Treasure of the Fire Kingdom (The Elemental Phases Book 4)

by Cassandra Gannon

  “Ooooooh.” Missy smiled eagerly, liking this story.

  “Of course, Gion was being a dickweed.” Alder continued. “He probably would of either cracked under interrogation or been brutally killed by the human if I hadn’t a been there. Don’t even get me started on what morons he and Chason are.”

  Tessie’s head dropped into her hands. “Oh geez…. And Chason was there, too? Poor Sullivan.”

  “No, Chase wasn’t there there. But the cops have him on America’s Most Wanted. Like I said, don’t get me started.” Alder waved a hand. “Where was I? Oh right. So I was about to battle the human to the death. He had a gun. I think it was a bazooka. And you know humans are poisonous, too. It was all coming down to –like-- something out of Rambo. Rambo II probably. Or that one where he’s in the jungle with the arrows.”

  “That was Rambo II.” Djinn said as if precision on that point was of the upmost importance.

  “Right. Right. So then Teja comes in,” Alder swept his arms out, “and that’s when it happened.”

  “You killed poor Sullivan, didn’t you?” Tessie accused. Violet eyes flashed towards Teja. “How could you? You just wait until I tell Job! Sully was a totally helpless little…”

  “I didn’t do a damn thing to that human.” Teja snapped, her gaze still locked on her nephew. “Alder, drop this. Now.”

  “Humans aren’t poisonous.” Satour muttered.

  “Yes, they are.” Djinn nodded. “They go rabid and everything.”

  “That’s dogs, dad.”

  “Don’t interrupt.” Alder ordered. “So Teja comes in and Sullivan goes –like-- ‘cartoon birds around his head’ time.”

  “Meaning?” Qadesh’s hair was cinched back with a red skull-and-crossbones print bandana that Hope had given him. That was the only part of his body easily visible as he settled himself into the deepest shadows of the room.

  “Meaning he took one look at Tej and he was fucking head-over-heels. In love one hundred and twenty percent.” For once, no one complained about the swearing. They all seemed fascinated. Alder smirked, satisfied by his audience’s reaction. “That half-breed cop is. her. Match.”

  Teja squeezed her eyes shut.

  “Oh God… poor Sullivan.” Tessie repeated sadly.

  “You found your Match, Tej?” Djinn looked over at her in astonishment. “And he’s a Wood Phase? That’s really the best you could do?”

  “Shut-up.” She hissed. “He’s not my Match. We don’t know that. This is all…”

  “Bullshit! You could feel the energy, too. I could tell.” Alder glanced back over at the others. “Here’s how it went, right? I’m the cop.” His tone went Cletus the Slack-jawed Yokel-ish. “Wow. Look at the pretty girl.”

  “He did not fucking say that!” Teja roared.

  Frankie and Missy made identical “shhhh!” sounds.

  “Now, I’m Teja.” Alder’s voice got higher and more robotic. The little wiseass. “Oh, shit. It’s my Match. Better run.”

  Teja had actually said that. At least, the “Oh shit” part. The rest she’d just thought.

  One look at Sullivan Pryce and she’d… panicked.

  The Fire House usually knew instantly when they’d found the right person and Teja had apparently inherited that skill. There wasn’t a doubt in Teja’s mind that Sullivan Pryce was hers.

  It was unacceptable.

  Teja didn’t want a Match. She had all she could handle with Djinn and the others slipping past her icy guards. A Match would destroy her. Everything frozen inside of her, everything that protected her from that kind of pain, rebelled at the very idea of Sullivan.

  “Every other female in the realm wants to Phaze with Sebastian the human guy and the Fire House gets him without even trying.” Pele smiled smugly. “Damn, we’re good.”

  “His name is Sullivan and he’s not my Match!” If she kept saying it, maybe she could somehow fix this disaster. “I don’t have a Match and, if I did, it wouldn’t be him.”

  God, just the idea made her feel lightheaded.

  Having a human for a Match was terrifying. Like suddenly being responsible for carting a Faberge egg across an atomic testing ground. Humans were breakable. Vulnerable. So damn easy to kill that it would be a constant waking nightmare to permanently tie herself to one. Sullivan was vulnerable to everything from Ebola, to machine guns, to tornadoes. When Sullivan inevitably died of some stupid human-made disaster, it would destroy her, too.

