Chapter Twelve
Thalia
Sunlight warmed every inch of exposed skin despite the crisp wind nipping at her nose and cheeks.
Sweat clung to Thalia’s back, absorbing into the fur-lined leathers she wore now that the winter’s chill covered the isle.
A similarly lined band covered her ears from the harsh climate, while thin gloves protected her hands from going stiff.
With each stomp of her boots, metal spikes she’d attached to the bottom of her soles cut and gripped the ice and snow so she didn’t slip on the treacherous surface.
Pumping her arms harder, Thalia took off into a sprint, winding her way through the pine trees, launching over fallen logs and broken roots.
The bite of the air caused a glassy sheen to her eyes and a burn in her lungs, but the pain that came with running was better than any she felt recently from those dying crossing over.
Onyx fur caught her eye up ahead, bounding just out of reach on a parallel trail to her right, the creature’s large paws allowing it to push just a little faster than she was able to go.
The trees thickened as she chased the animal further into the woods, unable to reach it.
A preternatural urge to pull her bow and an arrow out of her quiver overwhelmed Thalia and she had to keep reminding herself the goal was not to shoot the majestic beast down, merely catch it, trap it, beat it.
Every step made her muscles tense, becoming weaker by the moment, but she pushed through the agony.
This kind of pain was fleeting, something that could be healed with a steaming cup of tea and a bath filled with healing salts.
It was necessary if she was going to be strong enough to fight the soldiers Hades would bring with him now that he had returned.
Necessary if she was determined not to fall at the hands of the kind of daimon that had almost killed her in Aidesian.
It would only be a few more steps. The wolf ahead of her had begun to slow, whether it was easing up because it was tired of the chase or had depleted its energy attempting to evade her these last moments didn’t matter.
Thalia was close. She pushed harder, exerting every last bit of determination she had in her soul, because it was no longer power or strength she used.
No—what drove her now was sheer will. One, two, one, two.
Her feet pounded into the earth sending ice and snow flying in their wake.
One, two, one, two, draw. Without thought she drew an arrow, planting her feet firmly and drawing back the string of her bow.
Onyx fur blurred, disappearing into similarly colored leathers, but those beastly silver eyes remained, staring back at her.
“Were you actually considering firing that bow?” A shifted Dimitris now stood in the middle of her trail, hands on his thighs, bent over and panting.
“I was tired of chasing you. We’ve been running for miles. Don’t worry, I was only planning to pin you to the ground—nothing fatal.” Thalia slid her bow and arrow back into her quiver.
The prince shot her a glare as he stormed over to her that simultaneously caused her to recoil and heat in all the wrong places.
Thrusting her back against the trunk of a tree, Dimitris pinned his arm across her throat.
“You may be an exceptional hunter, but I assure you, you would not meet your mark.”
Her lip twitched up in a smirk. “I wouldn’t underestimate me, fengaráki, I have never missed. You’d be on your knees begging to be released.”
She swallowed down a lump in her throat as he leaned in closer, those silver, sparkling orbs entrancing her.
It was that same flicker she’d seen as he’d planted a kiss on her hand the night before, and it was world-shattering.
“I’d gladly drop to my knees before you, gatáki, but it would be you who’d beg for a release. ”
Pushing her hand against the prince’s chest, Thalia swatted him away. “You are despicable,” she said, but her voice was lighter than intended.
Dimitris crossed his arms in front of his chest, spinning so he was now the one against the trunk of the tree. That undeniable gaze was now paired with a wicked twitch on his lips. “That’s not what you said on our journey here.”
Spinning away from him, it took every last bit of will to not picture his lips on her neck once more, or his hands traveling her body with the most ungodsly intentions.
Every hair on Thalia’s body stood on edge and a chill went up her spine, but she would not turn to face Dimitris.
She would not give him the satisfaction that came with the way her chest heaved, or her skin reddened with desire.
“It was a brief lapse in judgment…very out of character for me. Don’t expect it to happen again. ”
“Whatever you say, gatáki.” He was right behind her once more, so close that his heated breath intertwined with the pieces of her hair that had fallen out of her braid, but not close enough that she could feel him against her.
