Chapter 74 COORDINATED ATTACKS

Chapter 74 COORDINATED ATTACKS

POV: Amara

The call comes in while I am already moving.
I want to protect everyone. That is the pressure crushing every thought as alarms overlap and voices shout through the North Pole command hall. Screens flare to life with scenes from across the world. Lights strung in town squares flicker. Choirs scatter. Snow turns sharp and unnatural where it falls.
“Multiple surges,” someone calls out. “They’re timed.”
I lean over the central map, palms braced on the table. Red markers bloom across continents, then split, then split again. Malachi is not striking one place. He is pulling the world apart thread by thread.
“Celebrations,” I say. “He’s hitting gatherings. Places with memory. With meaning.”
Santa nods once. “He wants fear to travel faster than we can.”
I swallow. What I want right now is clarity. What I get instead is choice.
“North Pole defenses are holding,” Ember says, eyes scanning data. “For now.”
“For now,” Santa repeats. He looks at me. “We cannot be everywhere.”
Noelle steps closer, his shoulder brushing mine. “Say it. I’ll go where you don’t.”
The room goes quiet. I can feel the weight of every person waiting on me to decide where help goes and where it does not.
“London,” Ember says. “Huge crowds along the river. Ice forming under the bridges.”
“Tokyo has three districts flashing,” someone adds. “Transport systems freezing.”
“And Manhattan,” I say softly. I see it without the screen. The community center. The lights. The people who believed in us.
My home.
I want to protect my home.
“I’ll take Manhattan,” I say. The words land heavy and final. “Noelle, London. Ember, Tokyo.”
Noelle does not argue. He just nods, eyes steady. “I’ll be quick.”
Ember grins, fierce and fearless. “Save me a victory drink.”
Santa meets my gaze. “Be careful, child.”
I give him a tight smile. “Always.”
The world bends.
Cold rushes past me as I step through the gate and land hard on asphalt dusted with frost. Manhattan at night, loud even in chaos. Sirens. Shouts. A Christmas tree in the square crackles as ice crawls up its lights, snapping bulbs one by one.
I run.
I want to stop the spread. I want to calm the fear before it grows teeth. My boots skid as I reach the crowd. People are panicking, slipping, pulling each other upright.
“Hey!” I shout. “Listen to me. Stay together.”
A wave of shadow surges from the street, rising like smoke with intent. I lift my hands and push warmth forward, not as a blast, but as a blanket. The ice recoils. The shadow thins.
It is working.
Too easily.
The realization hits me as the surge fades instead of fighting back.
“This is wrong,” I mutter.
The shadows retreat in neat lines. The ice cracks and melts faster than it should. People stare at me in awe and relief.
I should feel proud.
Instead, my pulse spikes.
“This is a diversion,” I say aloud.
The air shifts. The world seems to tilt.
My comm flares. Static tears through it, then a voice cuts in, low and amused.
“Gotcha.”
Malachi.
I spin, searching the rooftops, the alleys, anywhere he might be hiding. “Where are you?”
“Not here,” he replies. “You chose with your heart. Predictable.”
My chest tightens as the map from moments ago flashes in my mind. Red markers. Too many. Too neat.
“The real strike,” I whisper.
At the same time, the comm screams with overlapping voices.
“North Pole barrier failing!”
“Massive breach forming at the gates!”
“Noelle is not responding!”
“Ember’s signal just dropped!”
The noise slams into me. I stagger, catching myself against a lamppost slick with meltwater.
“No,” I breathe.
Malachi laughs, the sound echoing inside my skull. “You split yourselves so nicely. Love makes excellent leverage.”
I force my hands to steady. Panic will not help them. Panic is what he wants.
“Listen to me,” I say into the comm, voice shaking but clear. “Fall back. Evacuate Manhattan. Get people inside. I am coming back.”
I open a gate.
Nothing happens.
I try again, pushing harder. The air resists, thick as frozen glass.
Malachi’s voice hums with satisfaction. “Did you think I would let you leave so easily?”
“You’re blocking me,” I snap.
“Of course. I am not done playing.”
I look around. The celebration site is clearing. People are safe. For now. That means I can risk everything else.
I close my eyes and reach deeper, past fear, past urgency, into the quiet place Santa taught me to find. Christmas magic does not shout. It waits.
I picture the North Pole. The gates. Noelle’s face when he told me he would always find his way back to me.
“Move,” I whisper.
The barrier cracks.
I force myself through, tearing the air open with sheer will. The city vanishes in a rush of white.
I stumble out onto ice scorched black where shadows have burned it. The North Pole is under siege.
Creatures of frost and despair swarm the outer ring. Elves fight back with light and craft. The great gates groan under pressure.
“Noelle!” I shout.
No answer.
I run toward the inner courtyard, heart pounding. I want to see him. I want to know he is alive. I want to undo the choice I made minutes ago.
The ground shudders. A wave of cold slams into me, knocking me to my knees.
Malachi stands atop the broken steps, solid now, no disguise. Power rolls off him in waves that warp the air.
“You came home,” he says. “Too late.”
I scramble to my feet. “Where are they?”
He tilts his head. “Your lover is very brave. London burned brightly when he arrived. Ember fought like a storm in Tokyo.”
My throat goes dry. “Where. Are. They.”
“Gone,” he says lightly. “Not dead. Not yet. Somewhere cold. Somewhere quiet.”
Rage floods me, sharp and focused. “This ends now.”
He smiles. “No. This is just beginning.”
I launch myself forward, light flaring from my hands. He counters with shadow, the collision throwing sparks that hiss against the ice. We circle each other, predator and guardian.
“You made the wrong choice,” he says. “A guardian who cannot protect her own is a symbol ripe for breaking.”
I grit my teeth. “I will find them.”
“You will try,” he agrees. “And while you do, I will keep taking pieces off the board.”
He steps back, already fading. “Every time you choose, someone else will pay.”
“Come back!” I shout.
His laughter trails behind him as he vanishes, leaving the courtyard wrecked and silent.
I stand alone, breath ragged, staring at the empty space where he stood.
I made a choice.
It cost me everything.