Magic of the Wood House (The Elemental Phases Book 6) (5 page)

“And
you’re a little bit outta your jurisdiction.”  Djinn shot back.

“We
just need to talk with you…”  Alder began.

Sullivan
cut her off.  “You can talk down at the police station.”  He got to his feet. 
“I’m going home and you’re going to jail.”

“Good
luck with that.”  Djinn said snidely.  “It’s a long walk to the human realm
from here.”  He glanced over at Teja.  “Can we take a vote on you keeping him? 
‘Cause,
I
vote you toss this guy back.  I mean a Wood Phase
and
a
human…?”  He rolled his eyes.  “You can do way better.”

Except,
very few Matches did better than a Wood Phase.  They all knew that.  The Wood
House bred some of the greatest warriors in the realm.  They didn’t cheat, or
lie, or half-ass their way through life.  Everything they did, they did with
their whole heart and fanatical dedication.  They were honorable and selfless. 
Wonderful parents.  Caring Matches.  Fearless soldiers.  They’d die to protect
the people they loved.  Gladly.  Having a Wood Phase as a Match was something
girls prayed for.

Shit
.

It
just got worse and worse.

“Teja,
you can’t let him just leave.”  Pele insisted, in her “I’m the smart one”
tone.  Pele
always
thought that she was the smart one.  Utterly
self-assured about all aspects of life, Pele would never understand the fear
eating at Teja’s insides when she thought about having a Match.  “He needs us. 
He needs
you
.  The boy picked a fight with the Air Phases.  Kinda shows
you how bright he is.”

“I
didn’t pick that fight.  I was standing on the beach and they attacked me.”

Pele
didn’t give any indication that she’d heard Sullivan’s objection.  She had a
habit of tuning out unimportant things, such as everyone else’s opinions.  “You
know how many scumbags will be trying to kill your handsome human?”  She didn’t
bother to wait for an answer.  “All of them.  And he seems really easy to
kill.”

Sullivan
shot her a glare.  “I’m leaving.”  He announced.  “Anybody who tries to stop me
is gonna
have
to kill me.”  He stalked out of his cell, looking around
the maze of stone corridors with a disparaging roll of his eyes.  “Perfect. 
Tell me we’re in your parents’ basement, now.”

“You’re
in the dungeon of the Fire Fortress, human.”  Djinn informed him with a demonic
smile.  “A place nobody escapes from.”

“The
Fire Fortress?
  Jesus, you people seriously need to get a life outside
of
Super Mario Brothers
.”  Sullivan headed for the stone steps leading
upstairs, studiously avoiding Teja’s gaze as he passed.

Teja
watched Sullivan go and felt a moment of alarm.  No matter how frozen her
emotions were, she was still an Elemental.  For centuries she’d imagined this
man and the life they could have.  Just the idea of him had been enough for her
to pull back from the edge of the roof after the Fall.  Rationally, Teja knew
that it was a gift to find your other half.  Not everyone got a chance at it. 
Especially not these days.

But,
her frozen emotions told her that getting close to Sullivan would be waaaaay
too dangerous.  Caring meant pain.  She’d been avoiding Sullivan for weeks,
because she couldn’t let this human get under her skin.  Distance would be
best.  Lots and lots of distance.  Except whenever she saw him, all she felt
was a punch-in-the-gut desire to be as close to him as possible.

…And
now he was just
leaving
.

“Wait.” 
Teja ordered, trying to think.

“No.” 
Sullivan snapped and kept going.

Teja
blinked.  No Elemental would have done that.  Even one as attractive as
Sullivan would listen to his Match.  Granted, Sullivan
might
have picked
up on the fact that Teja was feeling… conflicted.  She
had
jumped out of
his living room the only time they’d kissed and she hadn’t spoken to him
since.  But still, Sullivan should
want
her to accept him.  He should
care
about this Match.  Instead, he was just walking away.

That
was kind of insulting.

