Read Online Kissed by Ice by Shéa MacLeod - Free Book Online Page A

gods, he was tall. Taller even than Jack, and Jack wasn't exactly a shrimp. In the darkness his hair practically glowed, but his eyes were dark unreadable slits. Still, I didn't need to read his eyes to feel the anger and determination rolling off him.
    "Oh, no, my dear boy," Eddie said, thrusting his hands into his pockets and drawing himself up to his full height. All of about five feet. "You couldn't possibly ride along with the girls. They have a job to do, as do you. And yours is here on the ship." He gave Magnussen a stern, almost fatherly glare. Magnussen ignored him.
    "You know very well why I must go with them," Magnussen said. His English had a slightly stilted quality to it. Almost overly proper like many non-native speakers. Except he spoke it with an almost perfect West Coast American accent. Interesting.
    Eddie sighed. "Fine. The Hippocampus can take you too. If you insist."
    "I do."
    "Hippocampus," I muttered to Kabita. "Isn't that part of the brain?"
    She rolled her eyes. "Didn't you study Greek mythology in school?"
    I shrugged. "Sure, but I've been kinda busy since then. Creatures from Greek mythology haven't been exactly high on the priority list."
    "Well, that down there is a Hippocampus," she said, pointing over the railing, "and according to mythology, two of them pull Poseidon's chariot around his underwater kingdom."
    "So Poseidon is real, I guess." He wouldn't be the first god I'd discovered was more than an ancient myth. It still never ceased to amaze me.
    "Yep."
    "Huh." I stared down at the creature waiting for us. The front half was a horse. A very large, very powerful horse. Clydesdale maybe, or something bigger. The back half was something else entirely. It was fish-like in that it had scales and fins, but it was long and sinuous like I'd always imagined a sea serpent would be. It was too dark to make out any color, but its scales shimmered slightly in the lights from the ship. "And we're supposed to ride that thing?"
    "More like let it pull us through the ocean. Like riding a dolphin."
    "I did not sign up for this shit."
    "Ladies," Eddie interrupted. "You really must get going. The Hippocampus needs to take you to shore and return to Poseidon's palace before dawn." He gave a shooing motion as if to hurry us along. How in Hades had I managed to get myself into this?
    Oh, yeah. It was my job.
    "Here," I said, unclasping the Atlantean amulet that always hung around my neck and handing it to Eddie. "Hang on to this for me. Don't want it ending up at the bottom of the ocean."
    "Hmm. Yes. Can you imagine if Poseidon got his hands on it? He's already insufferable enough. Don't worry. I'll take good care of it."
    I clambered up and over the railing until my feet were braced on the deck on the ocean side while my hands gripped the railing behind me. We were on the lowest exposed deck, but it was still way too high if you asked me.
    "Here goes nothing."
    I leapt into space, arching out over the water, and then the water was rushing toward me. I hit hard, plummeting beneath the surface for several yards before I started to slow. I began to kick my way to the surface, but the motion of the giant ship above me churned the water so I tumbled sideways, losing my sense of place. Panic threatened to overwhelm me. I couldn't find my way to the top, and I was running out of air. I flailed uselessly, my lungs burning. And then the weirdest thing happened.
    It was like the ocean currents themselves changed course, pushing me toward the surface. Suddenly I popped up out of the water and dragged in deep lungsful of salty air. I half expected to get hit in the face with waves, but I didn't. It was as if the ocean itself held me up out of the water. I really must be losing it. Lack of oxygen to the brain for sure. How many brain cells had I lost this time?
    Then the Hippocampus appeared beside me, whickering softly and nudging me with his velvety nose. I wrapped one arm around his massive neck, tangling my hand in his