"Gramps sent me. Guess we could have phoned first to warn you, but things are getting out of hand."
I slowly looked up at Theo, who was looking down at me with that implacable Athanatos mask on his face. Closed off. Hard.
"He is your brother?" he asked quietly, the undertone of every word sounded accusatory.
I nodded my head.
"He is an Alchemist?" he added, my eyes flicked to Mark where he stood unconcerned facing off against an irate looking Isadora, a wary Nico and placid faced Aktor which belied his ready stance.
"I guess so," I whispered back.
"You're telling me you didn't know?" Theo asked, but I think the question was rhetorical.
"I had no idea, he's meant to be living in Australia on the Gold Coast," I answered anyway.
"And you had no idea he was like your grandfather?"
Oh and there was the doubt.
I pushed out of his embrace leaving him exposed, although to look at him you wouldn't know it. He was as unconscious of his naked state as the rain was of where it fell.
"This is my brother Mark," I announced to the waiting crowd. Unnecessarily. "I'd like to talk to him in private," I added. "If we can't do that inside, I'll do it out here. But I'd like you all to go back in the house."
"You don't get to order us around," Isadora snapped.
"Look at you, princess," Mark drawled. "All claws. Meowrr!"
She glared at him. He just winked back.
Oh, God. This was not going well.
I ran a hand over my face, feeling tired all over again.
"Look," Mark said, when still no one moved. "Do you want to know what's going on or not?"
Still nothing but angry stares and doubtful scowls.
"OK, how 'bout this?" he tried. "I know who has been bought out in Pyrkagia."
Heat filled the air, setting the raindrops to sizzling.
"Yeah, thought you would," Mark muttered.
Theo made a low rumbling growling sound in the back of his throat. "You can come inside," he relented. "You will not see Casey on your own," he added, imperiously. "And if you so much as flash white or ice blue in those eyes, I will take your head."
The threat wasn't idle. Theo had been a leader of the Scout Guard, those Pyrkagia charged with keeping their kind in place. Policeman, Judge, Jury and Executioner all rolled up in one.
He'd threatened to take my head once, too. I hoped Mark could see the truth in Theo's words now. I may not have had any idea of what was happening, or whether I could trust my evidently lying brother, but he was my sibling. Until I knew one way or the other that he was on my side I'd try to keep his head right where it was.
"Deal," Mark agreed.
Theo turned his golden tinged eyes to me, then ordered, "Go get dressed." I raised my eyebrows, opened my mouth to argue back, when he said, "Or he leaves."
I'd forgotten just how high-handed Theo could be. In my grief and loss I'd only remembered the good times. The loving times. The hot and sexy times. But there had also been an awful lot of overbearing, dictatorial and lordly behaviour.
"You go get dressed," I offered, crossing my arms over my chest and cocking my hip.
In the background Mark lit up a cigarette and casually blew smoke up into the air. How was he keeping the rain off him?
"Nico, Isadora," Theo called, not taking his angry stare off me. "Guard the Alchemist."
"The front parlour would be best," Aktor suggested.
"So be it," Theo growled, stalking the two steps needed to reach me, gripping my upper arm and then unceremoniously hauling me back up the front steps, over the marble entranceway and through the doors.
I struggled the entire way.
"What is your problem!" I yelled, landing a whack to his hard arm, then diverting my attention to his equally hard torso.
"At the moment, let me see," he said conversationally, not releasing his grip at all. We started mounting the stairs. "My Thisavros not only has an Alchemist grandfather, but it runs in her family, and her brother who wields Water and Air has invaded my home. How's that for starters?"
"I'm not your Thisavros!" I growled back, kicking him in the shin and only hurting my bare toe, I should think.
"Oraia, I may not remember, but trust me, with the way my body responds, there's no doubt at all."
What?
I stomped on his foot instead of asking that question.
"Cut it out!" he growled low, hauling me to a stop on the landing, and pulling me flush against his chest. "You're like an annoying buzzing little bee."
"Up yours!"
"Casey!"
"What?" Still punching and kicking here. Still not letting me go.
"You're a fucking Ekmetalleftis. Use your Stoicheio."
