“You did anything that got you out of marrying Jack yourself,” Hermes snapped back angrily. “But that wasn’t good enough! You bargained with Boreas to receive the greatest amount of jewels, gold, and constellations that you could!”
Elle gaped at the goddess that was her mother. “You received a dowry for me when you got pregnant?”
“I didn’t make nearly as much as you’re worth, my darling,” said Pele soothingly, as if that was what Elle could possibly be upset about.
“Watch your back, Elle.” Hermes chuckled sardonically. “She’d sell your own child given the chance!”
“SILENCE!” screeched Pele. “I am making up for lost time by doing what needs to be done to get my daughter out of marrying Jack Frost.” A slow smile grew on Pele’s face. “The gods are currently of the belief that Evangeline and Frost were responsible for the king’s murder. While everyone focuses on such an event, no one will pay attention to the heir of Boreas being taken out of the equation.”
Elle’s dark head snapped toward Pele at the mention of Jack. The goddess smiled. Hermes stared. “You killed him, didn’t you?”
“Don’t be absurd,” scoffed Pele. “I didn’t touch Boreas, but his murder was still a blessing. No one will be paying attention to the death of Jack Frost now that Boreas is gone. There is not a soul besides the now-deceased king who will care for the demise of Jack Frost. Winter’s throne will take on a new heir, and you, my daughter, will be free of the prophecy thrust upon you centuries ago. It’s a win for everyone.” Pele smiled, looking quite proud of her scheme.
Elle couldn’t help but feel her mother was just as wicked as Oritya. Maybe even worse.
Chapter 22
Words failed Elle momentarily. It was difficult trying to process what it was Pele had just revealed. When she tried to speak, Hermes was spewing ugly profanities in another language while Pele spewed with anger. When Elle finally found her voice, her words were loud. “You can’t kill Jack!”
Pele and Hermes both shot her surprised glances. Even though Hermes was handcuffed and clearly in pain, he seemed confounded by Elle’s fearful shout. “As much as I detest Pele, she had a point. Jack’s death would result in your freedom. Isn’t that what you’ve wanted most?” He looked genuinely confused.
“Jack is innocent, and he hasn’t done anything wrong! He can’t die!” A horrid pain filled Elle.
“Hasn’t done anything wrong?” Pele howled with laughter. Her long, dark mane shook as the laughter rocked her slender frame. “My dear child, wake up and smell the ambrosia. Jack Frost is a bane to everyone’s existence. The man has screwed over so many and committed enough violent acts I’m certain not a soul will be at his funeral if there is even one held for that frosted waste of space!”
“If you hate him so much, why were you A-okay with sending Elle away the moment she was born?” asked Hermes suspiciously.
Pele scowled. “I made a plan long ago with the Egyptian god, Osiris. The plan was intended for the child of the prophecy between fire and ice to never exist. For that to happen, one of the intended parents of the offspring had to die. Considering I did not wish for it to be my descendant, the idea was for Jack to perish before your marriage was to ever take place.” Pele smiled, pride showing in the way she spoke of her descendant. “With that plan,” she continued, “came many years of planning to formulate the perfect opportunity to kill winter’s heir. Today is the day we shall succeed.”
“Who’s we?” inquired Hermes before another twitch of Pele’s hand caused his shackles to tighten. He grimaced and groaned in pain after that. Pele did not answer as she continued to torture the Olympian.
Elle trembled with more fear as she shook her dark head. “So what’s your plan? Kill Jack? You can’t be serious!”
“Why is it you think I am not?”
“HE HASN’T DONE ANYTHING TO YOU!” Elle near shrieked, unable to understand the woman’s logic. “What’s Jack’s crime? Being a part of a stupid prophecy that was given to him centuries ago? It’s not his fault he had to be betrothed to me! It’s Oritya’s! She wouldn’t allow Jack to simply become king! If she would’ve just been fine with him being the heir, Jack wouldn’t have had to seek out that stupid prophecy to begin with—”
“It matters not how we came to this point in time,” said Pele calmly, seating herself with more comfort on her flame-themed couch. “By morning, Jack Frost shall be dead and all will be well.”
