It worked. Khione sighed as she gently leaned herself against the counter in a lazy fashion. She evidently did not deem Elle a threat. The only daughter of Boreas smiled. “Politics, my dear. But we are at a new era. We have reached the day when a child should be able to take her father’s throne regardless of gender. I deserve Winter’s throne. I will be the new queen.” She had a bright smile.
Elle thought back to a time when Apollo explained that Zetes and Calais both held alibis for the night Jack’s family was brutally murdered. There was technically no proof they tried to kill them. “You k-killed Jack’s f-family…” Elle spluttered, her lips dripping with scarlet red as she made it to the stove.
Khione’s pale lips lit up in a dazzling bright smile that caused her to look rather proud of this accusation. “Yes, child. I ripped the face off of the whore my father impregnated. Then I enjoyed destroying the brat daughter.” Upon noticing Elle’s horrified expression, Khione smiled. “My unfortunate luck would have been that Boreas had impregnated the wench a second time,” she explained lazily. “Couldn’t have allowed that child to live.” Elle found she looked proud of herself.
Khione’s crazy smile slowly slipped into an annoyed pout. “Unfortunately, my moronic brothers were not capable of simply killing Jack. He lived, and, well…the rest is history.” She sighed, sounding deeply unhappy with this part of the story. “Boreas accepted his bastard into his kingdom with loving arms, paving the way for Jack to take over. Somewhere after that, your rather annoying prophecy came into play.” Khione waved off, seemingly bored with explaining the part about Elle.
A few strange seconds of silence went by where Elle tried and failed to move. She was too weak once she reached the oven. Tiredly, Elle made a feeble move to stand. All she succeeded in doing was turning on the knobs of the gas stove accidentally.
Khione soon came forward and ripped the dagger from Elle’s shoulder forcefully. It was embedded so deep that the dagger felt more painful being removed than when it was gruesomely stuck in her shoulder. The smell of gas started filling the kitchen, but Khione was oblivious as she landed a very nice kick to Elle’s ribs, most likely breaking one or two.
“You’ve been the one t-trying to k-kill me,” Elle breathed, barely audible as she tried hard to focus on Khione’s pale features. She felt she was losing consciousness. It wasn’t surprising considering the large amount of blood she’d lost. Elle struggled to stay away; she knew she had to keep her talking.
“From the very beginning.”
“You won’t get away w-with this.”
“I won’t?” asked Khione, a soft chuckle at the end. “Child, you do not still believe that you are to be the mother of the descendant of fire and ice, do you?” Elle blinked stupidly as she tried to focus on the pain. The number she got, the more she wanted to fall asleep. Khione clucked her tongue in disapproval.
“You see, little one, prophecies are open to interpretation,” she said, sparing Elle a rather pitying grimace.
Elle stared up at no particular point to the ceiling above. Maybe it was irony; she was to die not by her sister’s hand, but Jack’s. As she felt her warm blood saturating her upper torso and beginning to stick to the back of her head, Elle realized the prophecy was very, very wrong. All that worrying and the prophecy was all wrong anyhow.
Khione focused the dagger in her hands, examining it carefully. “I’ll never understand why my bastard brother made such a big deal out of killing you with a dagger of Delphi,” she offered airily. “It goes to show that Jack never had any intention of killing you. There are only a few ways one can come back immortal, but demigods can be easily killed off. Why everyone made such a big deal regarding these daggers was quite silly.” Khione sighed. “Well, one cannot be too careful.”
A new arrival had come. Elle dared to hope she would survive until she saw her father’s grisly form in a hospital gown and blood dribbling down his chin. The ghostly nightmare entered the kitchen. Soon, the shape shifter morphed into someone new.
This man wore a suit of all black. His expensive-looking attire was probably tailored by the very finest designers the immortals had to offer. The divine clothing held a man who looked to be in his thirties. He had short, jet-black hair that tucked neatly behind his ear. His piercing blue eyes were almost similar to a cat watching a canary as he watched the bleeding Elle with Khione hunched over her body.
