Elemental Awakening Book Bundle

by Nicola Claire

  He chuckled. I growled back. Fuck him!

  "So, you are not immune to my charms," Theo purred, his voice deeper, rougher than before.

  Within seconds the dynamic of our conversation had shifted and I had no hope of understanding how or why. No hope of fighting my reaction to this man. No hope of keeping up with the trajectory of our dialogue.

  Theo breathed in languidly and shuddered above me as the air seeped out between his parted lips. I couldn't deny that it was the most sensual thing I had ever witnessed.

  But I had no freaking idea what was going on.

  The only thing that made any sense was the familiar feeling of confusion.

  Suddenly thin vines crept up around our bodies. I hadn't consciously asked them to. I'd been severely unable to think clearly since that warmth invaded my body. Theo had his eyes closed, a look of utter bliss across his face. He didn't notice them at all.

  I watched stunned as they wrapped around our bodies, then wrapped around his arms and legs.

  His eyes flicked open. Gold washed my face.

  "You are delicious," he breathed, still not registering his dire plight. The vines crept on further, ensnaring us both. I noticed a green tinge to his skin then. It wasn't his, it was all mine. "Beautiful," he husked. And despite my confusion, I was transfixed. "I like the green. I like that I can bring it out. You are so controlled, Casey. The green lets me know, I can breach that shield of yours. Make you feel. Give you passion. Light a fire deep inside."

  Oh dear God. What was with this man? He infuriated me. Confounded me. And admittedly, totally turned me on. I wasn't sure which was winning right now, but it didn't matter. The vines were ready to announce their presence. Everything tightened. I watched as they shifted, stretched and gripped his muscles tight.

  "Casey!" Theo shouted. "You little..." He didn't get to finish his statement, a vine wrapped around his face, like a rag over someone's mouth. A muffled sound came out with a decidedly angry gleam from his golden eyes. I think he might have threatened me with something. I was glad I couldn't make out the words.

  But for once, I felt like I had the upper hand. I smiled up at him. Effected my best innocent look, and said, "It wasn't me."

  A frustrated sound came out of the back of his throat, but I ignored it. "You and I need to have a little chat," I said, giving his body a small shove. The vines responded, lifting him up off my frame.

  I instantly felt colder.

  "Now I have your undivided attention and you can't interrupt," I said, and instantly the cold vanished, replaced by a fire deep inside, that heat I'd felt earlier washed through me again, making me moan before I could stop myself and reach out to brush my hand over his arm, his shoulder, his chest.

  Then in the next second the fiery tingle vanished. Like a switch being flicked off.

  Fuck!

  "You did that?" I asked, amazed, turned on and freaking scared all at once.

  His shoulders shrugged. His eyes held my gaze, a message clearly evident there. Theo could make me feel lust with just a simple thought. Like I could make the plants attack.

  I sucked in a breath at that realisation, at the knowledge that I was well out of my depth. Holy freaking hell, what world did I now live in?

  "Don't ever do that again," I scolded softly, somehow the conviction of my thoughts was not relayed in my tone.

  Theo blinked once, slowly. Then maybe because he couldn't help himself, or maybe because he just didn't like being told what to do. Or, maybe because he'd heard in my voice what my words failed to portray. For whatever reason, a wash of molten heat shimmered through me, from head to toe.

  My body responded, my back arched, lips parting on a sigh, fingers curling with the need to stroke flesh. It was sublime.

  But it was not me.

  "Stop it!" I said with force. The vines, thinking I was commanding them, suddenly unravelled.

  And Theo landed in a hard splat on my chest.

  Air was pushed from my lungs with a star-burst of light from behind my eyes. Theo rolled off me immediately. I was thinking for his own safety, not because he was concerned my stomach contents were about to come rushing out of my mouth. I groaned and rolled into a ball, looking up at him, as he stood several feet away. His eyes were darting around the concrete at his feet. I noticed he'd placed himself in the middle of an intact large paver. No chance of vines creeping up through that. I realised Theo Peters was indeed a little scared of me.

