Elemental Awakening Book Bundle

by Nicola Claire

  "The Gi territory is in Brazil. They moved to the Amazon when we separated branches. Prior to that we all lived in and around Athens. And yes, I suspect she has been spying there. She is our top agent. Similar to what my father believes you to be. Ironic, no?"

  "I don't find it very amusing," I said, shoving against his chest. He just held me tighter, pulled me closer, and started to lay kisses down my face, across my jaw and around to my ear.

  "I would rather you were an agent of the Gi than..." he bit his words off and moved away. A frustrated hand ran through his hair.

  "What aren't you telling me?" I asked.

  "Nothing, but I do find myself rambling when you distract me so. How about we bring Nico back to the land of the living?" He clapped his hands together enthusiastically.

  I recrossed my arms over my chest and started tapping my foot.

  "How about you finish your last sentence, and then I release your cousin."

  He turned and stared at me, a small smattering of gold in his eyes. Then he shrugged.

  "He deserves to stay there overnight, how about we just leave him and I ease that stiffness in your shoulders with a massage?" He stalked towards me and I took an uncertain step backwards, my arms coming undone and instead lifting up between us to ward him off. He looked immensely pleased with himself.

  "That's unfair," I complained, taking another step back as he stalked closer. "You know I can't fight those sorts of battles."

  "Oh, but Cassandra. Think of the joy we would both have while I teach you how."

  "Theo, behave!" I instructed, but it came out breathless instead.

  He shook his head at me. "No, no, that warning has done its dash. Time to switch it up a bit."

  He was still stalking me, we'd practically done the circumference of the scorched mark. I lost my footing on a charred stump, and when I righted myself, my back was against bark. And Theo was pressed into my front. He looked incredibly wild and untamed and... beautiful.

  "Now," he breathed across my lips, then ducked down and licked the bottom one. "First lesson." I was panting for breath now; excited and scared and out of my mind right then. "Never run from a predator, Cassandra. Stand your ground, call their bluff, if you must. The 'behave' worked on me once, because I wasn't expecting it. This time you'll have to dig deeper to make me stop."

  What?

  "Think," he instructed, his tongue swiping across my top lip and then his mouth suckled on the bottom.

  Think? He wants me to think now?

  "You can do it. Surprise me. Scare the predator off."

  His hips rocked seductively against me, evidence of his arousal obvious as it pressed against my lower belly. I stifled a groan.

  His face nestled into my neck next, I felt him inhale, taking the smell of me in. I wondered what he scented. I wondered if he liked it. Then his hand slipped under my T-shirt and stroked up my bare skin to just below the curve of my breast. And all thought was lost, replaced by a nonsensical whimper slipping out between my lips before I could stop it.

  "Come, Cassandra. I do believe you're not even trying."

  His thigh pressed firmly between my legs until they gave and he wedged himself against me, snug in the V there. He let a sound out, it was distinctly male. Even though I had never heard it before, I knew only a man could make it. It called to me, green flashed against his skin when I opened my eyes.

  "Oh, you are making this too easy, sweet, little Gi. Try," he whispered across my lips. "Try," he whispered against the soft skin beneath my ear. "Try."

  My fingers were simply fluttering on top of his shoulders, needing to do something, anything, to feel his skin, like he was wantonly feeling mine. All manner of strange sounds were slipping out of my mouth now. My body ached for more, but I couldn't exactly identify what. He licked and nibbled around my face and neck and ears. He sucked and lavished attention everywhere. Each touch of his tongue, his lips, his fingers sent electricity shooting through my veins.

  I knew he was playing me, I knew he was trying to get me to respond. And I was responding, but not the way he wanted me to. And despite all that he hadn't used his Stoicheio. I could tell. And I couldn't imagine what I'd be like if he did. I was so lost to these sensations he was creating. I was floating on a cloud of bliss already. Would I simply disappear in a puff of exquisiteness should his Fire envelope me now?

  God I wanted it to. I wanted it so much. Please. Please.