“The deed is done, darling,” the handsome man said. His blue eyes looked almost too blue to possibly be real. They shined as bright as gems. Getting rather decent at guessing who gods and goddesses were, Elle felt this was the Norse god, Loki.
She wasn’t sure if this man resembled Tom Hiddleston or she was merely imagining it given how delirious with pain she was becoming. What deed was he referring to? Elle bet they weren’t about to reveal their plan as the man greeted Khione with a sweet kiss. Both monsters seemed rather oblivious or simply uncaring that Elle lay bleeding on the floor just a few feet away from them. The smell of gas was ridiculously strong at this point.
“You’re not going to get away with this,” Elle pathetically said again. Even she felt her own words were stupid; Khione murdered Jack’s family hundreds of years previously. She was obviously getting away with her crimes just fine.
“You think so?” the goddess challenged with a delicate brow arched. “Being a child of Boreas, I’m allowed into this cabin as much Jack is. Poor baby brother does not know that. No one will ever know I was here. Young Jack did not realize his enchantments are pointless against a sibling.”
“Leave w-while you still can,” Elle breathed in a warning.
Loki started to chuckle as if he found Elle’s pitiful statement rather amusing. He leaned himself against a nearby counter to grin. Khione sighed before she smiled a dazzling cruel smile. “As for not getting away with this, no one ever did discover who poisoned Matthew Darrow…did they?”
Elle’s stomach constricted into a tight ball. Her father’s murderer was standing over her broken body. “M-m-my d-dad…”
“Yes,” Khione sighed, again seemingly annoyed by Elle’s talking. “In all seriousness, I suppose I should have simply killed you when were a pigtailed child in mismatched clothing. Truly, I felt my bastard brother was going to follow through with killing you to get out of marriage. That would have worked rather nicely in my favor and kept my hands clean. Unfortunately, Apollo watched over you for all those years, and Jack happened to grow rather attached to you,” the goddess said crossly. “Bright side, Elle, you really did change Jack’s nature. I have never actually seen him so very jubilantly optimistic and full of life. It was sickening.”
Elle watched her in horror. “M-my d-dad…”
“Yes, yes, your darling papa,” Khione snapped in annoyance. She looked rather put out that during this ranting monologue the only thing the dying Elle was focusing on was that tidbit. “I couldn’t be sure Pele wouldn’t have had him place another bun in her oven to help carry through the prophecy of fire and ice. I couldn’t kill Pele because she is quite crafty at defending herself. Now, Loki and I will take our place as King and Queen respectively. With you out of the way, of course, Jack cannot become king.”
Loki looked rather bored at Khione’s monologue as he examined the cabin with little interest. “Wrap it up, darling. We have bigger fish to fry,” he said in a rather bored voice. Elle knew it was now or never to fight. She watched the stove top, noting there was gas but no flames under the burners.
Elle’s eyes widened in realization. She could only think of Jack and how lucky he had been when his brothers almost killed him. He did not die in a frozen lake; his abilities manifested. Given Elle had never before been burned by any means, let it be an oven scorch or a sunburn, perhaps she was completely immune to fire as Jack had been to the cold…
Elle’s thoughts briefly flickered to the words Jack spoke when he had been teaching her how to spar; her greatest weapon was fire.
There was only one way to find out. Elle slowly
sat herself up, pulling herself away from her pool of blood.
Loki’s brows crinkled together as he took what seemed to be a hesitant step back. “Her eyes are…red.”
“What are you blathering on about?” demanded Khione.
Loki watched Elle with wide eyes as if he didn’t quite know how to explain what he was thinking. The smug look he had been wearing was wiped from his handsome face as he slowly backed out of the kitchen.
“You’re missing something important, Khione,” Elle breathed, feeling a very nasty power surging through her veins. It saturated through her blood, pooling through her arms, legs, torso, and even her mind. A strong rage filled Elle completely, saturating her body like her bloody wounds were. A million tiny tingles flooded throughout her as she allowed this delicious rage to course through her entire being. She felt far more powerful than she ever had in all of her life. Elle took in deep breaths as she concentrated.
“And what is that, child?” Khione sighed, grinning as she held up the dagger, no doubt planning on stabbing Elle once more.
