Page 11 of Taming Winter

My job was to snuff out an already weakened light. There was no sport or skill necessary, and that above all else felt wrong. It went against whatever little piece of morality I had left, but Hades was right. These people were suffering. The least I could do was make it painless for them, and hope Hades was more forgiving of their sins than she was to mine.

I laid my hand on his forehead. It wasn't something I had done before this trip, but somehow the power came to me as naturally as breathing. I found his resting mind within his skull and spread my frost through the meat that made this man who he was. It was immediate and painless; his brain was gone before it had time to process what was happening.

The other patient shifted and groaned. When I straightened, there was a pair of brown eyes gazing back at me. I should end him too, but he hadn't reacted to my presence, and I wasn't killing more innocents than was required of me.

I raised my finger to my lips. "Shhh."

He nodded, the movement sluggish. He surprised me with a soft whisper that filled the chilled space between us. "Thank you."

CHAPTER 12

WOLFE

Everything hurt. I stank of sweat, sewage, and blood, and I looked even worse. The only thing forcing my feet onward was the incessant, painful tug of my soul begging to return to its master. Otherwise, I would've keeled over and fallen into the River Styx.

I plodded through the Castle of Hades, leaving a trail of dirt in my wake. I needed a shower, but the closer I came to my immortal, the more my soul ached from the distance. It was late in the evening now, and my invisible leash was pulling me to her bedroom. Good, maybe at least I could use the bathing chambers once I kissed the ring and licked Hades’s boots like the obedient dog I was. Fuck my afterlife.

Without pause, I shoved my way into her bedroom and prepared for whatever verbal spar awaited me, until the sight within made me freeze. Hades stood in that same ridiculous silk slip, but she wasn't alone. Hermes was inches from her, his hand on the small of her back.

The slew of emotions that overcame me nearly caused me to choke. Rage boiled over my already full cup, and I was across the space separating us in an instant. My hand moved of its own accord, grabbing his wrist and throwing it off her.

"Keep your grimy fucking hands to yourself!" I snarled, stepping into the narrow space between them.

A chuckle rolled from his barrel chest, and his dove-like wings puffed at his sides. He brushed away the flakes of ice coating him. The frostbite turning his wrist a shade of sickly purple dissipated. I glared up at Hermes’s smug fucking face. He looked just as self-absorbed as I had imagined from his interviews and commercials. He sized me up with a dismissive glance.

"This is your new little assassin?" he asked. His voice was a smooth rumble made for television. I grimaced at the nickname and leveled the cockatoo with a glare.

"Yes indeed." Hades sidestepped my barricade, her burning emerald gaze fixed on me. Scorn furrowed her brow and tightened her lips. "Though his possessiveness is new."

"He just wants to be the only one jumping your bones, darling."

I snarled. Frost spread from my palms over the floor and furniture, leaving an icy sheet of lace that glimmered purple in the low light. Hades let out a scoff and dissipated the manifestation of my anger with a flick of her hand, leaving rivulets of water to trickle down the walls.

"You both wish you could experience such ecstasy, but my vibrator has proved to be the only dick worth my time,” she snapped.

Dark incredulity stained the void in my chest. After everything we've been through, I'm the only one who's earned the right to touch her. The instant the traitorous thought crossed my mind, I recoiled. I stepped away from the immortals, my breath coming out in short pants.

The only explanation could be that I was exhausted from the journey. My soul's attachment to the goddess had manifested into something ugly and obsessive. A long shower and a moment to get my shit together was all I needed. Certainly, that was it.

"How was your little errand?" Hades’s question tore me from the trenches of my thoughts.

"Exhausting," I responded. "Sorry for interrupting. I’ll let you return to whatever you're doing, just let me bathe."

"No need. Hermes was about to leave." Hades said with a dismissive wave of her hand.

"Unless you want to spend more time together," he growled teasingly. Hades rolled her eyes, and I had to refrain from putting a bullet through his shiny suit. The immortal was grating, and I wanted to rip out his fucking throat.

"You and I are taking a trip tomorrow, handsome," Hades said. "Zeus has summoned us to the capitol."

My stomach dropped. Zeus calling us was not a good sign, and I had no interest in walking into a trap. Besides, I was already exhausted from my multi-day jaunt across Olympiara. "Why?"

She tossed a glance at the immortal beside her, an evil smirk twisting her lips. "Zeus is not happy about our efforts in the hospitals."

I stiffened, my mind a turbulent pond frosting over to reveal something evil within. This had been her plan all along. Zeus had slighted her and dragged her name through the dirt, and she lashed out by usurping his plan. Me and the near-hundred innocents I had murdered over the past several days had just been pawns in her game.

Desolation crept over my skin. These immortals titled themselves gods and made us their toys, and there was nothing we could do about it. That hopelessness morphed into an unsettling rage that boiled away at my insides until there was nothing but a deep, resounding numbness.

I didn't want to think about it because my circumstances would consume me. All that was left for me was a dull stubbornness that willed me onward like the wraith I was, purposeless but determined to endure nonetheless.