Elemental Awakening Book Bundle

by Nicola Claire

  "OK," Theo said softly. "The Stoicheio," he offered, pulling my reluctant body back against his chest. He sighed when I complied, and then started running his hand absently through my hair.

  "The Stoicheio," I agreed, capitulating to his tender care.

  "We know they are still there, even though it injures us to reach for them. We also know you can refuel somehow, but we cannot, it seems," he summarised.

  "That about covers it."

  "Let's break it down. What did you feel when you reached for Gi?"

  I tried to think back, but all I remembered was the splitting headache that I'd been certain was not from Earth but from Aetheros himself, trying to communicate his despair. At the time, I was sure my skull would fracture, brain seeping out all over the ground at my feet. But could I have gotten that wrong? Was the headache from my Gi not the god?

  "The worst ever headache," I advised Theo. "I thought it was Aetheros talking to me. I felt like he was too big for the space inside my mind."

  "Maybe," Theo conceded. "Anything else?"

  "Earth was silent and then I blacked out."

  He was quiet a moment, letting that memory settle again.

  "Dora said she felt like her blood was on fire," he announced suddenly.

  "And Mark drowned," I offered, finishing off what we knew about the efforts to reach our Stoicheio to date.

  "Maybe your reaction was hidden in the quake itself," Theo suggested. "Maybe you would have been swallowed by the ground if it hadn't already been shaking, counteracting the reaction unintentionally."

  "We could go around in circles with this," I pointed out softly. I wasn't trying to throw up a wall at every suggestion, but we were just guessing. Nothing solid to go on for now.

  Silence for a while.

  Then, "You didn't try to reach for Aeras?"

  "I knew better."

  I could feel his smile against the top of my head.

  "Bloody hell," he muttered. "She does heed advice."

  I elbowed him in the stomach.

  He grunted but didn't otherwise complain.

  "I think we really have only one choice," he said into the warm, comfortable silence that had enveloped us.

  I tipped my head up and tried to determine his expression, because the words had sounded innocuous, but the tone was hesitant, unsure. Not Theo.

  "Go on," I encouraged.

  "You were right," he admitted, but I wasn't sure which pearl of wisdom of mine he was referring to. He ducked his chin so he could look me in the eyes. He looked chagrined. "We need to test this further. We can't risk sitting around and waiting for it to right itself."

  I frowned.

  "Test what? How?"

  "Our Stoicheio."

  I arched my brow. "The exact thing you made me promise not to do."

  "No need to point that out. I am well aware of the fact."

  I sniggered. He gave me a good glare. Then tightened his arms as though he thought I'd run from him because of it.

  I turned to look back at the fire, feeling the warmth and welcome in the heat.

  "There's no other way," I agreed.

  "No, and with two Genesis events passed, we have weakened. If this continues, we may not survive."

  I closed my eyes, let the image of Mark drowning and Isadora's silent internal agony wash my mind. I still felt the headache and seizure were from Aetheros, and maybe that had masked what Gi would have done, but I wasn't sure. I just didn't know. And I'd have to attempt to reach it all over again.

  "So, how do we do this? On the sly, away from everyone else? Or group effort?"

  Theo let a long breath of air out. "It is traumatic to watch, but I would prefer we had everyone available in case things go wrong."

  And the potential for things to go wrong was definitely there.

  "OK. When?" I asked.

  "We've eaten and rested. Sonya has given us a boost. I think now."

  "What about Mark and Isadora?"

  He made a little grumbling sound, which was really quite cute. "I would prefer they are included, but rounding them up may be difficult and Mark..."

  "May be quite drunk by now," I offered.

  "Yes."

  I shook my head at my stupid, idiotic big brother and then decided as he was my sibling, I'd have to be the one to sober him up.

  "All right," I said, getting to my feet in a surprisingly smooth move. That food and fire session really must have made a difference. Or maybe, just Theo's arms.

  He stood in a glide next to me.

  "I'll go in search of Dora," he suggested, and I immediately corrected with a snapped, "Isadora."