  I cocked my head and stared at him. He looked a little rumpled, his suit not handling the earthquake and confinement of the vines too well. He had a scratch across one cheek and a rip in his trouser leg. His shoes were covered in dirt.

  I had never seen him look so sexy before.

  I cleared my throat and glanced away. But not before I caught his smug smile.

  "What are you doing here, Cassandra? We are enemies," he pointed out, his voice though was soft. "You are in Pyrkagia territory without a pass. You must know the penalty is death." We were back at the beginning, it seemed. Full circle bringing us 'round to familiar death threats.

  I sighed.

  "I know nothing, Theo," I said with no small amount of frustration. "I woke up in a pit of dirt, having missed two days of my life. And walked into this mess."

  He stared at me, clearly confused and disbelieving.

  "You are one of the strongest Gi's I have ever encountered. The level of power you have at your command is reserved for elders. Do not lie to me, Oraia, I am..." he trailed off, the sentence unfinished. "I can tell," he said, rather weakly, instead.

  "I'm not lying, Theo. I have no idea what you are. I haven't a clue what I have become. Just that you can make fire out of nothing, make me feel things that are so untrue," - and OK, so that was a lie, I did have feelings for Theo, but he didn't need to know that - "and you clearly want me to leave the city. I can talk to plants and make them do things, but obviously my control is not perfect, otherwise you'd still be hanging from vines."

  "You are not an Alchemist. You are an Ekmetalleftis. An Athanatos," he concluded. I hadn't heard the first foreign word before, but the trees had whispered the second. And as to Alchemist, what the hell?

  "I need your help," I whispered and watched his face shut down.

  "You ask too much, Casey. Surely you know who I am. I would be within my rights to take your head. Right here. Right now."

  "Please, Theo," I pleaded. "If you had any feelings for me over the past year, please help me figure this out."

  He was kneeling beside me in an instant, his hand at my throat. There was no burning this time, and a part of me wanted to believe it was because he couldn't stand to see me hurt like that again. His response last night led me to think that, but could I truly believe it?

  "You wish to rub in how easily you tricked me?" he growled low and soft. More threatening than if he had yelled. "For over a year I believed you to be human. I believed you to be someone you are not. You are good, Gi, why make the mistake of believing I care?"

  At his hurtful words the vines wrapped around his wrists and arms immediately. He fought against them, struggled to remain at my throat. He almost won.

  But with one last growl he was wrenched away. I blinked several times, sucked in much needed air, and when my eyes focused again Theo was standing in the middle of a pile of charred remains. The smell of burnt leaves assailed my nose. The sight of blackened twigs and patches of ash seared my brain. I stared at him, horrified. He'd burned the vines to a crisp to get out.

  I staggered to my feet, planning on letting him have a piece of my mind. But I didn't last long, my body refused to obey my commands. My knees hit the concrete with a cringe-worthy thud.

  "Crap," I muttered and frantically wiped away tears. I was just so tired of it all.

  Theo watched on impassively, his face a staunch mask of blankness. The only evidence that he was affected by my sorry state was the tiniest glow of gold to eyes. Then he surprised me by saying softly, gently even, "You need to lea
ve the city tonight, Casey. I find myself reluctant to watch idly as one of my Guard slices through your neck. Leave now and spare me that."

  "Spare you that?" I asked with a choked incredulous snort.

  "I am the one you have deceived," he pointed out reasonably. "You knew who you were toying with from the start. I would not have entertained you for so long, had I an inkling. I have every right to take your head."

  I somehow managed to get to my feet on those last words, and advance on him before he could react. My finger thrust into his chest.

  "You've already mentioned that little titbit. How about some originality? Like telling me what the fuck is happening to me! What am I?"

