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

by Cassandra Gannon

  Parald made a face as if he couldn’t imagine what Ty was talking about. “So what? Natural or not, I have you for my Match. It’s done and that bond isn’t going away. You and I will be together forever.”

  Not once Ty got that Love Tablet. She’d see to that.

  Chason’s energy went wild as he fully assimilated the news. “He murdered Mara and you weren’t even a real Match?!”

  Ty gasped as Mara’s name burned in the air.

  Parald cringed.

  Since the Fall, Chason hadn’t even whispered her name out loud. Hearing his own voice screaming it seemed to snap whatever control he might’ve still possessed. Ty felt Chason’s powers dragging all the metal in the Air Kingdom towards the throne room.

  Parald retreated a step. “I told you, that was all Ty’s fault…”

  Chason went for him. His sword swung like an ax, aiming for Parald’s head.

  Parald ducked out of the way. His Air energy slammed out, catching Chason in the chest. The incredible blast of Air lifted Chason up and backwards, but it wasn’t enough to slow him down.

  Parald swore as Chason kept coming. “Guards, now!” He bellowed. “Help me!”

  And that’s when eight armed Air Phases came charging out from behind a hidden panel in the wall… and headed straight for Chason.

  *****

  Isaacs pushed forward to stand next to Job. “If Gion can’t hold the Air Element while he’s off playing Lancelot, I can do it.”

  Job glanced at him. Even with Isaacs’ damaged sight, he could pick up the tension on Job’s face. “Are you sure?”

  “Between me, Amarna and the others… Yeah. The Air House won’t fall.”

  “Alright.” Job nodded as if convincing himself. “Alright. This is happening now, then. So, I can go help Ty as quickly as possible.”

  “Let the Water Kingdom fall and go help Ty, now.” Nia urged. “I know that Gion’s powerful, but no one could stop you. I want my cousin safe and…”

  Job cut her off. “Chason won’t hurt her. No matter what even he thinks. And this is our best chance to stop the Air House army, so Parald won’t ever come after any of you, again.”

  “Let’s just get it over with.” Amarna’s voice was filled with anticipation. “First the soldiers. Then Parald. Today, we reclaim our homeland!”

  Her pronouncement brought another round of cheers from her followers. They jumped out of the Water Palace, no doubt heading down into the battle.

  Isaacs rolled his useless eyes.

  Fucking sycophants.

  He might not enjoy his new status as a Water House refugee, but he didn’t love the Air Phases so much, either. Centuries of following orders and trying to be perfect… And where had it gotten him? Blind and ostracized, with his own troops trying to kill him. Isaacs felt like he’d suddenly noticed that the emperor had no clothes.

  Even if he had been a loyal Air Phase, though, he’d still know how this would end. Not even the greatest patriot in the universe would think that Saxon was going to win the day and plant the Air House standard on the Water Palace roof. Nia was right. No one could stop Job. For once, Isaacs was on the side of the angels.

  Which was lucky, ‘cause the good guys were about to kick ass.

  Cross reached over grab Job’s arm, lending the strength of his powers to his uncle.

  Tessie closed her eyes as if she couldn’t bear to watch her Match do something that would haunt him forever.

  Because the Big Guy was really gonna clean house.

  Isaacs felt the entire world shake, the ground moved in an earthquake that sent the soldiers below tumbling like dominoes. He couldn’t see them toppling over, but he could feel their energy falter.

  The barrage of Air powers stopped.

  By this point, the Reprisal and various pissed-off Phases had arrived in the Water Kingdom, following the oh-so-subtle surging Air House powers. Not that anyone wanted to help the Water House particularly, but everybody wanted to kill Air Phases and it was suddenly open season. Saxon must not have thought of that.

  Arrogant prick.

  Fighting had broken out at various points on the Air Phase lines. None of the newcomers were affected by Job’s tectonic event, though. Their energy stayed steady. It was like Job took the vibrations from the ground and sent them up into the enemy Air Phases themselves, jarring them from the inside out.

  Job was going to rip them apart without even touching them. Without leaving a mark on their bodies. They’d die by seismic activity of their internal systems.

