Chapter 70 NOELLE'S INTERVENTION

Chapter 70 NOELLE'S INTERVENTION

POV: Amara

The first blast of ice shatters the bench beside me, spraying frozen splinters across the path, and all I can think is that Ivy is still out there.
I run.
I do not wait for orders. I do not look back. Central Park blurs as I sprint, boots slipping on frost that should not exist this late into winter. The night smells sharp and wrong. Malachi’s magic clings to everything like smoke you cannot see but feel in your lungs.
“Noelle,” I shout, not knowing where he is, only that he will hear me.
Another explosion cracks through the trees. Shadows surge between the trunks, tall and twisting, their edges rippling like heat over pavement. I raise my hands and push light forward. It comes slower than I want, thinner, but it comes. The shadows recoil, hissing, retreating just long enough for me to break through.
I see Ivy.
She is lifted off the ground, wrapped in spiraling ice that glows faint blue. Her eyes are open. She is alive. Malachi stands behind her, one hand raised, his grip absolute.
“Let her go!” I scream.
He turns his head slightly, like he is annoyed by a sound. “You brought reinforcements this time.”
The air splits with movement. Noelle crashes through the treeline with Ember and three North Pole guards. The guards fan out instantly, weapons raised. Ember launches forward, fire and frost swirling together in her hands.
Noelle does not slow down. He goes straight for Malachi.
“Get away from her,” Noelle growls.
Malachi smiles. “Ah. The mortal Guardian.”
They collide in a burst of white and black light. The ground trembles. Trees bend inward, branches snapping under pressure. I drop to one knee, shielding my face as the shockwave rolls past.
The guards engage the shadows, steel flashing, magic flaring. Ember shouts commands, her voice sharp and fast. I push myself up and run again, straight toward Ivy.
A wall of ice slams down in front of me.
I skid to a stop, heart pounding, and slam my palms against it. Cold bites hard, but I push light through my hands, slow and steady, the way Helena taught me. The ice cracks.
Behind me, Malachi laughs. “You cannot save everyone.”
Noelle drives him back with a brutal strike, the force of it sending Malachi skidding across the snow. He recovers instantly, spinning, hurling a spear of darkness that Noelle barely deflects.
“Amara!” Noelle shouts. “Get Ivy!”
I break through the ice wall, shards collapsing around my boots. Ivy is close now, her breath shallow, lashes rimmed with frost.
“I’m here,” I tell her. “I’ve got you.”
I press my hands to the ice holding her. My light surges, warmer than before, stronger when I focus on her face, on the way she used to roll her eyes at me when I got dramatic.
The ice loosens.
Malachi sees it. His attention snaps back to us.
“No,” he says, sharp and sudden.
He raises his hand. The shadows surge toward me, faster this time, thicker. I brace myself.
They never reach me.
Ember slams into them from the side, fire ripping through darkness. The guards push forward, weapons biting deep. The park fills with noise, metal on ice, magic tearing at magic.
Noelle roars and tackles Malachi again. They crash into a tree, bark exploding outward. Malachi stumbles, his form flickering.
“Enough,” Malachi snarls.
He throws Noelle back with a blast that sends him skidding across the snow. Noelle lands hard, gasping, but he forces himself up.
I crack the last of the ice around Ivy. She collapses into my arms, limp and freezing.
“I’ve got you,” I whisper, hauling her back. “Stay with me.”
Malachi steps back, eyes darting, calculating. The guards are closing in. Ember is bleeding from her shoulder but still standing. Noelle is between Malachi and me again, breathing hard, jaw set.
Malachi’s gaze flicks to Ivy.
He moves too fast.
A spike of ice lashes out, wrapping Ivy again, yanking her from my grip. She screams as Malachi pulls her toward him.
“No!” I shout, lunging.
Noelle tries to reach them. Malachi slams the ground. Ice erupts, blocking every path.
“Another time,” Malachi says calmly. “Another lesson.”
He twists, pulling Ivy close, shadows curling around them.
“Noelle!” I scream.
Noelle breaks through the ice barrier with raw force, cracking it apart, but he is a second too late.
Malachi vanishes.
The park goes quiet.
For a heartbeat, no one moves.
Then the ice around the shadows collapses. The guards rush to me. Ember grabs my arm.
“Where is she?” Ember demands.
He is gone. Ivy is gone.
Noelle drops to his knees in the snow, fists clenched so tight his knuckles bleed.
“I failed,” he says.
“No,” I snap. “You didn’t.”
The ground shimmers. A ripple of cold energy snaps back into place, and suddenly Ivy is there again, dropped hard onto the snow as Malachi’s spell releases her at the edge of the park.
I run to her.
Her skin is pale, lips blue, breath shallow but present. The guards move fast, lifting her, wrapping her in enchanted blankets. Ember kneels, hands glowing as she works to thaw the ice from Ivy’s veins.
I hold Ivy’s hand. “Stay,” I say. “Please.”
Her eyes flutter open.
“Amara,” she whispers.
“I’m here.”
She coughs, breath rattling. “He told me to tell you something.”
I lean closer. Noelle does too, his face tight with fear.
“What?” I ask.
Ivy swallows hard. “He said he’s not working alone.”
The words hit like a punch.
“Someone at the North Pole,” Ivy continues, voice fading. “Someone is helping him.”
Ember freezes. Her face drains of color.
“That explains it,” Ember says quietly. “How he keeps slipping past us.”
Noelle’s jaw tightens. “An inside source.”
The guards exchange looks. The park feels colder again, not from magic, but from what the truth implies.
I squeeze Ivy’s hand. “You’re safe now.”
She nods weakly, eyes closing.
As the med team moves her onto a stretcher, I look around the park, at the broken trees, the scarred ground, the places Malachi stood.
He came for us. He tested us. And he learned something new.
So did we.
I turn to Noelle. “We are being watched.”
He meets my eyes. “Then we stop trusting blindly.”
Ember nods. “And we start hunting the traitor.”
The night presses in around us, quiet again, but not peaceful.
Malachi is still out there.
And now we know he has help.