Queen of the Magnetland (The Elemental Phases Book 5) (20 page)

Chason
stared at her.

Her
eyebrows rose in challenge.  “Who else but me knows
that?
”

No
one.

No
one knew it, because it had been a mortifying lapse in every code of honorable
conduct there was.  Mara might have started the kiss and Chason might have
ended it, but for ten seconds right in the middle, they’d both been willing parties.

He’d
kissed her back.

Mara
had been completely blameless, obviously.  She’d been too young.
 Chason
was the one who should’ve had the strength to resist her.  It didn’t matter
that she’d be ninety-three in less than two months, she hadn’t been of
ninety-three
yet
.  She’d been underage by six weeks and he’d known it
was wrong.  But he’d wanted her, anyway.

It
was a disgraceful moment in his past, made all the more so because he wasn’t
ashamed of it.

He’d
finally pushed her back and blathered out some bullshit about duty and respect
and the importance of being a proper Match.  All the upright and responsible
reasons he
should
have stopped the kiss before it even began. 
Everything he tried to be and that she deserved.

But
all that meant exactly
nothing
compared to how much he’d wanted to drag
her back into the house and tell the Council to go fuck themselves.  Tell them
that she was his and he was hers and that, at the very
least
, she should
be staying in his kingdom.  He wouldn’t touch her, if that was the law, but she
should
at least
be able to stay with him until the Phazing ceremony.

Six
weeks and he’d had to give her back to the Light Phases?

Six
goddamn
weeks?!

“I’m
sorry, Chason.”  Mara had said at the time.  “The kiss was my fault.  I was out
of line.  But, I promise –I
promise
-- I can be
such
a good Match
to you.”

“I
know you will.”  Sexual frustration had seethed inside of him and he’d barely
processed her words.  He’d tried to smile.  “Everything will be perfect.  We
just have to wait for the ceremony.”

A
ceremony that wouldn’t make her his Match any more than she already
was
,
but no one had asked his opinion.

Kahn
had come to return her to the Light Kingdom and Chason had let her go.  Mara
had glanced back at him before she left and Chason had lifted his hand in
polite farewell.

…Then,
he’d gone up to his room and smashed the nearest breakable object.  It hadn’t
helped much.  He’d braced his palms on the wall and dropped his head, focusing
on the only thing that could’ve possibly calmed him down:  “Six weeks and no
one will ever take her from me, again.”

Only
that hadn’t been true, either.

Chason
had no idea how anyone could have known about that day except him and Mara.

The
woman honest to Gaia smirked at his stunned expression.  Smirked!

“Hard
to believe your saint of a Match would try and seduce you like that, huh? 
Thank God you pushed her away.  We can always count on you to resist me,
though.”  She turned on her dainty heel and marched back towards the fortress.

Chason
gave his head a clearing shake.  “How did you know about that?  Did Mara tell
you?”

“Why
in the world would I tell anyone a story like that?”  She scoffed.  “It was
mortifying enough for me the first time through, without sharing it.”

“Mortifying?” 
He echoed blankly.  Why would Mara be mortified over
his
lapse?

“I
halfway think that you’re
deliberately
pretending to think I’m a phony,
at this point.”  She called over her shoulder.  “That you’ve been
waiting
for an opportunity to get rid of me, so you can finally have an appropriate
Match.  That’s why you’re stubbornly clinging to the memory of some make-believe
saint you’ve created in my image. 
She
doesn’t rock the boat!”

It
was like being dropped into the
Twilight Zone
.

He
was certifiable and he even he made more sense than this woman.

“What
the hell are you
talking
about?!”  Chason threw up his hands.  “Why are
you doing this to me?  What’s the
point?
 To drive me even crazier?  Isn’t
it pretty fucking obvious that I’m already defeated?  You
should
leave,
actually.  If you were Mara, I’d
want
you to get away from me, before I
killed you all over, again!”

That
stopped her.  She turned back to him with a frown.  “You didn’t kill me.”

“I
did
.”  His voice broke.  “God, I didn’t think of the right things or
find the right doctor.  You died alone, because of
me
.”