  Isaacs had never even heard of anything like it.

  “Job.” Raiden, of the Radiation House appeared, jumping into the room. “Don’t do this. There’s another way.”

  Job glanced over at him. “Where’s Ty?” The resonate quaking didn’t stop, but Raiden had his attention. “If anything happens to her, the Reprisal will be the next group I deal with. That’s a promise.”

  “Chason took her to Parald.”

  Uriel swore and Wood Phases weren’t a group given to casual obscenities.

  “Shit!” Nia stabbed a finger at Raiden. “You’d better pray that Gion kills your boss and Parald. Because, if I get my hands on Chason, I swear to God…”

  “He’s not going to give Ty to Parald.” Raiden interrupted as if that was crazy talk. “He’s just trying to draw Parald out.”

  “Chason told you that?” Cross demanded skeptically.

  “No. But, I know it to be true.”

  Tessie focused on Job. “Raiden’s right. Parald’s the head of this snake. If you cut off the head, then you don’t need to worry about the rest of the body.” She seemed eager to find a way out of Job’s “kill ‘em all” plan. The Quintessence would never want Job to have to do something like that. She knew him too well. “Look, if we get rid of him, all this will stop. The army will fall apart on its own.”

  Job looked at his Match. “Just kill Parald, you mean?”

  “Kill one. Save hundreds. Seems fair.” Tessie stood up. “Try this first, Job. Be sure that all this death is the only way or you’ll be second guessing yourself forever.”

  “Chason will get into that throne room.” Raiden assured them. “I’ve seen it. What happens after that is uncertain, but Parald is vulnerable and Ty’s there. This is our shot.”

  “Why is Ty being there important?” Isaacs wanted to know. “‘Cause Gion’s gonna follow her? Gion gets to finish Parald off, doesn’t he?”

  Typical.

  Gion always got all the breaks.

  Raiden glanced at him. Mostly blind or not, Isaacs could still see the vivid gamma ray green of his eyes. “Ty, of the Water House is vital to our world. She’s ensuring that Chason is right where he needs to be for the coming war.”

  “No more wars.” Job pulled back on his powers and shook his head. “There’s been enough death.”

  Isaacs felt himself stagger a bit at the sudden succession of energy. The percussive echoes of powers stopped, leaving a yawning silence. For one beat there was nothing… Then, Isaacs felt most of the gasping, aching Air House soldiers jumping the hell outta Dodge.

  They ran.

  And who could blame them?

  “There’s always another war.” Raiden said quietly. “Let’s just win one at a time.”

  *****

  Saxon’s army deserted him.

  Fucking traitors.

  Rage filled him as his men jumped into any kingdom and realm they could lock onto. Cowards. Deserting the field rather than stand up to Job. That evil son-of-a-bitch wanted to steal everything for himself. The most power, control of the Council, and a Match who was the damn Quintessence… Job wouldn’t be happy until he ran everything, changed everything, so it suited his own agenda.

  And now he was stealing Saxon’s destiny!

  “Stop!” He bellowed at the stampede of retreating troops. “Stop! Stay and fight, you bastards!” Jesus, he would kill every single one of them when this was over.

  Every. Single. One.

&
nbsp; Amarna, the bitch niece of Seneca, smirked at him across the fields of broken glass and panicked soldiers. Saxon’s jaw tightened in fury as she waved at him. The snotty, little whore actually waved at him, surrounded by Air Phases who weren’t fleeing with their tails between their legs.

  Rebels.

  Those pussies did exist.

  Shit.

  Saxon wasn’t a fool. With Job, the rebels, and the Reprisal against him, there was no way he could win. Not alone. And more people who hated him were showing up all the time. It was like a convention of the assholes. No matter how hated the Water House was, it seemed like it still beat out the Air Phases in a popularity contest.

  Shit.

  Saxon barely ducked in time to avoid decapitation as Campbel, of the Heat House lunged at him. Saxon blasted out some Air energy, pushing him back, but more enemies were headed his way. All of them armed and pissed.

