Aria’s POV…….

Cold.

Not the gentle cold of winter mornings or moonlit snow—but a crushing, biting cold that wrapped around my chest and pressed inward, stealing breath, thought, memory.

I woke choking.

My lungs burned as I tried to inhale and found resistance instead of air. Ice surrounded me—above me, beneath me, inside me. My fingers twitched, numb and slow, scraping weakly against something solid. Frost clouded my vision, turning the world into blurred whites and blues.

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