Exile in the Water Kingdom (The Elemental Phases Book 3) (55 page)

Kingu
never allowed anyone past his front door.  Well, actually it was less of a
“door” and more of a fifteen foot high portcullis.  Just because he could,
Kingu had added a suburban, flowered welcome mat at the foot of it.  Not even
the Phases were dumb enough to take him at his word. 

He
snapped his fingers as he crossed the drawbridge, removing the supernatural
locks he’d put in place to keep out any guests, and…

The
“wham!” of energy took him by surprise.  Kingu had thought he was incapable of
feeling surprise, but he’d been wrong.  He was completely shocked when someone
jumped into the Cloudland, almost on top of him.  He felt them slam into his
side, knocking his gigantic body off-balance through some kind of bizarre luck
or incredible plan.

“Oh
dear!”  He heard distinctly and then Kingu was tumbling into space.  One second
he was stalking across the cauldron-y moat of boiling yellow-green acid… The
next he was falling
into
the cauldron-y moat of boiling yellow-green
acid.  He hit it with a splash that sent the caustic liquid a dozen feet in the
air.

From
somewhere close by, he heard people start bellowing that they were under
attack.  The Banished Phases lived in constant fear of Job or the Council
sweeping and killing them all.  If only Kingu would get so lucky… Gods, even
with his ears filled with acid, he could hear their panicked shrieking.

Imbeciles.

Kingu
surfaced, feeling more than a little pissed off at himself for getting caught
unaware, and at the Phases for being Phases, and –most of all-- at the soon to
be deceased creature who’d knocked him into the bubbling moat to begin with. 
Acid itself didn’t affect him, but now he was all wet and he’d
liked
this gods damned suit.

“
Fuck.
” 
He wiped a hand over his face, dispelling the liquid with an impatient shake of
his palm.  Someone was about to die.

“Oh
wow.  I am
so
sorry.”

Kingu
focused on the female voice and felt himself still.

He’d
been pushed into roiling acid by a cartoon character.

Kingu
knew for a fact that there were no aliens in this galaxy, but the woman was
like something from another planet.  Vibrantly colorful, she blinked down at
him with an innocent face and a rounded, rosy shape that no Phase was capable
of possessing.

What
the hell…?

His
astounded gazed scanned her.  All the Elementals were scrawny.  It was one of
the more depressing facts about life among them.  This girl’s shape was…
better, though.  Much, much better.  Kingu came of age in a time when women
aspired to be more than runway waifs.  When the gods and monsters of the world
cared about maintaining strength and creating life with their bodies.

The
curves of this female were so much closer to his ideal than any of the stick
figures Zakkery had selected for him.  An unfamiliar sensation of lust pooled
in his lower body as he stared up at her.

He
had to be losing his mind. 
Had
to be.

This
woman was probably some incompetent assassin sent to kill him.  Plus, she was
blonde and he couldn’t stand blondes.  That should trump everything.  To
counteract the crazed thoughts, he tried to concentrate on her clothing, which
was… distracting.  She was dressed a bizarre mishmash of patterns and colors
that made his eyes cross.  A tie-dyed sweater over a leopard print skirt. 
Rainbow striped tights and gold sequined tennis shoes, all of it topped off
with a plastic polka dot headband.

She
was so… chaotic.

And
still he couldn’t look away from her.

A
pair of heart-shaped rhinestone sunglasses covered her eyes, but he could feel
her staring at him.  Processing what he was.  She crouched down onto the
surface of the drawbridge as if in a trace.  Her perfect lips parted as she
studied the cruel, inhuman lines of his face.

Kingu
waited for her to cringe.  To scream and run.

To
back away from him.

Instead,
she held out a hand as if she thought she could help him up.  “Are you okay?” 
She asked softly.

Kingu
blinked.  That was the only response he could muster.  No one had ever,
ever
,
spontaneously tried to help him before.  It was… amazing.  A part of him wanted
to grab her outstretched palm in dazed wonder, but he quickly suppressed that
illogical thought with a swell outrage.  Did she really think someone like
him
needed assistance from someone like
her?
 That he was some object of
pity?  He was a god and she was a… whatever she was.  Certainly
not
a
god.  He didn’t feel any coming power from her, at all.