  Lansing, of the Dust House gave a battle cry and came right at Saxon, his broad sword swinging over his head. All around him dead Air Phases stared up at the flat clouds and anyone strong enough was going or already gone.

  Saxon gave up trying to fight the battle on his own.

  He’d have his due… But, it wouldn’t be today.

  He had nowhere to go, now. Nowhere where he’d be welcomed.

  Amnesty seemed like a long shot.

  Ty probably wasn’t going to open the doors to him, and Job suddenly seemed pretty darkside for a Mr. Nice Guy. Saxon wasn’t even sure he wanted to be neighbors with somebody who could vibrate his organs into microscopic particles the second he stepped out of line. And, since the Air House was about to have a severe change of management, going home seemed like a real bad idea.

  But, Saxon would figure something out. He was a survivor. He’d get by.

  …And wait for his day to come around.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  A person, who was a little of a seer, a combined symbol of elemental air and elemental water

  W. B. Yeats- ‘Ideas of Good and Evil’

  Ty wasn’t in the Magnet Kingdom.

  She wasn’t anywhere.

  In his entire life, Gion had never been so scared.

  He wasn’t used to being scared. No one could do that to him except Ty. Loving somebody with every bit of his being --all the previously empty pieces of his soul filling up with her-- wasn’t just about good times. Playing in bed and watching the sunset with her head on his shoulder. No, it meant that Ty had the ability to crush him into millions of irreparable pieces. If he lost her, Gion would die. Simple as that. When he got Ty back, he was going to handcuff himself to the woman. She was never leaving his sight, again.

  God, please let him get her back.

  Gion closed his eyes and tried to think through his panic. Where had Chason taken her? What was he doing to her? Gion had to put himself in that vengeful sociopath’s place.

  Chason’s entire focus was Mara.

  The more Gion thought about it, the more he convinced himself that Chason wouldn’t rape Ty. The Clean Marine didn’t see Ty as a woman. Didn’t even see her as a person. All Chason’s perceptions and beliefs had been eradicated in the Fall. There wasn’t room for anyone in his world now, except his dead Match. He’d see touching Ty in any kind of personal way as an affront to Mara’s memory. Odds seemed good that Chason wouldn’t have sex with a willing woman, let alone rape an unwilling one.

  So what was he planning?

  Ty was a means to an end. Whatever Chason’s plot was, the same logic as before applied. This had nothing to do with Ty herself. Chason liked Ty. Her only value was as a weapon against Gion.

  …Or Parald.

  Gion’s eyes widened as he realized that this wasn’t necessarily about him.

  He’d just assumed that taking Ty was a way to get to him because of the FX extravaganza at the Home Depot. But, really Gion would always be second place on the Reprisal’s hit list. If Chason could use Ty against Parald, of course he’d try that first.

  Chason still thought that Ty was Parald’s Match.

  She was an absolute surefire golden ticket into Parald’s throne room. An all-access pass. The Air House’s fearless leader wouldn’t open that door for anybody… except for the one person that he wanted more than anything in the universe.

  Ty.

  *****

  Parald grabbed Ty and yanked her around to face him.

  Chason was fighting the eight Air House soldiers and doing an admirable job. Ty was pretty annoyed with the guy and even she had to admit that he’d rock at Ultimate Fighting Championships.

  Parald wasn’t fighting, at all. He just stalked around the sword play and seized Ty by the arm.

  “You slut! You’ve been letting Gion screw you! Admit it!”

  “Gion’s my Match.” Ty shot back. “My real Match. Ordained by Gaia and chosen by me. I’ll let him do anything he wants with a smile on my face.”

  “I’m your Match!” He gave her a violent shake.

  “You’re nothing. You couldn’t get the Air House without stealing. You couldn’t get me without manipulating my energy. And even then, I wouldn’t have you.” Ty’s eyes gleamed with triumph, no longer afraid of Parald, at all. He seemed so much smaller in person. So much weaker. “You could never be my Match.”

  His fingers bit into his arms, his boyish face darkening with fury. “You think I’ll just let you walk away from me? Let you make me a laughingstock? You’re mine!”