  She couldn’t do this.

  Wouldn’t do it.

  “So ya finally found a Match, huh? Where’s he at?” Frankie looked around like Teja might have been hiding the guy.

  “He’s still in the cop station back in humanland.” Alder made a disgusted face. “Let me tell you that part of the story. I’m her, again.” He adopted his “Teja” voice. “‘Alder, we’re leaving. Break the fucking chair and let’s go.’” Alder hesitated. “See, I’d been handcuffed to the chair with plastic restraints.”

  “Before or after the part with the bazooka?” Satour deadpanned.

  Alder ignored that and pointed to his own chest. “Now, I’m me and I pull the arm off the chair so we can leave. Only I’m trying to reason with her. ‘Honey, wait.’ I plead. ‘Do you realize what the energy means? It’s like a wonderful miracle from Gaia.’ And Teja goes, ‘I don’t care what you say, I’m going to ruin my life. So there.’ And I go, ‘Please reconsider this terrible decision and open your mind to love.’”

  Teja saw red at that pack of lies. “You said, and I quote, ‘Oh God, Tej, you can’t Phaze with a human. They’re all germy.’”

  “They are.” Djinn concurred seriously. “Rabies.”

  Satour sighed. “Still dogs, Dad.”

  “Hey, I’m half human.” Tessie snapped. “And isn’t Hope probably half human, too? She’s just like Sullivan, only the Elemental parts are more dominant in her.”

  “Hope’s a Fire Phase!” Half the room roared.

  “Look, I think I remember what I said, Teja.” Alder rolled his eyes. “So anyway then the cop starts in on how I was still under arrest.” His voice went slow and dumb again, with a hint of Sullivan’s human accent tossed in. “‘I don’t care if Sophia Loren’s here for you or not, Alder, you’re not going anywhere until you post your bail.”

  That part was actually verbatim. Alder even captured the way Sullivan had tilted his face to hide the scar on his cheek when he spoke.

  Teja had no idea why Sullivan would do that. The scar was super attractive.

  Elementals didn’t get warrior’s marks very often, so they were always an exotic turn-on. No wonder so many Phases headed to Mayport Beach, hoping that that human would be their Match. Even if the world hadn’t been within sight of the finish line… even if this one man couldn’t help postpone the extinction of an Elemental House… even if he wasn’t a vital key in helping the universe survive… he’d still be a great catch.

  Sullivan Pryce was really, really gorgeous.

  Plus, he’d been giving off some kind of energy. Teja felt it radiating out from him, although no one else seemed to notice. The guy was more than just a human. Whatever Elemental DNA Parson had passed to his grandchildren, it was stronger in Sullivan than it was in Melanie. Much stronger. Teja felt his dormant energy, even with the distance separating them.

  Her body had warmed and her pulse sped up, her powers tuning so they could try to brush against Sullivan’s… and she’d known that she had to get away from him before she was lost.

  Emotions that she forgotten how to feel, suddenly threatened to break free. Beneath the ice in her chest, her heart had started pounding. She couldn’t have that. Couldn’t go back to feeling things.

  This time it really would kill her.

  “Now, Ty gets in on it.” Alder continued. “She’s all, “Blah-bity, blah, blah, blah. Oooh, the Water House just loves you soooo much, Sullivan.’ And then Gion starts –like-- crying, begging me not to leave him there in the police station alone with the human.
”

  “He’s such a pansy.” Djinn murmured.

  Tessie pinched the bridge of her nose. “I think we’re gonna need to go to the instant replay on that one.”

  “Hey, that’s totally what happened.” Alder insisted. “Meanwhile, Teja’s dropping a stack of that paper money on the human’s desk and already marching back out the door, shouting at me to move my ass. She doesn’t even say anything to Sullivan.”

  That last part was true.

  Teja had no idea how much she’d thrown onto Sullivan’s desk. She’d been too upset to count it out or ask him about what bail was set at. Most Elementals kept human currency lying around, in case of emergency. The Wood House could make the stuff, so it was easy enough to get. Freeing Alder had probably cost about around fifteen grand, since there’d been three stacks of money and it usually got dispensed in five thousand dollar bundles.

