“Oh, bloody hell. If I would have known we were about to walk in on a love-fest, I would’ve brought Eros with us,” a new voice complained. “At least he’d appreciate this fluff!”
Elle jumped against Jack’s arms, not expecting the sudden arrival of Hermes supporting a very beaten up Ajax a few feet away. She hid her face against Jack’s pale chest as she blushed in embarrassment. Jack in turn kept her close while an evil glare saturated his beautifully pale features.
Poor Hermes looked utterly mortified as he dropped Ajax to the ground accidentally. He covered his eyes, seemingly embarrassed.
Ajax groaned on the floor, sporting a blackened eye and a rather ugly bloody lip. “Arse,” he muttered toward Hermes’ direction.
“You two ever hear of knocking?” demanded Jack, immediately standing and pulling his shirt on. Next he went to survey Ajax’s injuries. His left eye was completely swollen shut as fresh blood dribbled down from his nose onto his chin. “What the Styx happened to you?”
“And here I thought I looked pretty,” mocked Ajax, suddenly being helped into a chair by Hermes. He sunk his bronze-colored head against the chair, looking truly beaten and downcast.
“As you can see, we have problems,” said Hermes, sounding rather tired and not at all his bubbly self.
“What happened to him?” demanded Jack, producing a large ball of ice in the palm of his hand. As soon as he gave it to Ajax, the god of sea animals slapped it over his bad eye.
“Well, I just got my arse kicked by a couple of cyclops brothers of mine searching for you in Poseidon’s domain,” he said, rolling his single bourbon-colored eye that was still able to be seen. “Apparently, a bounty is still on for your heads,” he said, nodding at Elle.
“I thought Zeus put a stop to Oritya!” Jack howled, causing Elle to jump. His icy tone was frightening.
“That’s assuming it was Winter’s throne who demanded the bounty,” Ajax snorted. “You’ve got the Chinese and the Norse pissed off, mate.”
“Why?”
“Well, we all know the Chinese made that pact with the Norse Ragnarok survivors,” Hermes said with a dramatic roll of his hazel eyes. “Since their last winter deity was killed centuries ago, they worship Loki as the god of winter.”
“That monster is only considered a god because Odin reigned when he adopted him!” Jack growled.
“Some could say you only exist because Boreas stepped out on his wife with your mum,” Ajax offered mildly, gently shrugging. “Unfortunately, that’s just royal politics. Hel is looking for her father to become the new god of Winter, and your demise brings that, considering everyone is under the impression as soon as you die, there are no more heirs of Boreas. His other children are clearly sterile of winter abilities. You’re the only threat of taking away the crown.”
“And what? Loki just assumes everyone will bow down to his insane idea of becoming King…” Jack trailed off, looking suddenly horrified. “That’s who Oritya’s lover is!” he declared, cringing as the words left his mouth.
“My father is on that train of thought as well,” said Hermes bitterly. “Zeus assumes Loki and Oritya are a pair. With your demise, Loki, with slight powers of winter, marries Oritya, and then BOOM, they’re both in power, and he is king,” he finished, looking awfully grim.
Ajax made to remove his ice pack before Jack sent him a menacing glare. “Keep that damn thing on your eye! The swelling will go down when you do.”
Ajax frowned as he slowly slipped the pack up to his eye. He muttered something negative under his breath, something Elle strongly suspected resembled, “Who died and made you my mother?”
“Okay…so…Loki…” said Elle, frowning. “Norse God, father of Hel, marries Oritya and he’s king?” There were far too many gods and deities for her to keep track of.
“Yes.”
“Sums it up, Alphabet.” Ajax nodded, causing Jack to scowl at him. “Bloody hell, mate,” defended Ajax. “Why can you call her Letter while no one else can make mockery of her name?”
“How about you just keep your ice on your eye?” Jack replied coldly. “You,” he said, nodding to Hermes. “Make yourself useful and either get a first aid kit or find some medical moron to heal him. Understood?”
“Won’t he just heal himself?” Elle asked with confusion.
