Page 10 of Frozen Star (Star Touched: Fae Bound #7)

Out in the winter forest, there’s only the thunder of paws against packed snow, the whisper of wind through frost-laden branches, and the wild joy of freedom.

“This is what I needed,” Riven calls from Ghost’s back, his voice carrying across the space between us.

“It is beautiful,” I agree, leaning forward to whisper in Nebula’s ear. “But let’s see how beautiful it looks when we’re ahead of them.”

Nebula’s answering purr vibrates through my body, and she shifts into a full sprint. The cold air whips past us so fast it brings tears to my eyes, but I’m laughing, exhilarated by the power beneath me as we speed past Riven and Ghost.

“Catch us if you can!” I shout back to Riven, his answering laugh echoing through the trees.

For a short, glorious moment, Nebula and I are in the lead. But then I hear it—the steady sound of Ghost gaining on us.

“Cheetahs are built for sprints,” Riven calls out as he and Ghost draw alongside us. Ghost’s breathing is steady and controlled, while Nebula’s has started to quicken. “Leopards are built for endurance.”

“Is that a challenge?” I grin at him.

“It’s a fact.” He leans forward, mischief in his silver eyes. “Although if you want to make it more interesting...”

Ice spreads across the forest floor ahead of us, creating a slick pathway that will give Ghost’s paws better grip. As we take off again, Riven’s magic pulses with playful intent, my own power eager to meet the challenge.

Water rises from the snow around us, forming perfect spheres that I send spinning through the air. Not to attack, but to play—to show off, to tease, and to celebrate the joy of magic being used for fun.

Laughing, I weave my water into ribbons that dance around Nebula and me.

Riven sends spirals of frost through the trees, creating temporary bridges and pathways along the ground that Ghost bounds across with feline grace.

His laughter rings out across the forest, wild and joyous.

I don’t think I’ve ever heard him this happy, and seeing him so free and unguarded makes my chest ache with determination to protect this happiness, no matter what comes next.

“Show off,” I tease as Ghost leaps from one of Riven’s ice bridges, landing in front of us.

“Says the woman painting the forest with water,” he retorts, gesturing to the ribbons of it I’ve been weaving through the trees.

Nebula slows to a trot, her sprint exhausted, and Ghost matches her pace. We ride side by side now, our familiars’ breathing returning to normal as our magic settles around us.

“I haven’t felt this free in weeks,” I admit, reaching across the space between us to take Riven’s hand.

“Neither have I,” he says, squeezing my fingers. Frost blooms where our skin touches, but it’s warm somehow, comforting rather than cold. “This is what I was trying to tell you back at the palace. These moments between us are worth more than all the political maneuvering in the world.”

I take a moment to breathe, knowing he’s right.

In two days, we’ll face the Night Court, fight for Zoey, and protect the realms from the ever-growing threat of Ambrogio and the Blood Coven.

But right now, riding through an enchanted forest with my soulmate, surrounded by the wild beauty of winter and the dance of our intertwined magic, I feel like we can conquer anything.

“Race you to the clearing ahead?” I challenge, nodding to a break in the trees where moonlight pools like liquid silver.

“You’re on.” Riven grins, and the world explodes into motion once more.

We burst into the moonlit clearing neck and neck, Ghost and Nebula’s powerful strides eating up the final stretch of snow-covered ground.

And there, at the center of the clearing, is the silver tree next to the stream that started it all.

The one that serves as a portal back to the mortal realm.

The one I fell through what feels like a lifetime ago.

“A tie,” I declare as our familiars come to a halt at the stream’s edge.

“I was clearly ahead,” Riven argues, but his grin takes any sting out of the words.

“In your dreams, Winter Prince.”

He swings off Ghost, turning to help me down.

His hands are firm yet gentle as they circle my waist, lowering me carefully, but his touch doesn’t vanish once my feet touch the ground.

Instead, his fingers linger, brushing along my sides as if tracing the shape of me.

It’s like he’s trying to memorize every detail in case he never gets the chance again.

“Hey,” I say softly, my hand coming up to touch his face, drawing his attention back from wherever it’s drifted.

He exhales slowly, his eyes bright and intense in the moonlight. “Sometimes it feels like if I look away for even a second, you’ll disappear,” he confesses, serious again, despite the fun we just had running through the forest.

“I’m here.” I smile gently, brushing my thumb across his cheekbone. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“Promise me,” he says, and there’s an edge of desperation in his voice that makes my heart clench.

“Riven—” I start, stopping when the bond sharpens with the depth of his fear. Not of the coming war, but of losing me. Of being left alone in a world that wouldn’t have any meaning to him without me in it.

It’s powerful. Real. Consuming in a way that makes me wonder how he’s able to smile through it and race me through the woods while seeming to not have a care in the world.

Because Riven cares. A lot.

Maybe more than he should.

But every second I wait to reply, the fear grows sharper, until it feels like it might consume me entirely.

“I promise,” I whisper, standing on my tiptoes and sealing the promise with a kiss that tastes of frost and starlight.

He returns it so fiercely that I don’t think he ever wants to stop. But eventually, we settle by the stream’s edge, the snow crunching beneath us as we find a fallen log to use as a bench. Ghost and Nebula curl up nearby, resting from our ride through the forest.

Riven draws his sword and rotates it slowly, admiring the newly infused magic that shimmers across its surface—an iridescent blend of icy blue and warm gold.

A mix of summer and winter. Thanks to the potion created by Fleur, all the weapons we’ll be taking into the war are filled with both types of magic.

Together, our bound powers should decimate the night fae.

“Summer magic suits you,” I tease, nudging his shoulder with mine.

“Frostbite likes it.” He glances sideways at me, a playful smirk on his lips. “But not nearly as much as I like you.”

“You’ve demoted me to like?” I flinch back, feigning offense.

“There are no words strong enough to describe what I feel for you,” he muses, the playful look gone from his expression in an instant. “You know that, don’t you?”

“I know.” I swallow hard, blinking back the tears pricking at my eyes. Because while his love for me is beautiful, the worry knotting my stomach about it is growing larger each day.

A moment passes in silence, the only sound the bubbling of the stream.

Eventually, Riven shifts slightly, his eyes thoughtful as he stares out at the shimmering water.

“We don’t have to do this,” he says, his voice barely above a whisper.

The knot in my stomach pulls tighter. “Do what?”

“Any of it.” His silver gaze flicks back to mine, earnest and pleading. “The war. The courts. Ambrogio. The Blood Coven. We could run, Sapphire. We could just be together, you and me, and put all of it behind us.”

My heart hurts at the longing in his voice, at how desperately he wants an escape from the weight we both carry.

“Where would we go?” I ask, even though the answer doesn’t matter. Not really.

Because we can’t run, and we both know it.

At least… I think he knows it.

He brushes his thumb across my cheek, his voice dropping to a tone so intense it feels like he’s pulling the words from deep in his soul.

“To the stars,” he says, his gaze locked on mine as if every hope he has in the universe depends on my answer. “To wherever the world can’t follow us. I don’t care where it is, because as long as it’s with you, it’s enough.”