Loki had continued to back step from the kitchen, no doubt sensing something was very, very wrong.
Elle felt strongly she was near death. In actuality, she had no real idea if her asinine plan would save her. Her anger was her best weapon to stop Khione and Loki as well as attempting to save herself.
“What happens to ice when it’s on fire?” Elle allowed flames to eat up her entire body. It gave off the impression she was on fire. Given the place was filling up with natural gas, the effects of mixing fire and gas were instantaneous.
Khione did not need to answer. The cabin soon exploded in a fiery inferno, flames destroying anything and everything they came into contact with. Elle did not see what happened after the massive explosion rocked through the entire forest. The cabin soon began to collapse in burning pieces, Khione and Loki having vanished immediately. Darkness swallowed Elle as her last thoughts were of realizing she had not taken ambrosia. If she died, she would not be coming back.
Chapter 14
As Elle sucked in a very large gulp of fresh air, she felt a strong pain in her chest and stomach. She felt as if her body had been drowning for a very long time before she was finally able to suck in a breath. She inhaled and then exhaled. Elle repeated this action a few times more to get used to the feeling. She was very sore.
The last she could remember was starting the fire to blow apart the cabin. Had she really lived through that moment?
Opening her eyes, Elle jumped in fright as she started looking around for Khione and the dagger. Instinct took over once her memory kicked in. Elle figured the cold, callous princess and her lover Loki were somewhere nearby. But as her head whipped around to search for her would-be murderer and her comrade, she found they were nowhere to be seen. Elle’s knees pulled back as she found she was in a dimly lit hospital room. An IV was hooked up her arm, and an oxygen mask was on her. Why this did not look like a hospital was the glittering gold walls and the large statue of what looked to be Artemis standing in the corner.
Standing from the bed, Elle groaned from how sore and stiff she felt. A rough gasp escaped her lips as she enjoyably clenched and unclenched her bare feet as she arched her back in a stretch. Her body was covered by a flowing cream gown, and her hair was gently braided down her back.
“You need to rest,” said the voice of Artemis, suddenly approaching Elle to overlook her vitals. It was then that she realized that the twin of Apollo had been the statue.
“Where am I?” asked Elle, her voice croaky and weak.
“A healing center. The healing center of Apollo, I may add.” Once satisfied Elle was not about to fall over, the goddess proceeded to move her back to the bed. Elle cringed awkwardly. She had no choice as Artemis easily picked her up and then placed her back. “Rest, Princess.”
“I’m not dead,” rasped Elle, not quite able to believe that she survived the explosion.
“You are not,” said Artemis with a nod. “Although ’twas very doubtful you would survive your wounds, even after you were rescued from the fire. It was quite extraordinary, really. Not an ounce of ambrosia in you and yet you survived an explosion that should have blown you to smithereens.”
It was quite miraculous. Even when she had set herself on fire in a kitchen saturated with gas, there was no thought put into the plan. Elle had simply just gone off of raw hope she would live. “Elle?” a new voice called, sounding panicked.
It took her a moment to pinpoint whose voice that was out of the fear radiating from his tone. Apollo was suddenly in view, dressed in a very strange gladiator ensemble that made Elle do a double take. He was wearing a cream tunic gown highlighted with golden accents. He had pure-gold sandals on his feet as a golden wreath sat upon his head. Apollo resembled an angel. Or this was perhaps Elle’s eyes adjusting to the light as Artemis turned more on. Either way, he seemed too bright. Apollo didn’t seem to believe his eyes as he watched her carefully, unsure of whether to believe that she was truly here before him.
“Can I just say, you look ridiculous?” Elle murmured, her voice hoarse as if she hadn’t used it in weeks.
Apollo smiled broadly. Using immortal speed, he approached her before wrapping her into a very large hug that felt suffocating. He started muttering a long string of words in a foreign language before kissing her forehead. Elle didn’t really mind the close hug because she really felt she needed one after hearing that she nearly died.
