Exile in the Water Kingdom (The Elemental Phases Book 3)

by Cassandra Gannon

  Job shrugged. “I’m certainly not advocating this plan, but I do think we need to find out what’s going on with Randa and I don’t think she’s capable of talking, right now.”

  The woman continued to weep like a silent movie heroine.

  Only she wasn’t silent.

  “We’re not granting Isaacs amnesty.” Gion couldn’t believe Ty would even suggest it. “Isaacs will tell us what he knows without us having to give him a damn thing.”

  Isaacs glared at him. “Bite me.” He used the wall to steady himself, his eyes trying to focus on Gion. “I’m not telling you anything. It’s a deal between me and her. Ty knows I’m good for my part.”

  “I do.” Ty agreed. “Isaacs can stay.”

  “Angel…”

  “He’s wounded, Gion.”

  “So?”

  “So, you know as well as I do that Parald will kill Isaacs if we leave him out there on his own.”

  “So?”

  “So, if nothing else, I won’t give Parald the satisfaction of destroying another life. Especially, not on a day where I’m so happy.” Ty kissed him. “I love you and I’m so happy. I won’t do anything to spoil that.”

  Looking into her glowing face, Gion forgot what they’d been arguing about.

  Ty loved him.

  She’d agreed to Bind him.

  The hell with the rest of it.

  He could always kill Isaacs later, when Ty wasn’t smiling at him like he’d arranged all the stars just for her. “I love you, too.” Gion kissed the turquoise streak at her temple. “You can have whatever you want, angel. Even if it’s something insane.”

  Nia snorted. “Great. And now he’s making me like him.”

  “Amnesty, then?” Isaacs pressed. His face looked strained and Gion realized that the smug son-of-a-bitch was actually worried. He’d never seen Isaacs worried before. Usually, the guy was all crazy smiles and wiseass remarks.

  “Amnesty.” Ty nodded. “Welcome, Isaacs.”

  “Don’t screw up or we’ll have Gion explode you like a balloon.” Tharsis chimed in.

  “He’ll try.” Isaacs crossed his arms over his chest and nodded towards Randa. “Parald sent her.”

  Randa cried harder.

  “She’s Gion’s Match.” Job had the remarkable ability to raise his voice without actually raising his voice. The perfectly modulated tone was still audible over the loud weeping. “She’s from the Stone House.”

  “Bullshit. She might be a Stone Phase, but she’s from the Air House.” Isaacs’ jaw ticked. “Trust me. I had to watch Parald with her yesterday, down in the dungeons.”

  Gion blinked, believing that. Parald enjoyed voyeurism and, if he discovered Gion’s Match, he’d absolutely sleep with the woman. He was just that kind of guy.

  “He makes them watch?” Tharsis stage whispered at Cross.

  Cross gave an elaborate shudder. “I changed my mind. They all deserve amnesty.”

  “He forces all of us to play parts in these degrading little shows.” Randa got out. “Isaacs, most of all. How many times a day does he make you to stand there and watch him, Isaacs? Two? Three? Five?”

  Isaacs cringed and didn’t answer her.

  Gion swore under his breath.

  “I just wanted to get away from Parald.” Randa continued. “I just wanted to escape. He’s so horrible and I thought…” She gave a hysterical laugh. “I thought this was my chance to start over. Gion’s stronger than the rest of the men. Parald’s scared of him.”

  Ty looked up Gion like he really was a hero.

  Randa kept babbling, so the words came out in an unstoppable rush. “I thought I’d be safe with Gion. And I knew he wouldn’t love me, but I thought that he could love anyone. I thought Parald just wanted Gion out of the Water House. But, it’s because Gion loves Ty. Of course! I should have known it was about Ty. Everything’s about Ty with that bastard.”

  “I’m confused.” Nia headed over to crouch down next to Randa. “If Gion’s your Match, why would you…?”

  “He’s not my Match! My Match died in the Fall. That’s why I’m at the Air House.” Randa cringed away from her. “I left the Stone House for him and my family wouldn’t take me back. Then, Parald just showed up at my home last week and…” She trailed off with whimper. “I just wanted out of the Air House.”

  “Gion has to be your Match.” Job insisted. “I can feel your energy lining up.”

  Randa shook her head and went back to sobbing.