What
was a woman so…  Blind?  Naive?  Stupid?... doing trespassing this shithole
kingdom, anyway?  Where had she come from?  She looked like she belonged in the
damn kitty cat and bubblegum store.  And why wasn’t she running away from him? 
He
had
to scare her.  He scared everyone.  How could
this
irrational
creature
be immune?  Seriously, what the hell
was
she?  An
Elemental or… Kingu’s eyes widened.

Dear
gods, was she
human?

If
any creatures were even less important than the Phases, it was the humans. 
They were the algae in the food chain.  Powerless, plentiful, and undoubtedly
slimy, they fed along the bottom, too stupid to even notice they weren’t alone
in the pool.

She
didn’t have the telltale streak at her temple, marking her as a Phase, so human
seemed like the next safest bet.  But she had jumped into the Cloudland and
humans couldn’t usually do that.  And what would a human be doing in this
realm, especially by herself?  Where had her protectors gone?  This woman was
used to having someone look after her.  He could see it every smooth, pampered
inch of her skin.

“Yoo-hoo.” 
She waggled her fingers at Kingu, apparently stumped as to why he was regarding
her incredulously and not grasping hold of her hand.

A
charm bracelet jingled on her wrist.  Made of silver, it was weighed down with
dangling Ferris wheels, enameled butterflies, and assorted fanciful shapes.  It
was so feminine and dainty that he could only imagine it had been a gift from
some male admirer.

His
jaw tightened.

“Wow,
is that
acid
I pushed you in?  I’ve never done
that
before.”  Her
nose wrinkled.  “Does it hurt?  It probably hurts.  Shoot, I’m really sorry. 
I’m not sure what happened.  I have trouble aiming jumps and…”

Kingu
cut off her rambling by leaping out of the moat.  It was a simple enough thing
to do.  He sprang straight upward and easily landed on the thick plastic
drawbridge.  The whole surface rocked under his weight, sending the girl
stumbling to her feet, trying to maintain her balance.  Kingu ignored her.

He
snapped his fingers, instantaneously replacing his suit with a dry one. 
General distaste for mortals aside, Kingu always wore human style suits. 
Unlike certain miscellaneous creatures, he liked looking presentable.

Satisfied
he was once again in control of the situation, he glared down at the female. 
Standing next to her, he topped her by almost three feet of solid muscle.  With
no effort at all, he could have lifted her over his head and thrown her right
into the acid.  No matter what species she was, it wouldn’t have been real
pleasant.  She
had
to realize that.  Crimson colored eyes burned into
her with enough fury to send the little fluff-ball up in smoke.

And
still
she didn’t run.

“Monster.” 
She whispered in awe.

Kingu
leaned closer to her.  “God.”  He corrected flatly.

Her
lips parted again and she breathed something that sounded like, “Oberon,” but
Kingu couldn’t be sure.

He
hesitated, not wanting to kill the girl before she told him why she’d come to
attack him.  Did she work for Tessie?  It didn’t seem possible that his aunt
would pick a hired killer this inept, but then Tessie was half human and she’d
willingly Matched with a Phase, so her IQ couldn’t have been
that
high.

He
loomed over the curvy little whatzit, trying not to notice how appealing she
was beneath her every-item-at-the-yard-sale fashion sense.  Up close, the girl
smelled like sunshine.  He couldn’t really describe it except it was the warm,
clean, scent of freedom.  An altogether foreign rush of feelings came over
him:  Anger and anticipation and shame and possession and lust.

Mostly
lust.

She
called him a monster, right to his face.  He wanted to drag her into his house
and prove her right.  “Why are you here?”  He ground out instead.

“I
think my grandfather sent me.”  She gazed up at him, fearless in the face of
imminent death.  “He told me that…”

Whatever
else she planned to say was lost when Galen, of the Stone House came charging
over, leading his brigade of lack wit guards.  “There she is!  The invader! 
Get her!”

The
spell around them broke.

Kingu’s
head snapped up to glower at the Elementals.  “It’s about time you got here,
Galen.  Aren’t you supposed to be in charge of this damn place?”  The Stone
Phase had appointed himself dictator of the Cloudland.  “Why am I being
attacked right outside my own home?”

“I
didn’t attack you.  Honestly, this is all a mistake.”  Rebecca of Sunnybrook
Farm spun around to face the onslaught.  “Oh dear.”  She murmured like she
suddenly realized she was in deep trouble.  “Okay, wait.  There’s been a
mistake here.”  She held out both palms traffic cop- style, as if she really
expected the armed men to stop heading her way.  “This is
not
the
library.”