Queen of the Magnetland (The Elemental Phases Book 5) (18 page)

Nothing
but angry silence.

Raiden
sighed tiredly, knowing it was hopeless.  She wasn’t going to relent and there
wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it.  A toddler had just defeated the most
deadly assassin in the realm.  No matter how horribly he died tonight, it would
be less painful than hurting his Match.  Watching her cry.

As
usual, his fate fucking sucked.

Raiden
scrubbed a palm over his scalp and gave up.  “Alright, then.”  He was just
making it worse for her by pressing.  He turned back towards the house and
hesitated.  “Good-bye, Fee.”  He glanced back over his shoulder, wishing he
could have one last look at her.  “Just please try and remember that everything
I do, I do because it’s best for you.”

Whack!

A
rock hit him right between the eyes.

“Drop
dead, jerwk!”  She bellowed.

She’d
brained him.  Raiden reached up to touch his bleeding forehead in amazement. 
His Match had honestly just brained him with a garden stone.  Spoiled,
stubborn,
very
assertive little brat.  Through his emotional misery and
burgeoning headache, Raiden’s gave a wry smile of reluctant admiration.  Such a
shame he wouldn’t get to see her grown-up.

One
day his Match would be a hell of a woman.

As
he headed for the door, another vision filled his mind, even worse than before.

Kingdom
after kingdom flashes before his eyes.

The
volcanic expanse of the Fire House still glows red with rivers of magma, but
they are all that moves.  The place that Elemental theology deems the furnace
of creation is now devoid of life.

The
military order of the Wood Kingdom is thrown into wild anarchy and unanswered
prayers.

The
cliff dwellings of the Stone Phases are as empty as the Anasazi dwellings in
the human realm.

The
Cold Kingdom is melted, much of the once icy land submerged in a sea that was
never supposed to exist.

On
and on it goes, until finally he sees that even the Color House has gone grey. 
The rainbows here are as dead as the rest of this world and Raiden wants to
scream at the monochrome vision of hell.

No,
no, no.

Fee
was supposes to be safe here.  He’d seen it.  She was supposed to be
safe.

But
there is nowhere that is safe in this future. 
Everywhere,
in every kingdom, there is nothing but death.

Unfortunately,
while Raiden was gaping at his new vision in horror and frantically trying to
think of a way to stop it all from happening… it was pretty damn simple for
Zakkery, of the Smoke House to walk up behind him and knock him out cold.

You need
only listen.  Pleasure is the law.  I love music passionately…

It rushes
freely forth, a boundless art, endless as the elements,

the air,
the sky, the ocean.

Claude
Debussy

The
woman who claimed to be Mara stood by his Match’s grave.

In
the frenzied, endless, empty days after Mara’s death, Chason had had the
sepulcher built to exacting specifications.  It was made of pristine white
marble, with dancing nymphs and musical instruments carved into its sides.  It
had been created by three Stone Phase artisans, Chason forcing them to redo any
part that he wasn’t completely satisfied with.  Repeatedly.  Around the crypt
grew a garden of perfect ivory roses, meticulously tended and cared for amid
the rest of the grey landscape. 

Ironically,
the tomb was the only spot in the Magnetland that was still alive.

Before
Mara’s body was stolen, Chason had spent countless hours sitting by the silent
crypt.  It had always been the place he felt closest to her.  And now she was
standing there in front of it.

Except,
she wasn’t really her.

Probably.

After
Raiden had left, Chason had returned to the bedroom and laid down next to the
woman, again.  It was wrong, but he’d done it anyway.  He’d stretched out on
top of the blankets, situating himself between the woman and door.

In
the darkened room, he heard nothing but the gentle sound of her breathing and
the sensual movements of her body against the sheets.  Even unconscious, she
somehow managed to maneuver her way against his side.  Her head wound up
resting on his shoulder and, for the first time in two years, Chason felt…
right.

Sometime
around midnight, he’d finally nodded off, his cheek resting on the top of her
head.  When he’d jolted awake again, it was morning and she was gone.

…Which
instantly sent him into a complete meltdown.  His body had started shaking, his
powers intensifying, his mind fracturing…

He
would have fallen into the dark pit of madness if not for another note.  It had
been resting on his chest and, when he leapt to his feet, it fell right onto
his boot.  He didn’t remember swooping down to pick it up.  It was just
suddenly in his hand and he was trying to focus on the curly, feminine writing
on the small page.

Gone
for a walk
. 
You needed your rest
. 
Still real
.

Chason’s
head had whipped around to look out the window.  Sure enough, he’d immediately
spotted her walking across the misty grey landscape, dressed in a purple argyle
coat and matching scarf.