Teja
stomped after him.  “I said,
wait
.  You have no clue where you’re even
going.”

Sullivan
flashed her a scowl over his shoulder as he marched up the steps.  “I’m
going
away from here.”  He reached the top of the stone steps and pushed open the
massive Gothic door.  “Perfect.  More Harry Potter crap.”  He made a sound
halfway between a laugh and groan.  “God, I’ve
had
it with your Cult. 
Sword fights and beheadings.  Women following me around.  Mohawked lunatics
attacking me.  You guys locking me in your sci-fi clubhouse on Christmas Eve is
just the last straw.  I don’t care what Melanie says.  You’re
all
getting kicked out of my town.”

“Christmas
Eve?”  Pele looked over at Alder.  “Again?  Satour told me that was in March.” 
She sighed in annoyance.  “Damn it, Hope’s going to make us celebrate for the
millionth time, isn’t she?”

Teja
ignored them.  The reminder that so many attractive, warm-blooded, Elemental
females were in Mayport Beach hoping to Phaze with Sullivan set her teeth on
edge.  No wonder he was so eager to get back home and leave her high and dry. 
Sullivan was used to being the belle of the Elemental Ball.

“Oh
yeah, it must be hell having to wade through crowds of women, while they throw
themselves at you.”  She sneered.  “Poor human.”

Sullivan’s
eyes narrowed at her.  “I really hate it when you people call me that.”  He
shoved his way out of the dungeon up into the main part of the castle.

“How
about ‘jackass,’ then?”  Teja called.  She made an aggravated sound and looked
back at her family.  “Do you
believe
this?”

“Tej,
maybe you should try being a little nicer to the guy.”  Alder suggested.  “If
I’d
just abducted a Match for myself,
I’d
be happy. 
I’d
want to
get along with him.”  He paused.  “Well, my Match will be a ‘her,’ but you know
what I mean.  Go
court
that guy.  Pick him flowers or torture him with
acid until he submits.  We have lots of acid in the pantry.”

Fire
Phases had unique ideas on romance.

Teja
barely heard him.  She was too busy following Sullivan, because she hated it
when he was out of her sight, even more than she hated him being with her.  The
Fire Palace was safe…ish.  Sure, there were flames here and there, but they
wouldn’t hurt Sullivan unless he jumped into an inferno or something.  Even
then, Teja could control the blaze before it did any damage to her Match. 
Still, the idea of Sullivan innocently wandering around the fortress without
her filled Teja with a surge of alarm.

And
considering she’d given up on feeling anything… that was a very bad sign.

They did
all that men could do to subdue the disorderly element;

but it was
beyond their power to do so effectually.

Outrages
and rapine were hourly on the increase.

Rev. E.
J. Goodspeed- “History of the Great Fires in Chicago and the West”

Christmas
Eve Night: Two Hours into the Investigation

“I’m
telling you, that fucking cow is setting us up, again!”  Satour, of the Fire
House slammed a fist against tabletop of the interrogation room.  “It’s gotta
be her.”

“You’re
really blaming a cow?”  Job, of the Earth House pinched the bridge of his
nose.  “Like a regular
cow?
”

“No,
not a
regular
cow.”  Djinn and Pele’s middle son rolled his eyes like
that was crazy talk.  “
The
cow.  The regular ones are okay.  But
this
one is a goddamn punk, who --like-- totally has a vendetta against us.”  He
nodded.  “Sure, she
looks
like a regular cow, but she’s got the twisted
soul of a demon from hell.”

Job
resisted the urge to bang his head against the table.  “I just want to figure
out what happened in the Cold Kingdom.”  He tried for the sixth time.  “Half
the realm would like to see you tarred and feathered, and you’re just making it
worse.  Right now, I’m all that’s keeping the Fire House from being Banished,
so I’d really like some straight answers.”

“And
I’m telling you the truth!”  Satour protested indignantly.  “Go talk to the
cow, if you don’t believe me.”

