Kissed by Ice(39)

"That's because I wasn't there."

I stumbled, practically tripping down the rest of the stairs. "What do you mean?"

"Inigo has a pretty severe case of PTSD. Post-traumatic stress disorder."

"I know what it is." It came out in a snarl.

"Of course." She nodded graciously. "I'm sorry."

I was the one being an asshole, and she was being nice to me. I took a deep breath. "No, I'm sorry. I'm being a bitch, and I have no right to be. You're doing everything you can to help him. It's not your fault he…we…" I stopped. If I went any further I was going to break down and cry like a baby.

As we reached the bottom of the stairs, she stopped and took my hands in hers. "Morgan, I am so very sorry about all this. It's not your fault. Not at all. But when he looks at you, he remembers what happened and that triggers something in his mind. He starts having flashbacks, horrible nightmares. It's like he's right back there in that moment when that bloody bitch of a queen nearly ripped his heart out of his chest. Can you blame him if he can't look at you right now?"

I couldn't. Even though I wanted to. Even though it felt like it was my heart being ripped out.

"It's going to take time," she assured me. "Just give him time. Right now he's pushing you away, but eventually his mind will heal, and he'll be himself again. Able to love you again."

I gave her a smile and a nod. "Sure," I said. "You're right." But I knew she wasn't. I'd known people with PTSD before. Hunters, cops, soldiers. None of them were ever the same. Look at me. The night I died changed my life forever. People who had once been my closest friends were no longer in my life. It was just the way things were.

With a last glance up the stairs, I bid Tanith goodbye and strode out of the castle without looking behind me. If Inigo needed time, I could give that to him. It was all he would let me give.





Chapter Fifteen



I stood at the ship railing, the ocean spray peppering my face with cold drops of salty water. Above me, the wind whipped black clouds into a frenzy. As waves tossed the ship like a toy boat in a child's bathtub, rain pelted from ever darkening skies.

I knew if this storm didn't stop, the boat would go down with all hands on-board never to be seen again. Men and women screamed as they ran to and fro on the deck, terrified. There weren't enough lifeboats. Not for everyone. If this did not stop, everyone would die.

I turned to the man next to me. Surely he knew a way out of this. But what could he do, a mere human? And such a small one that. He barely came to my shoulder. His fringe of gray hair tossed about wildly in the wind and rain speckled his glasses. He looked so calm, standing there at the rail.

"Edward, you must help us," I cried, grasping for a lifeline amidst the chaos. "We will all drown." Although, what I expected him to do, I could not have said.

He simply smiled at me as though the storm raging around us was is of no consequence. Then he turned back to watch the heaving gray water below us. The howl of the wind grew louder, drowning out the passengers' screams.

"Edward" I tried again. "Please. There must be something." Though what, I did not know. What could any of us do against the mighty power of Nature herself?

"Any moment now," he said. "Patience"

With each passing second, the storm grew increasingly ferocious, and my fear grew with it. What did he plan to do? Why was he waiting? Surely he realized that time was of the essence. I reminded myself there was nothing a mere human could do, so it did not matter.

Suddenly the sea surged into the air in a great plume. Salt water sprayed in all directions, soaking me to the skin. Something emerged from the column of water. An enormous figure loomed over us: a god rising from the ocean. His skin, blue like the sea itself, gleamed wetly in the faint light of the stormy sky. His eyes glowed like the fires of Hell. He was so fierce, I quailed in terror. My legs gave out beneath me and my bowels turned to water. Surely death itself was upon us.

"Poseidon," Edward said, his voice as calm as if we were taking tea on a summer's day. "Fancy meeting you here." There was a droll tone to his voice that belied the danger we were surely in. There was steel there, too, underneath.

All I could do was stare, mouth agape, eyes darting from the massive god to the small man beside me. How could Edward stand against such a one as Poseidon? Wait a moment. Poseidon was real? I could hardly wrap my mind around such a thought. I'd seen so many things in my time, but this this topped them all.

The great god bellowed his displeasure, the heat of his breath blasting the ship. The screams of the people around us increased in volume, drowning out even the raging of the sea and the howling of the wind. Their terror was palpable. Not that I blamed them. The hair on the back of my neck was standing straight on end. And yet Edward appeared completely unaffected.