Dead Man's Hand by Kristen Painter

Author:Kristen Painter
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kristen Painter
Published: 2014-09-30T00:00:00+00:00

Pain radiated through Seraphina’s body, but thank Olympus, nothing felt broken. She shivered. The air coming up from the shaft was cold, and she worried she might be going into a little bit of shock. She reached around and gingerly touched the back of her head. The knot there was the size of an egg and throbbed so badly she could feel it in her teeth. Something wet trickled past her temple and into her hairline. She dabbed at it, her fingers coming away sticky. The odor of blood was unmistakable.

“Ares,” she whispered. “Hurry up.” Truth was, lying there in the dark, knowing she was trapped on a slim ledge of rock, she felt her fear starting to get the best of her. He was coming back. She kept telling herself that. She wiped her fingers off on her shirt before clutching the star around her neck. She held on to it like a talisman.

Pebbles pinged against the side of the shaft, and dust drifted over her. “Seraphina?”

Ares’s voice. She smiled in the darkness. “Still here. You take care of Dahlia?”

“I sent her home with Minka.”

There were more sounds she couldn’t identify. “What are you doing?”

“Taking my coat and gloves off.”

“Why?”

“Because they’ll get in the way.”

“Of what?” Would a little more explanation hurt?

“Of me climbing down there to get you.”

“Oh. Isn’t it kind of a long way down? Don’t you think you should get some help? Fire and rescue or something like that?”

“I’d guess you’re about thirty feet down. No, I don’t need help.” More pebbles falling. “I’m going to descend a few feet away from where you are so more rocks don’t fall onto you.”

“Thanks.” She lay there, listening to him descend and wondering how he was going to get her out of there without having any direct physical contact with her, especially with no gloves. Maybe he hadn’t thought that far ahead. Regardless, she appreciated his urgency.

“Seraphina.”

A hand was shaking her shoulder. Ares. She opened her eyes. There was a soft glow in the air. “Mmm…I must have fallen asleep.”

“No, no. Don’t do that again.” He leaned in, concern visible in his eyes even in the dim light. “You’ve got a pretty good gash over one eye.”

“How come I can see you?”

He glanced down at his shirt. A streak of soft light marred the black silk.

She wrinkled her nose. “Is that goblin goo?”

“Yes.”

“You did that for me?”

“I thought it would be easier if you could see a little.”

A part of her fell hard for him. “You ruined a perfectly good shirt.”

One of his brows cocked up. “Are you saying I shouldn’t have?”

She smiled despite the ache in her head. “No.”

“Do you think you can hang on to me? I can’t climb one-handed.”

“I think so.”

“I need you to.” He shifted to look over the ledge. “It’s a long way down. You might be a demigoddess, but I’m not sure you’d survive that.”

She struggled to sit up. A quick wave of dizziness came and went, but she got herself upright. “What do you want me to do?”

He pulled his gloves out from somewhere and held them out to her.

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