The Chilling Change Of Air (Elemental Awakening, Book 3) (16 page)

I realised, I really did not know him. A stranger sat before me. Someone comfortable in this world. So comfortable that he wielded two
Stoicheio
, not as well as an
Ekmetalleftis
could, but from what I'd seen it had been enough to hold his own against four. Luck may have contributed, but he'd still broken through a wall of Fire and come out the other side unscathed.

And here he sat advising the Prince of
Pyrkagia
on a planned coup.

I did not know him at all. It was hard not to feel betrayed at that thought, even though I'd begun to consider his actions not so much betrayal as protection and maybe a kind of survival. Both I could respect.

But still that realisation that he was not who I thought him hurt.

When would the aching stop?

"There is unrest," Theo agreed. "Many have seen what we have suspected for so long. We need eyes and ears on the ground in Auckland before we can make an educated assessment, but my mind is set. My father cannot live to do what he has done again and again. For centuries he has ruled in a manner unbecoming our kind. He sealed his fate when he took my
Thisavros
and stole her from my memory.
Aetheros
may have other concerns, but mine are more visceral." He slapped his chest once to prove his point. "I must avenge
Pyrkagia
."

It was an impressive speech, and pointing out I wasn't considered
Pyrkagia
by his people was probably not appropriate right now. Theo looked like the world had come to rest on his shoulders. And who could argue that fact? He had just announced his intention to not only kill his father, but in the process place his head under the crown.

As much as I wanted to remind him of my
Pyrkagia
issues, my voice was unsurprisingly lost.

"This is a dark day," Aktor murmured. "But after darkness comes light. You have my allegiance. Always."

He bowed his head and then turned back to the meal he was preparing as though what was said was said. But the heaviness that invaded the room pressed down on my chest and made it hard to breathe.

Nico was the one to break the silence.

"And where does the Alchemist fit into this?" he asked, eyes on my brother, who was making a meal of the leftovers and following them down with a shot of ouzo.

Direct from the bottle.

Isadora frowned at his lack of manners, and from the quirk of his lips it was obvious he'd done it with the intention of exacting a response from her and no one else.

"He does not have a free pass," Theo advised. "And I will refrain from giving him one until I am sure all he has imparted is indeed correct. But," again Theo's eyes darted towards me, "he knows things about this upcoming Genesis that we do not. Perhaps a truce could be called for the time being."

Mark didn't stop stuffing nuts into his mouth and didn't make eye contact with anyone around the table, as though he was quite content to be the topic of conversation and at ease with Theo's veiled threats.

I wasn't as circumspect as Theo.

"I certainly don't trust him," I announced and every head, including Mark's, lifted to my face.

"Cassandra?" Theo pressed.

I held Mark's slightly widened eyes with a steely gaze of my own.

"Forgiveness is earned," I murmured.

"I'll earn it," he vowed immediately.

I didn't know what to say. Everything was changing. My world view. My memories of growing up with a loving brother. My love life. My future. It was all changing and the only feeling I had was chilled.

I felt deeply cold. Right in the centre of me. Right where my heart lived and my body drew strength from. The world was imbalanced to such a degree that disasters were occurring across the globe. And if that wasn't enough the man I loved more than life itself, who couldn't remember why he'd earned that love, was preparing to do battle with his family.

How do you stage a dethroning? How do you battle a powerful race of beings in order to replace their King?

My eyes flicked up to Theo's finally. I held his steady, weary hazel gaze. No matter what happened, I knew one thing to be true. I would follow this man into hell. Despite our unresolved issues. Despite the precarious position of our relationship. Despite everything.

I would follow him into hell.

Because even though this was not my Theo, deep down I knew my Theo must still exist.

How could he not? When I felt so drawn to him. How could he not? When I'd take whatever he offered, in any way, shape or form. How could he not? When to look at him the world disappeared and all I could see was that amber and jade in his eyes. All I could feel was the heat in his gaze. All I wanted was him.

It wasn't perfect. It wasn't, ultimately, what I wanted. I still wanted
my
Theo back.

But it was what it was... and I was his.

Whatever version of Theo this was, I was still his.

Even if he wasn't the version of Theo I craved.

"
Oraia
," he murmured, as the smells of whatever Aktor was cooking filled the kitchen and voices rose in quiet conversation allowing us a moment of privacy.

I could see his desire. I could see his intention to get me up to that bedroom and onto his bed. I could see the night before us as clear as day, and it was skin on skin, lips and tongues and teeth, and this man who called to me despite
everything
moving inside me, claiming me. Even if it was the me he knew now and not the me who used to mean
everything
to him as well.

It hurt still.

Remember me.

His eyes closed as though in pain. As though he'd heard my mental plea. His jaw flexed, a muscle jumped in his cheek. My heart ached.

And then the Earth groaned, a mournful, desperate sound that preceded the End Of Days.

It hadn't begun. We'd been so wrong.

Genesis started with a rock and a roll, a thunderous boom, and the lights all going out.

And it swelled with a lurch and a stomach churning shift of tectonic plates and a shudder of the ground beneath the city, hell even the country, moving a meter or two on a rebounding wave.

The table hit the ceiling, screams rang out on the air, and every single window in the house shattered. Walls swayed, cupboard doors banged, and then with a high pitched moan the house began to crumble.

