The Chilling Change Of Air (Elemental Awakening, Book 3) (35 page)

"The reunion would make me want to mark you, possess you, and exert that claim for all to see, but impregnating you is all on me. Just wishful thinking. And perhaps the influx of memories all at once." He turned a dazzling, Theo Peters smile on me. "Delicious and beautiful memories."

I shook my head at him, unable to hide my smile as well.

"Let's tell the others," he declared, gripping my hand and starting back towards the arched ceiling area of the cellar.

"They probably heard," I muttered, heat washing up my face.

"I should hope so," Theo replied pleasantly. "I worked very hard to effect that result."

My eyebrows shot up my forehead.

"You covered my mouth!" I exclaimed.

"I was attempting to be a gentleman."

I gaped. He laughed. It was free and light and utterly sensational.

"I am far from a gentleman, Cassandra. You should know that by now."

I wanted to call him on that, but we'd made it back to the main area, and the smell of something being cooked over the open flames.

"Oh, good," Theo announced. "Dinner. I'm famished."

And all eyes turned towards us, landing on my blushing face with way too much awareness for my liking. I scanned the area, unable to find Mark and Isadora, and felt infinitely better about their obvious absence. Which was quickly followed by a frown at what that absence actually meant and the fact it was my brother with the cow.

I liked Sonya's new nickname for Isadora. I was thinking that could stay.

"I'm afraid we're on to the tinned stew," Aktor announced, stirring the contents in a pot over the brazier. "But it doesn't smell too offensive and is full of protein."

"We could use protein," Theo declared, depositing me on the couch beside a now upright Sonya and then walking over to a shelf and pulling down a bottle of wine. "And a drink to celebrate," he added.

"The return of your
Stoicheio
," Nico supplied, a note of something poignant in his tone.

My eyes flicked from a smirking Sonya, who'd been having a "I know what you've been doing" staring match with me, towards him. He was looking up at Theo as he opened the bottle with what could only be longing. I felt my brow furrow.

Then it clicked.

"Your
Stoicheio
didn't come back?" I asked, understanding the longing I saw on his face now.

"No," he said, pulling his eyes away from Theo, who had opened the bottle and then stilled on Nico's words, staring down at his cousin sitting in a pile of cushions at Sonya's feet.

"Nothing?" Theo asked.

Both Aktor and Nico shook their heads in reply.

Theo's eyes lifted to mine.

"We have both had ours returned," he announced, albeit carefully. "Isadora?" he queried.

"She hasn't either," Aktor supplied. "But Marcus has access to his Water and Air."

"Well, that makes no sense at all," Theo remarked, finding clean glasses in a wooden crate and checking them for dust. He poured out a glass of red wine and then walked over and handed it to me. His eyes held mine, a depth of love and recognition in them I hadn't seen for far too long.

Tears welled and he smiled.

"I do not have an answer," he said, addressing Nico. "But this celebration is not for our returned
Stoicheio
."

"It's not?" Aktor asked.

"No," Theo said, his eyes once again on my face as he held out a glass to Sonya beside me.

"He's back," Sonya announced, taking the offered drink and raising it in a mini toast to my
Thisavros
.

Aktor stopped stirring the stew and hurried over, his eyes scanning Theo's face and then flicking to mine.

"Oh,
Aetheros
," he exclaimed. "This
is
a celebration." Then he hurried away down an aisle in search of something he needed right that very instant, no doubt.

"The
Thisavros
connection?" Nico enquired.

"Indeed," Theo replied, handing him a glass. "Strong, if my reaction was anything to go by."

"You don't say?" Nico offered with a smirk.

"I advise you keep well away from Cassandra, cousin," Theo added. "Precautionary measure, of course."

"Of course," Nico agreed, grinning profusely and then offering me a wink.

Aktor came barrelling back into the open space then, several boxes under his arms and muttering merrily.

"We'll feast," he announced, loud enough for everyone to hear. "A celebration is much needed right now."

He stirred the stew eagerly, then turned his attention to his packages, as Theo placed a glass of wine beside his old friend, on a barrel similar to the one he'd just screwed me senseless on.

I watched as Theo's fingers brushed the edge of the barrel, and then golden, lust-filled eyes flicked up to my face. I felt the heat rise on my cheeks, even as I grinned at him.

He poured himself a glass and walked over, sinking into the seat at my side.

"To your returned
Thisavros
," Nico announced, lifting his glass in a toast. Everyone stopped what they were doing and repeated the toast, taking a sip of delicious wine.

"I do hope this is the turning point," Aktor declared, unwrapping his precious parcels and placing what looked like crackers and antipasto - sundried tomatoes, olives, and oiled feta - out in dishes to the side. A Mediterranean feast.

"Do you have your memories, Theo?" Nico asked, taking another more relaxed sip of wine and falling into the celebratory atmosphere despite his lack of
Stoicheio
.

"Yes, thank
Aetheros
," he replied, slipping his hand into mine and bringing the back of it up to his lips for a sweet kiss.

"Oh, this is a happy day indeed," Aktor declared, bringing his feast over to us and placing it on a low pedestal, that must have housed candles or some such thing from the look of all the melted wax.

"But what are we going to do about your
Stoicheio
?" I asked, snuggling into Theo's side and nibbling on a cracker.

"Let's not worry about that right now," Aktor chided gently. "It will all fall into place."

