Lycus slowed as he neared her, his gaze narrowing in confusion. “Hope?” He said blankly.
She blinked. “Yes?”
He hesitated, a hand coming up to touch his chest. “I’m Lycus. Do you remember me? We met once, when you were very young.”
“Oh. Right.” Her family knew so many mercenaries, it was hard to keep them straight. His face did look kind of familiar, though. Kind of. Wracking her brain, Hope came up with some vague recollection of Oberon and this man standing together. With no context or associated memories, though, she drew a blank as to when the meeting might have happened. Oberon knew a lot of people.
Still an un-Fire Phase impulse to be polite had Hope saying. “Nice to see you, again. Well, no. It’s actually not, but…” She blew out a nervous breath and kept her eyes on the super shiny, super deadly weapon he carried. “Anyway, yeah. Hi.” The small wave was automatic.
Lycus’ squinted at her like he suspected this was all some kind of elaborate practical joke. He slowly lowered his sword. “I have one more person to behead and I’ll be free… And they send you?”
“Yeah, I’m really not really happy about it either.”
“Woman, concentrate!” Kingu sounded like Hope was deliberately setting out to torture him. “Stop talking to that son-of-a-bitch and pick-up your sword.”
Hope and Lycus ignored that.
“I have to do this.” Lycus’ tone edged into desperation. “I have to get out of here.”
“Oh, I don’t blame you. I mean, I’m ready to leave, too, and I’ve only been here an hour.”
“Exactly. It’s you or me now, and I’m not going down for another lost cause. This is not happening, again. I’m not….” He trailed off with a violent hiss as she continued watching him. “What are you even doing here?”
“I’m not sure. I took a wrong turn and they kind of kidnapped me. I think maybe Oberon has some kind of plan and is like… guiding me, though.” Hope liked to think that her grandfather was still looking out for her, somehow. Leading her towards her destiny.
“Oberon.” Lycus’ wild eyes burned into hers as he finally made the decision he least wanted to. “Fuck!”
He wasn’t going to hurt her.
Hope saw the truth of it in his frustrated face; heard it in his bellowed obscenity. Lycus had no intention of going through with this fight.
“Thank you.” She told him sincerely. “And I’m so sorry about this.” She actually felt bad for the guy. He seemed really upset that he couldn’t kill her.
Hope reached over to give his arm a comforting pat.
Kingu apparently gave up all hope for her, at that point. “Woman, you are un-fucking-believable. Just forget it. I’ll do it myself.”
Hope glanced over her shoulder in time to see Kingu vault over the railing of his box seat, without checking the distance first. Even a Phase would have hesitated before making that jump so quickly. He dropped the three stories to the ground, landing on his feet like he’d simply stepped off a curb. His suit didn’t even get wrinkled.
Wow.
Okay, physical fitness clearly came easy to monsters. Hope’s eyebrows soared as Kingu swept forward across the arena, dusting his palms off as if paranoid a grain of sand might have somehow touched his skin.
“Annnnnd Kingu enters the arena.” The announcer sounded utterly lost as to why, but he gamely kept narrating. “Another unexpected twist to this already legendary fight.”
No one in the crowd tried to stop Kingu, though. Maybe they were afraid to.
“You know that dickhead?” Lycus switched his attention to Kingu even as he asked her the question. He shifted his weight defensively, obviously sensing a god was a bigger threat than Hope.
He was right, but it still bugged her.
“Yeah, he sort of thinks I tried to assassinate him earlier.”
“Good for you.” Lycus muttered. He scraped a hand through his hair and still seemed pissed at the universe. “Any idea why he looks like he’s planning to kill me, now?”
“You’re imagining it. I think he just has one of those faces.” Hope gazed at the vicious, furious planes of it, once again struck by how marvelously fierce Kingu was. Her blood thickened in her veins as he drew closer, desire hitting her like a freight train. He was so big. So unstoppably, wonderfully huge.
The Beast to Belle.
King Kong to Fay Wray.
Godzilla to Japan.
Hope was dazzled by her good fortune.
