The Soothing Scent Of Earth (Elemental Awakening, Book 2) (19 page)

"You don't trust her either," I reasoned, one hand resting on my hip, the other pointed at his infuriatingly amused face.

"This is true," he said, reasonably.

"Then why is she here?"

"Also something we have gone over, Cassandra. Must I repeat myself?"

I let a frustrated sound out and threw my hands up into the air.

"Theo!" I said with meaning. "I'm new to this. How am I going to hide that I am now
Pyrkagia
too?"

His eyes scanned the hotel room briefly, taking in the Fire damage, and then came back to my face. Concern and understanding traced shadows across his façade.

"Is that what you're worried about?" he asked, softly.

"Among other things," I said, in a more volume appropriate voice.

"
Oraia
," he whispered, walking closer to place a hand on my cheek and one around to the small of my back. He pulled me slowly against his chest. "I will protect you."

"But what if she finds out?"

"Then we deal with it, like we deal with anything else that arises."

I wished it was that easy, but something told me Isadora finding out what I was becoming would not be a good idea. When I said I didn't trust her, I meant I
really
didn't trust her. That woman had only one goal in mind. Eradicating me and having Theo all to herself again.

I sighed as my cheek came to rest on Theo's chest. His hand had moved from my face to up in my hair, stroking. Softly. Lovingly.

"What's this about you being exiled?" I asked, rubbing myself against his shirt, feeling the hardness of muscles beneath.

"Ah," he said, making me pull my head back to catch the meaning in his eyes. He looked a little contrite. "I didn't mention it sooner because it doesn't help our current predicament." He hadn't mentioned it at all.

"Really," I said, imitating Isadora's earlier tone, which only made me frown.

"Casey," Theo said on a sigh. "My father is not the forgiving type. I have been ostracised due to my involvement in what happened the night you left.
Pyrkagia
do not take kindly to being attacked and having their land invaded." I snorted. Who did? Theo raised one eyebrow at me. "I was allowed to remain in Auckland, but not be involved in
Pyrkagia
politics. Unless," he added, voice lower conveying the magnitude of what he was about to say, "I followed you. In which case it was made clear I could not return to Auckland. Ever."

My heart sank. We'd always known, from the moment we discovered I was
Gi
and he was
Pyrkagia,
that we were enemies. But somehow, stupidly, when my
Pyrkagia
side had Awakened, I'd thought we'd be able to return to our home city and be together, at last. On the same side. Of course, even though the
Pyrkagia Rigas
didn't know I had transformed into something else, something that brought me under their branch of
Ekmetalleftis,
I would always be
Gi
, an enemy, to him. Corrupting his son. Defiling his bloodline.

"How did you convince Isadora to come then?" I asked, feeling numb all over.

Theo started to rub his hands up and down my bare arms, clearly aware I had paled and was retreating.

"I offered a favour," he whispered into the hair on top of my head. He followed it up with a soft kiss. "One she can claim at any time in the future. And there will come a time where she needs my help. We live very long lives, the odds are she'll have need of my aid eventually."

"Just your aid?" I asked, voice quiet. Could Isadora ask for something else? Something I would not be prepared to let Theo give her.

I felt his lips spread as they rested on top of my head.

"Yes, sweet little
Gi
. Only my aid. No need for you get all territorial just yet. Although," he murmured, bringing his lips down to my ear, "If you want to punish me for my transgression, please don't hold back. I'll willingly take anything you offer." The last was said in a seductive purr.

I gave him a light playful shove; he let me.

"I gather a favour of aid is not something to sneeze at?" I said, lifting my eyes to his.

"An offer of
my
aid is not something to sneeze at," he countered. "It was the only thing I was prepared to bargain with. And fortunately something Isadora, an operative of
Pyrkagia
, values. I dare say she has strategic favours documented in a ledger somewhere and caresses each one lovingly before she goes to bed at night."

I let a chuff of laughter out. Theo smirked.

"It's probably the only thing she gets to caress at night," I said, then promptly covered my mouth with my hand, mortified I'd said that aloud.

Theo let out a bark of laughter, his chest rising and falling with the chuckles that followed.

"You really have gotten under her skin, you know," he finally said, moving to finish packing his suitcase, aware our fifteen minutes were nearly up. He finished his task and turned back to me, face serious again. "But
Oraia
, she would not be a good enemy to have."

"She's already an enemy," I remarked, crossing my arms over my chest, suddenly feeling exposed.

"No," he argued. "She's a rival, nothing more. But once you cross that line into enemy territory, she would be a formidable opponent."

"I can't see the distinction," I admitted. Because I couldn't. Isadora would drop me in it, at the very first opportunity. How is that different from being my enemy?

"Then you had better learn," Theo pointed out, rather harshly I thought.
"Athanatos
are capable of much cruelty to gain what they desire. Especially when pushed too far. Our very long lives offer little in the way of a challenge at times; we greedily grasp any chance to alleviate that boredom. Isadora is over two thousand years old, do not make the mistake of assuming she is human in any way. She gave up what humanity she had after one hundred years of life. She is
Athanatos,
and sooner or later she will tire of the entertainment you provide and consider you a challenge instead."

I held his gaze, letting the gravity of his words sink in. After a lengthy pause I nodded my head. I still had so much to learn about this new world I now lived in, but the most obvious lesson was the potential for danger. I seemed to be walking a tightrope strung between survival and the jagged edge of death. With death glaring back hungrily. Isadora was just another landmine to navigate, but right now I lacked the experience to see the signals before I stepped on the bomb.