  “You so owe me, right now, Gion.” Isaacs muttered. “You’re not smart enough to put this together on your own. She’s not your Match, genius. No way in hell is that energy real. Remember, Parald’s still got that other God Code that he can use to cheat his way through the difficult levels.”

  Ty’s head tilted. Her eyes went from Gion, to Randa, then over to Isaacs. She stared at him silently for a moment and then gasped. “Oh Gaia.”

  Gion watched her pale. “Ty?”

  She shook her head, backing away from him. “Isaacs?” Her voice was shrill. “You’re wrong.”

  “I’m not wrong. He did it once and I’ll bet my life that he’s done it, again.” Isaacs sighed. “Look, I’m sorry about this, Ty. I didn’t know you, back then. And I hated Gion. So, I focused on being a loyal soldier, following orders, not questioning…”

  “What are you talking about?” Nia interrupted.

  Ty squeezed her eyes shut.

  “Parald has a Tablet of Fate.” Isaacs kept his attention on Ty. “The Love Tablet. He can disrupt Matches. Make them appear where they shouldn’t be and hide the natural ones. He can make himself, or someone else, seem like a Match, when it’s all just… fake.”

  Tharsis’ jaw dropped as the implications of that sunk in.

  “He did something to me.” Ty turned to Gion, her expression stark. “Parald did something to me. That’s the block. He tried to block our energy. He’s not really my Match.”

  Gion heard a rushing sound in his ears as the truth of it hit him. He was moving before he even thought about it, grabbing Isaacs by the front of his shirt. “Is Ty my Match?” He bellowed. “Did Parald fuck with our connection?! Is she my Match?”

  “Yes!” Isaacs shouted back. “Jesus, how could you miss it? I’ve been dropping hints forever, thinking you’d catch on and kill him. Do us all a favor.”

  “Gaia.” Job looked up at the heavens as if praying for strength.

  Nia hurried over to wrap her arms around Ty. “Honey, it’s alright. It’s alright.”

  “I knew it was wrong. I told you he felt wrong.” Ty leaned against her cousin. “Parald’s not my Match. I’m free.”

  Nia hugged her tight.

  Gion’s world went upside down. “Ty’s mine?” He wheezed. “She’s mine?”

  “Ty’s yours.” Isaacs squinted up at Gion. “Parald knew it. He heard you in the dungeon with Seneca, saying how your Match was going to have the Water House crown. I mean, it had to be Ty, right? Parald’s obsessed with being the Big Man on Campus and your Match was a damn princess. Look at her. Of course, he wanted her. Once he had the Love Tablet it was… easy, I guess. I don’t know. He didn’t let me in on the details.”

  Gion dropped his hold on Isaacs and stepped away. He doubled over, the roar of his fury filling his head and swamping his senses.

  “He’s going to flip out.” Cross diagnosed. “I don’t blame him. On the plus side, we can kill Parald now, right? No more waiting.”

  Job disregarded that. “Gion,” he began worriedly, “son, take a deep breath…”

  The Air energy escaped Gion’s control, blowing the glass out of every French door like a hurricane.

  “Gion!”

  He heard Ty screaming for him, but he was incapable of a response. The rage consumed him. He’d never been so angry in his life. He hadn’t even known it was possible for one person to generate anger on that scale. It blinded him, driving out every thought and every ounce of sanity.

  Parald had stolen his Mat
ch.

  Parald had stolen Ty.

  And Gion had just… let him.

  “Gion!” Ty pulled free of Nia and moved closer to him. “Gion, stop!”

  He held up a palm, warding her off. “Stay away.” He got out. “Just…” He shook his head. “I can’t.” His powers were out of control. For the first time ever, Gion feared he could accidently hurt her. He stumbled out onto the balcony, trying to regain some balance.

  “Job.” Ty called desperately. “Talk to him.”

  “Stay in here. All of you.” Job ordered. “Nia, especially you and the baby.”

  “She’s not going near the maniac. I guarantee it.” Cross assured him.

  “Baby?” Isaacs echoed. “No way. You’re pregnant?! That’s the first pregnancy since the Fall, right?”

  Everyone ignored that.

  Job ducked through the shattered door and edged closer to Gion. Slowly. Like a man approaching a rabid cougar. “Gion. It’s alright. It’ll be alright.”