  His smile was wide.

  "How cute. Is that the first time you have corrected me?" he asked casually.

  I rolled my eyes. He may not have remembered the past year, but he knew I would have said that more than once.

  "Watch yourself, Pyrkagia," I muttered, attempting to step away.

  In an instant I was spun back into his arms, my breasts crushed against his hard chest.

  "Or what?" he whispered in my ear and then gently bit. "You'll remind me why I love you and not her?"

  It was all I needed to hear. That was probably why he said it. I melted against him, my arms winding around his back as his lips kissed their way toward my mouth.

  "Later," he murmured against me, kissing once softly and then pulling away.

  Hunger and desire burned in his eyes. I let my gaze wander down his body, soaking him all up, wetting my lips with anticipation and then smiling triumphantly at the bulge that had appeared in his pants.

  "You may go on your search now," I declared regally.

  "You do vex me sometimes," he murmured, but laughter shone in his eyes as he sauntered away.

  I spun around, looked over Aktor, Nico and Sonya quickly, to determine nothing had changed. Nico and Aktor were talking quietly, as one softly stroked her hair and the other massaged her knees and ankles alternately. I hoped in her sleep she was feeling loved, because it was obvious she was very much indeed.

  Satisfied she was in good hands I went after Mark, in the direction I'd seen him scampering.

  I hadn't thought to take a candle or torch, but thankfully one was on a shelf as I progressed further away from the fire. I had to climb up to grab it, but with illumination in hand I set off again. I should have called out. It would have made perfect sense. But the dark, deserted corridors, the dust and cobweb covered vintages, and the eerie quiet of the far reaches of the cellar made my throat close up and my lips remain sealed.

  It wasn't as though I'd swallow a spider or anything, just a sense of solitude that shouldn't be disturbed.

  I'd made a grave mistake, because as I homed in on soft sounds coming from just ahead, and awareness of what I was actually hearing registered, it was too late. The light from the flickering candle reached them, splashing shadows across bare skin, reflecting back off sweat soaked flesh, showing me an image I really would have preferred to have been spared.

  "Oh, dear freaking God," I muttered, spinning and placing my back to the spectacle.

  "Casey!" Mark hissed. "Fucking hell. Go away!"

  I cringed.

  "We need..." I started.

  "Just, fuck, Casey!" Mark added. "Ah." He attempted to sound less aggravated. "Give us five minutes, OK?"

  "Five minutes?" Isadora asked in amusement.

  "Well," my brother purred. Actually purred! "Maybe fifteen."

  "That's better," she said and then moaned.

  Oh, crap.

  I left in a hurry, feeling the blush cover the top half of my body, muttering curses under my breath and brushing cobwebs wildly from my face. I burst out into the arched area, spotting Theo emerge from his gap between shelves, and threw myself down on the cushions in front of the others, covering my face with my hands and groaning out loud.

  "What is it?" Theo asked, appearing in an instant beside me.

  "You don't want to know," I moaned between my spread fingers.
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  Aktor started laughing, Nico's chuckles could be heard in the background as well.

  "What's happened?" Theo pressed.

  "Did you get an eyeful, Casey?" Nico asked, amusement clear in his tone.

  "Ah," said Theo, settling himself down on the floor beside me. "Learn anything?" he asked in such an innocent voice it must have been contrived.

  "Don't even go there," I growled back at both of them.

  "It is a natural thing, Miss Eden," Aktor pointed out, enjoying himself too much as well.

  "Not for my brother," I argued.

  "What?" Nico burst out. "He's never done it?"

  I groaned again, shaking my head in dismay. You should never, ever, catch your brother screwing a woman against shelves holding hundred year old bottles of claret. Oh, freaking hell. The woman was older than the wine.

  Another groan into the pillow I'd lifted to my face.

  "Perhaps it's payback," Theo announced.

  "Payback, Theodoros?" Aktor asked, politely. Too damn politely.

  "Yes," Theo replied. "He did catch us at the most inopportune moment."

  "Oh, kill me now," I muttered with much put-upon pain.