She never imagined being lucky enough to have a man like this for her own, but there was no denying that this man was the monster Oberon told her about. Kingu was the one she’d been waiting for. If her energy had been normal, she knew it would have connected with his.
In that moment it was all so clear.
Kingu was magnificent. Primal. Any woman raised in the Fire Kingdom would have been drawn to this man. He must get a lot of female attention. No matter where he went, he was the dominant male animal in the room. Who wouldn’t want him?
And he belonged to Hope!
“You’re an honest-to-gods, multicolored disaster area.” Kingu jabbed a finger at her as he prowled closer. “Just come over here behind me and try not to die.”
Wait, was Lycus right? Was Kingu coming over to help her? Hope sighed, dreamily. He was such a heroic warrior.
Kingu looked disgusted with the entire situation, but crimson eyes stayed locked on Lycus. “You. Back… the fuck… up.”
Hope eyed him with growing pleasure, his shouted complaints rolling off her like water. Warriors always bellowed. “Oh, don’t worry. I’m not going to die. It turns out Lycus and my grandfather were friends.” She glanced over at Lycus, a new thought occurring to her. “Um… You did like him, right?”
Oberon was one of those people you either completely adored or you plotted to murder. There wasn’t a lot of middle ground with the Fire Phases.
“No, I didn’t like him, as a matter of fact.” Lycus kept his attention on Kingu. “But, he was the only Council member who voted against my Banishment. It didn’t do any good, but I still owe him for it. So, fine.” He slammed the blade of his sword into the dirt, so it stuck straight up, and stepped back from the weapon. “I won’t fight you.” His voice was flat. Resigned. “I won’t harm the granddaughter of that aggravating bastard. Not even for my freedom.”
“Lycus… forfeits?” The announcer made it a question.
The crowd started murmuring in confusion.
Kingu scowled suspiciously, first at Lycus and then the forsaken sword. “Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me.” He glanced down at Hope. “You convinced him to surrender? That’s impossible. I know what it is to be a slave and nobody stays one voluntarily. Not even a creature as slowwitted as him.” He waved a dismissive hand at Lycus. “Who the hell are you really, woman, and how are you doing all this?”
“I’m Hope, of course.” The words were absent, because her mind whirled with what he’d just revealed. Someone had kept this man as a slave? Who could be that powerful? That cruel?
Something shifted in Kingu’s eyes when she said her name. Something both focused and untamed. “You’re truly Hope?” He asked softly as if he wasn’t sure she was telling the truth.
“Yes, I am. And I haven’t done anything to anyone. Lycus voluntarily stopped the fight. I guess he sees how ridiculous this all is.”
“Or he sees that I’m standing right next to you, now.”
Lycus’s mouth thinned. “I’m doing this because I’m an idiot who never learns his damn lesson. Not because I fear an abomination like you.”
Kingu snorted. “Your motivations mean nothing to me, Elemental. Just stay away from the woman.” He switched his glower down to Hope, his expression going cold and resolute. “At this moment, you have two choices: stay imprisoned by these Phases or come with me. Choose.”
Hope tucked a stray curl behind her ear and wondered how her hair looked. “Oh.” Excitement flashed through her. He definitely felt this connection betw
een them, too. Like most successful Fire House courtships, he was already planning to kidnap her. How romantic! “Well, I’m perfectly willing to…”
“You ugly bastard.” Lycus snarled, cutting off Hope’s eager agreement. He stalked closer to Kingu. “That’s not a choice. That’s just switching this jail for an even worse one. You think I don’t see what you’re after? That I’ll let you touch her?”
“Let me?” Kingu taunted. “Elemental, no one lets me do anything. Not anymore.”
Lycus glanced over at Hope. “He doesn’t want you to come with him because he’s a real nice guy. He’s gonna tie you to his fucking bed!”
Hope’s eyebrows soared at that lovely idea.
No man had ever wanted her before. At least, no man who’d had the guts to admit it. Hope’s family and their well-known, well-used arsenal were pretty darn effective chaperones. Toss in her lack of powers and unremarkable looks, and she’d always been the one standing by the wall at Elemental parties. Well, metaphorically, anyway. The Fire Phases didn’t attend actual parties, but if they did Hope would have been the girl no one asked to dance.