  My mouth opened on a sigh and his lips found mine, his tongue delved in with a fervour that seemed to match what I was feeling. I gripped his shoulders, opened up a little more of myself for him to taste, and sank into the ecstasy he was creating.

  It was Theo who pulled back, not me. No miraculous words from my lips to stop him. No command that caught him off guard and halted proceedings from advancing. I wanted more. I didn't want him to stop. I hadn't even been thinking of getting him to, so how could I have thought up a surprise or shock to make things stop?

  He placed his hands on the bark of the tree beside my face and hung his head in front of me, forehead pressing against mine. He was panting. His big chest rising and falling at an alarming rate. I wondered if he'd hurt himself.

  "Are you OK?" I breathed out.

  He let a strangled laugh out and fisted his hands next to my face.

  "I guess you win after all, Oraia," he whispered.

  "How?" I asked, genuinely intrigued to hear his reasoning.

  "I am so lost to you, I refuse to take you here like this, against a tree." His voice sounded pained. A shaking hand slowly eased out of the tight clench it was in and lifted to cup my cheek. "The first time I bed you, it will be with fine linens at your back, a soft cushion to cradle your head, and all the time in the world at our disposal to discover each other's bodies."

  Oh, that sounded good. Still crimson washed my neck and cheeks. But I did smile, I couldn't help it, and I think it was probably blinding in its sheer happiness. Theo let a small chuckle out and traced his thumb across my jaw.

  "And, sweet Cassandra, it will not be with my little cousin using his Stoicheio beneath our feet."

  I made a squeaking sound, pushing past Theo and suddenly realised how hot the soles of my shoes actually were.

  "How long has he been doing that?" I demanded, jumping around the clearing as though I was dancing on hot coals.

  "Ever since I started using mine to shield your response to my touch from prying ears," Theo admitted.

  "But I couldn't see any gold in your eyes," I said, shocked that he'd used his Stoicheio and I hadn't realised.

  "I am of royal blood, Casey," Theo explained. "I can do simple acts without disclosing what I am doing with the colour of my eyes."

  I stared at him, I think my mouth was open. But my mild horror at Theo using his element when I was not aware, was nothing compared to my response to his next words.

  "And so can you."

  Chapter Fourteen

  This Was It

  Theo regretted saying it immediately. An angry look crossed his face, then he shut it down. I was picking the anger was at himself, not me. He turned away and started pacing. That aggravated hand ran through his hair again. I watched him, stunned at his admission, equally stunned at his obvious faux pas, and also entirely stupefied that I think he slipped up because of me.

  If Theo distracted me, I also distracted him something fierce too.

  "Explain," I demanded softly, finally finding at least one word to voice right then.

  He stopped pacing, just stared blindly at the charred remains of a bush near his feet.

  "I started noticing things." His voice was low and soft. "At first, I think I only suspected subconsciously. I hadn't really connected all the dots. Then at the event tonight, it just came out. What my mind had been trying to tell me. What I'd seen but not comprehended."

  His eyes came up and he stared at me. I tried to decipher the expression on his face. He looked at me as though seeing me for the very first time. There was no hint of
familiarity, no remembered or lingering look of tenderness. It wasn't harsh and judgemental like the Pyrkagia at that restaurant tonight, but it wasn't my Theo either.

  "Your control is phenomenal. No plant has denied you once." How did he know that? And why was it important? He must have seen the puzzled look on my face, because he clarified his statement further. His hand waved out around the clearing. "They died willingly to follow your command. And since we arrived here those that survived have offered only welcome. There is no sense of residual anger."

  I blinked slowly, taking that all in.

  "It wouldn't surprise me, with your level of control, if you could channel essence as well," he added.

  "Channel essence?"

  "A Gi's ability to use aspects of a plant's toxin. Only a select few Gi can master the skill required." He studied me for a moment, then asked, "Can you?"

  "I don't even have a clue what that would do," I admitted, chewing on the inside of my lip. Another Ekmetalleftis power I would rather not know about.

