“I probably have frostbite!” I hissed at him. I took in his tailored suit and golden hair, unruffled despite the ocean breeze. He stood in the sand several feet away looking like Adonis come to life. His olive skin glistened in the moonlight, his amber eyes lit with a supernatural intensity. The sand scuffed up his shiny loafers and I felt a small victory in that.
He wasn’t supposed to be here. He wasn’t supposed to be able to find me.
I had done a great job of flying under the radar and remaining undetected. I had banked on my new ability to blend in.
He watched me with a calculating expression. His eyes were narrowed suspiciously, as if I posed some kind of threat to him. I could feel something building between us, something he wanted to say.
But I didn’t want to hear it. I didn’t want to hear what brought him all the way here or what he could possibly want with me.
And I especially didn’t want anything to do with the world he came from. I had made this choice. As hard and lonely as it was, I had found freedom and I would do anything to keep it.
Even if that meant that this future was just as miserable as the one Nix had planned for me.
“That’s the mountain,” he explained.
I jerked back, “Olympus?”
A small smile twisted his lips, “The one and only.”
Pride lit up his expression. It wasn’t just pride though, it was entitlement. Nix looked the same way whenever he mentioned Olympus.
I got that it was their home, but it was more than that. Olympus to them represented so much more than the place they came from. It defined them. It set them apart from the human race and gave them infinite power and endless authority. Olympus made them what they were- soulless, selfish bastards.
“Mortals aren’t supposed to notice it,” he went on. “But then again, you’re not exactly mortal.”
I wasn’t in the mood. “As far as I know, I am. Unless you have something you’d like to share with me? Maybe fill in some very large blanks in my life?”
He shook his head and his awestricken expression turned amused. “Don’t be angry with me. It’s not my place.”
“I’m sure. Don’t shoot the messenger, right?”
He tipped his head back and laughed like it was the first time he’d ever heard that saying. I resisted the urge to splash him with ocean water.
“What do you want, Hermes?” I didn’t have time for this. And I could only imagine that he also didn’t have time for this.
“It’s time to come home.”
That was not at all what I expected. His words shocked my system completely. Everything inside me screeched to a jarring halt and resisted the very idea. “No,” I bit out. “It’s not. He’ll find me the second I step off the plane.”
“Not home to Omaha, Ivy. Home to Olympus.”
Chapter Two
I stared at him, waiting for him to explain. My mind spun with the implications of his words and what he was asking me.
It hadn’t been a request; he had given me a directive… an order. And for some strange reason, I felt compelled to obey.
I ignored that confusing feeling and dug my toes into the sand. I would never go there. I wanted nothing to do with that place or what it represented. Besides!Hello!Nix!
“No.” That was all I gave him. I shouldn’t have to explain myself to him. He knew it was impossible, so I didn’t know why he bothered to ask, or, er, command. He knew I would never willingly put myself back where Nix could find me. Hermes knew how desperately I fought to break free.
He’d even offered to help me escape once.
It was almost laughable that he’d come back after all these months and suggested the idea.
“Ivy, you don’t have a choice.” His tone changed from light-hearted and entertained to deadly and serious. His tawny eyes flashed with the promise of some great power I couldn’t understand because I’d never experienced Hermes with his power. I didn’t have any idea what he was capable of or how it could hurt me.
And the power I did know of made this conversation completely pointless. If he wanted me on Olympus, all he had to do was think the thought and we would be there. He was the messenger god. He could go anywhere, transport anyone anywhere.