Oh.
Fire flared from my hands and I thrust them at his chest.
"Wrong choice, darling," he purred. "If you want me compliant use Earth or Air; Fire just turns me on."
"Oh! I hate you!"
"No you don't," he whispered into my ear, his arms bands of heated steel wrapped around my body, his chest a molten lava flow of bliss against mine. "Oraia," he moaned into my hair.
I stilled.
Remember me. Please, just. Please.
Theo let out a long sigh. Both our Pyrkagia dissipating.
"You really didn't know about him, did you?" he whispered, still holding me close, but no longer fanning the flames.
"You really doubt me at every turn," I countered.
"Cassandra," he said with meaning. "I want to remember, but I..."
"Don't," I finished for him. "Believe me, I know."
I pushed against his chest and miraculously he let me go. The chill that wrapped around me felt too quick. I should have still felt a memory of his heated touch, but like our history in his mind, it was gone.
"Gramps said he was sending someone to help me," I offered, staring at the floor and not at the man still tearing my heart apart. "I guess he chose Mark." My shoulders drooped on a heavy sigh.
There was no point reiterating what I'd already said. I didn't have the energy to do things twice.
Turning, I walked into the bedroom we shared and realised my mistake. My clothes weren't in here, but back in the destroyed room. Wow, my life really had become bizarre if sentences like that seemed normal. I spun around and slammed into Theo, bouncing backwards with a yelp.
"A little space, please?" I snapped.
"Never," he whispered, reaching up and tucking a wet strand of my hair behind my ear.
I closed my eyes and breathed through the emotions. So confusing and so messed up and so unfair.
"I need to get clothes," I ground out into the strained silence.
"Wear some of mine," Theo shot back moving away. My eyelids flicked up and I watched him go into the walk-in wardrobe. For some reason I couldn't open my mouth to argue the point. I just stood there, swaying slightly, feeling numb, but hurting at the same time.
How was that even possible?
He came back out with a pair of sweat pants and a large t-shirt.
"I'll be swamped," I managed, as he slipped into the bathroom and then returned with a towel.
"Doesn't matter," he murmured, unwrapping Sonya's sodden cardigan and beginning to gently wipe me down and dry me off.
"But..." I started.
"Don't argue."
I stood still as he made sure every inch of me was dry, including my hair and inside each ear. Then he ran his fingers through my blonde strands, untangling each knot with concentrated effort. Finally he held out the men's sweats for me to get into.
"No underwear," I remarked.
"No underwear," he repeated softly.
I stepped into one trouser leg and then the other, then he pulled the pants up to my waist and cinched them tight with the drawstring. He immediately crouched down and rolled up each leg, so my feet could actually poke out at the bottoms. Coming to full height again he snagged the t-shirt; it was a soft grey, the material well wo
rn.
"Lift up your arms," he murmured and I complied. With focused attention he pulled the t-shirt over my head and then stepped back to see the final look. A small smile curved the corners of his lips.
"Why are you doing this?" I whispered. It felt like whispering was the right thing to do.
His eyes slowly came up to mine, from where he'd been soaking in every inch of my "swamped" body.
"Mine," he simply said. "You are mine."
"Not anymore," I replied past a lump the size of an orange in my throat.
He shook his head. "Oraia," he said. "I may not remember, but I do know one thing to be the truth."
When he didn't go on I was forced to ask in a croak, "What?"
"Once a Thisavros always a Thisavros. No one can take it away. Not a scientist. Not an Alchemist. Not even my fucking father. Do you understand?"
"But he has." My lips had formed the words, but no sound had come out.
Theo read them anyway.
"No, sweet Casey Eden. He has not. And the moment I get back inside you I will prove it."
Heat flared through my body, sending tingles to my fingertips and warmth to pool between my thighs. My lips parted but only a gasp came out. Theo reached up and ran his thumb over my bottom lip slowly, his face soft and enthralled, but still not the Theo I'd known.
Oh, he was falling for me. I had no doubt now. He even foolishly thought he could stimulate the Thisavros connection by doing the deed. But he didn't realise, I wasn't fooled. Pyrkagia are sexual beings, they feed off lust and passion and desire and heat. This was his innate self talking; a man attracted to a woman simply because she fed a part of him.