Fire Phases were passionate beings, though, especially when they found their mates, and they universally loved sex games. Being tied to a bed sounded awesome. Now that she’d claimed her monster, Hope was ready to begin the fun.
She met Kingu’s flame colored gaze. The man was unrelenting and unfriendly. He could have lifted her with one hand. He was a gigantic monster with potentially world crushing powers. And now there was the chance he was going to make her submit to all his depraved sexual fantasies.
He was perfect.
Kingu glared down at Hope like he blamed her for Lycus’s words. When she just stared back at him, happily imagining him naked, he glanced away with an even deeper scowl. He didn’t like the sustained eye contact.
Hope found his shyness sweet.
Lycus wasn’t going to give up. “Hope, he wants to rape you, murder you, and probably cannibalize your flesh, not necessarily in that order. That’s the only reason he’d offer to help you. You’d be better off if I just killed you, now.”
Kingu’s hand whipped out, seizing Lycus’ neck in one huge hand. The suddenness of the attack left Hope frozen for a beat, stunned by his effortless strength. Lycus was a gigantic Phase, but Kingu was like a mountain. He ripped the sword out of Lycus’ hand as if it was a popsicle-stick and lifted him right off the ground by his throat. Lycus’ face went purple-y blue, his boots dangling five inches above the dirt.
Kingu smirked.
The crowd roared in renewed enthusiasm, eager for more bloodshed.
Hope’s eyes went wide as Kingu defeated an undefeated gladiator. It was amazing in its very casualness. He could strangle Lycus the same way someone else might step on a beetle. Impressive as it was, she didn’t want Lycus hurt. “You’re going to kill him!”
Flame colored eyes slashed over to hers. “Yes.” He agreed calmly.
“No.” Hope had learned that particular tone from Teja. It got pulled out of storage whenever Djinn started reminiscing about how great burning people at the stake had been. “Put him down.”
Black brows soared at the order. Lycus kept dangling off the sand, but Kingu was focused on Hope. He looked absolutely amazed that she would try and interfere with his murder spree. “This asshole said he was going to kill you. Did you miss that or are you just immune to death threats at this point in your messy little life?”
“He won’t actually hurt me, though. He proved that! Let him go.”
“Kingu!” Zakkery was still up in the box. He cupped his palms around his mouth like a megaphone, so he could be heard over the crowd. “Shit! You’re gonna scare the girl, ya moron!”
He got a quick red glare and then Kingu was turning back to Hope. He looked like he was trying not to bellow at her, but that just meant his words came out as a snarl. “If I want to kill every fucking Phase in the world, I will. You have no impact on my decision.”
Oh dear.
That was the problem with warriors. They didn’t react well to direct orders. Sometimes they did the exact opposite, just to prove they could. If Kingu had been a Fire Phase, Lycus would be getting his neck snapped just on principle.
Hope glanced over at Lycus worriedly. She didn’t really have time to argue with Kingu or talk him down. Not even a Phase could survive a broken neck or strangulation, and he was really struggling, now. Kingu was genuinely going to kill him, unless she offered some distraction.
Hope tore her eyes away from Lycus and looked up at Kingu. “Let him live and I’ll go with you.”
That should do the trick. She would have gone with Kingu anyway, but there was no need to tell him that. Warriors liked to win. Liked getting their own way. Over the past century, Hope had learned how to appease their egos and still get them moving in the right direction. Sometimes it meant a teeny bit of manipulation or selective omissions, but it was all for the greater good.
Rule seventy-six of being a Fire Phase: Victory at any cost.
Sure enough, Kingu dropped Lycus like the stone. The words weren’t even all the way out of Hope’s mouth before Kingu released the gladiator and directed all his attention at her. He’d been focusing on her this whole time, really, but now it was like he’d aimed a spotlight at her face.
Lycus fell onto the sand, gasping for breath.
“Are you okay?” Hope started over to check on him, but Kingu cut her off. One giant hand grasped her upper arm as he kept her still.
