Exile in the Water Kingdom (The Elemental Phases Book 3) (30 page)

“I
don’t want to talk about it, anymore.”  Ty interrupted, giving her head a
clearing shake.

“It’ll
only get better if you share with someone, though, angel.”

“It’s
over and I don’t want talk about it.”  Ty repeated.  She’d done the same thing
when he asked about Parald trying to rape her.  Just completely shut down.

Gion
couldn’t push.  He had to coax and that would take time.

Ty
watched him stubbornly.

He
let out a frustrated breath.  “Alright.”  Gion went back to his security
plans.  “Well, in other news, I replaced that door I accidently broke with
Cross’ thick head.”

“Does
it match the others?”  She seized on the subject change.

“Others
what?”

“The
other French doors in the living room.”

“No,
but they’re all getting switched out, too.  The new doors are composite, three
inches thick.  There’s no way any Elemental can get passed them.”

Ty’s
eyebrows climbed.  “Can you see through them?  Are they French doors?”

“No. 
I think they’re black.”  Or grey.  Gion didn’t care about the color, so he
couldn’t really remember.

“We’re
not putting big, black doors in my living room!  How will the sun get in?”

“That’s
the least of my worries.  They’ll keep Chason
out
.  That’s what’s
important.”

“
No
,
Gion.  Lord.”  Ty’s cheek came over to rest on his shoulder as she chuckled. 
“To think, I was hoping this security job would keep you
out of
trouble.” 
She jerked back as if she suddenly realized what she’d done.  “I’m sorry.  Do
you mind if I put my head on you?”

“No.” 
Gion tugged even closer to him.

Smiling,
she settled against him, again.

All
These Things That I’ve Done
played from Nia’s
stereo.  Gion preferred classical music, but this song he almost liked.  He
rubbed his jaw against the top of Ty’s hair, quiet for a long moment.  He never
thought he could have this with her.

Since
he discovered the energy connection, Gion had fostered the hope that he could
make her want him.  But, this was a whole different kind of intimacy.

How
could she
ever
think that he wouldn’t want her touching him?

Ty
liked the security of actually hearing everything out loud.   She wanted
assurances that she was making the right moves and that their relationship was
reciprocal.  Which meant that Gion had to be more open with her about his
feelings.

A
basketball with a low IQ would have noticed by now that Gion was insanely in love
with her, but Ty apparently needed more than that.  Maybe she’d feel more
secure if he explained that this connection went so much deeper than his desire
for her.  Sex was only a part of his yearning for Ty.

Just
the fact that she’d come looking for him on the patio was Ty reaching out.

Now,
Gion had to do the same.

“Ty?”

“Umm?”

“You
make me feel peaceful.”  He inhaled the strawberry scent of her hair.  “Even
when you’re a pain-in-the-ass.”

Ty
turned her face to look up at him.  “Really?”

“It’s
not just about me wanting to take you right here on this table.  Which I do. 
It’s about me just wanting to be near you.  Being with you makes me happy. 
Everything about you makes me happy.”

It
went beyond happiness, really, to joy.  She made Gion whole.  For eleven years,
Ty gave Gion a sense of purpose and contentment.  Before Ty, he’d been alone. 
Even when she’d been completely beyond his reach, Ty remained the tranquil,
clean place in his mind.  At moments when he was tired and lost, Gion thought
of Ty and he kept going.

She
looked so impossibly beautiful when she smiled.  Innocence and mischief and
pleasure.  “I like being with you, too.”

“Good.” 
Outstanding
, actually.  That was his whole mission in life.  But, Gion
was trying to keep this simple and clear, so there’d be no misunderstandings. 
“Don’t
ever
be worried that I don’t want you near me.  You
always
have consent to touch me, understand?”

“Yeah,
but…”

“Always,
Ty.  And I’ll
always
be glad to see you.”  He continued firmly.  “When
you come looking for me, I
want
to be found.  No matter what I’m doing,
I’d rather be doing it with you.”  He hesitated.  “Except fighting.  Especially
with swords.  If I’m doing that with someone, stay back.  And, well, Tharsis
tells me that it’s my night to cook dinner.  That will be mortifying, so I’d
rather you not see it.”