“Chason,
I’m not dead!”  She cried.  “Are you really that blinded by
her
that you
can’t see
me?
”  She pointed at the crypt, again.  “I was never made of
marble.  Do you not remember me, except as a statue on a tomb?  Flawless and
cold?”

Chason
didn’t know what to say to that.

She
shook her in defeat and turned back to the fortress.  Black hair bounced just
the way it always had when she left him to go back to the Light Kingdom.

She
always left him.

“Wait.” 
Chason dashed after, afraid that if she got away he might never see her again. 
Even knowing that it was all fake, he still had to be near her.  This more
beautiful version of his Match was the only thing the universe who anchored him
and he couldn’t let her go.  “Seventy years.”

She
kept walking.  “What?”

“Earlier,
you said it had been ‘sixty-some’ years since Mara and I Phazed.  It was
seventy years yesterday.”  He lengthened his stride, jogging to catch up with
her.  He really would die if he lost her, too.  “It was our anniversary.”

“Was
it?”  She frowned as he reached her side, getting herself back under control. 
“I’m sorry.  I didn’t know the date.”

Chason
shrugged.  “I doubt anyone remembered except me.”  He hesitated.  “And Isaacs.”

“Well,
Isaacs was always very thoughtful.”

His
teeth ground together.  Mara had loved to defend that bastard, too.  “Isaacs
was always trying to seduce my Match away.”  Everyone who came in contact with
Mara fell under her spell.

“That’s
ridiculous.”  She chided.  “Isaacs was a total gentleman towards me.  He never
made one inappropriate remark.  He even sent us flowers on our anniversary,
every year.”

“He
sent
Mara
flowers and it was just to piss me off.  In fact,” Chason took
a deep breath, “here’s a question you should know if you’re her:  What was
that
song?”

“What
song?”

Was
she being deliberately obtuse?  “The one Mara and Isaacs sang at our
fifty-third anniversary party.  The party
I
didn’t even want to invite
him to.”

“The
song…?  Wait, on the
karaoke machine?
”  She gaped up at him.  “Oh,
you’ve got to be kidding, Chason.  How in the world would I remember
that?
”

“
I
remember it.”  Seventeen years later it still bugged the hell out of him to
even think of that damn song.  Isaacs knew it, too.  That’s why he had played
the damn thing on the jukebox the night before, in the human bar.

Right
before Chason had tried to squash him like a bug with that jeep.

“Well,
I’m sorry.  I remember Nia bringing us the karaoke machine to play with and I
remember your father locking himself in his study to escape it, but I don’t
remember any of the songs we sang.”

“
I
didn’t sing anything.  Isaacs and Mara did a fucking duet, though!”

“You
really do swear too much, now.  It’s inappropriate for a king.”

“You
don’t know the song, because you’re not Mara.”  He insisted grimly.  “
Mara
would know the song.”

She
rolled her eyes towards the grey sky.  “Well, I guess your version of me is
just smarter than I am, Chason.  No wonder you’d rather be with her, if she can
recall something
that
vital.  Of
course
, you’d know I was a fake
for not recalling such a seminal moment from our past.”

“Mara
wasn’t sarcastic, either.”  He muttered.  Which is why it was wrong that he
liked the woman’s biting tone.  He shouldn’t want to smile at her contempt for
the idea that Isaacs and that stupid song were in any way memorable.

“You
know, I could play this game, too.”  She continued stalking up the steps to the
fortress.  “It’s not like you could remember everything that’s ever happened to
us, either.  What was I
wearing
at that party?  Do you know…?”

Chason
cut her off.  “White dress with dots and a lavender belt.  It had kind of…
fluff under the skirt.”

She
stopped with her hand on the doorknob, glancing at him over her shoulder. 
“Tulle.”  She said softly.  “It’s called tulle.”  She looked amazed.  “You really
remember that dress?  I didn’t know you even noticed it.”

“I
remember everything about my Match.”  He said simply.  “I loved her.”

“You…?” 
The woman’s lips parted in shock at his words.  “You never said that before.”

“Of
course, I did.”  Everyone knew how much he loved Mara, especially Mara.  It had
been the clearest thing in the world.

“You
said it, but it never
meant
what I wanted it to.”  The woman looked
dazed.  “Not like you just said it, now.”  She swallowed.  “Did you love
Mara
or did you just love your Match?”

