It was only Jack Frost Elle had eyes for. Hermes hadn’t been exaggerating; Jack was a very talented fighter. He expressed different levels of speed and agility that made the over-muscled Hercules look as though he were walking in slow motion. Jack zoomed as if using an imaginary skateboard on a sheet of ice to move around. He was flawlessly fast, able to appear and reappear so fast to the point other gods were having trouble keeping track of the pale blur.
Elle had trouble watching the contenders fight without feeling like she wanted to vomit. There was far too much blood and gore to go around. Fingers were lost, arrows were struck in heads, and Jack kept impaling people with icicles. “How are they even still alive?” Elle wondered, covering her eyes as the battle cries from the crowd roared on. The fighters were exceptionally quieter compared to the crowd. You couldn’t hear them given how loud people were chanting.
“The arena’s enchanted,” Hermes explained, releasing a happy smile as he fist-pumped the air once more. “Nothing that happens here is permanent. No one’s ever really died because the daggers of Delphi aren’t here. Now, if those puppies were in play, game over for anyone who gets killed with that…oh, c’mon! What a wimp,” Hermes complained, rolling his eyes as the man named Vulcan killed himself as soon as he saw Jack coming. He must have strongly feared Jack Frost; otherwise, Elle couldn’t figure how he found stabbing his own throat with a sword kinder than anything Jack had in mind.
Elle found herself watching Apollo and his graceful movements. It looked like a strange dance while fighting with swords. Each step was purposely designed to keep a sword fight going instead of just randomly killing someone for the fun of it. He was sparring instead of killing.
“Damn, I should’ve bet on Zetes taking Ajax out with an ax to the head,” Hermes grumbled, crossing his arms. “Ajax seemed agitated enough today that I thought he could last longer… Oooh, nice move by Jack!”
Elle didn’t want to see anything Hermes considered a “nice move by Jack.” She could see perfectly well for herself that Jack Frost took incredibly too much pleasure in bringing pain to others. Or perhaps that was just his brothers; Elle couldn’t be sure. She had to look away while Jack slowly ripped the arms and legs off of Zetes. It was a fun type of torture for him; Jack clearly enjoyed the way his brother screamed in pain as he attempted to hobble around the arena lacking hands or feet. Zetes was then easy pickings for the remaining gods and demigods. By the time Apollo shot an arrow to Zetes’ head, it was purely an act of mercy. Zetes had been in too much pain. Jack didn’t seem to want to kill his brother to get it over with; he wanted Zetes to suffer.
Jack seemed to then remember his previous words to Elle about going after Apollo. Suddenly, his ice-sculpture body vanished, leaving him looking naturally human once more. Apollo noticed. He removed an arrow to point directly at Jack’s forehead. Considering Apollo had never missed hitting a target the entire fight, Elle assumed this was now game over for Jack. She undug her face from her hands to go back to watching the fight. There were maybe four people left.
Jack surely must arrive at death’s door momentarily, fake or not. He didn’t have a head made entirely from ice anymore. He couldn’t possibly survive Apollo’s shot.
Elle barely blinked before Apollo missed. Not for lack of effort on his part; Jack seemed to have another power that he only now began to use. Telekinesis. How he did it, she couldn’t explain. Jack was not as muscled or as tall as quite a few of the other fighters, but that meant nothing. He was blood-thirstier than any other contender. He wanted to win, and he didn’t care who he had to go through to do it. Either way, it didn’t matter how many arrows the sun god shot at Jack Frost; they all missed.
That’s when Elle realized what was happening. A couple centuries of sparring would make you a fabulous fighter, especially if you had tons of supernatural ability to back it up. Using just a lazy flick of his hand, Jack flung Apollo roughly into the wall of the arena. With another gentle flick of the wrist, he broke both of his legs.
Elle’s eyes watered as she realized how easy that was for him to do.
“OW! Did you see that, Elle? Hot damn, I knew it was a good day to pick Jack! According to betting sources, he was in a really great mood before the fight!”