“’Fraid not, love.” Ajax sighed, rolling his good eye at Jack’s vexed expression. “I’ve gone and pissed my mum off. Dear old Dad has revoked my magical abilities for the time being,” he scowled.
Elle shot Hermes a curious stare that he gently shrugged off. “It’s better not to ask. He shouldn’t have fallen in love with a mortal.”
She took a deep breath and tried to wrap the strangeness of what these two were saying around in her head. “So if this Loki guy and Oritya want to become king and queen, why do they want me dead?”
“Your child is to be the product of fire and ice,” Hermes explained. “That person would be the only one capable of overthrowing the king in case Jack were to die.”
Elle barely noticed how she instinctively grasped Jack’s hand. It made sense. Without Jack Frost, the only competition someone would have would be his heir. “Well, can’t we just stay here and lay low?”
It was Jack’s disturbed-looking reaction that was the answer to her question. “We stay, we’re taking the risk of every nasty who sides with Oritya, the Norse, and even the Chinese coming after us,” he said so quietly Elle had trouble hearing him.
“It’s worse than that,” said Hermes grimly. “The court of Olympus has come together to demand that Winter’s throne receive a king. Egyptian officials recommend you as king, while Oritya supporters recommend Loki.”
As the three gods broke into a heavy discussion regarding what side everyone in different royal families was on, the most practical solution came to Elle that seemed to answer everything. Winter’s throne needed a king immediately, while she and Jack needed to escape the multiple individuals wanting them dead. She thought back to the plan she had so long ago that seemed easy enough. “Jack…”
“But what if we consult Lady Gaia?” Ajax asked with a gentle shrug. “She has always listened to reason—”
“You know better than anyone she’s a strong believer in prophecy!” Jack scowled. “That would be insane—”
“Guys, guys! Maybe we’ll just find a new creepy cabin secluded from civilization you can hide in,” Hermes offered brightly.
Ajax rolled his eye that wasn’t heavily bruised. “Well, that is a lovely option mate, truly. Why didn’t I think of that? Oh, right…because it’s bullocks!” he snarled, trying to stand, only to go down like a wobbly newborn fawn due to his injuries.
“Jack,” said Elle again, trying to get his attention.
“Calm down, Ajax, and keep your ice on.”
“Stop telling me to keep my bloody ice on!” Ajax said with disgust. “Your newfound kindness toward others is really scaring me, mate.”
“Well, I find it a nice change,” said Hermes with a simple shrug.
The two gods began to roughly bicker as Jack shot Elle a narrowed gaze. “For the record, I entirely blame you for my newfound kindness.” He nodded seriously, a false annoyed look on his face.
Elle stifled a laugh. “If you’re done fooling around, can we talk about how to drop-kick Oritya and this Loki guy’s plan to take the throne?”
“This Loki guy?” Jack teased, leaning down to kiss her gently. She resisted smiling as he nuzzled his forehead against hers.
“Honestly, when you say Loki, my mind automatically jumps to Tom Hiddleston.” She shrugged.
Jack rolled his eyes. “Marvel unfortunately made the guy off to be a peach compared to what he is truly like.”
Elle sighed. “Why don’t we just do the simple thing?”
Jack resisted laughter. “There’s really nothing simple about any of this. But I’ll bite. What did you have in mind?”
Elle held up her left hand that carried her oversized ring. Sh
e narrowed her eyes, disappointed no one simply offered this idea sooner. “We finally get married so you can become the rightful king.”
Jack did not seem to enjoy Elle’s marvelous idea, strangely enough. It was not understandable as to why he wouldn’t. Still, his eyes were wide while his jaw was clenched shut. “Hermes, get him to someone medical, ASAP.”
The two gods had still been squabbling before Ajax scowled. “Bloody hell, mate! It’s a black eye and a broken nose. It’s really not—”
“Getting out of here is more for my benefit than yours,” Jack said curtly, a harsh glare suddenly saturating his beautiful features. “You can either leave on your own accord, or I can pelt you with icicles until you leave. Your choice.”