“NO!” shouted Elle, her voice sounding similar to a snarl, given how angry she was.
“No?” Pele questioned, her delicate brows furrowed. “With Frost gone, the prophecy will not be able to be fulfilled. It is quite brilliant, if I do say so myself.”
“And why are you holding us prisoner?” snarled Hermes as he wiggled in his shackles. “If your plan is to kill Jack, why are we here?”
Pele released a soft laughter. “To my knowledge, there is a steep price for my daughter’s head. I might as well keep her safe.”
“You mean you might as well claim the prize for her head.” Hermes smiled mockingly.
“Think what you wish.”
“I don’t want him dead!” exclaimed Elle, shaking her dark head as fear flooded through her. She found she was being completely honest. The thought of Jack dying terrified her to no end. Even though whatever relationship they had was complicated at best, she found she cared about him to the point it would devastate her if he was simply gone.
“You do not wish Frost dead?” repeated Pele, looking as baffled as she sounded. “Well, I am afraid that matters not, my daughter. The deed is nearly done. By morning, the heart of Jack Frost shall be pierced by one of the seven daggers of Delphi, and the prophecy shall be broken.”
Elle stopped paying attention as she jumped up from her spot. Inwardly, she was thanking her lucky stars. Perhaps if she acted fast enough, she could call Jack with the magical snow globe gifted to him by the fates.
Pele and Hermes glanced up to stare at her, but Hermes was quicker than he seemed. He started to distract Pele with a bunch of random nonsense. “Have I ever told you that I warned Matthew he could do much better than having you as a wife?” quipped Hermes, yelping as Pele once again tightened his shackles. This time, enormous red, bloody welts erupted on his skin. “I warned him not to lay with dogs!”
Elle ignored the scathing comments being thrown back at her godfather. Now it was all up to chance. She didn’t know if Jack would really come if she played the music on the bottom of the globe. She had no clue if he meant what he said in the note he left her.
Still, Elle was terrified at the thought of Jack being alone and killed somewhere.
Surprised her eyes had welled with tears, Elle launched herself at her bag. She grabbed ahold of the globe and started turning the music box while simultaneously ignoring her mother and Hermes arguing. It was as the soft yet lovely melody began to play that Pele stiffened her posture on the couch. Her full lips parted in surprise as she watched Elle. Before Elle could register what was happening, Pele suddenly appeared before her. She made to snatch the globe from Elle’s hands, but Elle was too quick. She dodged her advance. Pele wasn’t quite as delicate with her next attempt. She leapt forward and took the snow globe before shoving Elle away from her. Elle toppled to the ground from the force of the hit, but it didn’t matter. The soft melody still played strong and loud.
Elle didn’t care about the multiple curses Pele threw as her obvious recognition of the globe became apparent. Elle’s eyes darted around the room, desperate for Jack to suddenly make one of his impromptu appearances out of thin air. After a few long moments passed by with no Jack, Elle found her eyes were misting with fresh tears at the realization that there was a chance that he might not show at all.
Why wouldn’t he? Jack claimed two turns should do the trick, and Elle turned the beautiful music player five times. The only reason Jack Frost wouldn’t appear was if he couldn’t…
A strong anger started coursing through Elle’s ve
ins. “What did you do?” she whispered incredulously, covering her mouth with both hands.
Warm tears continued to drip from her eyes as Jack still made no arrival. The snow from the globe was not falling, indicating Jack was not anywhere nearby. Elle pulled herself from the floor and ran for Pele. Shocked by the action, Pele did nothing as Elle snatched the globe from her. Elle started violently shaking the globe, hoping to kick-start some type of reaction to grant it power. She turned the lever a few more times to play the song.
It was useless. No amount of tremendous shaking activated the globe. The melody continued to softly play, snow gently fluttered around, but that was solely due the globe having been shaken.
It seemed too unreal to be true. Jack Frost couldn’t be dead. Elle was barely aware that she started crying; the emotions of everything that had happened lately only for Jack to die was suddenly too much to hold in anymore. Hermes watched her from the floor, strong pity holding his young face while Pele looked rather uncaring. The goddess made to grab her shoulder in what was probably a show of affection, only for Elle to roughly shrug out of her grasp.