That
was much too far away.

His
only thought had been to reach her. 
Now
.  Chason had instantly jumped
to Mayport Beach and then back to the Magnetland’s lawn.  Magnet Phases
couldn’t jump from place to place within the same kingdom, so taking the human
detour was the fastest way to get down there.  Even those extra six seconds
seemed like an eternity.

He
caught up with her at Mara’s grave, pushing straight through one of the
rosebushes to reach her faster.  “What are you doing?”  He demanded, resisting
the urge to grab her close.

It
had been like that since he first touched the woman.  He couldn’t stand for her
to be more than a few inches away from him.  Even a small distance left him
tense and on constant guard to snatch her back if she tried to get away.

She
turned to look up at him as he stepped closer.  Much closer than was acceptable
in civilized company.  He crowded her personal space in a way no Magnet House
gentleman ever would with a lady.

She
didn’t ask him to back-up.  “Did you have any… dreams last night?”

“No. 
What?  No.”  He looked her up and down making sure she was safe and still
there
. 
“Not that I can remember.  Why?”

She
studied him for a beat and then shook her head.  “I guess it was just me who
had them.  Never mind.”  She pointed at the immaculate white tomb.  “You did
this for me.”

It
wasn’t a question, but he nodded anyway.  “Yes.”  Chason had to steel himself
against her gaze.  Purity and aloofness.  It was an expression that he was so
used to.  Mara always looked at him like that.  But, there was something new
added into the mix, now.  Welcome, maybe?  Surprise?  Relief?  Need?

Whatever
it was, it made his body jolt.

She
stared at him for a long beat and then turned her attention back to the
sepulcher’s inscription:

Mara,
of the Magnet House

Beloved,

Forever
and Then Some

The
Stone Phase craftsmen had wanted a much longer epitaph.  Their suggestions had
included Chason’s name, and Mara’s title, and dates, and quotes, and all kinds
shit that had nothing to do with
Mara
.  With who she was and how she’d
affected the world.

Chason
had ignored their suggestions and composed that much shorter message, straight
from him broken heart.  It was the sentiment he should have returned to her that
last day she’d been alive.

Phases
who saw it sometimes frowned at how sparse the engraving was, thinking that
Mara’s grave warranted more poetry or flowery sentiment.  Chason didn’t care.  There
was only one person who needed to understand it.

He
watched the woman, gauging her reaction to the tomb.

“It’s
beautiful.”  She whispered, her eyes still on the bare words.  “I never
expected you to do something like this for me.”

“Mara
would have known that I’d make sure she rested in worthy spot.”

Her
shoulders squared.  For some reason, bringing up Mara seemed to aggravate her
more and more. Perhaps she was feeling guilty.

“No,
I really
didn’t
know it.”  She glanced up at him, again.  “Thank you,
though.  I didn’t want to be buried in that graveyard.”

He
didn’t have an answer for that.  Instead, he focused on the necklace hanging
down the front of her coat.  He’d come up with a new list of questions during
the night and the first one centered on that ugly thing.  Raiden had said it
was powerful, but Chason didn’t feel anything.

“You
claim that someone named Daphne, of the Time House gave that to you?”  He
nodded towards the necklace, disliking that it even touched her.

“She
did
give it to me.”  Chason could tell by her tone that she didn’t
appreciate the way he’d phrased the question.  “It’s not a ‘claim,’ it’s the
truth.  Just before the end, she jumped into my room and put it around my
neck.”

Whether
Chason believed this woman or not, the idea of a stranger invading her room
when she was completely unprotected aggravated him.  It might have saved her
life, but there was no way that had been Daphne’s primary goal.  That Time
Phase must have had another agenda.

“The
Fire House is looking for a lost necklace of great power.  They say Zakkery has
it.”

“Well,
Zakkery didn’t give me this one.”  She insisted.  “Daphne did.”

“Either
way, you shouldn’t wear it.  Who the hell knows what it does.”

“I
tried taking it off and I can’t.  There isn’t even a clasp.”  She turned the
chain to show him a continuous line of links.  “I think once it goes on, it
stays on.”

Chason
debated trying to rip it off of her with his powers, but silver wasn’t
magnetic.  There
had
to be a way.  Job might know, but Chason still
didn’t want to involve him.  The Earth King would be all over this whole
situation, interfering in Chason’s life and kingdom and woman.

Chason’s
woman.

Ending
the universe was still a doable option for him and he’d crash the whole damn
thing before he gave her up.

“Did
this Daphne say anything else?”  He tried.