“Mara
was
my Match.”

“They
aren’t the same thing, though.”

She
was speaking in riddles, again.  Chason gave up trying to understand her and
followed her up the stairs.  “This is pointless.  Just accept one thing and we
can stop the charade:  No matter how well you kiss, you can never compete with the
feelings I had for Mara.  Trying to impersonate my Match is like trying to
impersonate the sun.  No one else will
ever
have her light.  For both
out sakes, just
stop
.”  He brushed passed the woman and walked into the
house.

…Leaving
her staring after him in something like dismay.

I might say “element,”
but the word is over worn

William Shakespeare-
“Twelfth Night”

S
ullivan
Pryce stared at the jar of candy canes that his cousin Melanie had put on his
desk and listened as Cross “Earp’s” team of lawyers indignantly explained that
their client wasn’t about to talk to anyone about a murder case.

Especially
not when the only evidence Sullivan could come up with was the hung-over
confession of the Lunatic Who Would Be King.  Especially not when the only name
Sullivan had for the victim was “Abel, of the Stone House.”  Especially not
when Gion Peterson paid them all massive retainers to ensure the police never questioned
any member of that insane family.

And
extra
-especially since Sullivan wasn’t all that interested in arresting
the guy who killed the guy who killed the innocent lab tech, anyway.

Sullivan
wasn’t pulling out all the normal cop threats to try and bust Cross, but it was
his job to at least try and investigate.  Not that it did him any good.  He’d
stopped listening midway through one of the lawyer’s longwinded speeches about
what a busy and important (and rich) man their client was and how Cross wasn’t
about to submit to any police interrogation and how Sullivan would be
investigated for harassment if he kept calling and blah, blah, blah.

Fucking
lawyers were even worse than the Cult.

The
bell over the door rang.  In honor of the Christmas season, someone has
switched it to a long strand of jingle bells and Sullivan distractedly glanced
towards the cheerful sound.  When he got a good look at his visitor, though, it
was hard to look anywhere else.

Holy
shit, the guy was massive!  Sullivan himself was big, but this guy probably
generated his own weather patterns.

Sullivan
automatically got to his feet, preparing for trouble.  “I’ll call ya back.”  He
told the blathering attorney and hung up the phone mid lawsuit threat.  His
eyes stayed riveted on the gigantic visitor who’d ducked through his doorway
and was glowering around the police station.  “Can I help you?”  He asked
because he had no idea what else to say.

“
Yes
. 
Explain why everything in this accursed place is so small?”  The guy swore in
annoyance as he whacked his head on a ceiling fan.  “Gods!  It’s worse than
even the Elemental realm and that place is worse than anywhere.”  He
hesitated.  “Well, I find the Fire Kingdom very pleasant.  The volcanoes in my
new home are a welcomed change from all the
prettiness
I usually have to
endure in that wasteland of a realm.”

“Yeeeeaaah.” 
Sullivan drew out the word, barely processing any of that gibberish.  Not only
was this guy beyond huge, he was also… a dragon.

No.
 That couldn’t be right.  He
had
to be human, right?  What else
could
he be?  He wore a business suit and spoke English and had mostly human
features.  But, he also had red eyes and textured skin and a face that kind of…

…
looked
like a fucking dragon
.

Job
Earth-House entered behind him, apparently not noticing that he was standing
next to someone who maybe wasn’t human.  Job seemed to be the Cult’s leader. 
He showed up when they needed some kind of diplomacy, dressed like a banker and
saying reasonable things.  The guy was always so calm.  His white blond hair
was arranged in an elegant ponytail, the blunt angles of his face impassive.

“Hello,
Sullivan.  This is my nephew.”  Job gestured towards the dragon.  “We’d like to
speak with you.”

The
big guy arched a black brow when Sullivan just gaped at him.  “I am Kingu, of
the Fire House.”

“Kingu?” 
Sullivan repeated blankly.  “Wait…
Alder’s
Kingu?”

“Technically,
I am
Hope’s
Kingu.  Hope is my Match.  Alder is Hope’s cousin and she
wishes the boy returned.  Now.”

