“We’re not putting big, black doors in my living room! How will the sun get in?”
“That’s the least of my worries. They’ll keep Chason out. That’s what’s important.”
“No, Gion. Lord.” Ty’s cheek came over to rest on his shoulder as she chuckled. “To think, I was hoping this security job would keep you out of trouble.” She jerked back as if she suddenly realized what she’d done. “I’m sorry. Do you mind if I put my head on you?”
“No.” Gion tugged even closer to him.
Smiling, she settled against him, again.
All These Things That I’ve Done played from Nia’s stereo. Gion preferred classical music, but this song he almost liked. He rubbed his jaw against the top of Ty’s hair, quiet for a long moment. He never thought he could have this with her.
Since he discovered the energy connection, Gion had fostered the hope that he could make her want him. But, this was a whole different kind of intimacy.
How could she ever think that he wouldn’t want her touching him?
Ty liked the security of actually hearing everything out loud. She wanted assurances that she was making the right moves and that their relationship was reciprocal. Which meant that Gion had to be more open with her about his feelings.
A basketball with a low IQ would have noticed by now that Gion was insanely in love with her, but Ty apparently needed more than that. Maybe she’d feel more secure if he explained that this connection went so much deeper than his desire for her. Sex was only a part of his yearning for Ty.
Just the fact that she’d come looking for him on the patio was Ty reaching out.
Now, Gion had to do the same.
“Ty?”
“Umm?”
“You make me feel peaceful.” He inhaled the strawberry scent of her hair. “Even when you’re a pain-in-the-ass.”
Ty turned her face to look up at him. “Really?”
“It’s not just about me wanting to take you right here on this table. Which I do. It’s about me just wanting to be near you. Being with you makes me happy. Everything about you makes me happy.”
It went beyond happiness, really, to joy. She made Gion whole. For eleven years, Ty gave Gion a sense of purpose and contentment. Before Ty, he’d been alone. Even when she’d been completely beyond his reach, Ty remained the tranquil, clean place in his mind. At moments when he was tired and lost, Gion thought of Ty and he kept going.
She looked so impossibly beautiful when she smiled. Innocence and mischief and pleasure. “I like being with you, too.”
“Good.” Outstanding, actually. That was his whole mission in life. But, Gion was trying to keep this simple and clear, so there’d be no misunderstandings. “Don’t ever be worried that I don’t want you near me. You always have consent to touch me, understand?”
“Yeah, but…”
“Always, Ty. And I’ll always be glad to see you.” He continued firmly. “When you come looking for me, I want to be found. No matter what I’m doing, I’d rather be doing it with you.” He hesitated. “Except fighting. Especially with swords. If I’m doing that with someone, stay back. And, well, Tharsis tells me that it’s my night to cook dinner. That will be mortifying, so I’d rather you not see it.”
Ty gazed at him for a beat. Then, she leaned up to kiss him, her mouth gliding against his like a gentle rain.
Gion groaned at the taste of her and resisted the urge to take the kiss to another level. Whenever Ty initiated things, Gion’s Air energy went particularly nuts. She wanted him. He reveled in that. And this was the first time she’d ever kissed him in public, where people might see. Ty wasn’t trying to hide their connection. That sent heat rushing through Gion like a cyclone.
“Ty.” He whispered, when she pulled back.
“Yes?”
He fingered her vibrant hair, at ease for the first time in his life. With Ty sitting here next to him, Gion could finally relax. “Nothing. I just wanted to say your name.”
Something warm lit her face. “You are such a romantic man. I love that about you.”
No one, in the entire known and unknown universes combined, had ever claimed such an insane thing about Gion, of the Air House. It was so completely out-of-the-blue bizarre that he just gaped at her for a second. “Romantic?”
Ty bobbed her head. “You say such gorgeous things to me. You’re not just a musician, you’re also a poet.” She beamed like she really believed that.
For Ty, Gion wished that he actually could be those things. He wished he was the good man that she longed for. “Angel,” he said, sadly, “I’m not really like that. I’m sorry. It’s too late for me.”
