The Chilling Change Of Air (Elemental Awakening, Book 3) (15 page)

I let out a purposeful groan.

"Isadora," I snapped. "He lied to me, hid a huge-arse secret from me, and then left me here to deal with the fallout. You can have him, and when you're done, send the pieces to Switzerland, apparently that's where the Alchemists live."

Silence filled the kitchen.

Then Isadora spun on her heel and practically ran to the front room, smoke trailing behind her as she skidded over the marble tiles.

Aktor started chuckling.

"You made that up," he accused, merrily.

I wish I had.

"CERN," I said instead. "Geneva."

The mixing spoon in his hand clattered into the bowl of batter he'd been stirring.

"You know what this means?" he said quietly. I shook my head. "It means we can fight back."

"And who is we?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at the old man.

His shoulders dropped; it hurt almost as much as everything else right now, seeing that level of defeat. The reminder of his exile.

"I'm so sorry, Aktor. That was unkind," I rushed to say.

"No, Miss Eden. It's the first time since I met you that you've acted like an
Athanatos.
"

"I'm not sure that's a compliment."

"Au contraire," he said with a sad smile. "It's the first time that I've truly believed you might just make it out of this wretched episode with some of that fire of yours intact."

I swallowed.

"Yeah, about this wretched episode," I murmured. "I could really use some advice."

The cake batter got pushed aside, and then Aktor was pulling down the ouzo from behind a packet of pasta in the pantry, and grabbing two shot glasses off a nearby shelf.

"This calls for fortification," he announced.

And I had the sudden realisation that my "wretched episode" was far worse than I had thought. If the butler was hitting the booze, I was in deep freaking trouble.

"He thinks it will return," I said, downing the last of my shot glass with a grimace. Aktor refilled it immediately, as soon as it hit the bench.

He'd also put out cheese and crackers and a bowl of dried fruit and nuts, all of which I was tossing down my throat along with the seventy-five proof.

Now this is how lunch should be served. Go the Greeks!

"You know," I added, eyes shuttered. "When we, er, do the, um, deed." Yeah, that was all me, not the booze talking. I'm immortal; I can handle my liquor.

Aktor smiled kindly.

"He may have a point."

"You don't really believe that," I accused softly, then staring into my topped up shot glass, tipped it to my mouth and downed the lot.

Whoa. That hit the spot.

Aktor refilled the glass, then placed a piece of aged cheddar on a cracker and handed it over.

"Ouzo or snack?" I asked.

"Whatever gets you through the day, Miss Eden."

I wasn't sure I could face another burn so quickly, so munched on the cracker instead.

"I have never heard of a
Thisavros
connection being broken," the old man said in between my loud crunching.

"Is it like mating for life or something?" I asked around my mouthful in the most unladylike display I had ever effected.

"More or less. You can walk away, but the connection will always be there. Easily brought back to life with only a little tender care on both parts."

"So it's a compulsion to stay together?" I queried, frowning at the thought of loss of will.

"No, not at all. It can change, become a different kind of love. A need to show respect and honour toward someone. But it is still a treasured relationship."

"Theo once said you can only have one
Thisavros
at a time," I said tentatively.

"That is true."

"So, does that mean you can have one after another, when the connection changes to something less romantic?" God, I think that ouzo was going to come back up my gullet soon.

"Of course not," the butler replied. "What part of a
Thisavros
connection cannot be broken did you not understand?"

All the blood left my face and my head spun, the room tilting slightly, my fingers gripping the edge of the table top, nails digging into wood. Isadora, that freaking lying bitch, was so going to die.

"What about Melita?" I whispered.

"Melita? Ah yes," Aktor said, eyes going back in time. Oh say, fifteen hundred years back. "What about Melita, Cassandra?" he asked.

Aktor only used Cassandra when he needed to really soften a blow, otherwise he stuck with the more formal Miss Eden. Things were not looking good. I grabbed the ouzo and downed the shot for courage.

Wiping the sticky substance away from my lips with the back of my hand I breathed fire for a second and then gasped, "Isadora."

"Ah. That's right. I remember now," the butler said ominously. And if Dora had still been here, I think she would have shrivelled under the look of anger that marred the old man's face. "Melita was special, as I'm sure you're aware. Theodoros adored her, but she betrayed him. Their relationship did not end on good terms."

Then the words I hadn't realised I still needed to hear, even after everything that had happened since Brazil and Isadora's treachery, were uttered.

"She was never his
Thisavros
."

My hand shook as I reached for the ouzo bottle. Aktor beat me to it and refilled my glass then placed cheddar on two crackers and handed them to me. I forced myself to eat the snacks first then followed them up with a sip from the aniseed brew.

"One
Thisavros
and one only," Aktor whispered. "And you are his."

"Then why is it broken now?"

"I do not have the answer, Miss Eden. I only know that despite the memory loss he has fallen fast for you all over again. Does that not say something?"

"But he doesn't remember. What if he never remembers me?"

"Would that be so bad?" the old man asked gently. "If the alternative is his absence from your life completely?"

I shook my head, the ouzo sloshing around in my belly with aged cheese and cracker meal. It didn't feel pretty.

