Smooth black hair fell to her shoulders, the same vivid purple streak at her temple. Her face was perfect. It had always been that way. Classically lovely and strikingly unique all at the same time. Tall and slim, she still wore the amethyst Phazing robes that she’d been buried in. And her eyes… they were the familiar ebony color that had haunted his dreams from the first moment he ever saw her. Beautiful black eyes that had smiled up at him as she stood in the rain.
Chason’s head tilted.
Not believing.
Not even processing.
“Chason.” She cried when he just stood there frozen. “Help me!”
Chason couldn’t move.
Raiden’s prophetic words came back to him: I’ve seen your Match returned to you.
What was happening here?
“See?” Zakkery came up next to him and sighed. “I told ya she was a little altered. It’s just been getting worse, too. I was hoping she wouldn’t be so… awake, until after I handed her over to you. I knew it would be a whole big scene.”
Every muscle in Chason’s body was paralyzed with shock while thoughts ricocheted around in his skull. Was he imagining all this? Was he still passed drunk on the human’s floor? Was she a Reflection Phase, disguised to look like his Match? Was he just finally, irrevocably insane?
Was she… Mara?
“Actually, I’d try to keep a low profile on this whole thing, if I were you and wanted to avoid a lot of drama.” Zakkery lit a cigarette. “Plenty of folks are gonna have questions about why she’s not dead anymore. There’s bound to be a whole zombie debate and whining about playing God. Not to mention some bad guys are going to be looking for her, pretty soon.” He shrugged. “Technically, her body’s right there, though, so no reneging on our deal.”
“You made a deal with him?” The woman gasped. “Why? Who is he? Why am I even in here?”
Chason slowly shook his head. This couldn’t be ‘real.’
The woman wasn’t his Match. She couldn’t be for many, many, many reasons. First of all, her energy wasn’t the same. It felt like Mara’s power, but he could sense gaps around the edges now, where their energy didn’t line-up as seamlessly it should. Their Phazing had never been the perfect whole that most Matches’ achieved, but now it was worse. Like their energies barely connected, at all.
And secondly…
Well, reasons two through seven thousand as to why the woman was an imposter were pretty self-evident: She was fucking alive.
Chason’s hands came up to press against the side of his head.
No.
He was crazy, but he wasn’t this crazy. He took a step back from the woman, ignoring her gasp of astonishment when he didn’t move to free her.
“Chason.” She whispered, black eyes wide with betrayal.
No.
He wasn’t falling for this. Zakkery was trying to trick him. To prey on his insanity and overwhelming desire to be reunited with his Match. He’d… created this woman somehow. She was a charlatan in Mara’s clothes and face. Logically, that had to be it.
But, even though he knew that, his instinct still screamed to get closer to her.
No.
He had to get away from her before he forgot that she was a fake. Before his fracturing mind and unstable emotions just convinced him of what was impossible. What he so desperately wanted to believe. What he would have gladly done anything for even the faintest chance of receiving: His Match returned to him.
But, he would never disgrace Mara by accepting some… imposter.
He hadn’t been a worthy Match to her, as it was. He wouldn’t betray her memory.
Chason turned and stumbled for the door, trying to stay in control, even as everything in him pulled towards the woman. He wanted to free her from that cell and pull her close. Wanted to grab her before she vanished again and left him alone in the darkness.
It took centuries’ worth of self-discipline just to get the words out:
“Whoever that is, she’s not my Match. The deal is off.”
Treasure of the Fire Kingdom (The Elemental Phases Book 4) Page 39