She looked right into his eyes and Gion realized that Ty saw him.
His pulse started pounding in panic. He’d always dreamed that she’d actually see, but now it terrified him. What if she didn’t like what she saw? How could she like what she saw? What if she’d only accept some romantic, musician guy? What the hell would Gion do, then?
Besides kill that poetical bastard.
Gion automatically tried to look away from the crystal clear purity of her eyes.
Ty’s hand came up to touch his jaw, keeping his gaze locked on hers. “What do you think you’re like, Gion?” She asked gently.
“A murderer.” The word was out before he could censor it.
“You are not a murderer.” Her tone was unequivocal.
“I kill people.”
“That doesn’t make you a murderer.”
“Of course, it does.” Jesus, did she want to discuss semantics? “Do you have any idea how many bodies I’ve left in my wake? You haven’t seen what I’ve done.” The one good part of not being Ty’s Match was there would never be a memory exchange. She’d never look into his past and witness his sins firsthand.
“You’ve killed men to protect me, Gion. Reprisal soldiers. I’ve seen that.”
“They deserved it, though.” Anyone who touched Ty deserved an even worse death than Gion gave them. He didn’t regret killing them, at all. “Too many people didn’t deserve what I did to them.” Addom, eternally nine years old and standing on that playground, flashed into his mind. The kid’s body falling to the dirt.
Gion cringed.
Ty made a soft sound. “You can’t keep punishing yourself for mistakes you’ve made. I don’t see you as a killer. I never will. I see something better in you. I see who you really are, not what you did. Can’t you try and see that, too?”
Gion would do anything for her, but he had no idea how to do that. “The ‘better’ that you see in me is all you. It’s the feelings that you create inside me.”
“No, they’re your feelings, Gion. They come from inside of you.” She laid a palm flat on his chest. “There’s a sweet, romantic part of you that you share with me and no one else. Not even yourself.”
Gion would have kept trying to get her to see reason, but Tharsis came wondering out interrupting them.
“Guy, dude, I’m starving. Shouldn’t you be slaving over a hot stove?”
Gion flashed him a glare, jolting out of the spell that Ty had been casting around him. “Go away.”
Nia was playing 9 to 5, now. First disco and now Dolly Parton. Ty must have told Nia about Gion’s musical aversions. The Shadow Queen was not a subtle woman.
Thar ignored Gion’s less than enthusiastic welcome. He hoisted himself onto the railing around the patio. “So, what are we doing that can’t wait until after dinner?”
“Gion and I are arguing.” Ty cheerfully announced. “He’s being stubborn. He’ll see that I’m right, though.”
Gion made an “umm” sound. “Tharsis, before you get distracted by anything shiny, I need to review all the amnesty requests from the Air House.”
“I’m doing the reviews.”
“I’ll do them better.”
Tharsis arched a brow.
“Thar always does a good job with researching things like that.” Ty volunteered loyally. “He was the top professor at
the university before the Fall. He understands people.”
There was an insult in there someplace. “And I don’t?”
“Truthfully?” Ty scrunched up her face. “No. You’ll just deny everybody who asks for amnesty and not even try to understand them.”
Gion’s eyes narrowed. She actually had a point with that. He didn’t want anyone else coming into his new home. It wasn’t safe. What if Parald sent some Air Phase spies to the Water Kingdom and they tried to steal Ty? Gion didn’t see a single upside to inviting more people here. “Giving amnesty is an unnecessary risk.”
“Tell me about it.” Tharsis deadpanned. “But, I’ll be ruthlessly discriminating with visas. Not to worry, Guy. Air Phases will be sobbing and hating me forever for heartlessly excluding their tired, poor, yearning to breathe free asses. And my real goal is to break up some families.”
“Air Phases don’t have families. At least not the way you understand the concept.” Gion saw that Tharsis wasn’t going to hand over the vetting job to him, though. Not when Ty was backing the idea that Gion lacked empathy or compassion or whatever. Pick your battles. “Before you start giving anyone amnesty, at least let me see the final list of names, then.” He’d still make sure no one even slightly objectionable got into the Water Kingdom. He’d just veto them at the end of the process.