Ty
gazed at him for a beat.  Then, she leaned up to kiss him, her mouth gliding
against his like a gentle rain.

Gion
groaned at the taste of her and resisted the urge to take the kiss to another
level.  Whenever Ty initiated things, Gion’s Air energy went particularly nuts. 
She wanted him.  He reveled in that.  And this was the first time she’d ever
kissed him in public, where people might see.  Ty wasn’t trying to hide their
connection.  That sent heat rushing through Gion like a cyclone.

“Ty.” 
He whispered, when she pulled back.

“Yes?”

He
fingered her vibrant hair, at ease for the first time in his life.  With Ty
sitting here next to him, Gion could finally relax.  “Nothing.  I just wanted
to say your name.”

Something
warm lit her face.  “You are such a romantic man.  I love that about you.”

No
one, in the entire known and unknown universes combined, had ever claimed such
an insane thing about Gion, of the Air House.  It was so completely
out-of-the-blue bizarre that he just gaped at her for a second.  “Romantic?”

Ty
bobbed her head.  “You say such gorgeous things to me.  You’re not just a
musician, you’re also a poet.”  She beamed like she really believed that.

For
Ty, Gion wished that he actually could be those things.  He wished he was the
good man that she longed for.  “Angel,” he said, sadly, “I’m not really like
that.  I’m sorry.  It’s too late for me.”

She
looked right into his eyes and Gion realized that Ty
saw
him.

His
pulse started pounding in panic.  He’d always dreamed that she’d actually
see
,
but now it terrified him.  What if she didn’t like what she saw?  How
could
she like what she saw?  What if she’d only accept some romantic, musician guy? 
What the hell would Gion do, then?

Besides
kill that poetical bastard.

Gion
automatically tried to look away from the crystal clear purity of her eyes.

Ty’s
hand came up to touch his jaw, keeping his gaze locked on hers.  “What do
you
think you’re like, Gion?”  She asked gently.

“A
murderer.”  The word was out before he could censor it.

“You
are
not
a murderer.”  Her tone was unequivocal.

“I
kill people.”

“That
doesn’t make you a murderer.”

“Of
course, it does.”  Jesus, did she want to discuss semantics?  “Do you have any
idea how many bodies I’ve left in my wake?  You haven’t seen what I’ve done.” 
The one good part of
not
being Ty’s Match was there would never be a
memory exchange.  She’d never look into his past and witness his sins
firsthand.

“You’ve
killed men to protect me, Gion.  Reprisal soldiers.  I’ve seen that.”

“They
deserved it, though.”  Anyone who touched Ty deserved an even worse death than
Gion gave them.  He didn’t regret killing them, at all.  “Too many people
didn’t
deserve what I did to them.”  Addom, eternally nine years old and standing
on that playground, flashed into his mind.  The kid’s body falling to the dirt.

Gion
cringed.

Ty
made a soft sound.  “You can’t keep punishing yourself for mistakes you’ve
made.  I don’t see you as a killer.  I never will.  I see something
better
in you.  I see who you really
are
, not what you did.  Can’t you try and
see that, too?”

Gion
would do anything for her, but he had no idea how to do that.  “The ‘better’
that you see in me is all
you
.  It’s the feelings that
you
create
inside me.”

“No,
they’re
your
feelings, Gion.  They
come
from inside of you.”  She
laid a palm flat on his chest.  “There’s a sweet, romantic part of you that you
share with me and no one else.  Not even yourself.”

Gion
would have kept trying to get her to see reason, but Tharsis came wondering out
interrupting them.

“Guy,
dude, I’m starving.  Shouldn’t you be slaving over a hot stove?”

Gion
flashed him a glare, jolting out of the spell that Ty had been casting around
him.  “Go away.”

