Destiny

by Rachelle Mills et al.

“And she just normally keeps a lion as a pet? Am I going to find crocodiles in the pool?”

  “Nonsense. Only fish and the occasional shark, don’t you worry,” said Apollo, causing Elle to giggle. He smiled softly at her laugh.

  Elle blushed as he watched her closely. “Why was that lion loose?”

  Apollo’s body clenched beneath Elle’s grasp. “Probably because someone was hoping it would devour or dismember you. There’s a reason you should never venture anywhere without a castle keeper Boreas purposely provides you. Even he knows his wife wishes you dead.”

  Elle trembled gently as she buried her head against his chest. “Maybe you should never leave me. I have a better chance of living if you stay.”

  A hollow laugh escaped him. “Think of the scandal if the future queen of winter’s kingdom was found in such a compromising manner with the sun god; you’d be the gossip of the century.” Apollo nodded seriously.

  Elle laughed. “Yeah, your arms are intentionally not going anywhere near me. I doubt people would think we’re an item,” she said, the end of her sentence sounding almost bitter.

  A devious smirk slid across Apollo’s lips as he gently wrapped his arms around Elle’s waist while leaving his hands lingering specifically above her tail bone. “How about now?”

  “I feel scandalous already.” Elle giggled.

  A small grin took over her lips as she enjoyed being this close to him. Elle found she liked this newfound personality of Apollo’s that she hadn’t seen before. “This is alien territory,” she admitted quietly, enjoying the quiet hug. “I’ve never been this close to you before.”

  Apollo snorted. There was something he obviously found funny; he just neglected to share what that was. Elle gently lifted her head up, silently daring herself to look in his eyes. “I don’t want to marry someone who loves someone else.”

  Apollo’s brows raised in surprise. “That is news to me that Jack loves someone.”

  “Voluptas,” said Elle, the mere thought of the goddess making her want to roll her eyes.

  Apollo started to laugh gently as he tilted his head down to stare at her. “You think Jack is in love with Cupid’s daughter?”

  “You weren’t accidentally in his room the day Voluptas started stripping for him,” Elle groaned, her grip on Apollo tightening. “He was all over her!”

  “In his defense, he’s been plenty unattached for centuries, and Voluptas throws herself at everyone—god or goddess.”

  Elle’s face scrunched up as she thought about Voluptas throwing herself at everyone she came across. “The diseases,” she mused.

  A low rumble of a laugh issued from his chest as Apollo laughed. “Immortals don’t get diseases.”

  “My point…” Elle said, playfully swatting his shoulder before continuing to hold her grip around his neck. “You can’t force two people to like each other. It doesn’t work like that.”

  Apollo looked on the verge of laughing. “So, am I to assume you would never hold on to Jack like this?”

  Elle’s thoughts drifted to once again thinking this was a different side of Apollo than what she was used to. He wasn’t always so vocal with his humor…

  A wry smile soon lit up Apollo’s features as he grinned down at her. “You hesitated,” he accused with a smirk.

  “I did not!”

  “You did too,” he said, sounding smug. Why he was smug, Elle had no idea.

  “No. Not in a million years. Besides, he’s a god!”

  “Demigod turned god, but yes. So are you. One day you shall be a full-fledged goddess. Your point?”

  “I can’t marry him. I don’t love him, let alone like him, and to top that, Jack’s crazy.”

  “That’s your best reasoning?” Apollo asked, smirking. He leaned down to bring his lips to hover next to Elle’s ear. Again, a strange familiar feeling overwhelmed Elle as she felt the chilly breath beside her earlobe. “But sweetheart, it’s the crazy ones who have the most fun in life…” he murmured seductively.

  “Would you do it?” Elle quietly pushed. “Marry someone just because you were told it’s what you had to do? I…I agree with Jack. He’s right to think this whole thing is ridiculous. I just wish he’d realize that I hate this for both of us and I want out as much as he does,” said Elle quietly.