Tharsis snorted.
Ty was a lot more encouraging. “That seems fair. See, Gion? You can compromise with me and we’re both happy.”
Gion wasn’t impressed with that subtle segue. “I’m not compromising about those buildings, Tritone. They all need to come down.”
She pouted, which was astonishingly adorable. “Gion wants to rip out all the historic buildings in the square, Thar. He has it all planned out. That should make you happy.”
“Seriously?” Tharsis glanced at the map. “Great! If you get rid of those God-awful ugly houses for me, you’re gonna be my favorite Water Phase in town.”
Finally, a voice of reason.
Gion forgot about his urge to send Tharsis right of the edge of the porch with one strong gust of Air and wound up nodding at the asshole. “Exactly. Notice how they block the line of sight.” Gion sent Ty a pointed look. “You see? He understands that I’m right.”
“We’re not getting rid of those buildings.” She reiterated.
“What about just the big ones?” Gion tried.
“No!”
Gion sighed.
“Aaannnnd... He’s already whipped.” Tharsis rolled his eyes. “I can’t believe you have so little influence on the ladies, Guy. Seriously. It’s sad.”
Gion had the bizarre realization that Tharsis was… joking with him. He didn’t know exactly what to say, so he looked over at Ty.
She came to his rescue. “Come on.” Ty got to her feet and grabbed hold of his hand. “I’m done debating with you on an empty stomach. Let’s go.”
Gion willingly got to his feet, ready to follow Ty anyplace. Especially, if it was away from Tharsis. “Where?”
“To the kitchen. Everyone’s hungry. You said that you have no idea how to cook, so I’ll help you.”
His stomach dropped at the idea of producing edible food. Gion hated doing a less than a perfect job. He had no idea how he could possibly pull this off without looking like an idiot. Air House soldiers didn’t cook. Parald worked in the kitchens when he was younger, so he considered any assignment there to be a punishment worse than death. Only the lowest servants handled the food preparation.
That was probably why Amarna always met with the Air House rebels in the kitchens.
She thought it would be safe and she was right. Oh, Gion knew that they gathered there after dinners, Patrick Henry-ing about their oppression. He just didn’t really care what the anti-Parald factions plotted, so long as they never actually endangered his waste-of-oxygen life. At least, not for the next fifty years or so.
Here in the Water House cooking clearly wasn’t a punishment. They seemed to take it all in stride, so Gion didn’t see his new assignment as degrading, just… scary. Anything more complicated than bowls of tap water for dinner was out of his culinary skill set. He should have done the takeout thing.
“I told you that I don’t want you to see me making an ass of myself, Ty.”
“Oh, you’ll be fine. I’ll be sous chef.” She winked at him. “It’ll be fun.”
Gion’s resistance melted away under her smile. Making an ass of himself meant absolutely nothing compared to having Ty want to spend time with him. Over the past eleven years, there had been many moments where Gion would have gladly given his life to have her sit next to him for just five minutes.
“Hey, Guy.” Tharsis called as Ty lead him away. “Probably should set an extra place, too. We’re expecting a guest.”
Wonderful.
Job must be arriving with a prepared audio-visual presentation on why Gion sucked.
“Really?” Ty asked. “Who’s coming? Job?”
Tharsis looked right at Gion and smirked. “It’s a surprise.”
Chapter Eighteen
There can be but one element of human power; and that element is man himself.
Monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy, are but creatures of imagination.
Thomas Paine- ‘Rights of Man’
“I don’t want him to just to die. I want him to feel that he’s dying.” Parald paced around the throne room. “I want him to suffer for what he’s done to me.”
“Of course, sire.” Saxon said obediently. “Gion deserves to pay for all his crimes and I’ll see that it’s done.”
Parald gave a skeptical snort.
With Isaacs stupid enough to go blind and Gion off fucking Parald’s Match, Saxon was the only general left. Lacking Gion’s powers or Isaacs’ hardnosed loyalty, though, Saxon was definitely a step down on the flunky roaster. Saxon kept the other Air Phases in line, but against Gion…? Not even Parald was feeling confident about the outcome of that fight.
