Natalie froze mid-step, every nerve in her body going alert. The air had changed. It pressed cold against her skin like a warning. Cassian rubbed his arms and frowned. "It just got colder. Way colder." The second he said it, the temperature seemed to crash again, slicing through the air like invisible ice. Natalie's eyes darkened. "Frostfall's coming." It was exactly how it had started before, in her previous life. Back then, the air had cooled slowly, soft enough to fool everyone. People had just grabbed a sweater and laughed it off, never realizing death was already walking toward them. Within minutes, the mild chill turned into a biting freeze. In a few short hours, seventy degrees dropped to below zero. A seventy-degree crash that ripped through every wall and window. Then came the snow. It fell endlessly. Two days later, the entire world was drowned in white. The air froze to nearly a hundred below. Humanity entered Frostfall, and warmth became a memory. Countless died in that storm. Natalie had been one of them. Last time, the freeze had hit in daylight. People were awake, but they couldn't escape it. This time, it was coming at midnight. That meant most would never even wake up. Her jaw tightened. Her mind flashed to Olivia and the others in the villa district. At least she'd warned them. When the fog lifted, she'd told them another disaster would come. They would have prepared. Harold's prediction list had named Frostfall first. He'd told everyone to keep warm clothes right by their beds.They should make it through. Natalie dropped what she was doing and opened her storage space. She pulled out a climate suit, a fur coat, and thick boots, then tossed them to Cassian. "Get dressed. Now." She whistled, and the pets came running. She bundled each of them in tiny climate suits, coats, and small padded boots. After defeating the Grayhound Sect, she'd spent months preparing for this exact day. She had taken the finest white pelts and sewn coats for Lucky. The leftover fur had gone into smaller sets for Baron and Cash. Lucky and Baron fit into the shoes from the pet store, but Cash, with his skinny little chicken legs, needed the padded covers Natalie had stitched by hand. Every single one of them—dog, rabbit, and chicken—had to be protected. The cold outside would drop to a hundred below. No living thing could face that bare, not even those that could survive colder climates. She remembered the Great Heat and knew climate suits alone wouldn't be enough. Layers meant survival. Once she finished dressing them, she suited up herself. When she looked up, Cassian was already ready. Most men would've looked ridiculous in fur, but not him. Somehow, the coat made him look like he belonged in another century—calm, noble, untouchable. She stared longer than she meant to. Cassian caught her look and laughed softly. He slid an arm around her waist. "You really picking now to drool over me?" She jerked out of it and coughed. "I wasn't drooling!" Her gaze shifted to the pets, and laughter broke free before she could stop it. They had already been spoiled and round from all the treats she'd given them. Now, wrapped in fur, they looked like three walking snowballs. Lucky was the biggest one, a giant white puff that waddled more than she walked. The trio glared at her and started making noise. Their tiny voices bounced off the stone walls like a chorus of protest. Natalie grinned and opened her mouth to tease them. Then her exposed fingers suddenly went numb. The temperature started plummeting again. The cold bit so deep her skin turned red, stiff, and almost painful. Ten minutes had passed. Frostfall had officially begun. She pulled out a thermometer. The mercury had plunged until below freezing. Cassian's face darkened. "That's insane. It's dropping too fast." Natalie's tone stayed calm. "This is nothing. It'll drop to negative four degrees soon. Give it two days, and it'll reach ninety below." She grabbed two pairs of gloves, tossed one to him, and pulled hers on. Then she turned back toward the supplies. "In a few hours, the blizzard will start. I need to finish packing. Once I'm done, we leave for Greendale and find shelter before it hits. We'll wait it out there." Cassian nodded once. "All right." Natalie moved fast, sweeping every last crate into her storage space. Most were layered in dust, except the food section and Cassian's private antique shelves. Those were spotless, polished by a hand that had clearly cared. The foreigner really had loved his collection. Even at the end of the world, when bread meant life, he had chosen to keep polishing relics no one would ever buy again.