Heart of the Serpent: Hades' Carnival, Book 5 by N.J. Walters Page A

snow and mountains as far as the eye could see. It was breathtakingly beautiful and extremely cold.
    Mordecai had used his powers to transport them here in a blink of an eye. One minute she’d been standing in the middle of her living room, the next she was on a snowy ledge way up high on a mountain. The only sound was the relentless howl of the wind.
    “Nepal.”
    She blinked. “You’re serious.”
    He grinned and it made him look younger, more carefree than he normally did. He pointed off in the distance. “Katmandu is that way.”
    She was really having a hard time wrapping her head around this one, even after everything she’d seen and been through. “Are we on Mount Everest?”
    He nodded. “Although it wasn’t called that when I first came here. It had no name back then.” He placed his hand against the snow-covered rock. “All I knew is that it called to me.”
    This was a special place for Mordecai. The way he spoke about it with such reverence in his voice gave her heart a hitch. He was sharing this special place with her. She slipped her mitten-covered hand into his bare one. He didn’t seem to feel the cold like she did. He was wearing leather pants and boots and a long-sleeved waffle-weave shirt. She was still figuring out what she could and couldn’t do now that she was immortal. Controlling her body temperature wasn’t one of her new talents, at least not yet.
    The wind whipped around them and blew snow into her eyes. She gave a startled shriek as the cold pelted her face and turned her head away from the bitter bite.
    “Let’s get you inside.”
    “Inside?” She scrubbed the snow off her cheeks. “The mountain?”
    He guided her down a narrow pathway and stopped in front of a wall of white.
    “Um, I hate to tell you this, but there’s no doorway there.”
    Mordecai threw back his head and laughed. “I don’t need a doorway.” He waved his hand over the snow and it instantly disappeared, exposing a rock-hewn corridor. “Come.”
    She followed, trusting him implicitly. The cold died away and she was able to remove her mittens and stuff them in her pockets. She lowered the hood of the parka and stamped her feet to remove the snow that clung to her boots.
    As they walked along the corridor, torches sprang to life at regular intervals, lighting their way. It was amazing, like something out of a fantasy book. It was so quiet here. Peaceful.
    “The serpent is a part of me,” he began.
    “I know.” She caught his hand in hers and gave it a squeeze. “I’m rather fond of all of the parts of you.”
    He kept his gaze forward and followed the path when it veered off to the right. “I am the basis for the legend of dragons.”
    “Get out.” She stopped, forcing him to halt or drag her behind him.
    He shrugged. “People thousands of years ago had never seen the likes of me before.”
    “I got news for you, my love. People today have never seen the likes of you either,” she teased.
    One corner of his mouth turned up. “You may be right.” He continued down the path and she followed once again.
    “I needed a place to be by myself. To think. The others loved the camaraderie of the group, but I needed space.”
    “I can understand that.” She thought about it. “I enjoy my friends, but I need solitary time as well.” She paused. “You don’t need to show me this if you don’t want to,” she added gently. “It’s okay if you want to have a special place that’s yours alone.” She understood and respected that.
    He shook his head as another torch sprang to life. So much power and he wielded it without thought or effort. She might be immortal and share his life force, but she had nowhere near the power or skills Mordecai had.
    “I want you to see.” He took a step away from her. “Watch and follow.”
    She wasn’t sure what to expect until his body started to change. His clothing vanished and the air around him shimmered. His head elongated and grew, flattening on the top.