  "There's several different plant toxins the Gi can channel," Theo started to explain. "Strychnos Toxifera; a paralysing poison derived from South American plants. Humans know it as Curare. Anaisthetikos; removes the sentience of a victim, by hindering their perception of the environment. Hederin; an hallucinogenic..."

  I held up my hand to stop him. There were obviously many, too many plant essences the Gi could channel. It was making me feel a little sick. I rubbed my stomach and swallowed to clear the bad taste that had accumulated in my mouth. I think Theo realised that was an ability I hadn't yet mastered. He looked as upset by the conversation as me.

  "Well, anyway, your control is one thing," Theo went on, thankfully dropping the topic. "But it is your strength which truly proves the point. You made the Earth assault my house. My house, Casey. Most Gi can command plants to do impressive things, but the Earth itself? Only those born of direct descent of an elder."

  "An elder?" I asked, feeling a little numbed and entirely too confused. All of this was stretching the practical side of my brain to its limit. I was teetering on the ledge of a mental overload ravine.

  "One of the original created by Aetheros. My father is an elder. All four current Rigas are elders. Your strength matches mine and in some regards, even surpasses it."

  I shook my head. He took a step closer and then stopped, eyes still trained on mine.

  "Control, strength, but then there is also the fact that you constantly commune with your Stoicheio without affecting a colour change in your eyes at all. When I shielded the sounds you were making just now" - and oh, did those words compound the tumult of emotions inside me right then - "I was communing with my Stoicheio, asking it to distract those who could hear you with lustful thoughts instead. I did not affect a colour change, because the action is a simple one, for me; a prince of Pyrkagia."

  And one I do constantly when I talk to the Earth.

  "How do you know I am talking to my Stoicheio if my eyes don't change colour?" I asked, trying not to let these new developments drown me. The water was rising though, in my mind it was lapping at my chin.

  "I have seen the plants do things that would have required a command from you, but you showed no signs of making it. Sometimes, you get a peaceful look on your face, and I just know you are communing with the Earth. You are beautiful when you do it, even more so than normal. If that were at all possible." The last words were spoken in a whisper.

  And he'd somehow crossed the last distance of space that separated us, but I hadn't even realised. He was now standing almost chest to chest with me. My eyes were trained on a button on his crisp white shirt. I watched as the button rose and fell with his breaths.

  "I think you are Gi royalty," Theo whispered. "I think you have forgotten, lost your memories. I think we may need to contact Gi and get you home."

  My eyes flicked up to his to gauge his reaction to that idea. But there was nothing there to tell me he was saddened at the news. Just his blank mask, the one he wears occasionally to hide the pain he feels inside. But I couldn't be sure there was pain, I could only guess at it being there. Because if the level of pain I felt was enormous, then some of it had to spill over to him.

  "But I was human," I insisted, shaking my head.

  "You think you were," he replied, softly.

  "No. No!" Firmer, stronger in my conviction. "I was born in Auckland twenty-three years ago. My parents names are George and Anne Eden. I have an older brother. We lived in Pakuranga while I grew up. I went to school with Sonya. We've been friends for ten years. I have never owned a passport. I have never been out of the North Island of New Zealand. I remember my childhood. I remember it all."

  Theo's hands came up and held my shoulders, just like he had held Isadora's. It wasn't in any way intimate. And although it was familiar, I had been happy he hadn't been more so with his ex-girlfriend. But with me, that lack of intimacy now hurt.

  "These are memories your brain has fabricated in order to understand the present. Without them the uncertainty could be too much for your mind to handle without breaking down."

  "Theo," I insisted. "I have blonde hair."

  He looked like he had forgotten that little fact for a second. His gaze washed over my head, taking in the dark blonde strands.

  "There has to be an explanation for that," he said, sounding a little uncertain.

  I frantically tried to find a way to convince him that shipping me off to the Amazon was not a good idea.

  "OK," I said, grasping at straws. "Say you're right." I didn't believe it, not at all. "Say I am some long lost Gi princess." I wanted to laugh at that, but nothing here was humorous. "Why has it happened? Why are the Gi not looking for me?"