  Apollo diverted his eyes away from her. He stared blankly into space while he seemed lost in thought. His brows knitted together as his lips pressed together to form a tight line. Elle realized something as she watched him. She did not want to be twenty-one and still never having felt her first kiss. She did not want to marry a stranger before never having her own free will to kiss someone.

  Elle could feel her body trembling as she thought about doing something really impulsive. It was crazy to kiss Apollo even as she thought about it. Her legs trembled with quaky fear as she thought about what it would be like if she simply tilted her head up and pressed her mouth against the lips of her previous best friend.

  Apollo looked down at her with a frown. “Your heart…I can hear the strong beat hammering back and forth.”

  Swallowing her fear, Elle stood a little taller so she could stare in his eyes. She slowly leaned her lips toward his, only for him to gently shake his head down at her. “You’re going to want to trust me when I say you really shouldn’t do that.”

  Elle tried not to let it show how much that small rejection hurt. “Why not?” she asked, disappointed that she sounded let down.

  Apollo gently shook his head as Elle slowly leaned her lips closer to his. “I’m not the man you think I am,” he quietly admitted, his cool breath fanning her face from how close they were.

  Elle felt incredibly let down by that comment. “I know you lied, but I care about you anyway…”

  Apollo gently shook his head. “Believe me, you wouldn’t be leaning forward if… Trust me when I say you shouldn’t do it,” he said, closing his eyes tiredly.

  “No. I don’t care who you are. I care about you.”

  “No, no, you don’t. This got out of hand really fast,” he muttered, shaking his head adamantly. “Look, here’s something you need to know. Immortals have great manipulation tactics,” Apollo said, avoiding her eyes. “We can appear as others. We do it in order to lead someone to something, to not scare them with our true form, and sometimes, we do just because we want to dig information out of someone. It’s trickery, an illusion. We’ll use a form we know someone will trust to get the job done,” he finished quietly.

  “That’s the best you can do, really?” Elle asked, frowning. “You’re not who you say you are? Let me guess, you’re just going to now reveal your true form to show me how entirely serious you are?” she snorted.

  “Something like that.”

  Elle sighed. “Just say you’ll never like me and be done with it. Really, it’s not that hard.”

  A devious smirk crossed his lips. “Fine, I don’t like you,” he said. His smirk dropped at Elle’s sudden smile. “And what are you grinning at?”

  “The way you’re looking at me and hugging me says otherwise,” she said quietly, feeling her cheeks warm with a fresh blush. This was the most nervous she had ever been. Taking a small breath, Elle decided to stay brave. “I don’t think you want to like me, but I don’t think you can fight this…” she said in a small voice, feeling more nervous than ever before. She was more terrified in this moment than when she was inside the arena running from the wives of Zetes.

  “Has anyone ever told you you’re quite the stubborn individual?”

  Elle near grinned. “Hey, don’t judge. It’s one of my best qualities.”

  “It’s a terrible idea, okay?” Apollo watched Elle for a very long time. His arms tightened around her as he seemed to be considering something. “Close your eyes,” he instructed quietly, unblinking. He looked serious. Elle did as she was told. After a very long moment, a familiar voice sighed from a few centimeters from her face. “Open them.”

  Elle gave a slight jump as she saw Ja
ck Frost’s pale face staring back at her. His frosted white hair was incredibly messy, and his grey eyes were unblinking as he looked down at her. He was handsome; that much had to be said about him. Elle shivered gently. She learned to equate Jack Frost’s beautifully pale face to fear. Her hands clenched together as she kept them tight around his neck.

  “Are you afraid?” he said, looking and sounding amazingly like the real Jack Frost.

  He was trying to scare her out of doing this. Or…was he?

  Maybe her earlier instincts that this was Jack she was conversing with had been accurate the entire time. Ignoring the overwhelming goosebumps tickling her arms and every rational thought telling her not to push it, Elle leaned up and forward, uncaring that the man she wanted to kiss currently looked like the man who previously wanted to kill her. A morbid curiosity to kiss the man who had previously wished her dead filled her. At the moment, Elle didn’t know whether it was Apollo pretending to be Jack, but she also didn’t find herself caring.