“You’re coming with me, woman?” It was more of an impatient demand than a question, but his grip on her was almost tentative. Like Kingu was afraid he might crush her bones if he didn’t handle her like he was cradling a bird.
The masculine gentleness just completely charmed her. Hope’s heartbeat kicked into overdrive as arousal hummed through her system. Kingu’s fingers encircled her upper arm with room to spare. “Yes.” It came out as a whisper. “I’ll go with you.”
He didn’t trust her easy agreement. She could tell that it threw him off guard. His grip got a bit tighter like he was anticipating some kind of wild dash for freedom. “You’ll come willingly?” He stipulated. “I have your word? I don’t want to chase you all over this dreary little kingdom, while you dream up half-assed escape plans.”
Well, that was a whole different promise. Going wasn’t the same as staying. Hope wasn’t going to stay in the Cloudland. The whole place was creepy and she already missed her family. Sooner or later, Hope had to go home and that might mean an escape plan or two. For now, though, of course she’d go with Kingu. That she could swear to honestly.
“I’ll leave with you, of my own free will, so long as you promise not to hurt anyone.”
Kingu blinked. “I would not harm you.” He pitched his voice so low that only she could hear it. “That would gain me nothing.” He hesitated and then murmured. “Besides, I’ve seen you in battle and I have no desire to fight you.” His eyes gleamed like smoldering embers, fondly remembering the bloodshed.
God, the man was appealing. “I know you won’t hurt me.” Oberon never would have selected a dangerous monster for her. That was crazy. “I’m worried you’re going to hurt other people.”
“Oh, I’m sure I will.”
She frowned. “How many?”
“Probably a lot.” Kingu sighed loudly at her disapproving expression. “Alright, fine. Just point out the important ones as we go and I’ll try to let them live.” He shook his head. “I can’t believe I’m actually negotiating with you over this nonsense. It sets a bad precedent.”
Apparently, he thought he’d been the soul of compromise and she was the unreasonable one. His hand slid down her sleeve to grip her bare wrist.
Hope jolted at the feel of his skin against hers. Her breathing got faster, her breasts growing tighter. It was just his hand on hers, but he might as well have ripped her clothes off and started licking her body like a taffy.
Something jerked awake deep within Hop
e. Instead of a sparkler, the feeling in her body became an electrical charge. Burning hot and hungry. She’d never felt anything like it and it startled her. She automatically tried to jerk backwards.
Kingu didn’t let her go. His fingers weren’t even tight enough to redden her skin, but there was no way Hope was getting free of him. Not that she wanted to, really, but the fact that he could keep her chained to his side amped up her lust even more. Oh Gaia, he was strong. The strongest warrior she’d even met. Kingu could take whatever he wanted and no one could stop him.
That was everything a Fire Phase wanted in a mate.
From out of nowhere, Hope had the image of ancient gods demanding their sacrifices and women stretched out as offerings in stone temples. Strapped down and helpless before an all-powerful monster. She let out a soft sound of surprise and confusion and total screaming desire.
Kingu’s face got unreadable again. “I can’t let you go. Cry and fight, but it’ll do no good. We’re connected somehow. We both should just be resigned to it. Zakkery,” he didn’t bother to turn around to look at the Smoke Phase when he called his name. Instead, he kept his attention on Hope, “I’m ready to fulfill our bargain, now. I’ll get you the necklace and this woman is mine.”
Chapter Six
The elements have no forbearance. The fire burns, the water drowns, the air consumes,
the earth buries. And perhaps it would be well for our race if the punishment of crimes
against the Laws of Man were as inevitable as the punishment of crimes against the Laws of Nature.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow- “Table-Talk”
Sullivan Pryce scowled at Gion “Peterson” across the width of his desk. “Thanks for coming in today. The Mayport Beach police department appreciates your cooperation.” The words were delivered with zero sincerity. Sullivan didn’t bother to hide his distain as he leaned back in his chair and folded his arms across his chest. “I’m Constitutionally required to remind you that you can have lawyer present. You probably have your legal team’s number on speed dial, at this point.”
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