The plan to separate Ty and Gion would work, though. It had to. Parald was convinced about that.
But, Parald still wanted Gion dead for his traitorous actions against the Air Kingdom. Parald enjoyed Saxon’s cruel streak. No one came up with more creative execution methods than that vicious son-of-a-bitch. He had high hopes that Saxon could redeem himself for not killing Gion yet, by killing Gion in some horrific, nightmarish way now.
Parald wanted Gion ripped apart by rabid tigers, or hacked to pieces by chainsaws, or chained in plastic and left to starve to death.
He frowned thoughtfully at that last idea.
Phases could starve, given enough time. Gion could be wrapped in thick plastic chains and shackled to a wall for months of excruciating torment. People could heckle him and pelt him with rotten vegetable. That would be lovely. That smug dickhead deserved to be brought down to size.
To learn who the real King was.
“I always told you that Gion was dangerous.” Saxon put in. “He’s been plotting against you from the beginning. Once he helped get rid of Seneca, you should have executed Gion. He’s a threat to all of us. You were a fool to think that you could control him.”
Saxon was probably right. That galled Parald. Yes, Gion had been a diabolical turncoat, but Parald still couldn’t stand some subordinate questioning his decisions.
“Shut the hell up!” He picked up the closest object at hand, which happened to be a liquor decanter, and hurled it at Saxon’s head. Parald had good aim. He’d been throwing things at his minions for years.
Saxon had to dodge to the side, so it narrowly missed his face.
Glass and brandy sprayed out in a violent explosion as the bottle hit the wall. Actually, it hit a portrait of Parald posing like Napoleon. It amused him to fill the Air Palace with pictures of himself as dressed like human leaders. Canvases of Parald as George Washington, Alexander the Great, Caligula, and Elvis filled the throne room.
Parald wasn’t exactly certain what land Elvis had conquered. He didn’t give a
shit about human history, actually. But, Elvis had definitely been the king of something and Parald approved of the man’s uniform. That was Parald’s favorite portrait of himself. The gold sunglasses and gemstones on his jumpsuit were regal. Even Gion had admitted that Parald looked like the King of the Whole Wide World in the painting. Something about the gleam in the guy’s eyes when he said it made Parald suspicious, but he couldn’t really disagree with the sentiment.
Luckily, none of his stunning artwork was damaged by Parald’s reaction to Saxon’s stupidity.
Saxon swore as the flying glass cut his cheek. He turned to pin Parald with a feral look. For a second, Parald thought the man would openly challenge him, which was almost amusing.
Physically, Saxon was one of the biggest Air Phases, seven and a half feet of craftiness and muscle. His short blond hair was spiked into a short punk style that Parald had always found unbecoming for an Air House solider. Hate glowed out of his pale blue eyes.
Parald smirked at him, almost hoping for a chance to teach Saxon his place.
For all his upper body strength, Saxon didn’t have what really mattered. His energy was only a fraction of Parald’s. Gion might have been the most powerful Air Phase, but Parald wasn’t a friggin’ lightweight. And he was always on guard, waiting for one of his men to try and stab him in the back. He wouldn’t kill Saxon. He needed the asshole, right now.
But, he’d make Saxon beg.
It gave Parald a perverse sense of satisfaction to know that his men hated him, but that they still had to do what he told them. He’d loved taunting Gion with Ty for that reason. He knew that the arrogant prick wanted her. Parald had just never thought that Gion would desert the Air House and steal her for himself. Disloyal bastard.
And now he wouldn’t be able to force Isaacs to watch him fuck women, either. The inconsiderate jackass decided to go blind and that took away Parald’s favorite pastime. Sex wouldn’t be nearly so enjoyable without Isaacs silently and miserably enduring the show. Parald got off on the power that gave him and now his pleasure had vanished along with Isaacs’ eyesight.
Exile in the Water Kingdom (The Elemental Phases Book 3) Page 24
