Heartbroken, bitter, and resentful, Evangeline Darrow-Frost finds herself grappling with embracing her identity as a demigoddess descended from fire. As she nurses her wounds in the aftermath from her betrothment to the once malevolent Jack Frost, n...
"My newfound brother said the only place I'll be safe is Fire's Kingdom."
"You are currently safe," said Hermes adamantly, looking wounded. "There are many protection spells over you."
"Then how did Kane find me? If someone who doesn't want to harm me found me, I guarantee immortals who want to harm me can find me as well."
"I suppose it's because the spells aren't as potent when you're not here in the house," confessed Hermes. He suddenly looked troubled.
"And immortals watching over me? Kane said that there's that too."
Hermes eyes widened in surprise. He looked unsure all the sudden. His hands clasped as he rubbed his palms together. "He's very powerful if he was able to detect hidden immortals," he noted. He looked even more troubled than before.
"So he wasn't wrong?"
Hermes raised a skeptical eyebrow, looking much older and wiser than his teenaged features. "Did you think for a moment that no one is watching over you? Don't forget Elle, you're still technically the Queen of winter."
Elle was suddenly furious hearing this. She had been feeling alone and forgotten for months. She cried herself to sleep more times than she could even count let alone admit. Her consistent nightmares were what propelled her into self-defense training. "All this time I assumed everyone abandoned me and in reality, you're just hiding in plain sight?!"
"Jack wants you to have a normal..."
Hermes's sentence trailed off abruptly as Elle's arms burst into flames. The sudden inferno engulfed her sleeves and jacket, the fabric quickly succumbing to the searing heat as it ignited. The acrid scent of burning cloth filled the air as flames danced around Elle, casting flickering shadows across the room.
Elle remained remarkably composed, her expression a mask of determination as she took a deep breath to steady herself. Ignoring the singed and melting remnants of her clothing, she focused her attention on controlling the flames, channeling her inner strength to quell the inferno that raged around her.
It would only be messy to take off her clothes later, just like Elle had proven to herself last time she had tested out her powers by trying to start her entire body on fire. Only this time she had more control and didn't almost accidentally start a forest fire like she did a couple weeks previously. "You've gotten stronger," noted Hermes, eyeing her with a respectful gaze. "Are you remembering our training sessions?"
Elle silently agreed but didn't say anything in response. After her disastrous wedding, she had pleaded with both Hermes and Apollo to train her in combat. Apollo tried to convince her that she wouldn't need any training in the future, but Elle didn't believe him. Unlike him and Hermes, she didn't think that her life of dealing with immortals and monsters was over forever. Elle had a feeling that if she ever wanted to fight Macaria and survive, she would need to train.
While Apollo went along with her request to train just to please her, it was Hermes who put her through rigorous training sessions. Apollo was too lenient and didn't take her training seriously. Elle suspected that his friendly feelings towards her were the reason for his lack of effort. It was only Hermes who made her run sprints and lift weights. He encouraged her to do crunches and pushups and never eased up on her, even when she was exhausted. Hermes made sure that their sparring sessions were challenging. He didn't use his full abilities against Elle but always put up a good fight.
"It would be easier for us to practice if you and Apollo visited more often than once every few weeks," said Elle bitterly. Although Apollo also taught her some combat techniques, he only showed her the advantages. How to get up after being knocked to the ground, how to create distance between yourself and an opponent, and what distance to be when you wanted to offer a counterstrike.
"In our defense, we've been a tad preoccupied," said Hermes mildly. He threw his hands up in a shrug. "You know, utter anarchy, good versus evil, the possibility of the end of the realms as we know it-"
"Fine I get it," said Elle angrily. "I'm just mad, okay? There was no reason for him to leave me."
Her voice nearly broke on her last word. She wasn't at all upset with Hermes. All of her pent-up emotions weren't directed at him or the lack of information given to her. Hermes knew whom she was speaking of for he gave a sad nod. "You and Jack are just not in the cards of fate, Elle."
Elle's head snapped up to glare at her godfather. Her throat suddenly burned with unshed tears as she shot him a nasty look. "Fate doesn't decide anything," she almost sneered. "It's only our actions that define us and our futures."
But Elle knew it was pointless to argue with a god regarding the dictation of fate. When reading books about the myths and origins of different gods and goddesses, they were nearly all strong believers in the three deities known as the fates. Oracles and prophecies also supposedly dictated how ones future would end up. Still, no matter how much time passed, Elle maintained what she always believed when she first found out about the immortal world. There was no such thing as fate-dictating prophecies.
"Say that's true," Hermes allowed, watching her with sad eyes. "Do you really want to keep pining over someone who abandoned you?"
Elle's eyes watered but she did not cry. That was a low blow and they both knew it. Hermes looked ashamed of his words immediately as they came out. He tried recovering only for Elle to put her hand up to stop him. She didn't cry. Elle didn't want her godfather to look at her with stronger pity. Instead, she allowed her hidden fury to take over. "If you can't tell me who Kane is, maybe you should go waste someone else's time."
Her words were as cutting as a knife; slick with more uncaring bitterness that pierced Hermes stronger than Elle cared to do. He looked pained as his curly-blonde head hung in shame. "I'll make it my top priority to discover who he is and why he's contacting you. In the meantime, there's no need to worry Elle. I promise you, you're absolutely safe." By the time Elle went to lock eyes with him he was gone. She wanted to believe him, but Elle knew there was no keeping her safe come nightfall when the nightmares started.
***
A/N It took working on editing/writing the manuscript for the first BTJF for me to realize that no one in my family cares to read my books. Every time I ask a family member to read one, no one has taken me seriously. I'm certain my parents and siblings think I'm a nut job who does nothing in her spare time other than read or write. (Well, they're not wrong...) I always feel like I can only bounce details or story ideas off of my English Bulldog, and typically he doesn't want to listen. My kids are too young to understand what I'm saying, and I'm certain I'd scare my poor husband if I started ranting about the mythical land and characters in my head. Haha
What did you guys like the most about the first book?/What did you hate?/What could be added, what could be torn out?/Any characters you would have wanted added or removed?
If you guys have made it through this painfully long authors note, thank you for reading!
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