Elle flushed with anger. Was Jack happy because he stole her first kiss? She crossed her arms while hoping someone in the arena wiped the smugness off of the god of winter’s pale face. It didn’t seem that Apollo was really going to be the one to bestow a butt whooping to Jack Frost. There was too much determination that caused Elle to believe Jack fully intended winning this fight.
“Huh…look at that…” Hermes said, clearing his throat awkwardly. “I think Jack is looking at you.”
Elle’s head snapped toward Jack’s direction to find he was doing something incredibly minor to gain her attention. He was waving. A majority of women stationed around the arena quickly turned to see who Jack was waving at, all of their curiosities seemingly piqued. Elle found that many of them looked offended that Jack seemed to be exclusively waving at her alone. “Er…it seems if Jack wanted you killed off, he should’ve just tried being nice to you from the very beginning. Do you see how many of the ladies are glaring daggers at you right now?” Hermes laughed as he devoured another brownie. He chewed with sloppy bites.
Elle couldn’t understand how the boy could even think of eating at a time like this. With how much blood and gore was around, she was certain she wouldn’t be able to eat for the rest of the day even though she was hungry. “Letter…” a familiar voice uttered in a feather light voice.
Elle’s head snapped to look in Jack’s direction. He wanted her attention, and he proved why he did fairly quickly. Jack took an icicle and rammed it into Apollo’s neck. It collided roughly through his flesh, blood squirting everywhere.
Elle hadn’t meant to scream in horror; it was just an impulse that happened when you saw your best friend stabbed through the throat before choking to death on his own blood. Apollo gurgled horribly, eventually dropping to the sandy floor in a bloody heap. No one besides Hermes could hear Elle’s scream, so no one paid her any attention. Jack next killed the other contenders when he redirected each of Apollo’s fallen arrows into their skulls with more telekinesis. A giant horn suddenly sounded as Zeus’s voice boomed that Jack Frost was the victor of this Fight Night. People erupted in loud screams of joy.
Elle had taken to sitting on the stone bench besides Hermes with both hands covering the back of her neck. She tried to stifle her crying. Elle stared down at the ground while trying to block out all the noise around her. She didn’t know why she was this distraught. Hermes already proved no one actually died. It just felt so terrifying that the reason Jack broke Apollo’s arms and legs before graphically killing him was just to hurt her.
“Heyy…don’t cry…” Hermes pleaded gently, looking awkward. He softly patted her back nervously. “Hera and I agreed she would deal with the emotional stuff with our goddaughter. Really, I’m not the guy equipped to handle this,” he said, sounding as awkward as he looked. “I bring fun facts and teach you about the world and how to steal. I’m not good with crying.”
“’Tis all right, Hermes. I’ll bring her back. Hey, Elle,” Apollo’s soothing voice called calmly from behind them. Pure relief rushed through Elle as she hurried over to grab him in a hug. She sighed in relief as she held him before she realized the same previous feelings of her returned that something wasn’t quite right with Apollo. He radiated the same cold feeling that Jack Frost did. She backed up slowly, a harsh glare on her face. Elle didn’t think before she acted next. She took no time to think about it before punching him. She struck him to the jaw as hard as she could, but something went wrong. Hitting his face felt similar to hitting a brick wall with full force. The garbled cry of a yelp passed Elle’s lips as her thumb gave a sickening cracking sound. The fake-Apollo’s head swiveled to the side before he stared at Elle with incredulous eyes. “Ow! What was that for?”
El
le backed up while holding what sure to be her now-broken thumb. She hit the immortal in front of her how one was supposed to throw a punch and yet she still injured herself. She mumbled in pain while trying to remember her anger.
“How stupid do you think I am?” she hissed. “The first time wasn’t bad enough so you try tricking me by pretending to be him again? Do you get some kind of sick joy out of doing this, or are you so bored with your mediocre existence that you need to get your jollies out of being mean to me?”
“I think there’s been a misunderstanding.”
“No!” Elle near howled, immediate pain filling her hand as she held her hurt thumb. “I’m done playing your games. I’m done dealing with you and your evil family who keep trying to kill me. I’m done! Then you kiss me? You’re psychotic!”