Nia
was playing
9 to 5
, now.  First disco and now Dolly Parton.  Ty must
have told Nia about Gion’s musical aversions.  The Shadow Queen was not a
subtle woman.

Thar
ignored Gion’s less than enthusiastic welcome.  He hoisted himself onto the
railing around the patio.  “So, what are we doing that can’t wait until
after
dinner?”

“Gion
and I are arguing.”  Ty cheerfully announced.  “He’s being stubborn.  He’ll see
that I’m right, though.”

 Gion
made an “umm” sound.  “Tharsis, before you get distracted by anything shiny, I
need to review all the amnesty requests from the Air House.”

“I’m
doing the reviews.”

“I’ll
do them better.”

Tharsis
arched a brow.

“Thar
always does a good job with researching things like that.”  Ty volunteered
loyally.  “He was the top professor at the university before the Fall.  He
understands people.”

There
was an insult in there someplace.  “And I don’t?”

“Truthfully?” 
Ty scrunched up her face.  “No.  You’ll just deny everybody who asks for
amnesty and not even
try
to understand them.”

Gion’s
eyes narrowed.  She actually had a point with that.  He didn’t want anyone else
coming into his new home.  It wasn’t safe.  What if Parald sent some Air Phase
spies to the Water Kingdom and they tried to steal Ty?  Gion didn’t see a
single upside to inviting more people here.  “Giving amnesty is an unnecessary
risk.”

“Tell
me about it.”  Tharsis deadpanned.  “But, I’ll be ruthlessly discriminating
with visas.  Not to worry, Guy.  Air Phases will be sobbing and hating me
forever for heartlessly excluding their tired, poor, yearning to breathe free
asses.  And my
real
goal is to break up some families.”

“Air
Phases don’t have families.  At least not the way you understand the concept.” 
Gion saw that Tharsis wasn’t going to hand over the vetting job to him,
though.  Not when Ty was backing the idea that Gion lacked empathy or
compassion or whatever. 
Pick your battles
.  “Before you start giving
anyone amnesty, at least let me see the final list of names, then.”  He’d still
make sure no one even slightly objectionable got into the Water Kingdom.  He’d
just veto them at the end of the process.

Tharsis
snorted.

Ty
was a lot more encouraging.  “That seems fair.  See, Gion?  You can compromise
with me and we’re
both
happy.”

Gion
wasn’t impressed with that subtle segue.  “I’m not compromising about those
buildings, Tritone.  They all need to come down.”

She
pouted, which was astonishingly adorable.  “Gion wants to rip out all the
historic buildings in the square, Thar.  He has it all planned out.  That
should make
you
happy.”

“Seriously?” 
Tharsis glanced at the map.  “Great!  If you get rid of those God-awful ugly
houses for me, you’re gonna be my favorite Water Phase in town.”

Finally,
a voice of reason.

Gion
forgot about his urge to send Tharsis right of the edge of the porch with one
strong gust of Air and wound up nodding at the asshole.  “Exactly.  Notice how
they block the line of sight.”  Gion sent Ty a pointed look.  “You see? 
He
understands that I’m right.”

“We’re
not
getting rid of those buildings.”  She reiterated.

“What
about just the big ones?”  Gion tried.

“No!”

Gion
sighed.

“Aaannnnd...
He’s already whipped.”  Tharsis rolled his eyes.  “I can’t believe you have so
little influence on the ladies, Guy.  Seriously.  It’s sad.”

Gion
had the bizarre realization that Tharsis was… joking with him.  He didn’t know
exactly what to say, so he looked over at Ty.

She
came to his rescue.  “Come on.”  Ty got to her feet and grabbed hold of his
hand.  “I’m done debating with you on an empty stomach.  Let’s go.”

Gion
willingly got to his feet, ready to follow Ty anyplace.  Especially, if it was
away from Tharsis.  “Where?”

“To
the kitchen.  Everyone’s hungry.  You said that you have no idea how to cook,
so I’ll help you.”