“I thought the same thing when the Air House murdered my Match.” Chason glanced at her. “I’ll let you in on something I learned the hard way, though: Only textbooks care about the rules of war. In the real world, you do whatever it takes to win. Just ask Gion.”
“Guy, aim for his head.” Tessie helpfully suggested.
Chason dropped Gion sword, so it clattered to the ground like a taunt. “Tell Ty I’ll see her soon.” He jumped, again, vanishing right in front of their eyes.
Gion snarled out a furious curse as Chason disappeared back into the Elemental realm.
He stalked over to pick up his sword and pinned Nia with a dark look. “Go home.” He glanced at Tessie. “Both of you.”
“Where are you going?” They coursed.
“To the Magnet Kingdom, so I can kill that asshole. Where do you think?” Chason might have been strong enough to jump with manufactured polymers on his body, but Gion was strong enough to crash right through the Magnet House’s barriers.
“You can’t go after Chason alone.” Tessie shook her head. “Are you nuts? The Magnet Kingdom is knee deep in Reprisal goombas who want you dead. They’re probably waiting for you!”
“He threatened Ty!” For Gion that was all that really mattered. “You think I’ll let that pass?”
Steve peered up over the counter. “Is the crazy guy gone?”
“No.” Nia gestured at Gion. “He’s right there.”
“I’m gonna call the cops.” Steve’s hand shook as he dialed the phone. “And my manager.”
“Yeah, the manager’s been a big help so far.” Gion put his sword away and prepared to jump.
“Oh Lord. Sully will just love this one.” Tessie groaned as she watched Steve call 911. “I really hope Chason’s Magnet mojo shorted out the security cameras or we’re all gonna be supermarket tabloid headlines this time tomorrow.”
Nia ignored that. “Gion, think about this. Don’t just go after Chason without a plan or anything. Come back to the Water Kingdom and…”
Gion didn’t hear the rest of that.
He abruptly knew that Ty was in danger. He could feel her distress vibrating along the connection they shared. Hear her voice was in his head.
“Help me!”
Panic and urgency filled him. He always heard her when she was in real trouble. He didn’t know why and it didn’t matter. Ty needed him. That was all he cared about.
Ty needed him.
Now.
Blocking out everything else, Gion locked onto Ty’s location in his mind and jumped right to her.
Chapter Eleven
There can be no substitute for the elemental virtues, for the elemental qualities
to which we allude when we speak of a man, as not only a good man, but as emphatically a man.
Theodore Roosevelt- ‘The Labor Question’
“Well, this might sound crazy, but maybe you have two Matches.” Freya, of the Cold House eyed Ty over the width of her desk. “It’s rare, but there have been cases of it.”
“Two Matches?” Ty frowned. “How would that even be possible?”
“Well --and I’m just speculating here-- but,” Freya hesitated, “sometimes one Match outlives another. And there have been a few instances of the surviving partner finding another Match. I think the last one was Green, of the Stone House. His first Match died when their daughter was born and…”
“Where is he?” Ty interrupted. Freya had a habit of talking in fast, never ending blocks, so if you wanted to get a word in edgewise you had to be aggressive. “Is he still alive?” Ty had never heard of Green, but, if he was around, she’d go and ask him some questions.
“He died fourteen hundred years ago.” Freya shrugged. “It’s all documented, though. It did happen. We keep excellent accounts of Matches. They go back to the beginning of time itself. Basically, every Match that’s ever been made is catalogued, so I’m confident that Green experienced the double-Match. I can’t really find a lot of the symptoms he experienced. That’s not in the records. But, the double-Match itself definitely existed.”
Great.
Ty blew out a frustrated breath. “Alright, let’s say that this energy that I feel is the super-rare, double-Matching thing. Parald’s not dead. Neither am I. And neither is… the other man. Why can I feel his energy like this?”
“Well.” Freya said “well” a lot. She said everything a lot. “There are a few possibilities.”