“Don’t be saddened, my daughter,” Pele said quietly. “Now you have gotten out of promising ’til-death-do-you-part to the frozen merchant of death,” she said happily.
Elle’s tears continued to gently fall, her sadness for Jack Frost hitting her in a strange wave. Sinking herself down on the couch, Elle tried to reconcile the clever and crafty immortal simply being gone for good. She couldn’t. Elle missed Jack already. The good, the bad, and even the ugly.
“REALLY?” an annoyed voice called. It came from across the room. Elle stopped crying as soon as she heard that familiar velvety voice. The hellhound started to roughly growl, only for the too-pale man that had arrived to ignore them.
“Twelve hours is the longest you can go without shaking that damned globe?” barked the newly arrived Jack Frost, casually leaning himself against a nearby brown wall. “What, did you assume I just have nothing better to do than come and pop in for a hello?” There was no criticism in his voice; he was being sarcastic.
Elle wiped her tear-stained eyes, a grin spreading across her lips as she caught sight of the familiar snarky man with the brilliant white hair. Elle ran the few feet to close the distance between them. He barely moved as she barreled into him. Elle engulfed Jack completely into a hug.
After feeling satisfied with having his icy coldness beneath her body, Elle suddenly leaned out of the grasp he had only barely begun to return before slapping his shoulder roughly. “What’s the m-matter with y-you? Why d-didn’t you come automatically?”
Jack seemed surprised by the amount of tears Elle had. He watched her with a peculiar expression. That was when Elle noticed the large, bloody gash on his shoulder blade. Another horrid bloody wound was on his neck. Jack’s clothes looked horribly ripped as if he were in a very nasty fight.
Jack lifted a gentle eyebrow. “I started doing some mortal things, and the time simply flew by. Oh, you know, fast-food binge eating, listening to music.” Jack nodded seriously. “There was no time to help kittens.”
Elle nearly laughed as she grabbed him once more in a hug, uncaring that he seemed not used to being embraced. Jack tried not hugging her back no matter how tightly she embraced him.
Elle didn’t know why he wasn’t placing his arms around her before she spotted his left arm looked in extreme pain, almost as if were sprained or broken. Jack pressed his forehead against the top of her head as she snuggled against him. “I thought you w-were dead,” she uttered in a whisper.
“I’m not that easy to kill, Letter,” replied Jack softly.
“What is going on?” said Pele vehemently, sounding deeply angered by the sudden arrival of the man she just exclaimed she was out to kill. Elle had nearly forgotten she and Hermes were in the room; she was too preoccupied with being thrilled Jack was alive.
“Ah, I see you’ve been busy with a family reunion,” said Jack to Elle, his hand suddenly gripping her waist in a rather defensive manner. He closed his arms around Elle while trying to move her behind him.
“I see you are not dead,” Pele answered back, her brown eyes narrowing dangerously.
“Oh. Was the crocodile monster you, Pele? Ha! You really should have attached a card to the creature. I’m having so many individuals want to kill me today I’m having trouble keeping track of what monster belongs to who.” Jack nodded seriously.
“Maybe you should not kill your father, and then you need not worry about people taking the opportunity to kill you,” said Pele, her voice cold as she suddenly brandished a silver dagger out of thin air.
Elle recognized the silver weapon with the ruby hand immediately; it was one of the daggers of Delphi. “No!” Elle shouted vehemently, stepping out from behind Jack to instead step in front of him. It was stupid but impulsive.
Pele watched Elle with a very puzzled expression. Even though Hermes had his own problems, he too watched Elle with a strange look. Jack leaned his head on the top of Elle’s, a small chuckle escaping him. “Do you really believe you have the better chance of winning a fight against her, my kitten? A rambunctious child would probably last better in a fight.”
“Are you seriously going to insult me at a time like this?” Elle whispered furiously, easily forgetting that it did not matter if she spoke in a near inaudible mutter; immortals could hear her quite well.