Sullivan’s
eyes narrowed.  Why did they keep trying to explain their weird family tree to
him?  “Alder is under arrest.”

“Hope
wishes him returned.”  Kingu said it more firmly this time, like maybe Sullivan
was just too dim to understand the problem here.  “I won’t have a moment’s
peace in the fortress until he’s freed.”

Dragon
or not, a guy who was so obviously whipped by his girlfriend couldn’t be
all
bad.  Sullivan sort of envied Kingu for having someone to send him on stupid
errands like this.  “I’m not releasing Alder.”

Kingu
looked at Job expectantly.  “Well, you said you’d talk to him. 
Talk
to
him or I’ll handle it myself.”

“No,
don’t do that.”  Job said swiftly.  He turned to Sullivan and cleared his
throat.  “Alder’s family is very upset that you’ve arrested him, again.  They
generally enjoy kidnapping games, but now they believe you’re taunting them. 
Daring them to react.”

“I
am.”

Kingu
waved a “you see?” hand at Job.  “You see?  The boy is trying to incite us into
action.”

“Sullivan,
the last thing you want to do is incite the Fire House into action.”  Job told
him seriously.  “It’s just a bad idea.”

Sullivan
didn’t care.  He slowly sat back down, his attention on Kingu.  “So… if you’re
related to Alder, then you know Teja, too?”

“Yes.” 
Kingu eyed Sullivan with deeper interest.  “The fact that she isn’t doing more
to save Alder from your clutches is at the heart of much of the yelling I’ve
endured today.  Everyone but Teja feels that she should be stopping your reign
of terror.  There’s talk you may have turned rabid.”

“No,
I’m just pissed.  I don’t like being spied on.”

“They
are
babysitting
you, more than spying on you.”  Job assured him. 
“Kingu’s family is protective by nature and they wish to… protect you.”

“Why?”

Kingu
and Job exchanged a look.

“Well,”
Job finally said, “because, Teja… likes you.”

Sullivan
snorted.  “Sure she does.”  Teja looked like Sophia Loren and apparently
possessed magical powers. 
Obviously
, she’d be crushing on a small town
cop with a scar straight out of a slasher movie.  “Why
else?
”

“My
family also feels you’re young and possibly stupid.”  Kingu shrugged. 
“Additionally, when they looked up rabies symptoms, aggression and delusions
were listed as warning signs, so that was mentioned.  Again.”

“I
am not rabid, alright?  I just want to know what you people want from me.”

“Presently
we want Alder back.”

Sullivan
shook his head.  “The stalking was happening way before I arrested Alder. 
That’s
why
I arrested him, as a matter of fact.  You’re up to something
and I
know
Teja’s masterminding it.  I want to talk to
her.
”

“Teja
has been through a lot in the last few years.”  Job put in.  “She’s not as
strong as she seems.  Not emotionally.  Finding you has upset her, but if you
just give her some time…”

“
I’ve
upset
her? 
She has ranting criminals following me around town.  How is
that my fault?”

“When
you’re Matched to a Fire Phase, you find that somehow
everything’s
your
fault.”  Kingu commiserated.  “Of course, the tradeoff is you’re Matched to a
Fire Phase and they are greatest treasures in the universe.”  He leaned against
the metal desk and Sullivan actually saw the edge of it crumple down several
inches like tinfoil.  “I once detested humans.”  He said in a reminiscing tone.

“Kingu,
maybe now’s not the best time to…”

He
cut off his “uncle,” his red gaze on Sullivan.  “You are such an insignificant
species, yet you cause so much havoc.  Also, you smell.”

“I
don’t smell!”

Job
sighed.

Kingu
made a “let’s not quibble about it” sort of hand gesture.  “Your
species
as a whole tends to smell.  Alright?  The point is, when I met Hope, I realized
that not
all
of you are staggeringly inept wretches inflicted upon the
world like a curse.  Or a prank.”

“Thanks.” 
Sullivan deadpanned.