“No.” 
She frowned.  “Well, she did say I’d be needed in the future.”  She wrapped her
arms around her body and looked around the deserted remnants of the
Magnetland.  “I don’t know what she expected me to do, though.  This is such a
terrible time.  Even the clouds are flat.  What can
I
do to fix
everything that’s gone wrong?”

Chason
followed her gaze, not liking what he saw when he pictured it through her eyes.

Had
he really let his lands deteriorate so far?  When he’d been heading the
Reprisal, he hadn’t paid attention to the state of the kingdom.  The quiet
decay had seemed almost reasonable, considering Mara was gone.  Why should
anything thrive without her?

He
remembered a vague feeling of annoyance when Lansing, of the Dust House tore
out the trees that Chason’s mother had planted.  His second-in-command had
wanted to create an area for training exercises and, instead of using any of
the Magnet Kingdom’s vast open areas, Lansing decided it put it right where the
shady glen had been.

But,
aside from a brief flash of sadness when he looked over the desolate spot of
dirt where trees once grew… nothing about the kingdom had registered with Chason.

Mara
would be disappointed in that.

“The
clouds…”  Chason cleared his throat, “the Cloud House fell and the pictures
disappeared from them.  You can no longer see the shapes of dogs and swords and
horses.  That’s why they seem flat.”

“Daphne
mentioned the clouds, but I didn’t understand what she meant.  She also said
something about…”  The woman frowned, like she was trying to remember.  “
Get
Smart
?”

“The
TV show?”  Why did that seem oddly familiar?

“That
can’t be right.”  The woman decided with a sigh.  “Let me think about it some
more.  It was so confusing in those last few minutes.”

Khaos.

Back
in the 1960s, Chason and Mara had sometimes watched
Get Smart
in the
Council’s anteroom.  Meetings always started a few minutes late and the TV was
just outside his office, in a small public area.  It always seemed to playing
that silly show.

The
villains were called Khaos.

That
was what this woman was trying to remember.  Khaos.  Not the fictional spy
organization, but the all-powerful monster who’d held all the nothingness in
creation until Hope, of the Fire House killed her.

The
necklace had belonged to Kingu’s mother.

That
couldn’t possibly be good.

Chason
went back to staring at the crypt.  “Have you remembered anything that happened
before you woke up in the Smoke Kingdom?”

“No. 
Just shadows and voices.”

“Do
you remember anything else from your coma, then?”

“Music.” 
Her mouth curved.  “I fell asleep thinking of music and I think I heard that song
the entire time I was gone.”

A
chill shot through him.  He wasn’t going to ask which song.  There was no need.

He
already knew what she’d say.

The
woman stared at the crypt as if she didn’t even see it.  As if she was
envisioning the tents, tables and flowers that had covered that exact spot on
their Phazing Day.  When Chason and Mara had danced under the fireworks, while
the Andrew Sisters sang.

Chason
couldn’t breathe.

No.

She
started humming, her lips moving with the lyrics.  Just the eight words of the
title.

I’ll
Be With You in Apple Blossom Time.

“
No!
” 
Chason screamed it, his hands coming up to cover his ears against the music of
his dreams and nightmares.  Her soft voice sounded like magic and love and
home.  He couldn’t take it.  His mind felt like it would shatter into a
thousand broken shards.  He reeled back, his chest aching and body hunching in
on itself.  “Stop!  Fucking
stop!
”

Her
shocked gaze flew to him.  “Chason?  My God, are you alright?”

“Don’t
sing!”  He roared.  “Not in her voice.  I can’t…”  He squeezed his eyes shut
against the pain.  “Ah,
Christ
.”  Grief and frustration ate at him, his
temper sparking.  “I can put up with you looking like her, and smelling like
her, and feeling like her, but you can’t have Mara’s goddamn song!”

Her
lips tightened into an angry line.  “It’s
my
goddamn song.”  She
retorted.  “
I
picked it out for
my
Phazing Day. 
I
had the
original record of it, before you broke it.  It’s the song
I
sing,
because I like it.  You aren’t going to take it from me and give it to that,” she
made a wild gesture at the sepulcher, “that idealized
memory
of me you
buried.  I won’t lose that, too!”

Chason’s
hands fell from his ears as he realized her eyes were glowing at him.

That
was a Light House trait.  When their emotions ran high, their ebony eyes would
light up in little sparks.  Nobody really understood why it happened, but it
would have been impossible to fake.  He’d only ever seen it happen with Mara a
handful of times and it hadn’t been in beautiful explosions like this.  It had
been so much tamer.