  The trees started wailing, the branches thrashing around in the still night air. Loud creaks and moans, interspersed with the crystal-like shattering of the leaves as they agitatedly danced in the air. The earth rumbled beneath our feet, both off us losing our balance. Before we toppled over completely Theo grabbed me about the waist and leapt up on to the steps of the house. They buckled, he swore in Greek, and then he promptly threw me inside.

  The door slamming behind him shut out some of the noise, but the earth was making plaster on the walls rain down. The house shifting on top of all that loose soil.

  "If you destroy my house, Casey Eden, I will lock you in a concrete dungeon and feed off you for eternity. Fuck the rules! I will make you suffer my influence, I will make you beg for release. And I will never, ever let you near a plant again!" The last was roared, either in an effort to be overheard above the noises the house was now making, or just because he was fuming mad.

  I cowered a little. I couldn't help it. He was impressive standing there; infuriated, beautiful. Unnaturally magnificent.

  "Say please," I managed to whisper. God knows where this courage was coming from, but Theo seemed to bring out the worst - or best - in me.

  Somehow he heard my strained voice through the incredibly loud noise though. He stared at me a moment, then shook his head from side to side.

  "What the fuck are you?" he asked incredulously.

  "That's what I'd like to know?" I threw back, but made the earth slow its movements to just a tremor. I wanted the reminder of what I could do present in this hallway we stood within.

  "You really don't know?" he asked, but I think the question was rhetorical.

  The earth settled once I saw he wasn't coating me in fire or doing anything else to indicate I was screwed right now. He just stared at me, as though I was a freak. A huff of a laugh came out of my mouth.

  Yeah, I was a freak, but then so was he.

  "What are we, Theo?" I asked.

  He ran a hand down his face and then roughly through his hair. It was a move I had never seen the immaculate and controlled Theo Peters ever effect until recently.

  "I don't know if I can believe you," he admitted eventually. "Athanatos are born, not created. And you would have known from an early age what you were and what you were capable of."

  "I was born human," I offered and watched him suck in a sharp breath. "Now I'm not, huh?" I said, trying to sound upbeat about it, but drastically failing.

  "If the Alchemists have found a way to replicate us finally, then we are doomed," he said under his breath.

  "Who are the Alchemists?" I asked, but he ignored me and started pacing, clearly trying to think this all through. Good luck to him on that one. Thinking never did me a blind bit of good.

  "I can't hide this sort of information from the Rigas for long, Oraia," he said, finally shifting his attention back to me. Hearing him use his familiar term of endearment gave me hope and made me hold my breath. So I couldn't ask who or what the Rigas was. "But if I tell him, he will surely order your immediate death or worse."

  I found my voice on that last word.

  "Worse?" My voice, unfortunately, was a squeak.

  "He will want to study you, find out how they did it. Tell me now, Casey. Are you one of the Alchemists?"

  "Would you believe me if I said no?" I asked, hopefully.

  He shook his head. "You are right. I can't believe you, but I will not send you to his laboratory. I cannot bear the thought of you there."

  Oh dear God, a mad scientist's lab flashed before my eyes. Just what my life needed.

  "But we will have to convince him you are something else," Theo explained further and I got an uncomfortable feeling in the pit of my stomach at the look on his handsome face.

  Whatever he'd decided, pleased him no end.

  "And what exactly is that?" I whispered.

  He raised an eyebrow, gave me a sexy-smug smile, and said, "Mine."

  Chapter Five

  It Completely And Utterly Undid Me

  "And how is being yours going to help me?" I asked, after managing to break through my initial stunned reaction to his words. Theo may have said he wanted to protect me, but he also continually repeated his right to slice through my neck. And now he thinks I'd be OK with being his?

  I thought the man was more intelligent than this.

  "You are either our enemy, an ambassador from the Gi, or you belong to one of us," Theo explained. "You say you are not an enemy, I reserve judgement on that. But I will give you the benefit of the doubt for now. You are clearly not an ambassador, we have no ongoing relations with the Gi. Your presence has not been arranged nor was it expected. So," he said, obviously enjoying this little conversation. He was leaning against the wall opposite me, relaxed, poised, smirking slightly.