I doubted that, and as the conversation rose around me, even Sonya getting in on the joyous atmosphere, I sent a tendril of thought out to Earth and Fire, unwilling to confront Air just yet.

Are you there?
I asked and held my breath.

Aether
, they both intoned, one grounded and serious, one playful and frisky.

What's happening out there?
I asked, taking a fortifying sip of my wine before they could answer.

A sigh. A mournful hiss from the fire.

The world dies,
Earth said.
We need you,
it added.
Aether, come save us.

Save us, Aether
, Fire added, to push the message home.

I stared into the red liquid in my glass, remembering the blood coating the streets above, and I knew our reprieve was not over. I had my
Stoicheio
back. I had my
Thisavros
back. But I did not have the answer to Genesis.

How do I stop this
? I demanded them both.

Silence was my only reply.

What do I do?
I begged and the only sounds was those of my companions laughing despite the still oncoming threat.

I shook my head and Theo turned to me, concern washing away the delight he'd just displayed.

"What is it,
Oraia
?"

"It's not over," I replied.

The room fell quiet on my words.

Then Theo murmured, "One night. That's all I ask. One night to enjoy having you back."

I reached up and cupped his cheek tenderly, infusing my touch with
Pyrkagia
because I could. His eyelids fluttered closed and he sighed a blissfully contented sigh.

My hand fell down when I realised Aktor and Nico were watching us, and I shouldn't have been rubbing our returned
Stoicheio
in their faces. Neither looked angry, just wistful. But still.

"They won't tell me what to do," I announced, knowing we had no choice but to address this. Time was not on our side. Each new Genesis event had happened quite quickly after the last. We couldn't hide down here. Like Mark had said, the next might be Water and we'd be flushed out anyway, even if our responsibilities called to us and we pretended we couldn't hear them.

"Your
Stoicheio
?" Aktor clarified.

I nodded. "I'm too afraid to ask Air."

"Why?" Nico asked, sounding genuinely interested in my answer.

"Because there is something very chilling about that Element. Something frightening."

Silence for a beat.

"Yet the
Aeras
seemed quite sane," Theo offered, in a generous tone, I thought. Hip's grandfather was anything but sane.

My eyes flicked to his. "Maybe we should visit them again. Ask the shaman for an answer."

"If he'd had an answer, he would have given it already," Theo pointed out. "He was as at a loss as we were."

"Then I don't know what to do," I said, feeling impotent. "I don't even know how we returned our
Stoicheio
. I can't even repeat it to help Nico and Aktor."

"And Isadora," Sonya helpfully supplied. I gave her a half-hearted glare. She was trying to snap me out of my defeatist attitude. I'd thank her later, but right now I was too glum.

"We'll think of something," Theo offered just as Aktor came over with dinner.

We ate in silence, still no sign of Mark and Isadora. And if they had been in the cellar, I was sure they would have smelled the food and roused themselves long enough to emerge from their cocoon of - I was not going to think too much on what they were doing - whatever, and come and eat.

But they didn't appear, and by the time we all curled up for sleep, me wrapped up in my
Thisavros'
arms, Sonya and Nico so close together their shoulders touched, Aktor by the fire, keeping an eye on the flames, longing in his still hazel eyes, I had really begun to worry.

The outside world felt so far away, though, in our little arched ceilinged room. If it wasn't for the fact I knew my brother was up there. No one had mentioned going back up into the wreckage of the house. Unsaid was Sonya's need for further rest, and Theo's desire to be near me before facing what may come. But I couldn't stop thinking about Genesis. About the fact that only three of us had access to
Stoicheio
and the rest were at a severe disadvantage. Including the humans.

I couldn't stop thinking.

So, I was awake when Mark and Isadora walked in; soaked, wide eyed, and breathless.

I sat up and stared at my brother, aware of exactly what was going on, even before Isadora cleared her throat and woke everyone else up with the urgent words, "The roads are flooding."

Nico groaned and rolled over, throwing an absent arm over Sonya's still form. Aktor muttered as he rose and Theo just blinked golden eyes directly at mine.

"We've tried to keep as much out of the cellar as we could," Mark announced, surprising me at his consideration and the fact he'd been actively doing something, while we celebrated and ignored the inevitable. "But we have to move soon. My guess, we've got about an hour."

"Then what?" Aktor asked.

"I don't know," the Alchemist amongst us replied.

"We salvage what we can," Theo announced, once again taking charge. "Essentials only. There were some packs down the back somewhere."

"On it," Isadora replied, heading off in a determined direction.

We all came to our feet and took one last look around our haven, aware we were now being forced into the unknown with the rest of the world.

"Higher ground will be our best bet," Aktor advised, rolling up a blanket. I followed his example, numbed and not thinking clearly and just so damn freaking scared.

Again.

What do we do
? I begged all
Stoicheio
mentally, in a fit of frustration and desperateness.

Nothing, but a wail of the wind, a shudder of the ground, and a hiss from the fire.

Theo turned his golden eyes to me.

"Anything?" he asked, aware I'd made the Elements react just then and had probably been communicating.

I shook my head, fear showing on my face. We'd come so far, but we were still so out matched. And I had absolutely no idea what to do.

It took us twenty minutes to collect what we could, pack it securely and don our bags. Good quality backpacks, for hiking or camping, even two person tents were included on every other one. It was frightening what we couldn't take. What we had to leave behind. It was appalling what we did take, how little it was, how quickly it would surely run out.