“Elle! What the Styx are you talking about—”
“Stop pretending you’re him!” snarled Elle as she tried not to show how much pain she was in. “Just drop the act!”
Apollo gaped at her. “No, really, what are you implying—”
“HEY! Don’t interrupt my fiancée while she’s ranting,” a voice playfully scolded from behind Elle.
That put a halt on Elle’s anger as she began to register that Jack Frost’s voice was coming from behind her as opposed to right in front of her. Sure enough, as Elle turned around to spot the new arrival, Jack had sat himself atop of the railing while holding a few green grapes in his right hand. He casually tossed one up to catch with his mouth. He chewed the soft flesh of the grape, his too-pale jaw muscles gently breaking down the fruit in his mouth. He did this slowly before repeating the action. Elle alternated glances between Jack and the man she thought was him.
Apollo sent Jack a venomous glare as he swiped up Elle’s injured hand. “I should’ve known if trickery was afoot, you were the one behind it,” he said through gritted teeth.
It was apparent this time she had been quite wrong. It was not Jack Frost Elle had hit. Jack stood idly nearby, watching this exchange while looking positively jubilant that Elle actually hit Apollo. Elle continued to look between the two men in an awkward fashion.
“What’s the matter, my fiancée? You look confused,” said Jack, grinning wickedly.
Chapter 4
The situation resolved itself relatively quickly. Apollo explained he and the other immortals’ bodies felt cold after they regenerated from the killings in the arena. After a near ten minutes, they were fully healed and back to their old selves. All with the exception of Jack; he was always cold no matter what. It helped to have a god who was naturally talented in healing as your closest friend. Apollo healed Elle’s thumb using the gentle warmth that was able to heal broken bones just by his touch.
Elle then spent the rest of the day with Hermes on Mount Olympus. Her godfather was lovable yet harebrained, obviously trying to keep her mind off of Jack as to not agitate her further. Elle barely paid attention to all the glorious things that came attached to being in what seemed to be an alternative version of heaven while on Olympus. She couldn’t find the endless skies, multicolored moons, and beautiful buildings and streams intriguing. Elle’s thoughts were too preoccupied in wondering how she could possibly get home from wherever she actually was. She couldn’t find a way to really get from Olympus to South Carolina. Hermes tried providing her with a fun day, but the sad reality was that a day of fun in the sun in a sparkling city wasn’t going to change the fact that Elle was being held somewhere against her will.
Eventually, her godfather brought her back to her room in Winter’s Kingdom. Elle wanted to be alone after their long day. The young god was proving to be a pretty decent person in the friend department, but Elle didn’t care to converse with him anymore after Hermes yet again said he was not allowed to bring her home.
Elle gently upbraided her long brown hair and let it fall in curled ringlets down her shoulder. She brushed her teeth and prepared for bed, not even caring that she was going to sleep without supper. She was quite hungry, but she didn’t want to see any member of the awful royal family of Winter’s throne. Oritya had set a manic lion with a snake tongue loose after her in a bid to eat her. For all Elle knew, a wild pack of crocodile-headed hyenas were perched right outside her door, waiting to pounce. Elle had no idea if those actually existed, but she figured she was safest not venturing out into the hall to find out.
She sat in her slightly dim bedroom, listening to the awful sounds of her stomach. She hadn’t eaten breakfast, and she neglected to eat lunch while being with Hermes. Dinner was probably going on right now, but Elle wasn’t in the mood to be by the family of the fiancé she hated. Her stomach quietly grumbled in protest, causing her to groan in discomfort.
“I sense the little half-human is in need of a meal,” a velvety voice mused quietly. Elle immediately sat up in fright, grabbing her pillow to hold as a makeshift weapon.
“A pillow…really?” said Jack, slipping out of the shadows of her room to casually stroll closer to her bed. He sat himself down on the chair closest to her, a slick grin on his pale lips. “I thought the frying pan was a weak weapon, but I think you actually managed to succeed in gaining a more pathetic piece of weaponry.” He nodded seriously.
“Get out,” said Elle through clenched teeth.
Jack leaned forward on his chair, watching Elle carefully in her dimly lit room. “I decline your request.”