Jack snorted. “Insult? My fiancée, this is simply honesty. As for the timing, I’m not concerned. Pele is such an awful fighter, I’m assuming you inherited your poor ability to spar from her. Why else do you think she hides behind ancient beasts? Daddy gave her everything minus the ability to stand up for herself.”
Elle then noticed that not only were hellhounds present, but also a strange creature with the body of a lion and the head of a crocodile. The hellhounds snarled menacingly in the corner. In contrast to the hellhounds, the crocodile creature remained absolutely silent in the corner as it batted its large furry tail.
“Why do you maintain your protective position in front of Jack Frost?” asked Pele, her dark brows furrowing.
“I don’t want you to kill him!” snapped Elle, certain her motive should have been fairly obvious.
Jack gave a methodical chuckle. It tickled Elle’s spine upon her realization he was gently stroking the hand she had unintentionally placed on his chest. “I hate to ruin this moment of bravery for you, but I highly doubt you could prevent a squirrel from attacking.” He grinned.
Elle scowled at his impish grin. “You have an angry goddess with one of those scary-looking daggers and you’re making insulting jokes?”
“Elle,” Jack scolded her playfully. “I’ll have you know that when I insult you, it’s a hundred percent genuine, no joking.”
Elle resisted rolling her eyes. She felt relieved to have Jack alive even if he was vomiting sarcasm. She then took a good look at him, and that was when she noticed he simply wasn’t the same.
There was no humor behind his eyes, no underlying mischievous smirk threatening to take effect. Even though Jack was being his regular sarcastic self, he looked rundown and depressed. That was when the harsh reality kicked in for her. It wasn’t just King Boreas who died. The person who died was also Jack’s father, the last real relative who really cared about him. There was his half-sister Khione, but Elle didn’t know how far her loyalty truly went, given her mother Oritya hated Jack.
All words became lost on Elle’s tongue as she silently watched him, uncertain of what to say. She knew from experience there were really no words for when your father died. It would forever leave him with a large, hollow hole in his life. Elle simply stepped forward and hugged him once more. Jack slowly returned it, once again setting his chin atop her head.
“Did Eros have something to do with your current behavior?” snapped Pele angrily, crossing her slender arms.
Elle had no idea what she was referring to until the goddess transferred herself to standing less tha
n a half foot away. Elle ignored her goddess mother as she took a protective stance to make sure Pele couldn’t reach Jack with the dagger. Elle had no idea if Pele would even care enough not to stab her to reach Jack. Pele obviously didn’t care much for her own child to practically sell her off centuries before she was born. It was a gamble taking a stance in front of Jack to make sure she couldn’t touch him. The volcano goddess watched Elle strangely, a dawning look on her features.
“Cupid did nothing,” she said quietly, still watching her with the bizarre expression. The strange sizzling sound occurred, causing everyone to look where Elle and Jack were touching. Jack’s hands made a sizzling sound as he embraced Elle.
“Manifestation,” said Pele, watching the sizzling hands. “Tell me, Evangeline, can you create fire or control it when it’s drawn from different places?”
Was she serious? Elle near snorted from how intrigued and serious the woman looked. Elle gently shrugged. “It comes out of my hands sometimes,” she answered, not really sure of what to say.
“She creates it but holds no control over it,” said Jack quietly, watching Elle blankly. “Sometimes, it’s as though she’s not even aware she’s created it.”
This answer caused Pele to watch Elle strangely, to the point she looked almost afraid of her.
“What?” said Elle, not enjoying the strange look Pele was casting her as the dagger in her hand vanished. The goddess now looked upset.
“When I was a child almost a millennium ago, I was able to create fire and nourish it if I came across it. Burning fires or torches I could touch and then be able to control the flames to either dance across my skin or diminish completely,” she explained, walking back to the long flame-themed couch to seat herself down. She looked truly worried about something as she continued.
“Only one child is able to gain the powers of their god or goddess parent. If there is more than one child to a family, an heir must prove themselves. Out of my two other sisters, I was the single child of Alaz who was able to control all things flame. When one is the heir of a throne, the individual shows the manifestation of powers at an early age.”
Betrothed To Jack Frost Box Set Page 35