  Elle tilted her head gently, her nose sliding past his before she slowly pressed their mouths together. The kiss was feather-light, a soft tingling sensation striking from the moment their lips touched. The kiss was sweet. Apollo pulled his head away, staring down at Elle with a strange look to him.

  Elle watched the beautifully pale lips in front of her, feeling very unsure about the situation. The kiss was brief but amazingly butterfly inducing. The line was becoming quite blurred for Elle. She was silently realizing she didn’t know mentally who she thought she was kissing right now—Apollo or Jack. Worse, she couldn’t find herself truly minding if it was Jack.

  “This is strange,” said the Jack lookalike quietly, his angelically pale face pulling into a frown. Elle trembled lightly as his grey eyes flickered to her lips and then her eyes.

  “May I?” he asked politely.

  Elle leaned forward to kiss him as her response. Soon the kiss strengthened; his hands snaked up Elle’s sides to hold her in place as he leaned forward to press his mouth against hers yet again. This time, he put forth effort into kissing her back.

  Elle had never felt this bizarre experience of having someone else’s lips crash against hers. She never felt such a rush of feelings. Instinct told her to close her eyes and gently remove her hands from his neck to run through his feather-soft hair. Goosebumps tickled Elle’s arms while the little hairs on the back of her neck stood erect. The kiss was freezing and passionate and glorious all in one. Elle slowly continued to kiss him back. It seemed even though he was more forceful, he was going deliberately slow-paced as to not frighten her.

  What caused goosebumps to tickle her spine yet again was realizing it was the kissing in general that was making her chilly. “You’re so cold,” said Elle softly, kissing his now-slightly-swollen bottom lip once more.

  “It’s not nice to name call.” He smiled wryly, kissing her gently. Elle smiled against his lips as she kissed him once again. After a moment, they stopped to watch each other carefully. Elle hadn’t noticed when he transported their positions to press her against a nearby wall. She was so distracted with the soft movement of his lips against hers, she barely paid attention to the soft transfer. They slowly caught their individual breaths as Elle really took a good look at him.

  “How…” she said in amazement, squinting as she tried to get a good look at him even though it was dark.

  “I’m just that talented,” he teased, tossing her the softest of winks. His grey orbs lingered on her lips before moving back up to watch her eyes.

  Elle giggled gently before shaking her head. “No…” She struggled to find her thoughts. “Is this part of being a god? Can you make yourself appear as another god at will, or is it a work in practice kind of thing?”

  The man before her raised an eyebrow, suddenly understanding what it was she was implying.

  “Exactly who is it you believe me to be?”

  “I’m not sure I know anymore,” she admitted.

  “Are you afraid?”

  She didn’t know how to answer that.

  A sharp knocking suddenly sounded on the door, causing Elle to jump in surprise. She realized that she was actually back inside her winter-themed bedroom this entire time as she took a look around.

  “Elle, could we talk, please?”

  Any color that was left in Elle’s face suddenly vanished. She knew that voice. Instant recognition was made. It was the voice of the man whose neck her arms were supposed to be wrapped around. “Apollo?” said Elle, looking for strict clarification as to who was behind the large doors.

  “Or Aiden. You can call me whatever you want, Ells,” Apollo’s voice answered behind the doors.

  Elle stared at the large white doors, silently hating herself. She should have listened to instinct. That was the voice of the man who she was supposed to have just been sharing her first kiss with. Elle watched the door with wide eyes. If Apollo was knocking on the door to her room, that meant it wasn’t actually him she had been kissing. Elle very slowly swiveled her head to stare up at the man she was still holding onto. Jack Frost was silently watching her. He stared down at her with his incredibly deep grey eyes, an eyebrow arched in a playful manner. His arms were still gently holding her waist, a small smirk playing at the corner of his pale lips.

  Elle’s mouth was parted in shock, and she watched him watch her. Jack slowly leaned his head close to her ear, sending a soft shiver down her spine by the coolness radiating from his body. “How about now, Letter? Are you afraid now?”