Theo yelled something. Nico screamed for Sonya. I couldn't see Mark or Isadora or Aktor.

Then as the ceiling caved in and the world turned upside down and Wellington city was thrown into a murky type of artificial twilight, I felt Theo's hand grip mine as he struggled to pull me toward a gap in the side of the kitchen that hadn't been there a second before, and led me out blindly into the depths of hell.

Smoke and sirens and screaming and wailing and thunderous booms and crashing bangs and screeching metal as it twisted... and the sky falling down.

Stop!
I yelled at the Earth.

And then I knew true fear.

Because the Earth wasn't who answered back. The thunderous voice which did reply filled my body up and then pushed for more space inside my skull until I felt blood drip from my nose and ears, and my skin split under my hairline where bone pulled apart.

And in a resonant boom of authority and a chilling, body freezing type of terror-filled tone it said,
Aether
.
Aether. Oh, my Aether.
Now
it begins.

"Casey! Casey!"

The bed was rolling, like one of those waterbeds, making you feel vaguely seasick.

Or maybe that was the ouzo. How much had I had to drink last night?

"Casey, wake up!"

I tried to stretch but my entire body hurt. A moan escaped as I corrected my mistake and curled into a ball.

"
Oraia
, wake up."

"No," I mumbled, thinking I might just vomit if I opened my eyes. "Go away!"

"She always was a grouch first thing in the morning," I heard my brother say.

What was he doing in our bedroom?

"Well, it's not the morning and I need her to tell us what the Earth has to say," came Theo's snapped and borderline desperate answer.

"You just want to make sure she's not been lobotomised," Mark offered considerately.

"You're not helping," Nico chimed in.

"Is she going to be all right?" Sonya asked. "There was a lot of blood." Her voice trailed off on the last word.

"She's tougher than she looks," Isadora grumbled. "Believe me, if she was easy to..."

"Stop!" Theo yelled. "Or so help me, Dora."

"Yes, yes, you'll take her head," Mark remarked breezily. "Heard it all before, Your Uptightness."

"Are you not in the least worried about your sister?" Nico queried, with obvious disdain.

A short pause. "No," Mark said quietly. "She's immortal, isn't she?" The lie was in the delivery. I may have thought my brother had become someone I didn't know, but I
did
know his tones of voice and mannerisms intimately.

Right now he'd be reclining in some fashion, effecting a disinterested pose, and chewing on that bottom lip with frantic worry. I lifted heavy lids and searched until I found him, a vague outline of relaxed muscles and hard body, his eyes looking directly into mine as though he hadn't been able to look anywhere else until I woke.

"Hi," I croaked.

"Thank
Aetheros
," Theo murmured, running a hand down my arm and back up again. "Where does it hurt most?" he asked, voice strained.

"Someone hit me in the head with a two-by-four and someone else must have driven a cement mixer over my body to make sure the job was done right."

Oh, too many words. I gagged on the bile that surged up my throat.

"Easy," Theo whispered.

It took a minute for easy to register.

"Where are we?" I asked, noticing for the first time that the floor was hard and the walls had cobwebs and the roof looked like tin.

"The garden shed," Aktor replied. "Somehow it survived the earthquake when nothing else did."

Earthquake. Oh, it all came back to me. I sat up, holding my freaking agony-filled head and moaning.

"Cassandra," Theo pleaded, reaching for me and pulling me back against his body, so I was semi-reclined.

It did feel better.

"Earthquake," I managed to get out on a hiss of pain as my body resettled. But at least I was facing everyone else. Who on closer inspection didn't look nearly as bad I felt. "Why do you guys look unharmed? Did something fall on me?"

"No," Theo whispered, kissing the side of my head softly, while his hand kept up a soothing rhythm up and down my arm.

It helped.

"We all got out," he explained, "but you fell unconscious not long after and had what looked like a seizure. Do you remember anything?"

I closed my eyes and although I just knew it was going to hurt like a bitch I called out to Earth.

Are you there?

Aether,
came the whispered reply. And thank you, God, it was not the chilling one of before but my favourite, sometimes riddle-loving
Stoicheio
. Although, it sounded wounded.

Not good.

My eyes opened again to the strange dimness in the shed. It held a sort of orange glow, but no one was calling forth their Fire.

"Earth is injured," I stated simply.

"Fire is not much better," Nico replied.

I hadn't even tried to reach for
Pyrkagia
, it took it out of me to search for my
Gi
. I wondered how Air and Water had fared.

"Mark?" I asked, before forcing myself to check on
Aeras
.

"
Nero
is harmed as well," my brother announced.

OK. I had to do this, but the ringing in my head had intensified and it was all I could do not to pant.

Closing my eyes again, I sucked in a breath of air and...

"Don't you dare," Theo growled low, hand on my chin, tilting my face up to his.

My eyes opened.

"It's obvious all
Stoicheio
have been compromised, we don't need you to confirm Air has been as well."

The breath I'd sucked in left me in a relieved rush.

"So, what happened?" I asked, once my pulse had settled somewhat.

"Genesis happened," Mark advised.

"How bad?" I pushed.

"From what we can tell," Theo answered, "the city has been practically levelled."

Silence followed those words. Deep, tragic, heavy, frightening silence.