Ty was very fond of Freya. The doctor had basically reattached her head after the Fall. But, it would have been nice to have straight answer. Like Ty, Freya was a scientist, though. She would never diagnose Ty’s problem without considering every variable. The greatest doctor in the Elemental realm, Freya took her responsibilities seriously. Plus, she was a Cold Phase. Cold Phases were always rational sorts of people.
Freya was actually very pretty, but she hid it well. From her practical brown flats to her tasteful beige suit, Freya was the girl that the teachers always called on to be in charge of the class when they stepped out of the room. She even wore her blonde hair pulled back in a bun, emphasizing the periwinkle streak at her temple. Only her eyes gave away the restless vitality trapped inside of her. Wide and hazel, they shone with youthful excitement at being handed a new challenge.
“Maybe, this really isn’t Phazing energy. Maybe it’s just lust on steroids. I mean, you’re a virgin, Ty. How can you be sure that this isn’t normal…?”
“It’s not normal. Even he says it’s not normal and I don’t think he’s a virgin.” Ty frowned at the idea of Gion with other women. Last night in the music hall pretty much showed that he wasn’t worried about waiting for his Match, though. Was Ty the only one paying attention when they were taught about respecting Gaia’s grand plan?
“Alright, well, maybe this man is doing something to manufacture the connection, then. You said that he’s smart and strong. There are some drugs that work on Elementals and you’re not the healthiest Phase. Ever since the Fall, you’ve been having panic attacks and…”
“He wouldn’t do that.” Ty believed it implicitly. Gion was powerful enough to do anything, but he’d never lie to her about their connection. He treasured it. “This energy comes from both of us. I can feel it inside me. And what about the blocking of my powers when I try to reach for him fully? Why would he manufacture that?”
Freya leaned back in her chair and thought for a long moment.
Minutes ticked by as she stared off at nothing in deep concentration.
“Right now, then, I think the most likely explanation is that Parald isn’t dead yet. We don’t know what would happen if someone with two possible Matches met them both at the same time. We only know what happens after one of the possible Matches passes away. You see?” She spread her hands. “So, maybe, you can feel the potential of Matching with this other man. But, that potential is blocked until Parald actually dies.”
Ty blinked. That actually made some sense. “What can we do to test the theory?” She flushed. “Because… I mean… I don’t think we’ll be able to resist this connection forever. It’s… urgent. I… I feel very attracted to him and…”
“You want to have sex with him.” Freya bluntly translated. Her fingers tapped against the desktop and she considered that. “Well, I think that would be okay. Just go slow to be safe.”
“Go slow? Not stop?” Ty’s eyebrows shot up.
“Well, you say the energy is strong and pulling you together. There’s gotta be a reason for that. Phazing energy --even if this isn’t exactly normal Phazing energy-- is a physiological fact of life. We’re not supposed to resist it.”
Ty bit down on her lower lip.
“You could just avoid him, if you don’t want to feel the attraction, though. That will help keep the connection at bay.”
“I can’t do that.” Gion lived in her home. Besides, Ty didn’t want to avoid him. Already she was getting antsy to see him, again.
“I don’t want to overstep, but,” Freya
shrugged, “Phazing energy isn’t dangerous. At its essence, it’s really fairly basic biology. Why don’t you just,” she cleared her throat, “be with this man and see what happens?”
Ty was actually thinking the same thing. Practically, it seemed like the next logical step to her research. And, on a less scientific note, Ty was just dying to strip Gion’s clothes off and jump him.
She wasn’t waiting another ten years.
Freya dropped some of her doctor-y façade. “Parald’s a dickwad. You don’t want him. You never have. This other guy, you say you do want. So, why not accept it? Go with the working theory that Gaia sent you a ‘sorry-I-screwed-you-over-with-the-first Match’ consolation prize.”
Ty did want Gion. More and more, the longer she was around him. He drew her with his carefully highlighted bullet points, and odd sense of humor, and unexpected gentleness. Plus, he was gorgeous and kissed like something out of Gone With the Wind. “What if the working theory is wrong, though? What if the block is something else?”