  "Maybe they are."

  "Wouldn't they suspect their enemies first? Have a spy here checking the Pyrkagia out? Who would recognise me," I said purposely.

  Theo frowned.

  "What if the reason I am here, and still going with your bizarre lost Gi princess idea, is because something happened in Gi that I needed to escape. Sending me back could be the worst thing of all to do."

  That did it. That fabricated, stupid, idiotic reasoning to his suggestion, did it. Theo stiffened, his face showed a plethora of emotions for the first time in long minutes.

  "I won't let them harm you," he vowed.

  I let a breath of air out, relieved he wasn't going to speed-dial Brazil, but still at a loss to convince him it was all lies.

  "You know," I pointed out, reaching for a vine in which to scratch my wrist for a drop of blood. "Athanatos are extremely paranoid beings. I know it's a little illogical to believe I have just become what I am now, from whatever transpired in that pit." I pressed a thorn into my vein and watched the blood well. I didn't even flinch at the sharp sting it had caused. "But it is equally as implausible that I would be suffering from amnesia and be a princess." The blood dripped slowly off my arm and to the ground. "Do I really look like a princess to you?" I finally demanded, my eyes raised to his.

  And OK, calling on the Earth using my blood and flashing green from my eyes was probably not the best time to ask that question. But I was dressed in my yoga pants and hoodie, I was standing there as the girl who had stuttered and stammered in reply to every flirtatious remark Theo had made in my store over the past year. I was inexperienced and to some degree naive. I was wandering around this new world clumsily and gauchely. There was not a single piece of evidence to show that the person beneath the power and control and green eyes, was in fact regal.

  The Earth shook and rumbled, a beast rising from a deep, deep sleep. Theo took a step backwards and leaned casually against the bark of a tree. He crossed his legs at his ankles, making himself comfortable, as though settling in to watch a good TV show, and then laughed. It was a gorgeous laugh. A rumble in his chest that matched the presence of the rumble in the Earth.

  "You have always appeared as though a queen to me," he said, voice deep and smooth, but I could easily hear it above
the noise the Earth and plants were now making.

  A strange mix of elation and disappointment washed through me. He thought that? But, I wasn't convincing him. At least I'd managed to make him hesitate before announcing my presence to the Gi. Something told me that was not a good move at all. Better the devil you know, and although I didn't know the Pyrkagia well, I knew them enough to feel safer here than out in the big wide world with a branch of Ekmetalleftis that I actually had no connection to at all.

  I didn't have an answer to the question of how I became what I am now. But I knew I was not born Gi.

  The ground shook and the Earth opened up. Theo's casual stance had stiffened slightly at the magnitude of power on display before his eyes. It was impressive, I couldn't deny it. But I'd thought the Earth was in control, just following a request from me. Obviously, from the look on Theo's face right now, that was not the case. I was doing all of this, just using the Earth as the conduit to achieve my goal.

  I took a shuddering deep breath in, trying to still my rapidly beating pulse at that realisation. Heaven help me, I was something entirely not of this world. The depth of panic at that knowledge was astounding. I thought I was going to be sick. I concentrated on what the Earth was spewing out of its innards instead.

  Soil roiled away from the centre of the charred circle Theo and I stood on the edge of. Like water it washed over itself; a fountain of dirt rolling away and under, rising up on a wave and then disappearing into itself again. But from where it erupted a hole began to emerge. Slowly the hole got bigger and bigger, until crouched low, gold brimming his lowered lashes, Nico rose from the depths of the hell I had placed him within; unscathed with barely a smudge of dirt on him. Somehow he'd been cocooned in a cell, protected as instructed, kept safe on my command.

  The Earth gave a few more small tremors, as the soil settled flat beneath Nico's feet. Even the charred evidence of our fight had been swallowed by that magnificent performance. Nothing was left to indicate a battle had occurred where Pyrkagia Stoicheio had destroyed my trees and plants. In its place were new bushes and vines, saplings, lush grass and verdant green leaves.