“Impressive. And while it is nice to meet you…” He shrugged. “I think we are good on snow.”

She laughed. “That we are, so I’m sure you’re wondering why my skills matter to you right now.”

He couldn’t stop himself from nodding.

Her smile didn’t diminish. “I can keep you from overheating, if it seems like that’s going to happen.”

He snorted, then realized he must sound derisive. He hadn’t meant to. “That is very kind, but I don’t think anyone can control the inner furnace that burns inside a dragon.”

She arched her brows, narrowed her gaze, and pointed at him.

A wave of cold enveloped him with such force, he shivered. He held his hands up in surrender as he made a mental note that winter elves were not to be doubted. “I stand corrected. You are clearly more powerful than I imagined. Your help is most welcome, Miss Frost.”

She blew on her fingers, then polished them on her coat as she grinned. “You got it.”

“That’s Princess Frost,” Birdie Caruthers shouted out.

Jayne rolled her eyes, then shook her head at Van and mouthed a silent, “No, it’s not.”

Van glanced at everyone who’d shown up. The sheriff and his brother, the fire chief, and their sister, Bridget. Roxy, the writer he’d met at Howler’s, was in the crowd, standing with a man in a deputy’s uniform. Stanhill and Corette. Van was deeply touched by the gathering. “Thank you all for coming. I hope that I will not disappoint.”

Nick and Willa were in the back. The gargoyle lifted his fist in the air. “You got this, man.”

Van lifted a hand in acknowledgment, then he looked at Monalisa. He wanted to say something to reassure her, but the thought of what might happen had him tongue-tied.

She smiled up at him. “You’re going to be just fine.”

“I hope you are right.”

“If you don’t want to do this—”

“I do. I want to be myself again and to fight and for you to be free. None of that can happen without that first step.”

She threw her arms around him. “Thank you.”

He hugged her back. “You are welcome, zolotse.” He released her. “Now go, stand somewhere safe. With Pandora and her sisters.”

She nodded and moved off to join the witches.

He took a moment to clear his head, the same way he did before entering the ring. Then he went through the monologue he used to pump himself up.

His purpose was conquest. He shook his hands and rolled his shoulders. His purpose was the defeat of his enemy. The outside world fell away. His purpose was the honor of his family. A calm overtook him. The feeling of victory.

Nothing existed in him but purpose. It filled his lungs, pumped through his veins, and colored his vision. His inner beast came to life, and in his mind’s eye, he saw his dragon form, wings unfurled and flames billowing from his open jaws.

He lowered his head, dropped his crutch, and limped into the center of the clearing.

Monalisa almost couldn’t bear to watch, but she had to know what was happening. She wanted to see for herself that he was going to be okay. Not even dealing with her father made her feel this stressed out. She pressed her hands to her mouth. Her pulse beat in the tips of her fingers, making them tremble along with the rest of her.

She couldn’t remember a time she’d been so nervous. She took a few deep breaths, trying to find some kind of calm to get her through.

“He’s going to be okay,” Pandora whispered.

She nodded, unwilling to speak and break the dead calm that had fallen over those assembled. They all seemed to understand the brink upon which Van stood. Even the wind had died down.

She took her eyes off of him for a moment to look at the faces around her. Most were lined with tension or taut with worry. She imagined that was what she looked like too, and something about all of them feeling the same way allowed her to relax a little. They were in this together. Her and Van and all of them.

It was incredible that they’d all shown up. Really spoke to the strength of the supernatural community in Nocturne Falls. When people showed up to support her father, it was because they were afraid of him or wanted to curry favor. But these people had come because they genuinely cared. Amazing. But she understood. Van was a great guy.

Her gaze returned to the man she was steadily falling for.

He stared down at the ground, hands loose at his sides. Then his eyes closed, and his fingers tightened into fists. His knuckles whitened. The muscles in his jaw twitched. His injured knee bent slightly, and he grimaced. She knew he must be willing the change to happen and was experiencing the first onslaught of pain because of it.

Shimmers of heat rose off him in thin, wobbly lines that rippled the air like a distant heat mirage in the middle of summer, but this was February, and summer was a long way off. Then the snow under his feet melted.

He was clearly struggling against the toil of the effort, but there was no sign of any change. Not yet. She wished there was something she could do. Anything besides stand idly by while the seconds ticked away and the circle of bare earth under his feet expanded.

The cold around her seemed to be lessening.

She took her hands from her face and reached out like she would toward a roaring fire. Van was the reason the temperature had changed. The heat rolling off him wasn’t overwhelming, but it was enough to gently warm her bare skin.

She looked toward Jayne, the winter elf who’d offered to help. The woman caught her gaze. She nodded as if sensing Monalisa’s request that she do something, but then raised her brows in question.