Satour
was the most pessimistic and paranoid member of his family.  In his world,
things could only get worse.  In fact, they were
already
worse and
getting ever
more
worse by the second.

…And
everyone else was to blame for it.

Job
sighed.  As the leader of the Elementals, he was the one in charge of
questioning the Fire Phases and it wasn’t going well.  They’d been separated
into various rooms around the Council Hall, each of them giving statements more
incriminating and incendiary than the last.

The
hell of it was, he actually believed they were innocent… They just
sucked
at it.

“Satour,
why do you keep talking about a cow?”  He asked tiredly.

“Because
she’s goddamn evil!”

“If
you’re trying to establish an insanity plea, you’re off to a good start.”

“You
idiot.”  Satour lowered his voice as if he suspected the room was bugged. 
“That’s what she
wants
you to think.”

***

Christmas
Eve Night: Three Hours into the Investigation

“I
think you should take this a little more seriously.  Your family is being
blamed for an unprovoked attack against the Cold Phases.”

“Oh,
they’re always provoking us.”  Pele retorted in her typical sardonic tone.  “If
we
had
attacked, it would’ve been totally justified.”  She absently
burned her name into the desktop with her powers, slouching like a petulant
teen hauled into detention.

“Do
you want to be found guilty?  Is that it?”  Job demanded.  “Pele, people are
very, very upset with you, right now.  It’s a zoo out there and no one but me
is on your side.”  He waved a hand towards the door.  “The Wood House is
threatening war if you don’t return Sullivan Pryce.  The Cold House is
threatening war for this attack.  The Air Phases are threatening war because
you killed Yasil and…”

“Oh,
they’d already Banished Yas.  Bunch of crybabies.”

“The
point is, you need to start giving me
something
I can work with here.”

Pele
leveled a put upon look in his direction.  “This whole thing is horse shit.” 
She said in way of an answer.  “You
know
that, Job.  If I’d really been
in on that attack, I’d have killed
way
more people than that bitch on
TV.  I don’t even think she was trying.”  Pele arched a brow.  “For real, what
was the body count in the Cold Kingdom?  Like
two?
”

“The
Council’s still investigating that.”

“That
think-tank is i
nvestigating
, huh?”  She snorted.  “Boy, I’ll sleep safer
tonight.”

“Can
we focus on the facts?  They want to have a Banishment trial for you
tomorrow
.”

“We
have trials on Saturdays now?  Is that even legal?”

Eian,
of the Cold House slammed into the room.  The Cold King was usually a studious,
emotionless man, but now he was in an uncharacteristic rage.  His blond hair
was a mess, his white suit rumpled, and his face fixed in furious lines. 
“Where is my sister?!”  He bellowed.

Job
sighed.  “Eian, we’ll find Freya.  Just give me a second to…”

Eian
cut him off.  “We don’t have time for you to mollycoddle these murders, Job.” 
He jabbed a finger at Pele.  “The Fire House is going to be Banished from the
realm for what you’ve done!”

“You’ve
been trying to get rid of us for years.”  Pele retorted with a bored sigh. 
“Ever since your cousin, Teja, chose to live with us and Djinn beat the holy
hell out of you.  When are you going to give it up?”

“Well,
today proved that I was right about you all along.”  Eian bit off.  “
Finally
everyone will see that you’re nothing but fucking gangsters. 
Finally
,
you’re going to pay!”

Pele
snorted, unimpressed with the threats.  “See, Job?  If we were really behind
this, I’d have made sure this asshole was the first one to die.”

And
new philosophy calls all in doubt,

The
element of fire is quite put out

John
Donne- “An Anatomy of the World”

Christmas Eve Afternoon

Sullivan
wasn’t sure how to explain the volcanoes.

As
far as he knew, there wasn’t a single volcano within a thousand miles of
Florida.  And there was no way the Cult could have faked the tall, smoking
mountains in the distance.  The glowing black peaks lit-up the sky in luminous
orange.  The effect would’ve been hard to manufacture outside of an Industrial
Light & Magic FX studio.