  "Well, there you go," Nico agreed. "Payback's a bitch."

  "Or you catch your brother screwing one," I added.

  There was silence. For a second I thought I might just have gone a little too far on that one.

  And then all three men burst out laughing, really enjoying themselves now.

  "What's so funny?" Mark's voice sounded out from over my shoulder.

  I lifted my head and moved the pillow aside and effected the best "nothing" face I could muster.

  Aktor snorted. Actually snorted.

  I glared at the old man.

  "Just joking around," Theo replied, offering a lifeline. But as Theo didn't often joke around and the world was coming to an end and any jokes right now were inappropriate, no one reached out to grab it.

  Thankfully, before anything else could be said, Isadora walked out from between different shelves than my brother had just emerged.

  Nico covered his mouth to hide his amusement, Aktor stared up at the arches as though their architecture was the answer to the universe. And Theo just swept lazy eyes up and down Isadora's body, letting her know he was damn well aware of what she had just done.

  For the first time ever, I watched Isadora blush. Then look nervously away, as though unsure of his reaction. For my part, I turned my glare on Theo. Because, hello? He shouldn't have been interested in looking at her at all.

  But as much as I knew he'd fallen for me, and as much as I knew he loved me. He still remembered the Isadora of before. And that Dora had been his on-again and off-again lover. For nigh on two thousand years.

  Even before all this crap, I'd known loving Theo would not be easy. Now I was acutely aware of exactly how hard loving him was.

  I refused to make eye contact with anyone, conscious that they were all too damn observant to have missed the pain that surely registered on my face, a reflection of what I felt in my heart. Instead I looked at Sonya. Still asleep, still with us. And smiling wistfully at something in her dreams.

  I hoped they were perfect. I hoped they were everything she could ever have wanted. Because life, as I now knew, was definitely not.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  There Was No Freaking Way I Wanted To Argue With That

  Theo cleared his throat. The room had been way too silent, but I still refused to look at anyone.

  "We need everyone together," he announced.

  "For what?" Isadora asked, sounding too close for my liking.

  "We've no choice but to test our Stoicheio," Theo advised. "And it would be best if we were all on hand should something backfire."

  "Makes sense," Nico agreed. "Who's going first?"

  "I will," I blurted, wanting to feel anything other than this hollowness from knowing nothing had changed, and nothing ever would where Isadora and Theo were concerned. Even pain would be better than this.

  "No," Theo announced with authority.

  "Why should she get preferential treatment?" Isadora snapped.

  A string of the most atrocious words flew through my head, all directed at her. Words I could no further say in public than kick Aetheros up the backside for letting his "children" run wild and neglect their chores.

  Oh, I wanted to. I wanted to call her every derogatory name under the sun.

  I think I might have growled.

  "Because as Aether she deserves preferential treatment," Theo replied smoothly. "Or have you been too busy to remember the world is coming to an end?"

  And that didn't sound bitchy at all. Yeah.

  "No busier than you, Theodoros," she purred back.

  Was this some sort of jealous lovers spat? I felt sick. Cheese and crackers wanting to come back out and I hadn't even had any ouzo.

  "I'll go first," Aktor announced, interrupting whatever staring match was going on between Theo and Isadora. I couldn't be sure they were staring, I just felt the weight of it in the air. I was too busy looking at the ground.

  "All right, then," Theo announced. "We should do this next to the fire."

  Aktor got up from his seat and headed over to the brazier, I could hear other sets of footfalls following him.

  "You don't have to come over," Theo said quietly from behind me. "Stay with Sonya if you'd like."

  I looked up and noted that even Nico had moved. The first time I'd seen him out from beneath Sonya's legs. I nodded, not bothering to turn enough to see Theo. Not wanting to see understanding in his eyes, to know he was aware he'd hurt me.

  It took a second, maybe two, and then the warmth of his proximity faded and it was just me and my best friend.