“I want you out, now.”
“Aw…and here I felt we were finally starting to bond earlier,” said Jack, pretending to pout. Even while making a disappointed face, he looked similar to a glorious yet extremely pale model.
Elle swallowed the hurt in her throat as she clutched the pillow protectively against her chest. “You mean when you stole my first kiss?”
“Stole? Harsh words, princess. I clearly remember you were all too willing to give it to me. I asked permission and then you acted.”
“That’s because you tricked me!”
Jack’s eyes flashed before he used a flick of his hand to turn on the lights. In a nanosecond, his tall form hovered over the bed as he looked down at Elle with narrowed eyes. “I showed you exactly who I was. You kissed me anyway. There was no deception during that act.”
“No deception? You pretended to be the guy I liked and you let me think you were him!”
Jack glared, his penetrating grey eyes narrowed further. “Let’s set something straight, Evangeline. Did I trick you to dig information out of you? Yes. But let’s not forget something else; not only did I save your skin from that Nameon lion, I didn’t lie to you. I showed you my true form. You’re the idiot who chose to kiss me.”
“Will you just get out of here!” Elle snarled vehemently.
Jack cackled with his familiar, velvety smooth laughter. “Look at that…the flushed cheeks, the heated anger behind your eyes…you’re pretty worked up over a couple little kisses.”
“Because you stole my first kiss, you walking, talking snow-cone!”
“Perhaps. But let us remember you didn’t kiss Apollo’s form,” said Jack, a devious smirk taking residence on his lips. “You waited. Even while seeing my face, you didn’t scream; you didn’t run. You leaned in and you kissed me. Maybe you did think it was Lord Glow-ball, maybe you didn’t. The fact remains, you’re the one who leaned in and kissed me.”
Elle rolled her eyes as she jumped up from the bed to head into the next room toward the door. She unlocked it to open one of the grand doors, motioning for Jack to leave. He followed her into the room but wasn’t going anywhere near the door. “We’re not done yet,” said Jack firmly, settling himself down on the edge of the winter-themed couch nearby. “We need to talk.”
Elle’s eyes blinked rapidly processing that lone comment as she turned to look at him. “Talk? About what?”
“About whatever this is that we have…” Jack said, waving his hand airily as if to find accurate wording. “I’ll be honest, talking about feelings and similar weird things like this is not exactly my forte.
The two of us are merely to the point where I’m curious to see what your thoughts are regarding what happened.”
Elle mentally tried to grasp what Jack was saying, but she was struggling to do so. She felt he was talking about the kissing earlier that morning. She stared at him silently for a few moments as she collected her thoughts.
“I don’t understand you,” she admitted quietly, shaking her head. “You’ve showed you hate me because of some ridiculous prophecy, then you take me in a memory to show you’re not a bad guy—”
“That is not what I did.”
“That’s the impression I got,” said Elle sadly. “I know you wanted me to finally reach the conclusion that I’m screwed and that I should accept that, but that’s not what I saw. I saw that you chose to be a good person. You did something nice because you wanted a little girl to feel better.”
“That’s not what happened,” Jack denied vehemently.
“Stop trying to deny it when I’m saying something good about you,” Elle muttered, covering her face with both hands. “I’m trying to understand you, and you keep throwing me reasons why I should fear you instead of…”
“Like me?” Jack interjected, cocking a brow.
Elle frowned at the question.
She honestly didn’t know if she was capable of liking him. One moment he was saving her life; the next, he was making it seem like he was killing Apollo just to hurt her. “Why did you save me?”
Jack did not blink as he remained silent. That all-too-familiar blank expression crossed his face where he looked as though he was thinking something but didn’t wish to say what it was.
“The lion…” Elle elaborated, gently shrugging. “You got me out of there before something horrible happened. You did something nice but then masqueraded as Apollo…we kissed…then you wanted me to believe you were truly going to kill him,” said Elle, her eyes wide and somewhat glassy as she shook her head. “I don’t understand what you want from me. Do you want me dead? Do you not? Do you just like ripping me apart emotionally?”
Betrothed To Jack Frost Box Set Page 22