“I can run tests, but I don’t see anything physically wrong with you. Maybe, if you brought the man in, I could examine him and…”
“He won’t come.” Try knew better than to even ask.
Freya didn’t like that. “Isn’t he curious about this energy?”
He probably was, but Gion was more afraid of losing it than anything else. The man spent his whole life writing security reports and waiting for the other shoe to drop. Which, now that Ty thought about it, really amounted to the same thing. He’d never believed anything good might happen. Ty could relate, but it still made her sad.
“What if…?” Ty hesitated and then confronted her biggest concern. “What if he gets another Match? What if he finds the woman he’s destined for and he wants to stop the energy between us?”
Ty hated that idea. Hated the thought of Gion leaving the Water Kingdom and being with someone else. His small smiles, and incredible energy, and music would all go away from her forever. It would kill Ty to lose him, now.
Gion was hers.
Looking back, Ty saw that she’d always thought of Gion as hers. Even as enemies, she’d held all of Gion’s attention. If she was around, he never noticed anyone else. He would speak to other people, but he still watched her. Ty had gotten used to that. Tessie was the only other woman Gion had ever focused on when Ty was in the room. Ty had been so furious when she first saw them together. She hadn’t known about their friendship. All she’d seen was Gion looking at another woman and she couldn’t stand it.
Ty realized that she could become insanely possessive where Gion was concerned.
“Well,” Freya admitted, “if I don’t know why the energy’s between you, in the first place, I can’t make it go away. Especially, not if it is some kind of Phazing energy. Nothing can undo that.”
A surge of relief went through Ty. “So, he’s stuck with me?”
“‘Stuck?’ You said that he wanted you.”
“He does.” Ty felt that every time Gion came near her. Heck, he told her as much. She might not understand all the ins-and-outs of the connection yet, but she absolutely knew that Gion desired her, too. It was an exhilarating feeling. “What if he falls in love with someone else, though? Or finds his Match? The woman won’t like him connecting with me.”
Ty already hated that hypothetical home-wrecker.
“If he finds another Match, then I guess our double-Match theory is wrong and we’ll have to start over.” Freya allowed. “I mean, I can accept that you might have two Matches, but there has never been a case of two double-Matches who just happened to be double-Matched with each other.” She made a face. “The odds would be… incalculably remote.”
It wasn’t that Ty didn’t like Freya’s theory. Parts of it made a lot of sense. Still, it didn’t seem quite right. “I just think this is something… broken inside of me. This block feels wrong and I don’t think that’s because of a double-Match.”
Freya narrowed her hazel eyes in consideration. “Let’s run the tests.”
Forty-five minutes later, Ty left Freya’s office. Her arm hurt from being stuck with needles and she lost about a gallon of blood into various vials. On the plus side, Freya had given her a lollypop. Ty headed back into the waiting room to find Brokk.
He sat on one of the padded orange seats reading Highlights for Kids. The magazine had to be a least two years old. Barely any Elemental children survived the Fall, so Freya wouldn’t have any use for a current subscription.
Brokk spared her a quick glance and then looked back at the page. “Hang on. I have to find one more ironing board in this drawing.”
Ty’s mouth curved. She tilted her head so she could study the picture of an evergreen forest liberally decorated with hidden objects. “Right there.” She pointed to the ironing board in the root system of a large tree.
Brokk made a smug “Ha!” of a sound. “Human puzzles aren’t very difficult. They’re a primitive species.”
“Well, the magazine is for human five year olds.”
“They are primitive five year olds.” Brokk tossed the puzzle aside and stood up. “Are you ready to go?”
“Yeah. Freya’s going to run some tests to see if I’m broken. We might know something tomorrow.”
“You question too much.” Brokk led her over to the door, holding it open so Ty could go outside. “Sometimes Gaia has a plan that we don’t understand. That doesn’t mean the plan isn’t there, though, just that we aren’t supposed to see it.”
