Chapter 4

Christmas Eve- 10 years later

Ash awoke to the sound of muffled sobs. He pressed his hands against the clear walls of his prison and saw Nova's sleeping form thrashing about six inches off her mattress. Her powers manifested at night when her subconscious mind took over. During the day, her grief held them back.

"Ash—" His name tumbled off her pouty lips.

"I'm here, my love," he replied. "I'm always here."

Colorful sparks swirled around her at his words. He wished he could pull her in his arms and comfort her. But the barrier between them was unbreakable. The unscalable walls kept him boxed in. He beat against the glass dome as he had thousands, possibly millions of times. But really, who was counting?

Somehow, he'd managed to survive, as the climate seemed to have its own oxygen supply. Even though it constantly snowed around him, it was never cold. He wore the same jeans and white T-shirt as they never got dirty. Hell, he didn't even have to take a shit. Thankfully, his cock seemed to function so he could find release.

A magical feast was always spread on the table inside the little cabin, but he never hungered. Smoke billowed from the chimney whenever he lit a fire, but it never choked him.

His domain stretched miles though it was a four-inch diameter. He walked the perimeter daily, hoping to find a weak spot, but his prison was an impenetrable fortress. He had no TV or electronics, so he spent hours a day chopping firewood from the seemingly empty forest. The muscles in his arms and chest grew firm with the work.

In the early days, Nova wept over him. She tried everything to break the seal and bust him out of his winter wonder-fuck hell. Nothing worked.

She begged her father to free him. When Geralt failed, Nova cast a final spell. It had unintended consequences, and Ash became invisible to her. Nova never glanced at the shelf where he sat. When she did, she never saw him.

Nova's mother kept the shelf clean from dust and checked on him weekly. He would ask about his parents, but it was too painful to hear about their lives without him. He remained in the cottage when she was around now.

He watched and waited for her to acknowledge him. Though Nova couldn't see him, her subconscious reached out to him. She cried out in her sleep for him, and she heard him.

She needed him, and he could be her hero. He longed to comfort her the way she needed those lonely nights. If only he weren't trapped in that fucking globe.

Inside, a different side of him had been simmering and threatened to burst free. Nova became his obsession. Though she was the love of his life, there were times he fucking hated her.

He wanted to punish her for trapping him—even more so for forgetting him.

I wish…

What would he wish if he knew it would come true? Would he wish he never met Nova? Absolutely not. Just the thought made him feel sick.

He often wondered if his feelings would've changed if he knew she was a witch. Even that was doubtful. Yes, he wished she had told him the truth about herself before he learned the fucking hard way. But it wouldn't have changed anything.

He never would've given her the snow globe had he known he was going to live a decade within it. He would've smashed it to smithereens.

But could he? He poured his love into the design, and the attention to detail was all to make Nova happy. He'd made her so overjoyed that she imprisoned him.

"I wish—" he was cut off by the shifting environment.

A strong gust of wind whipped the snow into a flurry around him. The songbird warbled in warning. The doe raised her head from where she had been grazing. Her buck led her into the thick trees to hide.

Something wasn't right.