And
then there was the castle.

Yeah…
That was another problem.  No one could hide a Gothic castle amid the Mayport
Beach bungalows.  A huge, stone fortress complete with gargoyles and a moat
made of lava was sure to draw some attention.  Sullivan would have noticed if
the Cult built the place on a side street or something.

Nope. 
It didn’t take any great detective work to piece together that Sullivan was a
long way from home.  As for the rest of this garbage…

Sullivan’s
gaze went from Alder’s encouraging smile, to Djinn and Pele’s bored frowns, and
finally to Teja’s gorgeous, unreadable, out-of-reach face.  “Bullshit.”  He
said distinctly and watched with satisfaction as her hazel eyes narrowed.

Teja
was so damn stunning it defied all known boundaries of stunning-ness.  Dark
hair and lush lips and a face like Sophia Loren.  Her eyes were a brilliant
hazel, with foot long lashes and radiant golden flecks that glowed when she was
pissed off.  And the girl was pissed off
a lot
, so there were tons of
flecks to enjoy.

In
fact, while Alder was spinning his fantastical tale of other-worldly,
Men in
Black
style conspiracies, Teja just stood there with her back against the
wall, scowling.

She
even scowled hot.

Since
he’d met her Teja had fluctuated between ignoring him, insulting him, and
confusing him, but he’d never been so attracted to anyone in his life.  Looking
at Teja put crazy thoughts in Sullivan’s head.  Impossible, crazy thoughts
about her and him and naked bodies intertwined.

Her
hair captivated him the most.  Shoulder length and black, it fell in a halo of
perfect curls.  And at her temple, there was a streak of pale blue.  Sullivan
had no idea why he found that so intriguing, but he found his gaze drawn to it,
again and again.  Christ, he was just so relieved to have her back in his life,
regardless of the circumstances.  Down deep, something inside of him recognized
this woman as
his.

Which
was insane.

Not
surprising given the insanity surrounding him.

“Bullshit?” 
Djinn echoed incredulously.  He up threw his hands in exasperation.  “Explain
what’s going on then, human?”  He gestured to the window and the hellscape of
fire beyond.  “Where are we if not the Fire Kingdom?  What’s happened to you,
if we’re all such liars?”

Sullivan
kept his attention on Teja.  “I don’t think you’re lying about this being your
mutant homeland.  I’ve suspected for a while that you weirdoes aren’t human. 
Honestly, I’ve been expecting something like this.”  Looking outside at the
geysers of magma, it felt like he’d already known this “realm” of their
existed, in fact.  Which just went to show that their craziness was
contagious.  “But I know you’re lying about the rest of it.”

Her
eyes narrowed at him.

“Did
he just call us mutants?”  Pele asked Djinn in a stage whisper.  “Should we be
offended right now?”

“Maybe
he means --like-- awesome mutants.”  Alder suggested.  He was playing with an
Etch-a-Sketch that he’d probably stolen from some child’s stocking, trying to
spell out obesities with the little dials.  “Like Wolverine.”

Pele
snorted.  “Wolverine’s a pansy.  I like Sabertooth.”

Teja
pushed away from the wall and moved closer to Sullivan.  “You know damn well
that we’re not lying.”  She snapped, ignoring the others.  She loomed over him,
seriously annoyed with his attitude.  “Deny the truth all you want, but I’m
betting that you know
exactly
who we are and what
you
are.”

“What
I
am?”  Sullivan repeated, dryly.  “A mutant who controls fire?  But
--oh wait-- Grandpa just forgot to mention it.”  He snorted.  “Yeah, I remember
you guys telling me that before and it’s
still
bullshit.”

“
We
control Fire. 
You
control Wood.”  Alder corrected, concentrating on
making an “F” on his toy’s gray screen.  “Your grandfather was a Wood Phase. 
Plants, trees, paper… Ya know…
wood
stuff.”