“It was thought that you would die,” said Apollo, his face pale. “Nearly all of your blood was lost; your bones were crushed by the cabin collapsing. After a week of no change, many were skeptical that you would pull through your coma.”
Elle shuddered at the memory of bleeding out in the floor. Her body felt very sore and stiff. “I’ve been unconscious for a week?”
“She’s alive!” Hermes suddenly screeched, appearing from nowhere. He scooped Elle from the bed and into a hug, ignoring the monitors going off as they unhooked from Elle’s arms. He was soon jumping up and down like a madman while Elle’s head rattled. “Look! Look! She’s alive!”
Apollo and Artemis both scowled. It was the former who spoke. “Dammit, Hermes, stop it already—”
“She’s alive! Look, look!” said Hermes happily, slamming Elle tighter in his almighty hug. By the time he finally released Elle—Artemis may have needed to slap him rather roughly to the back of the head—she was dizzy. It took a moment for her uncoordinated body to stretch before she could formulate the proper words to speak again. “Where’s Jack?”
“He’s at the coronation,” said Artemis. “Someone will need to get him. He’s been inconsolable for days.”
Elle released a sigh of relief. Thankfully, everything was said and done. Jack was now king, and the monster Khione didn’t get away with her diabolical crimes.
“’Tis best we show you to Jack. He has not been the same since your coma,” Artemis continued stiffly. “He’s been cruel, moody, and downright wicked to everyone around him.”
“Some would say that’s just a regular Tuesday for him, actually,” mused Hermes, earning a scowl from both his brother and sister.
Apollo shook his head. “We shall meet with him soon. Jack’s currently assisting with Khione’s coronation—”
“WHAT? Khione’s coronation? What are you talking about?” demanded Elle. Her throat felt raw and sore.
Apollo looked surprised and then confused. “Elle, you’ve been near brain dead for the last week. After it was proven Jack did not attempt to stab you with a dagger and Oritya did, she lost the role of attending queen while Jack lost the opportunity to become king. He could not become one until his marriage to you. With you near death, that made his chance at securing his father’s throne null and void. Khione is now being crowned today as the new acting Queen of Winter, given she had minor winter abilities previously.”
Elle’s eyes bulged at his words while Hermes patted her back in a comforting manner. “It’s for the be
st,” said her godfather with a simple shrug. “Jack agrees with this rule, given it’s better than Zetes or Calais taking over.”
“That monster is going to be queen?” Elle snarled in a shriek as horrifying flames raged all throughout her body. It caused Hermes to jump back in surprise. She ignored the literal fire starting around her as the sheets on her bed started to burn. Apollo had to assist in vanishing the flames immediately. “We gotta go,” said Elle at once, shaking her head as she gently wobbled when trying to walk.
“What is upsetting you?” asked Apollo. “I’m not fond of Khione, either, but it’s the best solution given Frost cannot rule the kingdom. She is being crowned back at the North Pole as we speak; higher-ranked gods and goddesses are there while Mother Nature is preparing to crown Khione and her sea nymph husband—”
“There is no sea nymph husband! It’s Loki!” Elle howled, positively enraged those two monsters would be made king and queen after trying to murder her. Elle’s skin was sparking so very high with flames she could hear her skin sizzling. She didn’t feel the fire; she solely felt her rage burning bright.
Artemis and Apollo stared at her with confusion as Hermes’ face lit up in understanding. “That explains a lot now…” He trailed off. “Holy Styx, Khione and Loki are working together!” He slapped his forehead. “I didn’t see that coming.” Artemis seemed to click Elle’s words faster than her brothers. Her blue eyes widened as she looked on in fearful understanding.
“Khione is the one who tried to kill me. Khione is the one who killed Boreas. Khione killed Jack’s family, and Khione is the one who killed my dad!” Elle screeched. “She’s been playing us this entire time!”
Apollo and Hermes looked already convinced as their eyes widened with identical horror.
“Wait,” Hermes frowned. “How did the fire start?”
Artemis rolled her lovely eyes. She waved a hand at Elle’s body that was still emitting flames. “Yes, that is the genuine mystery indeed.”
Betrothed To Jack Frost Box Set Page 49