Ty adored Brokk, but his deep faith confused her. How could anyone still believe in a divine plan after so many senseless deaths? Brokk’s entire family had perished in the Fall. “Why would Gaia want me to have a connection with Gion?”
“Perhaps, She thought you needed it.”
Ty sighed.
Freya’s office was in the Agora, the Elementals’ free space. The university, stores, theater and Council Hall were all located in the Agora, but Ty didn’t like spending time there. Under Council law, fighting was outlawed in the Agora. Still, far too many Phases hated Ty for her ever to feel safe. All the Houses came and went there. Well, except the Air Phases. Since Parald’s Banishment and the Fall, they weren’t exactly welcomed among the rest of the Elementals.
In her youth, she’d loved the Agora. Now, though, Ty saw all the hostile eyes of people who blamed her for the Fall. Too many Phases thought that, if she’d just accepted Parald as her Match, none of the horrors of the plague would have happened. Sometimes Ty wanted to scream at them that she’d lost her parents, too. She’s seen the darkness at the end of the world better than anyone.
If she could go back, she never would have renounced Parald. As much as she hated him, Ty would have Phazed with him rather than see so many dead. Ty would have Phazed with Parald and then killed him herself, no matter what the consequences.
She couldn’t change that, though. It could never be undone and she could never make amends. Nobody understood the gravity of the Fall more than Ty, but she wouldn’t be dragged back into the past by Parald or anyone.
Wouldn’t go back into weakness.
Ty was getting stronger and she wouldn’t live her life in fear.
Maybe that’s why she identified with Gion. Both of them were trying to live down Parald’s legacy and find themselves, now. Neither one of them could let the hatred of society stop them from moving forward. Ty and Gion were on the same road, discovering who they were and what they really wanted out of life.
She smiled at that thought.
“Gion is connected with you.” Brokk put in as if reading her mind.
“You don’t even like him.”
“No. But, I believe that Gion likes you. He worries about your safety.” Brokk glanced down at her thoughtfully. “His reports are very thorough. I reviewed his suggestions and they are… interesting. I never considered plastic windows. I should have.” He looked disappointed in himself.
Ty pursed her lips around her lollypop. “Well, Gion’s much
older than you. He’s had more time to think of new ideas. His father was a Wood Phase, though, just like you. That’s probably where Gion got his skill at security work.”
Brokk perked up at that. “My House has always produced the greatest soldiers.”
“Yes, I know.” Gion’s paternal DNA told Ty a lot about him. His quiet sense of duty and protectiveness weren’t Air House traits. That was all the honorable, passionate Wood Phases. “Thank you for giving Gion some room to make his reports and everything. I know that you’re supposed to be my bodyguard, but he needs to contribute.”
“Wood Phases always contribute.” Brokk agreed. “I am unthreatened by his arrival. He works under me, correct?”
“Um…” Ty hadn’t really considered that. She couldn’t demote Brokk. He worked too hard and he loved his job. It would crush his feelings. “I suppose –technically-- you’re the head of my personal security.” She tried to figure out how that would work. Gion would never follow Brokk. It just wouldn’t happen. Besides the security job seemed to be the only thing that Gion wanted to do. Until Ty could convince him that he was a musician and not a warrior, those detailed reports kept Gion happy and occupied. “Really, I see you as fulfilling two different roles.” She tried. “You guard me and he guards the Palace. Very… separate.”
Brokk nodded wisely. “But, I’m in charge.”
“Well…”
“Ty.” Job, of the Earth House came striding over, interrupting her hedging. “Good. Tharsis said that you’d be here. I’d like a word with you, if you have a moment.”
Oh… drat.
Ty barely stifled a wince. Job was like God. When God said he wanted a word with you, it wasn’t just gonna be, “Hi.”
Exile in the Water Kingdom (The Elemental Phases Book 3) Page 16