  Whatever decision he had just made excited him. In fact, I could almost see his pleasure at this proposal increasing exponentially. Just what the hell was he playing at?

  "In order to remain in the city and live," he concluded, "you must be of some worth to a Pyrkagia. You need a patron. I am he."

  I stared at him, trying valiantly to take in everything he'd just said. It would be so easy to turn tail and run. To leave Auckland and this strange new world I'd been thrust into. To avoid that ever so slightly hungry look on this man's face. He was danger with a capital D. He could control fire, for crying out loud. How much more dangerous could he be? Apart from the fact he repeatedly threatened to chop off my head.

  I'd have to be mental to consider this.

  Despite all evidence to the contrary, I am not certifiable. I just don't like being bullied. I've worked hard for what I have. I was born in this city. No one was going to make me run, just because they were simply bigger, could control fire, and made me burn with the desire to jump their bones.

  Besides, who else was going to give me the answers I needed? If I left Auckland, I wouldn't simply become human again. And who would I turn to for help then? As much as it pained me, confused me, and downright gave me heart palpitations to think of it, I needed Theo Peters. Unfortunately, more than he needed me.

  I never did like entering a business relationship on the weaker side.

  And of course, there was Theo's repeated promise of protection. Part of me was unwilling to trust it. He'd scared me last night, burned my throat. But his reaction to harming me was tangible. And when given the chance to blister my neck again tonight, he hadn't. My gut, my heart, told me he would protect me. My head warned I was too trusting and Theo Peters was not someone to trust. He wasn't even human.

  But then, apparently, neither am I anymore.

  An image of my dead grandfather standing beneath that Moreton Bay Fig Tree flashed through my mind. Yes, I was no longer human. And I needed to know what.

  I stared at Theo now, tried to really see him. To look past the handsome façade, the powerful physique, the glittering promise in his eyes. I knew I was out of my depth here. I knew I had no one else to turn to. And I knew, so help me, that I wanted to see what that promise meant in Theo's eyes.

  At my heart I am all woman. I have craved him for too long. And we'd been about to venture on to more, with the invitation to our first date. I could run from all the strange new scary things that were happening to me. I could run because of the threat from a
bully for me to leave... or else. But could I run from him?

  No.

  The honesty in that statement made me blush bright red from tip to toe. Theo traced the progress of heat across my cheeks and down my throat with hungry eyes. Even now, even when he'd gone all alpha on me, there was that sensual promise in his gaze, on his face. In the way he leaned closer without even being aware he did so.

  Could I trust that he would protect me because of the promise I saw in his eyes?

  "What would you get out of this?" I asked, finally. Theo had remained patient, even as he'd eagerly devoured the reaction evident on my flushed skin with his eyes, while I battled to come to terms with reality, as it now was, according to him.

  He smiled widely, the whites of his teeth standing out against his tanned skin. A predatory gleam settling in his eyes.

  "It's really quite self explanatory, Cassandra," he said silkily. "You would be mine in every sense of the word."

  I sucked in a slow breath and held his gold tinted gaze. I'd expected that, I'd come to the conclusion that Theo's promise would be carnal in nature. But hearing him state so openly that I would be his in every sense of the word, was a wake-up call.

  I wanted to ask him to explain further, to give details, but I felt my inexperience would surely show at voicing those words. I'd never belonged to anyone. The only reference I had to go on, was visions of a slave in my head. But even though I was practically an innocent in regards to intimacy, I wasn't entirely naive. Theo looked like he was about to become the owner of a rare treasure, one he coveted, one he desired very much indeed. You don't look like that if your possession is just washing your laundry and darning your socks.

  So, he still wanted the promise of more too.

  A shiver shot down my spine at that conclusion. Could I actually do this?

  Who was I kidding? I'd made the decision when I chose to confront him on his home turf.