“He
called us mutants again, D.”  Pele observed sourly.

“We’re
not mutants!”  Djinn bellowed, jabbing a finger at Sullivan.  “I am the Fire
King.”

Sullivan
rolled his eyes.  None of that even deserved a response.  He liked watching
Teja’s gaze flash with that pissed off light when she glared at him, though. 
Hell, he just plain liked watching her no matter what she was doing.  She could
be clipping her toenails and he’d find it fascinating.  Feeling so damn
connected
to this woman was asking for trouble.

Deep
inside, there was just a bone deep satisfaction that she was beside him.  He’d
been terrified that he’d never see her, again.  Having her so close was worth
every second of this stupid abduction.  Teja clouded his reasoning and sent his
instincts haywire, but they were still screaming that she was
his
.  They
told him that he should stay with her in this asylum as long as she’d have
him.  They wanted him to get even closer to her and to not let her slip away,
again.

Clearly,
he was losing his mind.

Teja
glowered at him.  “Human, it’s dangerous to just stick your head in the sand
and refuse to see the truth when it’s burning right in front of your eyes.” 
She held out a hand and a flame instantly appeared.  It ignited in mid-air, an
inch above her palm.  The fire crackled, alive and glowing, but somehow not
burning her.

Sullivan
blinked.  Even knowing that they weren’t human and that they possessed
superpowers, his mind still automatically tried to think of a rational
explanation for that trick.  He could feel the heat of it, so it wasn’t a
projected image.  Some kind of hidden lighter maybe?  Or what was that gel
stuntmen used before they set themselves on fire?

Teja
made an aggravated sound, seeing that he was still trying to deny her nutty
story.  “Alright.  How about this?”  She closed her hand so the small flame
disappeared.  “We’ll do it Wild Bill style.”

“You
guys get Westerns in this dimension, huh?”  Sullivan drawled.  That explained
the
Gunsmoke
themed fake names they were always giving him.  Cross Earp,
and Randa Goldrush, and Atlee Little-Big-Horn…

“I
used to hang out in Deadwood.”  Alder volunteered helpfully.  “Before it got
all touristy, they had some…”

“Not,
now.”  Teja interrupted.  She grabbed a throw pillow off the sofa and shoved it
against Sullivan’s chest.  “Here.  Toss it.”

He
glanced down at the fringed monstrosity and stifled a cringe.  Everything in
the place looked like it had come from the H.P. Lovecraft’s garage sale. 
Creepy, morbid, and/or weird stuff filled every surface.  Suits of blacken
armor covered one wall, some of which may still have had body parts in them. 
The head of what looked like a Cyclops was mounted over the crematorium sized
fireplace.  Somewhere above him, he could hear one of Teja’s relatives playing
the Alvin and the Chipmunks Christmas album fuck-the-neighbors loud.  Not that
these freaks
had
any neighbors.

“Toss
it?”  He studied the funeral-colored pillow.  “Why?  Aside from the aesthetic
reasons.”

“Toss
it in the
air
.”  She crossed her arms over her chest.  “Check for wires
and hidden gas tanks to be sure I’m not tricking you, first.  Then throw the
damn thing.”

“Fine.” 
Sullivan hesitated, then set the pillow aside and reached over to grab one with
a sequined hand grenade on it instead.  “But, whatever you’re going to do,
it’ll be with a prop that
I
choose.  Otherwise you could’ve rigged
this.”

Teja
actually smiled at his suspicious inspection of the fabric.  It was just a
quick lifting of the corner of her mouth, but it still charmed Sullivan to the
depths of his soul.  Amusement turned Teja’s eyes pure gold.  He actually had
to glance away from her before he made an idiot of himself and started begging
her for mercy.

Sullivan
wasn’t the only one shocked by Teja’s slight grin.  Alder’s eyebrows shot-up. 
Djinn’s jaw literally dropped.  Even Pele was visibly surprised and, up until
now, Sullivan had only seen her look condescending and sarcastic.