I could love him back. And I'd be lying if I said I didn't already. But I would always pine for the old Theo. For the real Theo. For the Theo who knew every inch of me inside and out.
For the Theo who remembered me.
The Earth sighed in agreement.
I watched achingly as he dried himself off and dressed in dark trousers and a crisply laundered shirt. The dark colours making his Greek heritage stand out, making him look so handsome that my heart hurt. He ran a hand through his hair, effecting a Nico style without conscious thought. Then he walked over to where I'd been standing numbly, where he'd left me after he'd dressed me in his clothes, and looked down at my face. Tilting it up to his with a finger under my chin.
"Are you ready?" he asked, and I realised that I was nowhere near ready to face what my brother was.
"They both lied to me," I said, voicing the thought that had been dogging me since Mark had arrived. "My own family."
Theo didn't say anything, whether that was because he still doubted me or not, I don't know.
"Let's get this over with," I said, turning away and walking toward the door.
Theo followed silently behind me, lost in his own thoughts, as I coasted down the stairs like a ghost, not making a sound. I could hear Aktor and Sonya in the kitchen, the butler taking it upon himself to keep my best friend away from the danger and entertained.
Maybe I would have to add him back on my friend list.
No conversation came from the front parlour, and the closer I got the more nervous I became. Just before I reached the threshold I sucked in a deep breath of air, and at that exact moment Theo's hand slipped into mine. I turned to look up at him as he lifted the back of it to his lips to offer a kiss. It was meant to reassure, all it did was remind me of him doing that same move to Isadora in the limousine back in Auckland.
I tried to keep that memory from reflecting on my face. I clearly failed when he began to frown.
Thinking it would be best to just get this over with, I pushed forward into the front room.
Nico was sitting back on the couch, relaxed pose and an amused look on his face, as he watched across the room to where Isadora and my brother were. My eyes followed his and landed on the couple up against the wall, between two floor to ceiling windows that looked out onto a still wet and windy Wellington day.
"Isadora!" Theo exploded as I finally comprehended what it was I could see.
Mark had his lids half closed, his mouth parted on a sigh, as his chest rose and fell rapidly. Isadora held him immobile by a fist to his blond hair and her boobs pressed into his torso, a thigh was between his legs.
His hips were rocking.
Her eyes were blazing gold.
"Holy freaking hell," I muttered and then promptly covered my face as Mark let out an erotic moan.
"Hotness," he somehow managed to drawl, "if I knew you fancied me that much, I would have put up more of a fight."
Isadora thrust his head back against the wall with an infuriated growl, as Theo stormed over towards them. As soon as she sensed Theo's approach she let Mark go, not even waiting to watch him slump down the side of the wall in an undignified heap, but turning to face the oncoming threat.
Then, as her well fed Pyrkagia redirected to Theo, I realised she wasn't facing what she thought was a threat. She was facing what she really wanted.
My Thisavros.
Her Stoicheio hit him directly in the chest and as his legs buckled, she purred, "Oops," her eyes on my face, not Theo's.
Oh, she did not just do that.
The Earth trembled. The Air crystallised before our lips. And I reached out with my own Fire and slapped her hard across the face.
Theo landed back on his feet, recovering quicker than I had expected, and just in time to see the burn mark slash Isadora's cheek.
"Oops," I said from across the room. Then Mark started laughing, throwing his head back and really letting go.
As Nico drawled, "Always an education."
And Theo slowly turned back to look at me with one eyebrow raised.
Chapter 9
If The Butler Was Hitting The Booze, I Was In Deep Freaking Trouble
"So, that's Isadora Petros," Mark said as he sipped from a hot cup of tea Aktor had presented, along with edibles on a silver tray, in the middle of the OK Corral. "I likie," he added, offering me a wink.
I'd forgotten how much of a flirt my brother was. How much fun he'd been to be around. How much I'd trusted him.
My tea cup rattled as it landed back on the tray.
Mark cleared his throat, but didn't say anything else.