Thalia wanted desperately to have his hard body pressed against hers, taking away that buzzing headache that always lingered.
“We should return to the castle. I am sure Dafne is wondering where I am.” Thalia began to walk back toward the trail they had taken through the forest.
“Your sister has proven that she can handle herself and if anything were to happen in the few hours we are gone, Cal is there to protect her.” Dimitris padded up next to her before slowing to match her stride.
“All my sister has proven is that she is impulsive. It is what got her taken by the Lernaen Legion to begin with and it is what will be her downfall. I am grateful, as I said last night, that you will train her, but I am not sure that will be enough to prepare her for what is to come.”
Dimitris did not respond—something Thalia had never seen from the prince before. He was not one to bite his tongue, but rather the man who would always have a comeback. Perhaps he knew she was right. Perhaps none of them were prepared for what was to come.
A large gust of wind poured through the trees, whipping up the top layer of snow in a spiral around their legs.
In their brief break, the sweat had dried on Thalia’s skin, and although they were moving, walking and running were very different in these temperatures.
Her hands began to shake first, her teeth chattering following shortly after.
There was no way Thalia could run again, not after pushing herself to her limits.
Why had she let them go so deep into the woods?
Warmth came out of nowhere, enveloping her and seeping through her skin to her rattling bones. A thick fur-lined cloak now hung from her shoulders, the outside of which was waxed to further keep out the winter’s chill.
“Where…” Gods, Thalia wasn’t even sure how to ask the question. She had brought no cloak with her and Dimitris certainly had not been carrying a pack or the extra piece of clothing. “How?”
Dimitris chuckled. “One of my many wolfish perks.”
“Wolfish perks include conjuring cloaks out of thin air?” Thalia asked, her brows wrinkling together.
“In essence, yes. It is the same magic that allows me to be clothed when I shift.” He said it so matter-of-factly, as if it was common knowledge that shifters could just create material from nothing.
“That’s ridiculous,” Thalia huffed out in a breath.
“Of all the things you have seen in that world, magic that allows me to conjure clothes is what you consider ridiculous?” he replied.
“Yes.” Thalia stopped momentarily. “But for whatever tricks you used to get the cloak here, thank you.”
It was increasingly more bearable to walk with the cloak protecting her body from the elements.
Once again, the prince had surpassed her expectations.
For two years, all she had learned of the male was that he was selfish, reckless with his own life and any who came close to him.
Dimitris had proven again and again the past few weeks that he was so much more.
Loyalty only got you so far, only made you be so kind to a person.
This was more than that—the way he acted toward her, toward Dafne and Cal, was borderline compassion, a familial sort of love she’d only experienced with a few people over her lifetime.
It was terrifying.
Dimitris dragged his hand through his hair, slicking back pieces that had fallen in his eyes as they walked. “You surprised me the other day.”
Of course he would ruin a perfectly good moment where she wasn’t reminded he was a lustful fool. “Because I let you touch me?”
His brows raised high. “No, that wasn’t a surprise at all. I meant on the ship, the way you fought and still had the strength, the determination to take over at the helm, hold the Aphrodite steady as she battled the last of the storm. It was admirable and quite frankly a beautiful sight to behold.”
Thalia tilted her chin up toward him, trying to hide the shock that was so clearly written all over her wide-eyed expression. “I did what was necessary, that was all,” she whispered.
“Your parents would be proud of you, Thalia, if they could see you now,” Dimitris said, reaching for her hand, but she pulled it away and continued to walk toward their destination.
She never should have mentioned them last night, not to him. Her heart clenched, all the blood racing away from it, any air she had in her lungs seeping out. Thalia couldn’t bring herself to tell him that her parents would despise all she had become.
The library at the castle was smaller than most, made up of an assortment of hand-copied journals of the men and women that had lived in Skiatha over the centuries.
They depicted life on the isle, trade routes, logs of ships that made port on the northern docks.
Only a small section, warded from shifts in temperature and moisture behind glass, would be useful to them now.