  She would have happily paid a hundred times that to get out of there faster.

  “So, the human’s staring after Teja like an abandoned puppy on the side of the road, not even looking at the cash.” Alder went on. “And Ty’s going, ‘Alder, you have to talk to her. Even I can feel the energy between them. I won’t allow Sullivan to be hurt. Yappity, yap, yap, yap.’ And I’m like, ‘Hey, if the human is her Match, he’s a Fire Phase. It’s none of your business what we do with him, so stay the hell out of it.’ And then fucking Gion starts getting in my face, for some reason.”

  “The guy is such a hothead.” Pele rolled her eyes. “He’s always been that way.”

  “I know, right?” Alder shrugged expansively. “It was crazy. He starts coming at me and then Ty gets between us and then the cop steps into protect her.”

  Teja frowned at that.

  “And I’m like --Shit!-- What’s their problem?” Alder’s tone went righteously offended. “I’m not gonna do anything to Ty. I was never an Air House bad guy or a crazy damn human. I’m a Fire Phase and we look out for the useless people in this world. We always have. If it wasn’t for us, the whole lot of ‘em would have been picked off centuries ago, right?”

  Everyone nodded in agreement.

  “They’re all sooooo ungrateful.” Missy mused.

  Alder gave his “last sane man in the world” sigh. “So I’m saying to them –real nicely--‘Back the fuck off, ya bastards.’ And the cop’s like, ‘Leave, Alder, before I come to my senses and book you for something else.’ So, I’m –like-- fine. I’ll take the highroad, because that’s just what I do, ya know?”

  “Very classy.” Missy nodded.

  “Hey, I’m all about being the bigger man. So, I’m headed for the door and the cop goes, ‘Wait.’ And I’m thinking ‘Shit, why won’t he just let me go, already? I’m really am gonna hafta kill him, aren’t I? And then Teja’s gonna get on my case big time.’ I mean, you can imagine what an ordeal that would be for me.”

  “Don’t kill him.” The words were out before Teja could stop them.

  Everyone in the room turned to look at her.

  Teja’s mouth thinned. “Just nobody… touch Sullivan Pryce.”

  Qadesh arched a brow.

  Satour made a face.

  Pele gave a “huh” sound.

  “The kid’s Parson, of the Wood House’s grandson.” Frankie absently tossed his sword in the air like a baton and caught it one handed. “Probably, be a hard one to kill, anyhow.”

  “I can kill anybody.” Djinn said confidently.

  Teja leveled a flat stare at him.

  Djinn’s eyes rolled skyward. “But, I won’t, okay? God, finding love is totally not making you any cheerier, Tej. When I finally met Pele, I was happy.”

  “You set my house on Fire, D.”

  “Yeah, but that’s ‘cause you wouldn’t talk to me, at first.” He leaned down to kiss her. “It was a fire that came for a happy, loving place.”

  Pele grinned. “I was totally playing hard to get, wasn’t I? You were fun to tease.”

  “My Match chained me from the ceiling during our courtship.” Frankie said cheerfully. “That’s romance.”

  Tessie’s face was going to get stuck in that disbelieving expression if she kept it up. Clearly, the Quintessence didn’t understand Love Fire House Style. If there wasn’t some kind of kidnapping or bondage involved, you were doing something wrong.

  “Can I finish my story here?” Alder complained. “Pay attention, already. So the cop’s telling me not to leave, yet. And I always try to be law-abiding, so I obediently stop and I ask, ‘What now, jackass?’ Because, I’m respecting the fact that this moron is now kinda related to me, ya know?”

  Missy nodded earnestly, looking like a kid hearing a fairytale at bedtime.

  “Sullivan’s not a moron.” Teja snapped. “He arrested you pretty easily, it seems.”

  “Hey, there was extenuating circumstances to that.” Alder jabbed a finger at her. “Don’t interrupt. So, –like-- a whole minute goes by and I think the cop’s forgotten how to talk or something. But, finally he clears his throat and kinda sighs at the same time and goes, ‘Just tell me… what’s her name?’”

  Teja’s frozen heart lurched.

  Alder shrugged. “And then I left and that was the end of it.”

  Missy gave him a round of applause. “Oooooh. I liked that story. Next time you should add a giraffe to it.”