“So
I see you here, struggling with how you’ve disappointed Teja…”

“What? 
She
is the one…”

Kingu
kept talking like he didn’t even hear the protest.  “…and I feel a
responsibility to step in and help guide you.”  He hesitated.  “Also, I know
that if you don’t shape-up, my family will continue endlessly talking about you
and I would much rather they resume discussing my daughter.  That subject never
bores me.”  His expression brightened.  “Have you heard that Hope and I will
soon have a child?”

Job’s
mouth twitched.  “I believe you’ve now officially told
everyone
, Kingu.”

Jesus,
Sullivan should’ve called in sick today.  “Congratulations.”

“Yes,
the entire universe eagerly awaits her arrival.”  Kingu agreed with a perfectly
straight face.  “She will be immensely powerful, and rule through love and
terror.”  He clapped his palms together.  “Now, about Teja, you approach the
woman wrong and this is why you get nowhere with her.”

“I
haven’t approached her, at
all
.”

“Precisely. 
To court a Fire Phase is a delicate thing and you are screwing it up.”  Kingu
nodded wisely.  “I am an expert on the courting
and
the screwing up
part, so you should listen to me.  You don’t seem smart enough to accomplish
this on your own.”

Job
nodded like he agreed with that lunacy.  “Teja is a complicated woman, so if
you…”

“Alright,
listen to
me
.”  Sullivan leaned forward.  “I don’t know what exactly
Teja has told you, but there is no ‘courting’ going on.  I’ve spoken to the
woman
once
.  And it was weird.  More importantly, I am most definitely
not her type.  Have you seen her?”  He pointed to the scar on his cheek.  “Have
you seen
me?
”

Kingu
stared at him for a beat and then snapped his fingers.  Instantly, a framed
photo appeared his hand.

Sullivan’s
eyebrows soared.  “Jesus, I will never get used to shit like that.”

“This
is Hope.”  Kingu put the picture down in front of Sullivan and tapped the
glass.  “This is my Match.”

A
cherubic blonde beamed mischievously from the frame.  Sweet and small and
dressed in a barrage of rainbow colors, she looked like she should be making
cupcakes with kindergartners.  Instead, she was cuddled next to Kingu, smiling
up at him like he was Brad Pitt.  She was so pretty and this dragon guy…

Sullivan’s
gaze traveled back up to Kingu’s monstrous face.

…wasn’t.

Kingu
smirked at him.  “The Fire Phases are not normal people.  For some of us, this
is a fortunate thing.  Now, do you wish my advice on winning Teja or are you
pleased with living a squandered life?”

Sullivan
studied him for a beat.  “I’m gonna go with the squandered thing.”

This
was a set-up.  He didn’t how or why or what their plan was, but he knew damn
well that Teja and her crazy family were up to
something
.  There was no
way he was going to fall for whatever it was they were plotting.

Kingu
rolled his eyes and looked over at Job.  “You see?  By and large, they are
such
a dim species.”

“He
just doesn’t understand.”  Job shook his head.  “Teja isn’t telling him
anything.”

“My
family isn’t to blame for this!  It is all the human doing.”  Kingu gestured
towards Sullivan.  “He is being deliberately difficult about this entire
enterprise.  Apparently, he doesn’t wish to find happiness and so our only
option is to ensure he suffers the pain he is seeking.  We have no choice.  Failure
to respond to his attacks with an appropriate level of force will be seen as weakness
by our enemies.”

“Did
you just threaten me?”

“Of
course I did.”  Kingu frowned at him.  “You have made my day more difficult,
human.  It’s never wise to make a god’s day more difficult.”

Sullivan
really
needed to hire a secretary to screen his visitors.  Still, it was
becoming clear that he wasn’t going to get rid of these freaks without throwing
them some kind of bone.  “You know… I think we can all leave here happy.”

“You
will stop your reign of terror and release Alder?”

“No. 
But, I might have a lead on that a necklace you’re missing.”

Job
and Kingu stared at him.

“My
mother’s pendant?”  Kingu sounded amazed.  “How would you know of that?”

“I’m
a cop.”  Sullivan told him as if that was the answer to everything.  “Zakkery
stole it from you, right?”

“Well,
it wasn’t stolen…”  Job began.

Kingu
cut him off.  “Zakkery has that necklace and I will have it back.  My daughter
will need it to fully control the primordial Khaos and my daughter will have
everything
she needs.”