  “You’ve lost, you moron. You killed thousands of people and abused the Tablets of Fate trying to get your own way… and still you’ve lost.” Parald could never beat her. Ty saw that so clearly, all of a sudden. She was smarter than him. Stronger. He hadn’t defeated her on her ninety-third birthday and he wouldn’t do it, now. “Even if you kill me, Gion’s going to see you dead. It’s over.”

  Pale gray eyes narrowed. “You bitch!” Parald drew back his arm, ready to strike her; to hit her like he had before.

  Only this time, Ty was ready for him.

  She lifted the shard of Plexiglas still clutched in her hand and sunk it into his arm as deeply as she could.

  Parald let out a scream of agony and panic as the very unElemental plastic reacted with his system. Judging by the cut on her hand, Ty was betting that it burned and throbbed like someone had shoved a curling iron beneath his skin.

  Not to mention the pain from the stab wound itself.

  He released her, stumbling backwards and clutching his arm to his chest. “I’ll fucking kill you! Gion will never have you. I’ll see you dead first!” He slammed his Air powers out, crashing them into her hard enough to break her bones and crush her internal organs.

  Ty went flying backwards, hitting the ground and gasping for breath.

  … But completely unhurt.

  “Ty!” Chason bellowed.

  She should have been dead. Ty slowly sat up, unzipping her sweater to stare down at the Kevlar vest that Chason had strapped onto her at the beginning of this misadventure. Human bulletproof vests worked against Elemental powers?

  Why hadn’t she thought of that?

  “What the hell…?” Parald gaped at her. “How’d you do that?”

  Ty looked up at him and smiled smugly. “Science.”

  Chason slashed through another guard and tried to get to Parald. Chason had killed five of them, so far, through a combination of skill, cheating, and not caring about the numerous cuts and bruises covering his body. He had complete tunnel vision, all his focus locked onto Parald.

  “Help!” Parald called towards the door, searching for more soldiers to come to his aid. Blood continued to seep from his arm and he pulled the Plexiglas shard loose with a grimace. “Guards!”

  No one came to protect him.

  Instead, Gion arrived with a crash of energy that sent the overhead lights dimming.

  He jumped right into the throne room. With the door standing open, there was a broken spot in the ring of plastic netting attached to the walls. That gave Gion al
l the access he needed. His icy gaze swept the room and landed on Ty, who was still sprawled on the floor.

  She’d never seen him so strained. Gion looked like he was on the verge of a nervous breakdown, his knuckles white around the hilt of his sword.

  “Ty.” The word came out as a prayer and then he was on his knees in front of her. “God, angel. Are you, okay? Are you hurt?” His hands found her face, petting her hair, as she nodded.

  “I’m fine.” He laid his forehead against hers for a beat, breathing hard, and Ty instinctively tried to sooth him. “I knew you’d come.”

  “When we get home, remind me to explain some things to you. Like how your energy lets you call me when you’re in real danger.”

  “I was handling things.” Ty allowed Gion to hoist her to her feet. “I know where the Tablet is.”

  “Good. Great.” Gion nodded vaguely, his attention already swinging towards Parald. “Just stay behind me.” Gion started across the room, his eyes burning into his old boss.

  Parald took a step back. “You’re an Air Phase, Gion. Remember that.”

  “I’m a Water Phase, now.” Gion snarled. “And what I remember is that you tried to rape my Match.”

  Chason’s head snapped around to Ty as if scanning for injuries. “That wasn’t on my watch.”

  “She’s a fucking tease!” Parlad screamed.

  Gion didn’t see it that way. “You hit her. Blocked our energy. Killed her parents. Almost got her beheaded. Kidnapped her. Attacked her kingdom. Made sure that she was scared of me. Kept her from me for three years. And then you tried to stick me with some other woman, so I’d never know the truth.” The black blade of his sword glinted like death. “Your sorry reign is fucking over.”

  “No!” Chason screamed the command. “Don’t you touch him! He’s mine!” His fury gave him a burst of adrenalin and he killed two more guards, bending their swords in half with his powers. Chason didn’t even wince as the last one sliced his arm clear down to the bone. “He murdered my Match!”