  “How?”

  “Job, don’t get too close to him.” Cross followed them on the balcony. “Brokk!” He quickly glanced back into the palace. “Get in here! Keep Isaacs away from Nia.” He crunched across the shards of glass on the pavement, heading for his uncle. “Job, seriously, he’s out of his mind. Stay back.”

  Gion moved to the far side of the balcony, away from the eyes and ears of the others. He braced his hands on the railing and ground his teeth together. “Both of you back off.”

  Job kept coming. “You’re upset. I understand that…”

  “Upset?!” Gion interrupted harshly. Gale force winds whipped around them. “He stole my Match, Job! Would you be upset if Parald took Tessie? What would you do, huh?”

  “Truthfully? I’d kill him. But, first you have to calm down.”

  Cross nodded, coming up beside his uncle. “That’s what I’ve been saying. Now, we can kill Parald with no waiting period.” He moved so he could grab Job out of range if Gion detonated. “We can fix this. Don’t do anything insane.”

  Gion was past hearing their assurances. “Parald went into Ty’s mind and poisoned our connection. And when that didn’t work --when she still wouldn’t have him-- he tried to fucking rape her. I saw it in her memories.”

  Cross swore savagely.

  Job let out a long breath.

  “He hit her.” Gion continued. The wind howled, like a dying animal. “She flinched away from me, the first time I touched her. Ty flinched from me, because he hit her and tried to rape her. How can you fix that?!”

  “Well, she’s obviously not flinching from you, now.” Cross retorted. “Not yet. But, you’re gonna scare Ty with this wind tunnel thing, if you don’t cut it out.”

  Job kept his voice “talking someone off the ledge” reasonable. “Gion, you can help Ty get passed what happened. She trusts you.”

  “She trusted me and I let her down.” Down below, the roof blew off one of the houses. Luckily, it seemed like part of the non-historic district. “Parald made her question everything that she did. He tried to destroy Ty. He released the Fall and then blamed her for renouncing him.”

  “That wasn’t your fault.”

  “Parald stole three years of her life.” Gion looked over at Job, his eyes glowing with rage. “He made my own Match afraid of me!”

  “She’s not afraid of you, anymore. Which is why you need to…”

  “I knew she was mine. I felt it. And didn’t trust my instincts. I just let him take her.” Gion dropped his head. “I thought I was delusional for ever believing that I could have Ty. I said, obviously Gaia wouldn’t give her to me. I just accepted that I’d lost her. I didn’t question it, enough. It was my fault.”

  Cross shrugged. “Well, if it’s any consolation, it strikes everyone as unbelievable that Ty would be your Match.”

  Job sent his nephew a “not helping” sort of frown.

  “Alright. Alright. Gion?” Cross cleared his throat and tried, again. “It took me two years to find Nia. I knew I had a Match, but I didn’t know who she was. I went out of my mind wanting her.”

  “I knew that Ty was my Match. I just… screwed up.”

  “You couldn’t have known.” Job insisted. “I was there with Ty and Parald, in the same room as them, and I didn’t think that their Match was fake.”

  “But, I should have. I just left her with him.” It killed Gion to think of it. “I abandoned my Match with a rapist and I didn’t even know.” Ty hadn’t even been of age when Parald met her and began his manipulations. Innocent and helpless against that kind of evil. Gion had just thrown her to the wolves. “I screwed up.”

  “Gion, no. The Tablets of Fate are the most powerful objects in the universe. They can be twisted. They created the Fall. They nearly killed me. They’re not some stupid trick you should have seen through.” Job leaned closer to him. “They altered the Phazing energy. You were a victim, as much as Ty. God, Parald just did the same maneuver with you and Randa and none of us picked up on it.”

  “Parald’s copying his own arch-criminal plots.” Cross muttered. “It’s just lazy.”

  “I can handle Randa. That’s hardly the problem here.” Gion’s energy connected with that woman, but it just felt… wrong. He wasn’t worried about it. He could deal with whatever Parald threw at him. Not even Gion could kill some woman while she wept at him, but he could get rid of their connection somehow. All he could think about right now was Ty.

  Job wasn’t giving up on his intervention. “You aren’t to blame.”

  “I screwed up. I let Ty down. She’s not going to forgive me for this.”