Teja
apparently didn’t notice.  “Satisfied?”  She prompted, when Sullivan just sat
there holding the pillow.

He
cleared his throat.  “Yeah.”  Not knowing what to expect, he tossed it in the
air, so it went spiraling high above their heads.  He watched it as it soared
towards the vaulted ceiling.

Teja
didn’t.

She
didn’t take her eyes off of Sullivan, even as the pillow caught fire.  It was
such a quick, intense blaze that it seemed like a miniature tornado of flames
engulfed the thing.  Sullivan had to squint against the glare, as the pillow
was consumed.  Hot soot rained down as the fabric disappeared under the
relentless heat.  The entire pillow vanished.  What had gone up intact… came
down as cinders.  Nothing remained but a small pile of ash and the smell of
smoldering polyester stuffing.

Sullivan
slowly turned back to Teja.  He felt something powerful and
right
,
crackling on a frequency that seemed just out of reach.  Some
energy
that
felt oddly… familiar.  It tugged at Sullivan’s memories, pulling at places
inside of him, until he had to will it away.

What
the hell was going on?

Teja
held her hand to her lips, her thumb cocked gunslinger-style, and calmly blew
against the top of her index finger.

The
appearing out of nowhere to kidnap him.

The
volcanoes.

The
whole Frankenstein’s castle thing.

All
of that he could ignore or chalk up to… something.  Just
something
else
going on besides more supernatural crap.  But, for some reason, he knew Teja
was telling him the truth.  Whatever just happened to that stupid pillow, he
knew she’d done it.  The rest of this
Twilight Zone
episode he was still
iffy about, but not Teja.

He
didn’t believe in magic… but he believed her.

And
that made even less sense that the lava moat.

“Alright.” 
Sullivan said grudgingly.  “Let’s say you can
Fire Starter
all sorts of
home furnishing.  Incredible.  I’m very intimidated.  What does that have to do
with you jokers abducting me?”

“All
the best relationships start with a hostage situation.”  Alder told him
seriously.  “Kidnapping shows you care.”  He’d gotten the “U” almost complete
on his Etch-a-Sketch.

Pele
rolled her eyes.  “This doesn’t even count as a kidnapping.  A
real
kidnapping means chains and maybe a mallet and somebody
worth
kidnapping.  This is just us looking out for the human, because he’s so
frigging helpless.”

“And
young.”  Djinn interjected.  He looked Sullivan up and down.  “How old are
you?  A hundred?  A hundred and twenty?”

Sullivan
decided not to bother resisting this new lunacy.  “I’m thirty-five.”

“Holy
crap!  He’s
thirty-five
?!?”  Pele snickered in “laughing
at
you,
not
with
you” delight.  “He’s a baby!  An infant.  Nice, Tej.  You know
that makes you --like-- ten times older than him, right?”

Teja
flashed her a glare.

Alder
pinched the bridge of his nose.  “Humans have different lifespans, Mom.  Until
he Phazes with his Match and his life expectancy stretches to meet hers,
Sullivan will stay with the human chronology.  They only live to be --like--
two hundred or something.  That’s why it’s good that he has Teja, now.”

“Well,
it’s impossible.”  Djinn made a “case closed” gesture with his hands.  “We
should just forget about this kid and send him packing.  There can be no
Phase-Match until Sullivan is at least ninety-three.  That’s the Council’s
law.”

Sullivan
didn’t understand most of that jabbering, but the idea that he’d live to see
ninety-three stuck him as darkly funny.  Shit.  That would be just his luck.

“Since
when do you care about Council law?”  Teja snapped at her cousin.

Djinn
piously pursed his lips.  “I didn’t Phaze with Pele until she was of age.  I
would never dream of taking advantage of my Match’s innocence.”

Pele
shot him a sideways look.  “You were only ninety-one when we Phazed, D.”