"Who started it?" Theo asked.
My eyes came up to look at Mark's face. There was no embarrassment there, just mild amusement.
"And I'll be asking Isadora the same question," Theo advised. We were alone in the room now, just Mark, Theo and me. Nico and Dora had been ordered out with Aktor's timely arrival. Isadora hadn't looked at me, Nico had let his eyes flow over Theo's sweats and t-shirt and just smirked.
"Jeez," Mark barked on a laugh. "You really are a prince, aren't you?"
"Just answer the question, Mark," I instructed, tiring of the games.
"I didn't flash white or ice blue, Your Highness," Mark offered. "So what does that tell you?"
"There are other ways to provoke," Theo pointed out.
"You call it provocation, I call it flirting. Tomayto. Tomarto," he quipped.
I stared at him, as he sat on the sofa across from us with casual ease. I knew he was over six feet tall when standing, and before he left for the greener pastures of Australia he'd worked out at the gym and went windsurfing every other day. His shoulders and arms always seemed huge to me. But now he'd bulked up everywhere and wore steely experience like a fitted suit jacket. His eyes were cool and hard, when they'd always been playful and dancing. His face was the picture of rugged ease, blond stubble along his jaw, quirk to his full lips. But it didn't match that steady pale blue in his gaze. That look he seemed to have now, that went right through you.
If Mark was an Alchemist he'd seen a thing or two. I couldn't tell if he liked what he'd seen. Something in his rigid exterior told me perhaps he didn't.
I hadn't seen Mark for close to four years. But I realised now that he hadn't just been gone from my life, he'd been lost to me, too.
&
nbsp; It felt like I'd not only lived through Gramps' death and betrayal, but now I was looking at a ghost of my brother and facing his disloyalty as well. It hurt. And I hadn't thought I had anywhere left inside me to hurt more. But I'd been wrong about that too.
"So, you're an Alchemist," I said, when it seemed the conversation had stalled.
Mark brought his eyes back to my face. I think he'd been having a staring match with Theo.
"Yes," he said simply.
"How's that working for you?" I asked, feeling so lost and alone all of a sudden.
"I've had better days and you?"
"Me what?"
"How are you, Case?" he whispered.
And suddenly I was angry. So freaking mad. Enough already, world! Enough!
"You really want to know?" I asked, voice raised slightly. "I'll tell you," I snapped and Theo shifted at my side. I didn't waste time looking at him. My anger was all for my family and the only member here right now was Mark. "I thought Gramps was dead, but it turns out he's not. Cool, huh? Oh, and get this, he knew something about a world I never even considered existed and he kept it from me. But you know what? He didn't keep it from my big brother. No. He brought him into the fold and left me thinking a crap pile of lies. So, yeah. Life's freaking fantastic. Thanks for asking."
"He was protecting you," came Mark's solicitous reply.
Oh, no. I don't think so.
"So, I wake up after spending a day or two unconscious in a pile of dirt," I added. "Creepy crawlies all over me, rose bushes scratching the crap out of my arms. Then if that's not enough, I burn down half the Amazon forest, killing people while I'm at it, because, you know, that's just how whacked my life has become."
Mark held my infuriated gaze with a sad and compassionate one of his own. It just made me angrier.
"Yeah and Air's not all it's cracked up to be either," I snapped. "That took a traumatic episode and turned it into a frighting one, but you'd think I'd have gotten used to all this crap by now, wouldn't you? Clearly I missed the memo on that front."
He licked his lips, parted them as though to speak, so I leaned forward and kept going.
Not done yet, buster. Nah-uh. Not yet.
"I've been tortured, ridiculed, thrown out of my city, handed over to freaking sadists. Made up to be a princess, pulled down to be an imposter. Experimented on, hunted, chased, imprisoned, starved, carved, fallen in love, had my heart broken, been betrayed more than once. If I had the inclination to add it up, I'd need two hands. That's how many times someone has let me down. And now you. So. Do you really need me to tell you how I am? Or can your freaking selfish, lying, betraying arse figure it fucking well out!"
The Chilling Change Of Air (Elemental Awakening, Book 3) Page 9