  “There’s nothing to forgive. Ty didn’t detect the fake Matching, either.”

  “No, she’s been saying all along that’s something’s off. I didn’t pay close enough attention.” Gion pressed the heels of his palms into his eye-sockets. “She was a baby, Job. Barely ninety-three and she knew that Parald was wrong. And I didn’t.”

  “You did know that it was wrong.” Cross nodded. “I’ve never even heard of anyone faking a Phazing before, so how could you think up that part? But, you felt that Ty was yours and you focused on getting her to Bind with you. That actually makes sense. I would’ve done the same thing.”

  All Gion could see was Ty looking up at him in the Council Hall, wanting him to do something to save her from Parald… and Gion being completely oblivious.

  She’d had to save herself.

  He’d screwed up and his Match had suffered.

  The Air powers started twisting into a tornado.

  “Gion.” Job’s voice rapped out like hammer. The total authority in it had Gion instinctively looking at him like he was eight years old, again.

  Job put his hands behind his back, military “at rest” style. “Shit happens.” He said succinctly.

  Gion blinked. Job didn’t swear very often. The novelty alone had him paying attention.

  Cross snorted in amusement. “Oh man. You’re so getting a ‘Shit Happens’ t-shirt for your birthday, Job. Be ready.”

  Job ignored that promise. “Life’s not fair, Gion. But, there’s nothing you can do about it. I waited a thousand years for Tess and, when she got here, I didn’t even recognize her as my Match. You think that I didn’t call myself an idiot?”

  Gion couldn’t imagine Job ever questioning himself. A big part of him would always see Job as infallible. A paragon of Elemental manhood. The kind of Match that Ty should have had.

  “Focus on the present.” Job instructed. “You have a Match, now. And not just a Match. You have Ty.”

  The cyclonic funnel eased.

  “The woman’s a gift, Gion. Do you love her?”

  “Of course, I do.”

  “Then, this is good news. Didn’t you always want Ty as your Match?”

  “Yes.” Gion had only ever prayed for two things in his life: forgiveness and Ty.

  Maybe they were the same thing, actually. If Addom was up there holding a grudge, Gaia wouldn’t have given Ty
to Gion. Ty wouldn’t be Matched with a murderer. He should have seen that before. Gion believed in God, and no force for Good would give someone like Ty to Parald. It was a blasphemy to even think it… and yet, Gaia had Matched Ty to Gion. Wasn’t that proof that he’d been forgiven?

  Job was right. Ty was a gift and, amazingly, she’s been given to him.

  “You have what you want. She agreed to Bind with you and she’s your Match. Ty loves you. You said that you’ve been waiting for her for eleven years and now you have her.”

  Gion shook his head. “Yeah, but…”

  Job cut him off. “No. Don’t get bogged down in the rest, right now. Don’t do what you did when Addom died and start blaming yourself for what might have been. You don’t have the luxury of self-indulgence, anymore. You have a Match to take care of. That’s a lot of responsibility.”

  Cross grunted. “You scare me when you pull out the duty and honor lecture, Job. I always wanna salute.”

  “I wouldn’t mind.”

  Cross chuckled.

  Gion reached into his pocket and found Ty’s hair barrette. He felt the Air energy coming back under control. “This is real. No one can ever take Ty from me, again.”

  “Exactly. Now, go and be a Match to her.” Job’s hand came over and thumped Gion on the shoulder. “Ty needs you.”

  Gion’s thumb traced over the plastic daisies. “Ty’s my Match.” He couldn’t let her down, again. Job was right. This was actually… good news. “Ty’s really mine.”

  “She is. And I’m glad. You deserve to be happy. That’s all you have to worry about screwing up, understand? Don’t sabotage this.”

  Ice blue eyes met lawn green. “Thank you.” That was the first time Gion had ever thanked Job for anything.

  Job looked shocked. As shocked at Job could look, anyway. Both eyebrows shifted upward slightly and he paused for a beat. “Well… you’re welcome.”

  Cross pointed towards the house. “Are we done holding hands, now? Can you go comfort your Match?”

  Gion shot him a glower and stalked back into the living room. He hesitated at the doorway, his eyes going to Ty. She was sitting on one of the striped sofas, between her cousins, sobbing against Tharsis’ shoulder.