  “Giraffes really do have rabies.” Frankie announced wisely. “Believe me, I know.”

  Tessie gave her head an “I give up” shake. “Hearing about poor, poor Sullivan getting you guys for in-laws is depressing me. Can we just get back to Frankie trying to kill me with a broadsword?”

  “Wait, what do you mean that was the end, Alder?” Teja demanded. “What did you tell Sullivan when he asked for my name?”

  “Nothin’.” Alder blinked innocently. “Why encourage him? If you want to ruin your life and renounce your Match, I’m not going to say anything to get his hopes up. I’m not that cruel.”

  Teja’s mouth thinned. “I didn’t say I was going to renounce him. I said I needed some time to think. I’m having a real bad day, so I need a little bit of time, if that’s okay with everyone.”

  “Sure. It’s fine with us.” Pele nonchalantly agreed. “Take your time.” She glanced over at Alder. “So, Sebastian was all protective of Ty, huh? I heard that he had a way with the ladies. How many women are trying to Phaze with him, again? Like… all of them, right?”

  Teja stalked over to loom over her chair. “Don’t start with me. I mean it.”

  Pele contrived to look innocent. “Hey, all I’m saying is that guy can have anyone, really. All the Phases who want Matches figure he’s their Holy Grail. They follow him around like he’s a naked Elvis.” She shrugged. “Sebastian’s a human. Chances are he can pick his own Match, anyway. Don’t worry about it.”

  “His name is Sullivan and I am his goddamn…”

  “Shit!” Tessie suddenly doubled over, her hand going to her forehead.

  The Fire Phases all turned to frown at Frankie, thinking he had brained the Quintessence while her back was turned. Their training session was on an eavesdropping break, but Frankie was all about a good ambush.

  “Not me this time.” He held up his palms in a gesture of innocence.

  “It’s my sister.” Tessie squeezed her eyes shut. “Or at least her pendant. Someone just used Kay’s necklace for something and, whatever they did, it was big.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  He was looking up at the sky,

  as if he were watching some visible descent of the elements.

  Henry James- “A Passionate Pilgrim and Other Tales”

  Kingu feel asleep waiting for Hope to talk to him, again.

  The woman had locked herself in her room with maps of the Cloud Kingdom she’d stolen from his library and spent the past twelve hours ignoring him. She’d taken the tray of food he’d brought her for dinner and then slammed her bedroom door in his face.

  Did other abductors have this problem?


  It didn’t seem likely, but Kingu was at a loss on how to deal with it. He couldn’t threaten her, because he didn’t want her frightened of him. He couldn’t go into the room after her, because he’d told her the space was hers and he sworn to himself that he wouldn’t invade it. He couldn’t wait for her to come out by herself, because it was driving him crazy that he couldn’t see her. He couldn’t relent and tell her that he’d give her anything if she’d just talk to him, because he refused to acquiesce on this.

  When it came to anything else, he would have let her have her own way.

  Kingu wanted Hope smiling at him and he was willing to do quite a bit to make it happen. Let her have what she wanted. He didn’t care about anything except her anyway, so why not just make the girl happy? As long as she stayed with him, what possible difference could it make what she requested? He’d waited thousands of years for his woman and, now that he had her, there was very little Kingu couldn’t be convinced to provide.

  But he wasn’t going to tolerate her thinking of her fucking soul mate while they kissed.

  Kingu wanted her to touch him out of desire, not because she was trying to manipulate him. Since no woman would ever desire him, Hope should just tell him that and be done with it. He couldn’t stand being lied to. He couldn’t stand her kissing him and pretending he was another man.

  A soon-to-be dead man at that, because Kingu was already planning to kill the son-of-a-bitch who thought he could claim Hope’s soul.

  If you want my soul, you’re gonna have to find your own and give it to me return.

  Why had she said that to him?

  Kingu had explained that he didn’t possess a soul. He’d been very clear. It wasn’t like he’d misplaced the damn thing; he’d never had one in the first place. Didn’t she understand that? What did she want from him?

  He would have gladly given her whole planets if she asked, but creating a soul was beyond his power. If he could have attained one through his energy or prayers, he would have gotten it long ago. Back when he’d wanted so badly to believe he had some place in the interconnected universe. Back when he still had… hope.