The Soothing Scent Of Earth (Elemental Awakening, Book 2) (16 page)

"Do you know what I am?" I asked, somewhat mollified by his admission.

"An
Athanatos
, " he answered simply. "My
Thisavros
," he added with a kiss on my lips, when he tipped my face up to his.

Oh Lord. Here goes nothing.

"Apparently," I started, watching his head tilt at the uncertain tone of my voice. "I'm a little more than that."

"What have you found out?" he asked steadily.

I sucked in air and took a good hard look at the man who held me in his arms. He was my
Thisavros
. There was no denying he was mine and I was his. If I couldn't share what I had learned without fear of rejection from him, then I had no hope in hell of surviving what lay ahead.

I crossed my fingers behind his back where they rested, and said, voice quaking slightly, "Ever heard of an
Aether?"

Holy freak golden glow. Theo lit up in a blaze of burnished jewel-like yellow from his eyes, his arms tightened further and he pulled me hard against his chest. His head tipped down and a line creased his forehead.

"
Aether,
" he growled.

Oh, God. Had this been an enormous mistake?

"Oh fuck, Casey," Theo breathed out in a burst of air. "Who told you that?"

He hadn't released me, he still held me tightly in the circle of his arms. But his face had pulled back, creating a sense of distance between us. Which my mind, compounded with the angry tone of his words, interpreted as a chasm.

"An Alchemist," I admitted, reluctantly.

"What?" he shouted, which sounded too loud in the enclosed space. My body jerked in reaction, the need to cover my ears and take a step back was too great.

I felt his hands cover mine and gently tug them down from the sides of my head.

"Shhh," he murmured. "I'm sorry. You just surprised me. Alchemist?" he sucked in a breath and then urged me back into his embrace, tenderly placing my head against his chest. "Why didn't you mention this earlier?" he asked, albeit softly.

"We've hardly had time to breathe," I pointed out.

"You're right," he agreed, stroking a hand down my spine. "And the danger, if we don't leave soon, is real. Making a heart to heart on all that has happened hard to accomplish. But let's start with the basics, shall we?"

He reached into the shower and turned it off, then bundled me under his arm and took me back into the main room, settling us at the small table and chairs where breakfast had been laid out. Reminding me of who had brought it and just left.

"I don't like her," I admitted sullenly, as Theo proceeded to place croissants and cheese and fruit on my plate. "I don't trust her. She's betrayed you once already. She hates me."

Theo's eyes sparkled with humour.

"Sweet little
Gi
, you have nothing to worry about with Isadora." I'm not sure in which capacity he meant that. "She is a means to an end and nothing else."

"A couple thousand years of to-ing and froing, and she's just a means to an end?" I asked, incredulously. Theo and Isadora had somehow reunited their love affair though the centuries, with frequent bouts of time apart when Theo grew bored. It didn't paint either of them in a particularly good light. Theo; the unsettled, spoiled playboy. And Isadora; the pathetic hanger on.

Theo sat back in his chair and crossed his legs, staring me down.

"What's in the past stays in the past, Cassandra. Do not contend yourself with her."

That put me in my place, didn't it? I bristled, but worked on containing the heated fury that stole up my cheeks.

Then, without conscious thought, said, "If she lays a finger on you, I will kill her. If you entertain her in any capacity that can be misconstrued, I will make your life a living hell."

Silence.

Then, "
Fuck
, you are delicious."

I lifted my eyes to his and found only hunger and desire staring back. I'd expected righteous fury. I was laying down the law to an alpha male who had made his own rules. And yet I'd turned him on.

I offered a small smile, feeling a sense of wonder at what I'd pulled from this usually carefully controlled man.

We stared at each other for a long moment and then Theo adjusted himself in his seat and let out a long breath of air.

"So," he said at length. "Eat, and while you do, tell me about the Alchemist."

I stared down at the food before me, gathering my nerves. I'm not sure how much time passed, but Theo's hand reaching over and breaking off the corner of the croissant shattered my frozen gaze. He spread a little butter on it, placed a slice of cheese on top of that and then lifted it to my mouth. He hadn't said a word, and his movements had been precise and unhurried.

I held his gaze and let him place the food on my tongue. Neither of us smiled, just kept eye contact while I chewed my mouthful. A second piece was presented to me, followed by a slice of pineapple. Then when I started picking at the food as well, he turned his attention to a coffee pot and poured us both cups, topping them off with milk and two sugars. He pushed my drink towards me and sat back in his chair, fingers steepled in front of his lips, as he watched me nibble on my food.

"Why don't you start at the beginning," he suggested softly. "What happened when you came to?"

Came to. He meant after the
Anaisthetikos
in Auckland. My eyes lifted from the plate in front of me to meet his again slowly. He wasn't going to like this.

"I was in a concrete cell," I said softly, somehow thinking my tone would soften the blow.

Theo flinched, only slightly, but otherwise made no obvious move in response. He knew now that things had not gone as the
Pyrkagia
had expected. But how bad it actually became would be the shock.

"The
Gi Rigas
was there, and another
Gi
who ended up being my prison guard." And torturer, but we'd build up to that. "He asked me what I was, I couldn't give him the answer he desired. Things pretty much declined from there."

Theo's body was stature stiff, his fingers steepled in front of his thinly pressed lips, hadn't moved an inch. His eyes had started to blaze gold.

"Theo," I said in warning.