Even though Ajax looked to be on the verge of scoffing at the threat, Elle found Hermes looked somewhat frightened of Jack. Before she could even get out an ounce of protest over his threatening such a thing, both gods disappeared. Where they teleported to was anyone’s guess. Jack was then abnormally quiet; an entirely blank look took over his features where he didn’t seem to know what to make of Elle’s proposal. She thought his sudden strange attitude was bizarre. He couldn’t be upset; he asked her to marry him just a few weeks back! She still had his abnormally large ring on her finger. The next few minutes of silence was palpable. Elle finally felt the nerve to speak. “Why are you giving me that look?”
Jack nearly laughed. “I’m merely relishing your gentle shrug and uncaring attitude regarding, ‘Oh, let’s just get married, problem solved!’” He chuckled.
“You oppose the idea?”
He suddenly looked rather offended. “Elle, of course I don’t oppose the idea. I want to marry you. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have asked.”
Elle strongly suspected there was more to what he was saying. She didn’t understand his somewhat insulted expression. “Is there a but anywhere involved in that? Because I’m not really getting why you’re staring at me like I’m a leprechaun.”
Now Jack really did look offended as his brows raised and his lips parted in surprise. “I would never dare call you such a thing, Elle, even when we didn’t like each other. Leprechauns are foul creatures who drink incredibly too much and create mayhem for all. They even steal more than Hermes!”
Elle mentally tried to grapple with the idea that leprechauns existed, but it was getting to the point she really shouldn’t be surprised by anything anymore. Did that mean the Loch Ness monster was real? Bigfoot? The abominable snowman? Where exactly did the line really end between reality and make believe anymore? Did it end? Was everything mythical actually real? Elle shook her head of the thought. Her strange frozen boyfriend seemed to be mentally panicking at this given moment.
“Jack, what’s wrong?” It took her a moment to allow his strange behavior to process. “Why do you seem upset? We get married, you become king, you stop this Norse god and Oritya from taking what’s yours. Then no one else will want to kill us because you’ll be in control, right? So what’s wrong?”
To her, it seemed to be the genius plan that should have been done from the get-go. Elle found herself feeling stupid she hadn’t accepted his proposal when it first came. Who knew how easy life could’ve gone the last few months had they just married?
Jack stared at her with an almost perplexed expression. “I asked you to marry me, Elle.”
“I remember.”
He shook his head, nearly looking dejected. “You’re not saying let’s get married as though you are genuinely excited at the prospect of becoming my wife. You’re saying as if it’s this tedious thing we must do,” he said, sounding rather glum.
“Well, it kind of is.” She started to backtrack the moment Jack watched her with a comical look of horror. “Jack! Getting married sooner rather than later doesn’t really have anything to do with wanting to be with you.” She shrugged. “I want to be with you. Ideally, though, it would be nice if we had a longer engagement.”
Jack suddenly appeared before her. He frowned before leaning down to give her a cold kiss. Once he pulled away, Elle found he look disappointed. “Do you love me?”
Elle’s brows furrowed. “What kind of question is that?”
“Do you?” She sighed before nodding. He tilted his head to watch her. “Do you trust me?”
Even though he was someone who just a few short months ago she could never possibly imagine trusting, she could not say the same thing nowadays. She trusted him more than anyone; he had never really lied to her. “Yes, I trust you.”
Jack smiled gently. “Then marry me for that reason alone. Forget all else.”
Elle nearly giggled at his playful expression. “So you’re saying I should forget all about the immortal gods and creatures who want us dead in order for your stepmother to take your throne?”
“Yes,” Jack replied simply. “Everyone can send themselves to Tartarus for all I care. If you want to get married, I want it solely to be because you can’t imagine spending your life with anyone other than me. I want you to marry me because you know you are the only person I would ever walk through hell and back for. If you want to get married, I would rather it be a time when you understand those things. Otherwise, please do not suggest marriage if you don’t really understand what it implies.” He smiled gently.
Elle stared blankly. “You would risk all these people and things trying to kill you by not getting married?”
