CHAPTER 29: NEVER MEANT TO BE

After taking a few deep breaths, I finally muttered, "I do..." My voice shook, uneven and small, because I couldn’t stop thinking about what I’d just heard—Vivian’s voice.

It couldn’t have been a coincidence. Not this time. It was the second time I’d heard it, but this one was different. It was clear, echoing right in my ear like she was standing beside me. But earlier, my gaze darted across the crowd in panic, scanning every face, every shadow, but she wasn’t there.

The priest’s voice pulled me back, "Then, you, Lord Lucian Drake of the Ice Dragons, take Lady Celeste Blaze of the Phoenix Lineage, to bind your frost to her flame, and vow before the old powers that neither shall consume the other?"

Lucian’s gaze never wavered. "I do."

The words echoed softly, yet they carried enough weight to make the air around us shift. The cold breeze that followed brushed against my skin like frost, and even though I tried not to shiver, my body betrayed me.

The priest lifted his hands, his voice deep and resonant. "Then by the bond of ice and flame, by the old vow that neither shall fall to the other’s nature... let the union be sealed."

I felt it before I saw it.

A thin current of cold air circled us, curling around my arms, my waist, my throat. It was not painful, but it was sharp enough to make me gasp. From Lucian’s side, frost gathered in the air, shimmering like silver dust, while faint sparks of golden flame rose from beneath my feet. The two met halfway, twisting together in a delicate, dangerous dance.

The hall fell utterly silent.

Lucian extended his hand toward me. I hesitated, but the priest’s expectant gaze left me no choice. My fingers touched his, and in that instant, the frost and flame surged forward, wrapping around our joined hands. It felt alive, burning and freezing at once, light pressing into my skin, seeping deeper until I could almost feel it marking

me.

Then, just as suddenly, the light vanished. The air steadied. The bond or whatever it was, had settled.

The priest smiled faintly, his tone ceremonial. "The bond is witnessed. You are now husband and wife."

My breath caught in my throat. ’Wife.’

The crowd erupted into polite applause, but the sound felt distant, muffled, like I was underwater. Lucian didn’t look away from me even once.

He leaned in slightly, his breath cold against my ear. "Breathe, Celeste," he murmured.

I swallowed hard, forcing my lungs to move, though my heart refused to calm down. "Lucian..." My fingers tightened around his. "I—I can’t breathe..."

His gaze flicked down immediately, and the expression shifted, the calm on his face fractured. Frost crept across the floor beneath our feet, spreading outward in sharp, jagged lines. The air grew heavy, the temperature plummeting so fast that my breath came out in white clouds.

Lucian’s hand shot to my shoulder, steadying me before I could stumble. "Seraphina," he said under his breath, his voice low and urgent now, "look at me. Breathe... and all you need to do is put your trust in me."

I barely heard him. My chest ached, heat burning beneath my skin as my fire fought back against the cold that was sinking into me. The mix of pain and panic made my vision blur.

Then just like a whisper cutting through the chaos, I heard it again.

"You shouldn’t accept him, Seraphina. Both of you were never meant to be..."

My eyes widened. Vivian. Her voice. But before I could even react, pain tore through my chest. I clutched at my throat, gasping for air, every breath scraping like ice and flame colliding inside me.

Lucian’s composure broke. "Seraphina!" he shouted, catching me just before I fell. Frost bloomed under his boots as the temperature plunged. His voice, sharp and commanding, echoed through the stunned silence of the hall. "Sebastian!"

The crowd started murmuring, the priest stepping back in alarm.

Lucian pulled me close, his other hand glowing faintly with frost light, trying to contain the unstable energy radiating off me. "Ready the car!" he barked, his voice cutting through the panic. "And call Darian Fennix—now!"

Sebastian, who had been stationed near the entrance, immediately moved, summoning the nearest guards to clear the hall.

Lucian looked down at me, his jaw clenched, eyes flashing with fear he didn’t bother to hide. "Hold on, Seraphina," he muttered, his fingers tightening around mine as frost spread across the altar. "Just breathe." He closed his eyes, probably trying to calm himself.

But the cold kept leaking from him, every second it got stronger, sharper, like he was losing control despite his effort. The air around us turned white, frost creeping up the floor tiles, spreading from his boots toward the altar. My breath came in short, broken gasps.

"L-Lucian..." I managed weakly, my voice trembling. "It’s... burning—"

"I know," he rasped, his eyes snapping open. The blue in them glowed brighter, almost blinding. "I’m trying to stop it."

He pressed his palm against my back, and a surge of energy flowed through me, his frost trying to contain my fire, to stabilize the chaos inside. But it hurt. God, it hurt so much. My flame rebelled against his cold, flaring in bursts that made sparks flicker in the air around us.

Somewhere behind us, someone shouted his name, sounded like Sebastian, maybe? But Lucian didn’t move. His focus was entirely on me, his breathing ragged. "Stay with me, Seraphina. Just... stay."

"I—can’t," I gasped, my knees buckling as I clutched at his arm. "It’s... too much—"

"Then trust me," he said through gritted teeth. "If you fight me, we’ll both burn for it."

The last thing I remembered before everything turned dark was the sound of glass cracking, the mirror behind the altar, splintering. And faintly, through the ringing in my ears, Vivian’s voice again and it was really desperate this time.

"Seraphina, stop! He’s not supposed to save you this way!"