunter Association. A chuckle almost left me. This guy didn’t lick boots, but he was definitely great at his job.

  It seemed I was in safe hands.

  My eyes closed.

  ***

  Beep. Beep. Beep.

  The sound of a machine was the first thing that welcomed me back to the land of the living. It was annoying. Rhythmically drilling into my ears.

  I tried to move my hand to swat whatever it was making that noise, but my body refused to listen. It felt heavy. Like someone had replaced my bones with lead pipes.

  I peeled my eyes open.

  It was dark.

  The ceiling was unfamiliar. It wasn't the stained plaster of my apartment, nor the high-tech expanse of the Ashen Gryphon training rooms. It was plain white tiles, illuminated only by the bits of moonlight seeping into the room.

  I looked down at myself. I was a mummy. Bandages were wrapped tight around my chest, my arms, and even one of my legs. I felt weak. So weak that breathing felt like a workout.

  I turned my head to the side.

  And there she was.

  Sitting in a small, uncomfortable-looking plastic chair right beside my bed.

  Seraphina Vahn.

  She had a book in her hands, illuminated by a small reading light clipped to the page. Her white hair cascaded down her shoulders, looking almost silver in the dim light. She looked peaceful. Regal. Like a statue that had decided to take a break from being perfect to visit a mortal.

  She didn't notice I was awake yet. Her eyes were scanning the pages, but they weren't moving fast. She was distracted.

  I watched her for a moment. Just taking it in. The S-Ranked Hunter, the Ice Queen, sitting vigil for a nobody like me.

  “Hi…” I croaked.

  My voice sounded like I had swallowed a handful of gravel.

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  Seraphina froze. She didn't jump. She just stopped moving completely. Slowly, she lowered the book to her lap and turned her gaze to me.

  Her blue eyes were wide. There was a glimmer in them that I couldn't quite place. Relief? Worry?

  She looked around the room, as if checking if we were truly alone, and then she let out a long, heavy sigh.

  She leaned forward.

  I thought she was going to check my temperature or call a doctor.

  Instead, she lowered her head.

  Gently, so very gently, she rested her forehead on my chest. Right over where my heart was beating.

  It was cold. A soothing, wonderful cold that seeped through the hospital gown and the bandages.

  “Hi,” she whispered back.

  We stayed like that for a second. The weight of her head was grounding. It told me I was alive more than the pain did.

  “What… happened?” I asked.

  Seraphina didn't lift her head. She just spoke into my chest.

  “Four broken bones. Three ribs and your left radius. Concussion. Extreme exhaustion.”

  “Sounds about right,” I muttered. “Did they… find anything wrong with my mana?”

  I was terrified. If the doctors found out about the Mana Frostbite. It was something that could get both of us in trouble, but much more than that… I didn’t want Seraphina to know about it.

  “No,” Seraphina said. She finally lifted her head and sat back. “The doctor said it was just severe mana depletion. Your core was empty, so your body took the toll.”

  I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding.

  “That’s good.”

  “Is it?” Seraphina asked. Her voice was soft but sharp.

  She looked at me. Really looked at me.

  The moonlight was streaming in through the window now, cutting across the room and lighting her up. It made her skin look translucent, glowing with an ethereal light. She was beautiful. So beautiful it was almost annoying.

  She was safe. I was safe. And we were here, together, in the quiet of the night.

  A warmth bubbled up in my stomach. The bond. It was humming. Or maybe that was just me.

  I wanted to feel her. It was not out of wanting anything else, just to be touching her.

  I slowly lifted my uninjured hand. It took effort. My muscles protested, but I ignored them. I reached out and gently placed my palm on her cheek.

  Her skin was cool. Soft.

  I rubbed my thumb over her cheekbone, looking into her eyes. Asking without words.

  Seraphina’s eyes widened slightly. She leaned into my touch for a split second. I saw her pupils dilate. I saw her breath hitch.

  But then she stopped.

  Her hand came up and covered mine. Her fingers were slender and strong.

  She didn't pull me closer.

  She pulled my hand away.

  Gently. Firmly. She placed my hand back down on the bedsheet and patted it once. Like you would pat a child. or a friend.

  “You should rest,” she said. Her voice was devoid of that heat from the car. It was back to being calm. Composed. “You’ll get well soon. Don't worry about anything.”

  My hand felt cold where she had let go.

  My eyes shook a little.

  A pang of pain shot through my heart. It wasn't the ribs. It was something sharper.

  Why?

  No other thought came to mind. I wasn’t expecting anything, nor did I want anything. It just felt… off.

  I wanted to feel her. I wanted us… to be a little closer. But that was all…

  I didn’t know what it was about, but confusion swirled in my head, mixing with the painkillers and the fatigue.

  “I…”

  “I am right here,” Seraphina interrupted me softly. She picked up her book again but didn't open it. She just held it like a shield. “If you need anything, tell me. I’ll stay until the morning.”

  She wasn't leaving. But she wasn't coming closer either.

  She was sitting in that chair. In the moonlight. Just out of reach.

  I bit my lip. There was nothing I could say. I was too tired to fight it. Too weak to ask the hard questions. Hard questions that I had to ask myself first, before her.

  “Okay,” I whispered.

  The silence returned to the room. The rhythmic beeping of the monitor was the only sound.

  I watched her.

  Seraphina Vahn. The Ice Queen. Bathing in the moonlight, looking at a book she wasn't reading.

  My eyelids grew heavy. The darkness began to creep back in.

  The last thing I saw before I drifted off was her profile, glowing and cold, guarding me from the rest of the world while keeping herself apart from me.