Jack gently rolled his gorgeous grey eyes. “Key word, trying. But yes. I would rather state it as wanting our marriage to mean more than just a formality. There’s a reason I’ve never asked someone to marry me before, Elle, and it had nothing to do with the prophecy. I could’ve taken a wife or more. I did no such thing because marriage is sacred to me. With you, I want to marry because I love you more than I’ve ever loved another person in my entire life,” Jack explained quietly, suppressing a small smile as Elle hugged him.
“So you’re really ready for marriage, huh?”
Jack gently shrugged as he hugged her back. “I’m well over two hundred, and you’re twenty-one. I’d say we’re old enough for holy matrimony.”
Elle softly laughed. “Okay then. So when’s a good wedding date for you?”
As he stiffened under her grip, Jack gently moved her away to stare down at Elle. “Really? You want to get married, and not because it solves the throne controversy?”
Shaking her head, Elle felt nervous of her next words. “I want to get married because I love you as much as you love me.” She squealed as Jack nearly crushed her against him in a chilly hug.
“You love me…” he muttered, kissing the top of her head. “I don’t know whether to be ecstatic or severely disturbed over your obvious mental problems for loving such a person.”
“You’re always the romantic, aren’t you?” Elle grinned as she hugged him tighter.
“Oh, of course. Hmm…but on to more important matters, you dislike like my ring,” he said, silently daring her to contradict this. Elle winced as it did not go unnoticed that Jack saw her glance at the large ring.
“I don’t not like it…”
“I can tell when you lie,” he warned.
Elle nearly laughed at that annoyed reply of his. She only didn’t for the serious expression Jack wore. She glanced back at the large ring once more; it felt extremely heavy on her finger. “Better wording is I’m not used to it. I don’t come from a place where I’m used to having money and expensive gifts,” she explained. “Birthdays and Christmases were where two presents were a lot for me. My dad and I were always moving around to small apartments; my grandparents were close to broke. We all lived simply, and that means I’m not used to extravagant things.”
Which was true. Her laptop for school was from the dinosaur age of technology where it was a large bulky item that she could barely see the screen. Her grandfather collected it from a friend’s local rummage sale. It worked fine as long as she didn’t mind the inanely loud buzzing noise that sounded like a hive of bees was nearby.
Elle thought he was kidding. She was going to smile at his sarcasm only to realize there was no trace of humor on his face. He was completely serious. “It wasn’t at all.”
He raised a brow. “You say that even while having grown up with no wealth?”
Elle was surprised by how ludicrous he seemed to think she was for this. Surely he had to have had a time in life where he wasn’t used to being a prince of winter. “Money doesn’t buy happiness.” She shrugged, knowing the cliché explained her family perfectly.
Jack gave a hollow laugh at that. “But it can buy things that provide it.”
Ignoring that comment, Elle gently rolled her eyes. It was Jack eyeing her ring that caused her to sigh. “Are you still upset by things Apollo said?”
“You mean that he was accurate in stating that the ring doesn’t fit your personality? Why ever would you think that?” His tone and sour look easily gave away that was what he was referring to. “Actually, I’m going to chalk this up as something being wrong with you specifically, Elle,” Jack said with furrowed brows. “What kind of woman doesn’t love over-the-top diamonds?”
Elle merely shrugged. “I have you,” she said, trying not to shrug again. “Having more than that makes me feel spoiled.”
“But I want to spoil you,” he insisted with a frown.
“I’m spoiled by just having a man who’d walk through hell for me.” Elle grinned. “Anything else I don’t need compared to that.”
Jack stared at her with slight uncertainty. “You realize saying that just makes me want to spoil you with more riches and what not, right?”
Elle’s cheeks glowed a rosy red by the memory of all the strange things he’d been leaving her before going off for work. Golden bangles, diamond earrings, and even ruby bookmarks. She resisted laughing at his puzzled expression. “Jack, if you had told me everything you just said and then asked me to marry you with only a rubber band instead of a ring, I would still absolutely love you.”
“You cannot truly mean that.”
Betrothed To Jack Frost Box Set Page 46