  Elle couldn’t say anything as all intelligent responses locked in her throat. She watched as Jack suddenly vanished, a ghostly chuckle left in his wake. “Yes,” she admitted breathlessly to the now-empty room. Elle was afraid that she had developed genuine feelings for Jack.

  About The Author

  Alex Gedgaudas is a Wisconsin native and is mostly known for her ability to consume an unnatural amount of coffee. She started her writing career on popular social storytelling websites, eventually gaining the interest of Limitless Publishing. In her free time, Alex can often be found wandering around rural Wisconsin writing Fantasy and Horror stories with the companionship of her loyal English Bulldog, 'Big Mike'. He only occasionally has negative commentary about her work.

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  https://www.facebook.com/alex.gedgaudas

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  https://twitter.com/Alycat1901

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  Bloodsucking

  Lawyer

  By Nadia Diament

  Chapter One

  Henry found himself wondering, not for the first time, why he’d agreed to help a pothead werewolf.

  Time was inching ever closer to eight thirty, and Wendell the Goddamn Pothead Werewolf was nowhere to be found. To add insult to injury, the lobby of the Pima County Superior Court had more windows than he was comfortable with. Tucson mornings were hell on vampire skin.

  Normally, he pretended to be a vain eccentric and used a black umbrella to protect himself, but he’d forgotten it in his office when he realized he was running late. As a last resort, he’d popped his suit jacket collar in an unattractive but necessary salute to fraternity fashion of yore before sprinting from his car into the courthouse. Unfortunately, his efforts were useless against the punishing August sunshine.

  Now his face was bright red and hot with more than just embarrassment, and Henry could only hope no one noticed the faint smell of smoke and burning flesh emanating from him. He would heal fairly quickly, but sporting a lobster face in front of a judge was never a good idea. It screamed unprofessionalism—especially if your client didn’t show up. He checked his watch again.

  After slipping his phone from the pocket of his slacks, he called Rick.

  “Thank you for calling Henry’s Tacos and Antiques. May I take your order?” his assistant answered.

  “Swear to God, Rick,” Henry grated.

  He’d hired Rick through the Univers
ity of Arizona’s law school for the summer. Clearly, he’d been swindled. Sure, the kid was an expert at legal research and organizing his calendar, but dear God, the never-ending jokes were shaving his patience down to a thread.

  His assistant chuckled. “Relax. Your number came up on the caller ID. I tell everyone else this is a Hooter’s and they have the wrong number.”

  Henry raised his brows. “Actually not a bad idea considering my caseload.”

  “I assume you called for a reason? I don’t have time for lollygagging.” Rick lowered his voice to a stage whisper. “My boss is kind of an asshole.”

  Henry scanned the doors and security checkpoint one last time for the familiar scowling face of his client but came up empty. “Did Wendell call you?”

  Wendell Davies was one of several werewolves in town who kept getting saddled with marijuana-related charges, which meant Henry had to do his damnedest to keep them out of jail. If supernats wanted any chance of staying hidden, then full moons, werewolves, and jail cells could not mix. He held his breath and stared hard at the floor as he waited for Rick to say—

  “No.”

  Henry sighed—disappointed, though he knew he shouldn’t be surprised. Keeping his clients safe from human discovery was becoming harder and harder to do when they were so unreliable. “What about Aber—”

  “Nope. But your nine thirty did arrive early for his appointment.” False cheer rang through Rick’s voice. “By a full seventy-seven minutes.”

  Henry tapped the strap of the briefcase slung across his chest and mentally told himself not to sigh again. He did that far too often. “Get him some coffee and an old copy of Better Homes and Gardens. If Wendell calls, forward it to my cell phone.”

  Just as he started to hang up, Rick said, “But Sofia Cordova’s mom did call. They were supposed to let her out of jail yesterday since they dismissed her case, but she’s still there.”

  A heavy double-tap landed on his shoulder. It took all of Henry’s willpower not to fling his phone clear across the courthouse in surprise. He spun around and sagged in relief.