"Will you help me?" I asked, and received a scowl in return.

"That is a given,
Thisavros
. You are mine." The last was said in a low growl, which should have made me jump, but instead sent awareness coursing through my body, flaring my
Pyrkagia
alight. Theo slowly closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. His hands fisted at his sides, and his chest rose and fell steeply. "Casey," he continued to growl. "Grab what you need and get out that door, before I strip you bare and taste you."

I did jump then, followed by a squeak when his gold flamed eyes opened and target locked on me. I reached for my hoodie, not planning on wearing it in this heat, and then ran to the door. Before my hand was even wrapped around the handle, Theo was at my back. His fingers cupped my throat from behind; carefully, not tightly in any way, but definitely possessively. He tilted my head up and back, as his body pressed into my spine, imprisoning me.

"Too late," he whispered. Then his lips crushed into mine, stealing all thought of escape, making my knees go weak and my blood pump furiously through my heart. "Ah, sweet
Thisavros
," he murmured against my lips. His tongue licking, teasing, tempting the corner of my mouth. "You own me."

I shuddered, he groaned, and then with one last deep, consuming kiss, he slowly pulled back. I could still feel his heat down my spine, still feel the touch of his lips on mine, the sensation of his possessive fingers at my throat. I'd never felt so wanted before, never felt so desired. I didn't own Theo, he owned me. And I loved it.

"Open the door," he said, voice rough. "If we stay here a moment longer, we'll never leave."

I gave him a smirk over my shoulder, letting him see that I thought that idea was a great plan. He shook his head slowly, closed his eyes again and pinched the bridge of his nose, muttering several words in Greek under his breath. I turned back to the door and opened it, then before I could change my mind, stepped through into the empty hallway beyond.

As soon as Theo closed the door to our room behind him, I felt the world shift slightly. Maybe the Earth sighed in sadness. Maybe it was just me. Our brief reprieve in the Tropical Manaus Hotel was over, and now we were running for our lives. Again.

"What will happen when we leave the shields behind?" I asked, as we waited for the elevator to reach the ground floor.

"If any
Gi
are nearby they may spot us. But unless we use our
Stoicheio
they won't detect us."

"Is that why Isadora wears a disguise?"

"It helps to blend in and be overlooked."

"But you're not," I stated, glancing at Theo in all his natural glory.

He offered me a wide toothy smile. "I am too well known to hide that easily. And now, so are you. We take our chances and run. Hoping no
Gi
happen to be walking by."

I thought about that as the lift came to a halt on the ground floor.

"I guess if anyone has to use their
Stoicheio
it had better be my
Gi
," I suggested. "That way they won't be able to tell if I'm one of them or a trespasser."

Theo turned slowly to look at me as the doors chimed and swished softly open.

"Clever," he murmured, reaching up and tucking a strand of my hair behind my ear. "Beautiful and intelligent. There could be no better combination."

I offered a small smile, feeling shy for the first time since we'd reunited. A once familiar sensation, that now felt out of place when it was just Theo and me.

"I've missed the blush," he whispered, as someone cleared their throat on the other side of the still open elevator doors. Theo turned his head to face the offender and gave him his most imperious arched brow look.

I thought, for a moment, that he might do something over the top. Like tell the guy who stood there waiting to use the lift, that this one's taken and then close the doors in his face to do wicked things to me. But he must have realised we had to get going, because he made a low growling sound in the back of his throat, grasped my hand and walked us out past the unamused gentleman at the lift doors.

I was still smirking at his behaviour when we came out under the portico and found an impatient Isadora leaning against a large SUV.

"Finally," she muttered, rounding the front of the car and going straight for the driver's side door.

"You're not going to drive?" I asked, astounded at her audacity. Theo was not the sort of man to be blithely driven around by someone other than Aktor, his dedicated chauffeur.

"Isadora knows the back roads better than I do, and we may well need them." It made sense, but I saw the firm set of his jaw.

Theo was a dominant alpha in every sense of the word. He was not comfortable handing over the reins to someone else. Or maybe it was just Isadora. He was uncomfortable with her, just as much as I was.

He opened the rear passenger door for me and helped me inside, then once he'd stowed his luggage, slipped into the seat in front, next to Isadora. Her steely eyes lifted to the rear view mirror and pierced me.

"Now would be the time to pray to any human God you believe in, Cassandra,
"
she announced. "The moment we leave the protection of this building, you'll be a beacon to every
Gi
out there."

I slunk down in my seat, taking in the darkened tinted glass of the rear windows hiding me pretty much from sight.

"Why don't you lie down and get some sleep, Casey," Theo suggested. "You still look exhausted,
Oraia
."

I wanted to offer a quick witted comeback, something about him keeping me up most of the night. But my confidence was taking a hammering. Both Theo and Isadora were in danger because of me. The least I could do was hide my very wanted face from sight. I nodded to Theo, as he looked at me over his shoulder. He offered a smile, and then when I settled myself under a blanket in the back of the car, turned to face the front windscreen.

I felt about an inch tall, as the car pulled out of the driveway. Banished to the back seat, instructed to sleep because I looked exhausted - which sounded like a euphemism for awful - with the weight of guilt weighing on my shoulders. I tried to suck it up. Just because Theo got to sit up front and converse with the bitch and I didn't, shouldn't have been something I desired at all. But the back seat felt miles away from the two of them, even though I could hear their soft voices and reach out and touch them both.