it was still miserably cold, and the entire day was shot through with the blood red of the morning sky.
Though the wind was calm enough that we could have spoken, we did not. Shadows of last night echoed between us, tightening the air.
Once again, I was faced with a long day of trying not to touch him too much, and the very idea exhausted me.
The air grew thinner as we ascended, Horse keeping up the same swift pace as he dodged around boulders and leapt over cracks in the earth.
“Is this Mount Olympus?” I finally asked.
“Hardly.”
“Don’t make it sound like it was a stupid question. It’s a bloody big mountain, and you’re Hades, for fates’ sake.”
He stayed silent, and I decided that it constituted a groveling apology on his part.
Not that I’d ever get an apology out of him for anything.
I shook the thought away and focused on the terrain ahead of us, squinting upward to see if we were finally reaching the plateau. The journey felt endless and cold. My arse was numb and my mind foggy.
Hours and hours passed, so long that I thought I might die there.
When the air changed, I almost didn’t notice it. But somehow, it grew even colder. Fast. Magic vibrated, making fear shoot through me. It pulsed against us, threatening and dark. It felt like tiny needles floated in the air, pricking me whenever they got close.
I shrank against Hades, unconsciously pressing closer. He wrapped an arm around my waist.
I gasped, stiffening.
“Relax.” His voice murmured low against my ear, and a shiver raced over my skin. “It’s just for safety. The ride is about to get—”
As if the earth had heard his words, it cut him off with a great rumbling roar. The sound tore through the ground beneath us as the rock began to split.
Horse whinnied and leapt forward, racing up the mountain. Massive boulders rolled down the hill around us, and Hades let go of Horse’s reins. The animal knew where to go, so it plunged onward.
Hades held me tight, and I felt his powerful thighs tense behind me as he gripped Horse’s body, keeping us on the mount. He raised his free hand, gloved so ominously in black leather, and reached out toward the boulders.
Power surged on the air, the sound of crashing waves breaking through the day. The scent of firelight filled my senses as he used his magic to grasp the boulders and fling them out of our way.
The burst of magic slammed into my chest with enough force to drive the air from my lungs. I gasped, clinging to Hades and Horse as the beast plowed its way up the mountain.
The earth split open in front of us, Horse leaping over the chasm at the last minute, barely making it to safety. Three massive boulders—small mountains in themselves—crashed down the slope toward us.
Hades tensed behind me, his magic surging so strongly that I could feel it vibrating through my chest. My heart leapt into my throat as I watched the giant rocks tumbling toward us.
So close. So close.
At the last minute, he jerked his hand to the right and the boulders flew away. We plowed upward, gaining speed and distance with every second. Hades kept the boulders at bay while Horse leapt over the great cracks in the earth.
Finally—finally—the earth stopped fighting us. The boulders ceased coming, and the ground stopped cracking. Panting, I collapsed over Horse’s neck, weak from adrenaline.
Hades gripped me tight around the waist, keeping me close to him. Keeping me from falling off.
“We’re nearly there.” His voice was rougher than normal. Exhausted.
Finally, we reached the top of the plateau. The light was beginning to fade from the day, a brighter orange than I’d ever seen before. Morning and night seemed to be the only time that the sky was anything other than gray or black. It cast a terrifying, flame-like light on the massive circle of columns that sat atop the plateau.
“What is this place?” Awed, I studied the ring of columns.
There were at least twenty of them, traditional Greek in style but not in scale. They were hundreds of feet tall, like the great Redwoods. Far larger than anything at the Parthenon. A huge domed roof spanned the center of the circle, brilliant white against the red sky.
“The Temple of Shadows. The most powerful place in my realm.”
I shivered, craning my neck to stare up in awe. Horse stopped about fifty feet from the temple structure, and Hades dismounted, pulling me down