Page 127 of Iron Beneath the Snow

The pull was enough.

Her door stood closed when he reached it, the detail registering only as wrong before he drove forward without hesitation. The wood splintered inward under the force, the frame cracking as it gave way.

The scene resolved instantly.

Grey cloaks. A blade at her throat. Her back against the stone.

Her eyes were clear.

Alive.

The relief did not soften anything. It sharpened it.

He crossed the distance between them before the man holding the blade could adjust to his presence, moving with a speed that left no space for reaction. His hand closed around the attacker’s wrist, and he crushed it without pause or restraint, the bone breaking beneath his grip with a sharp, final sound as the weapon fell.

Another attacker lunged at the same moment, but Soren had already shifted, turning into the motion and driving his shoulder into the man’s sternum with enough force to lift him off balance and send him crashing into the wall.

Stone cracked under the impact.

There was no measured control in the strike, no attempt to restrain.

Only removal.

The first man tried to recover despite the shattered wrist, but Soren had already taken hold of his throat. The motion was efficient, final, leaving no space for struggle.

The second pushed away from the wall.

Soren turned and ended the movement before it became another attack.

When both men stopped moving, the silence that followed felt heavier than the struggle had.

Guards flooded the doorway moments later, weapons drawn, breath sharp from the sudden sprint.

Movement flashed beyond them.

The third Frostvein figure was already withdrawing into the corridor, using the confusion of arriving bodies as cover.

Soren turned toward Eira first.

“Are you hurt?”

“No.”

Her voice held steady.

His gaze dropped briefly to the faint pressure the blade had left across the mark.

His hand lifted, stopping just short of her throat.

The thread tightened between them before contact was made.

His jaw hardened.

“He’s running,” Eira said.

Soren did not question it.

He turned immediately.