"I'm not sure it's enough," I finally admitted. Realising this was
my
problem. Not Theo's. All mine.

I had to get my head around this new dynamic. I had to accept the love he offered now in place of the love we'd had.

Me. It was all on me.

"I don't know if I can do this," I said on a hitched sob.

"My dear," Aktor said softly, reaching over and cupping the back of my hand where it lay on the table's surface with his larger one. "Ask yourself this, can you walk away? Because what you are admitting is an inability to change that will lead you down a different path than Theodoros'."

I lifted stinging eyes to his face.

"I don't know the answer to that," I said, voice rough with pent up emotion. "All I know is this hurts too much. More than the King's doctor cutting open my chest. More than my grandfather's betrayal. More than anything I have ever felt in my life. I want him back."

My Theo. My
Thisavros
.

"Don't give up on him," Aktor pleaded softly. "Trust that he'll find his way back to you one day. I cannot believe it is permanent. I can.. not. It goes against
everything
we have been taught of
Aetheros
. He would not bestow this gift and have it abused in such a way."

"That's blind faith and most religions have it," I pointed out. "And most followers are let down a time or two along the way."

"Ah, but where those religions are based, in most cases, on complete blind faith as you say, I have actually conversed with my god. I
know
he is real."

"You do?" I asked, surprised.

"Very... old... man," the butler said slowly, pointing at his chest.

I smiled.

"Ancient," I offered. "And I guess it would be rude to ask what you guys talked about, huh?"

"Extremely," the butler chided with a teasing smile. "Besides, how can he not exist, if we do?"

"Yeah, humans say that about their gods too."

He scoffed. "We bend the Elements, Miss Eden. We don't just live. We play with life."

"Sounds very close to a god-like complex there, Aktor."

He shrugged.

"Maybe, but it is nonetheless true."

And that's why
Athanatos
are so arrogant. They
believe
it.

Belief is a tangible thing,
my grandfather's words floated through my mind.

Was it that simple? Did I just have to believe that a
Thisavros
connection can never truly be broken and Theo would come back to me? Was that it?

I snorted, picked up a grape and rolled it around in my mouth, then squashed it between my teeth.

Then again, what had I seen this past year? Unbelievable things made real.

I closed my eyes, lifted my face to the ceiling imaging an all powerful Elemental god looking down at me and waited for a lightning bolt to strike. Something. Anything that told me to have faith.
Believe
.

Somehow I didn't think it would be that easy.

"Have I at least made things clearer?" Aktor asked, bringing my attention back to the room.

I offered a brave smile and then ruined it completely by saying, "Maybe just one more shot."

We were on our third one-more-shot by the time Nico and Sonya walked in. And I'd lost count by the time Theo, followed by Mark and backed up by the Bitch, joined us.

Things went downhill from there.

"We need to discuss
Pyrkagia
," Theo announced and then noticed the detritus of crackers and cheese, picked over fruit and nuts, and an empty ouzo bottle sitting next to a newly opened one.

His eyes swept slowly to my face.

"When I said eat," he said quietly. "I meant something nutritious."

"Since when has our national drink not been nutritious, cousin?" Nico countered.

"Tastes good to me," Sonya said, then hiccoughed.

A giggle swiftly followed.

"Are you well?" Theo asked, eyes still on me.

I'd be well when Isadora bit the dust, but saying that was probably not a good idea.

"I'm quite fine," I replied steadily, suddenly acutely aware that there was a limit to an
Athanatos'
alcohol intake before adverse effects could be felt.

I was sure I hadn't slurred. Kind of.

Theo sighed, moved around the table and with a nod of his head ordered Nico to shift to the next seat over, making the chair beside me available. He slipped into the vacated seat before pointing to one opposite for my brother to use. I was surprised to see Isadora sitting down beside him, but that could have been so she could keep him in line. Not because she
wanted
to be near him.

I was projecting, no two ways about it. And where I was projecting my thoughts was not necessarily an improvement on her wanting her hooks in my
Thisavros
. I could only assume any notion was better than that, and that's why I hoped she'd shifted her focus to my brother.

Oh, holy freaking hell. I clearly hadn't thought that through.

"I am preparing something more nutritious for dinner," Aktor advised. "We can either eat here or in the formal dining room."

"Here will be fine," Theo replied. "You need to be in on this conversation as well."

"Very well," the butler said, his voice heavy, his shoulders looking about the same.

"My father," Theo started, "has to be deposed."

My mouth fell open as Aktor slowly placed the butcher's knife he'd been using down on the bench and turned back to face the table. Astute and concerned eyes lifted to Theo's.

"It has been a long time coming," the ancient
Ekmetalleftis
said slowly. "But what has brought you to this conclusion?"

Theo turned golden eyes to my face.

"Need I truly list them?" he asked, his voice roughened.

"
Pyrkagia
is split," my brother said into the electrified silence. "I am aware of thirty who have agreed to converse with my brethren."

It felt like the room was spinning, or maybe it was floating on a choppy sea. Of course, that could have had something to do with the ouzo, but I was sure it was more the fact that my brother sounded old beyond his years. His choice of words to call the Alchemists was too close to what an
Athanatos
would use.