The white door was covered with ice, with a thin mist curling off its edges like winter air. Emma didn't waste a second. She kicked the door open, and a wave of cold slammed into her like a thousand needles—the air bit through her clothes, sharp enough to steal her breath. The room looked like a frozen nightmare. Frost clung to every wall, and the air glittered with icy dust. Marcus lay motionless inside a coffin made entirely of crystal ice, eyes closed, his body radiating a deathly chill. The temperature kept dropping by the second. His ability had gone wild. She'd read about this kind of thing on the lightcore—when a therian's mental power lost control, the ability rampaged. The only way to stop it was to reach the mind, calm it, and ground it. A Rank 11 going off the rails? That was a disaster waiting to happen. Emma didn't even hesitate. She pressed a finger to Marcus' forehead. Good thing the coffin lid hadn't sealed. If it had, she'd never have been able to get through while his power was in full rampage. The instant her fingertip brushed his skin, frost crawled up her hand like living glass. Pain shot through her fingers—she almost screamed. Her hand stiffened to the bone, but then—heat bloomed inside her chest, sweeping down her arm in a rush. The frost shattered, and her hand came back to life. A sudden warmth flickered in her peripheral vision. Lucien appeared beside her, his ability bursting outward like a storm shield that wrapped around the entire manor. He was containing Marcus' rampaging frost, keeping it from spilling into the city. His power also blanketed Emma, creating a fragile pocket of safety while she worked to comfort Marcus' mind. If a Rank 11 like Marcus lost control completely, he could freeze half the Central Planet solid. Silas and Edric stood in the hallway just beyond the door, their faces drained of color under the shimmer of icy air. The frost clawed at the walls like something alive, splintering wood and glass wherever it touched. Without Lucien's barrier, the cold would have swallowed them whole. For anyone below Rank 11, a single breath of that air meant instant death. Only Lucien's steady and unwavering strength kept them safe inside his shield as the storm raged just inches away. Edric's breath fogged in the air. "This is what a Rank 11 rampage looks like?" His voice shook despite himself. He stared into the storming cold, watching light flicker across the frozen walls. The power thrashing inside that room was far beyond anything he'd ever seen. This is insane, he thought. If Lucien hadn't reacted that fast, we'd be corpses by now. Silas' jaw clenched. "Now I get why the Frostveil beast folks were so eager to dump him on Emma." His eyes stayed fixed on the storming cold beyond the door. This kind of ability isn't a gift; it's a loaded gun with the safety off. He'd seen plenty of people dance with death before—but this was different. This was worse. This was suicide wearing a pretty disguise. Inside, Emma had no idea what the others were seeing. Her mind was already plunging into Marcus' mental consciousness—only what she found there made her stomach twist. His mental consciousness wasn't like anyone else's. Drake's, Edric's, even Corvin's—each of them burned bright, all flame and heat. Marcus', though, was an endless field of jagged ice. Thousands of translucent spikes pierced through his mental landscape, all moving, all alive—stabbing at his own mind like a thousand swords trying to tear him apart from the inside. Goodness… how has he lived like this? It's as if he's carrying an unhealed wound, making every breath agonizing. No surprise he's appeared all but lifeless since he arrived. The fact his mind hasn't shattered yet—it's a d*mn miracle. Emma clenched her jaw. The same mental comfort I used on Drake or Edric won't cut it here. Not with this. Not with him. Then something she'd read flashed back—female mental power could take form. She focused hard, forcing her mental power to change shape, burn, and fight back.In her mind's eye, fire gathered into scales and tried to form a fire dragon. The shape wavered, faltered, then collapsed. What appeared instead was a fire snake—barely three feet long, flickering weakly but alive. Seriously? A snake? Out of everything, I get the dollar-store version? Even so, the little thing had fight. The fire snake hissed and lunged straight into the sea of spikes, biting and swallowing chunks of ice with wild determination. It devoured as much as it could, its tiny body swelling with each bite. Then it pushed too far. The weight of ice inside it became too much. With a muffled boom, the snake exploded in a burst of flame. Fire tore through the frozen landscape, melting everything the snake had eaten. The surge drained Emma in an instant. Her vision spun, and she collapsed forward into the frost. "Emma!" Lucien observed her intently; the second she went limp, he caught her mid-fall and shouted towards the doorway, "Silas! Get in here—now!" Silas and Edric burst into the room. The cold slammed into them like a wall, but they pushed through. Seeing Emma unconscious in Lucien's arms, Silas hastily yanked out a leaf he'd given her earlier from her storage band. He channeled his energy into it, causing the leaf to transfer into her lips. Edric hovered close, eyes darting. His voice came out tight with worry. "She's okay, right?" "She's fine," Silas assured him. "She burned out her mental power, that's all. Give her a bit—she'll wake up." Lucien carefully handed Emma over, then directed a sharp glance at Marcus, who was still locked in the ice. The storm had quieted. Marcus' ability was no longer raging—Emma's intervention had worked. He still wasn't awake, though. Before Lucien could react, Edric's tail instinctively flicked forward at Marcus. The sound pierced the air sharply. A heartbeat afterward, pain jolted up Edric's spine. He hissed, clutching his tail. "Ow—what the hell?" Really? Edric hit him, so why does it feel like he just got hit instead? Lucien thought.