"Is this upsetting you?" he asked, voice low and if I was someone else, I'd think threatening. But I knew the dark tone was not for me.

"No," I said shaking my head, I'd had time to accept what had happened. "But I don't want you to be upset either."

"Does it help to talk about this?" he asked, in that same tone.

I had to think about that for a moment, but there was really only one answer. "Yes. I want there to be no secrets between us."

His eyes closed slowly and he nodded. When they opened again he'd managed to control his golden glow.

"Go on," he encouraged softly. Managing to get a handle on his tone too, it seemed.

I sucked in a deep breath and went on. Describing the repetitive questioning, the consequent torture, both physical and with the use of
Hederin
to make me watch Theo's death again and again. I told him about my meals; bread, occasionally some cheese and overripe fruit, and water. I outlined my daily routine of washing in the sink before Davos arrived, of resting on the hard mattress with only an old, dirty sheet for cover, of being cut off from my
Stoicheio
and how it weakened me both physically and mentally. I talked about Noah the doctor, who turned out to be an Alchemist, saving me in the end from a fate worse than death. Helping me to escape, killing my tormentor. Which brought me to his revelation that I was an
Aether
, but not what that actually meant.

I described the terror of running from the
Gi
fortress, of knowing the
Basilissa
would send out every Guard she could spare to get me back. I explained why she thought I was the answer to their fertility problems, brought on by the massive scale of deforestation right on their doorstep. I told him I felt the effects of the Amazon's pain, the Earth's pain at what was happening.

I said I understood what the
Basilissa
was trying to do and why. But her methods were frightening.

I told him about the confrontation with the
Gi
Guards, my fervent desire to escape them, to
never
go back to their stronghold and the
Basilissa
. I fumbled over the words of what it felt like when my
Pyrkagia Stoicheio
Awakened. I clenched my fists in my lap when I described my grandfather’s dream visit and my realisation that he was an Alchemist too, and that he must have known what I would become.

Anger warred with shock, mixed with abandonment and worry and dread and anxiety and fear. Theo finally moved, reaching across the table's surface and gripping my hand in his. His intense
hazel eyes held mine for a long moment and then, having felt like I had spoken uninterrupted for an eternity, he said, "We'll work this out,
Oraia
. We'll figure this out together."

I bit the inside of my cheek, fighting back the tears, angry that they were still so close to the surface.

"Cassandra," he said softly, a caress of his voice over my name. "Remember what I told you last night?" I blinked back at him, but couldn't find my voice through the constriction in my throat. "I will always love you. No matter what. Nothing's changed. Nothing can change that."

I sucked in a shattering deep breath and felt my shoulders sag, not realising how tense I had become while I relayed the last three months of my life. Theo moved from his chair, and came to his knees before me, making me spread my legs so he could pull me hard against his chest. Arms wrapped around my waist, one hand up into my hair, kneading softly. He held my gaze, his head at just the right height, level with my face.

"I only know what I have been taught of the
Aether
," he whispered, stroking soft, tender caresses down my back, while his hand continued to massage my head. "Quintessence, as it is otherwise known," he added.
Quintessence
. I remembered now, he'd mentioned it when we first discovered what I was. He'd told me of the four
Stoicheio
and brushed over the fifth. Was it because he hadn't known enough about it to explain?

Theo continued to run his talented fingers through my hair as I thought. I sank into his touch, felt a tiny flaring of
Pyrkagia
inside, and hoped it didn't blaze uncontrolled and inappropriately right now. I was still so new at managing my delicious reaction to it.

"And in all honesty," Theo added, "I cannot be sure what I know is correct. Much has happened in New Zealand since you left also. Enough to make me realise my father and the council have manipulated our knowledge of
Ekmetalleftis
history. I have begun to doubt what I think I know."

A furrow appeared on my forehead, I could feel the crease of the frown as I stared into those liquid pools of whiskey and jade. His thumb came up and rubbed gently over the lines, trying to press my skin smooth again.

"What about Aktor?" I asked, knowing his vast age must have allowed him some insight into
Ekmetalleftis
history.

"That's just it," Theo answered, returning his attention to my head and hair again. "He has always argued some of the lessons Nico and I'd learned as adolescents, but he is a lower class than I. Destined to serve from the beginning. Often what we learn as royalty is quite different from that which those beneath our class have been taught. Initially, we both had no way of knowing who actually knew more of the truth. But with the way my father and his cronies have been behaving, we are both in agreement that what we do know cannot be trusted."

I nodded slowly, hearing his disappointment at his father's behaviour in his tone. Theo has had his world order shaken. Had his belief systems shattered. His father had always been a tyrant, but with my life in jeopardy from the
Rigas
, Theo had been forced to realise his father's actions were not as he had always seen them. It must have come as a surprise and a huge let down, to know the man who ruled your kind was not the man you had thought him to be.

"Nico," I said abruptly, wondering what had happened to Theo's cousin after I left. The last time I had seen Nico, he had been trying to kill Aktor and I had retaliated by sending him deep into a prison of the Earth.

Theo gave me a crooked smile and then smoothly stood to his feet. He glanced at what I had managed to eat, which was actually a fairly acceptable volume, and offered me his hand. I took his palm in mine and let him pull me to my feet.

"Ah, Nico," he said, starting to lead me to the bathroom again.

"What are you doing?" I asked, getting distracted by the anticipation of showering with Theo that had suddenly consumed my body and mind.