  "You're missing all the fun," I muttered, getting up from my position on the floor, feeling ancient while I was at it, and then slipping gratefully into Nico's seat, as I lifted Sonya's legs over my lap. I had an uninterrupted view across the space towards the brazier, Aktor lying out on a mattress on the floor, while the others knelt down around him. Isadora glaring across the butler's body at Theo, but because his back was to me, I couldn't be sure if he was glaring right back.

  I assumed he was, from the thunderous look on my brother's face right then.

  "Just reach out for starters," Theo urged.

  "Like a knock on the hearth," Nico added.

  "We'll slap you if you can't pull back, breaking the connection," Isadora so helpfully offered.

  "Good freaking God, I hate her," I murmured, under my breath.

  "Me too," said Sonya, not opening her eyes.

  "How long have you been awake?" I asked, my heart skittering inside my chest, the urge to wrap her up in my arms almost too powerful to deny. I was going for cool, but between Isadora the bitch, Theo the mindless ex-lover, and the general state of play in the universe, my voice cracked on every single word.

  "Long enough to know the cow's done it again," Sonya muttered. "Thirsty," she rasped on the end.

  I reached down and snagged the glass of water Aktor had sitting on the floor and helped her lift her head to drink some. She licked her lips afterwards, still keeping her lids down, and fell back onto the pillow.

  "My freaking head hurts," she muttered.

  "Maybe they've got some paracetamol around here somewhere. I saw a first-aid kit on one of the shelves."

  "Where are we?" she asked, not suggesting I go get any meds, so I remained where I was. She clearly wanted me near and I didn't want to be too far away if the crap hit the fan over by the fire.

  Not that I was sure I could do anything to help out, but I think Theo was right. We all needed to be close for this.

  "In the cellar," I replied.

  "Cool." A lengthy pause followed where I thought she'd fallen asleep again. "What are they doing?"

  "Trying to reach their Stoicheio."

  "Isn't that a bad idea?"

  "Only if Isadora doesn't lose consciousness."


  Sonya snorted and then groaned. "Don't make me laugh, 'K?"

  "'K," I whispered. "You had us worried."

  "Nah," she offered. "Just took a wee nap."

  "Don't do it again, 'K?"

  "I'll try not to," she dryly replied.

  I felt a swell of Pyrkagia and then Aktor cried out and started shaking, sweat beading his forehead, eyes tightly closed.

  "Can you pull back?" Theo called.

  "Is he with us?" Isadora asked, hand raised ready to slap.

  "She wants to slap him, doesn't she?" Sonya queried, only listening to what was happening, still not trusting she could open her eyes without pain.

  "A lot of pent up anger," I offered.

  "Yeah, what do you think she'll do if it's Theo on the floor?"

  I didn't have an answer for that and Sonya must have realised her mistake because I swear she feigned sleep straight away afterwards.

  "I'm fine," Aktor gasped and I let a little breath out I'd been holding.

  "Veins on fire?" Isadora asked smugly.

  "Quite," Aktor replied shuddering all over.

  "Well, there's no point anyone else trying then, is there?" Nico queried. "Two of us had the same result. Mark almost drowned reaching for Water. Casey collapsed and seized when she tried Earth. What else is there?"

  "Air," Mark offered.

  "Do you really think it will be different?" Isadora asked, sounding genuinely concerned. Liar.

  Mark shrugged. "I've got to give it a go, don't I?"

  "Ah, hell," I muttered.

  "You want to go over there?" Sonya asked, confirming the sleep was faked.

  "If I do, I'll punch her in the face and that won't help Mark."

  Sonya smiled. "There's my girl," she murmured merrily.

  I shook my head at my bloodthirsty best friend.

  "All right. Lie down beside Aktor," Theo ordered. "I don't think he's well enough yet to move."

  I watched Mark get into position, everyone moving back slightly to allow him room.

  "Ready?" Theo asked, quite reasonably.

  "No!" my brother snarled back, making me smile this time.

  Isadora placed a hand on his shoulder. I sat forward in my seat, making Sonya crack an eyelid and watch me between her lashes.

  "Go over," she encouraged.