I stared at the mud plastered wall, at the letters of the words written, as a warning, in my lounge. Was this evidence that Theo was not the promise I had thought him once? Did this break that trust, shatter it beyond belief?
"And still I want to protect you."
It was probably the betrayal of trust that stirred something new inside of me. Where was this coming from? The old Casey would have run a mile from this, but some instinct suddenly bursting to life within me was saying - no demanding - I meet this challenge head on. I face down my enemy and make him pay.
What if Theo had shattered his promise this night, broken my trust?
I had to know the truth.
I'm not a commando. I haven't even taken Karate lessons or any other self defence class. I wouldn't know how to throw a punch or pull the trigger on a gun. I bake bread. I make sandwiches. And I have a green thumb. But I am not entirely stupid. I may not know what the hell is going on with me, but I saw how those Rimus down the driveway acted on just a simple, nonsensical thought.
I'd wanted them to intimidate Theo, so I'd made them tinkle in a non-existent wind. He'd hardly been intimidated, simply amused. But the trees had acted on my command. Could I get them to do more?
I quickly changed out of my work clothes, noticing my wardrobe had not been missed in the mud-messenger's pursuit to threaten. All I had left to wear was my gym gear, in a bag hidden at the back of my closet; black yoga pants, black zip-up hoodie and black running shoes. If I'd had black camouflage paint, I would have used it. As it was, I had to force myself not to smear the dirt off the floor on my cheeks. I was going in by stealth, but I wasn't going to be stereotypical about it.
I contemplated grabbing a knife from the chopping board, but one thing my grandfather had always told me growing up; whatever weapon you use to defend yourself, be prepared for it to be used against you. I didn't fancy being stabbed in the gut. So I walked unarmed out of the flat.
When I came out onto the driveway I heard the trees sigh out a hello. It had been easy to ignore it at first. To pretend I was hearing things. To pretend my world had the same parameters as before. But it didn't, and I knew this now. So when they whispered, the coast is clear, welcome to the night, I listened. I heard. I stood still and acknowledged what they said.
But it sure as hell freaked me out.
A trembling started up in my arms and soon engulfed my entire body. It took everything in me not to turn around and go back through the door to my home. But how safe would I be in there? Someone had already demolished it. He could come back and finish the job off once and for all. I didn't want to do this. I wasn't sure I had it in me to confront Theo. But I knew a corner when I'd been backed into it. And I damn well was not going to leave town because some bastard smeared the demand in mud on my walls.
I needed answers. I needed to know the truth. Theo could provide both.
Sucking in a deep breath, I approached the closest Rimu Tree. I wasn't sure how to talk to it. Say the words aloud? When I heard the plants whisper, it was on the air, but also in my mind. As though they could speak directly to me.
I shrugged my shoulders, took a deep breath, and thought, can you help me?
Nothing.
I moved closer and laid my hand on the Rimu's roughened trunk. The sense of peace and harmony I felt at that simple motion almost brought me to my knees. I stifled a sob, the sensation of wellbeing too much to comprehend.
"What are you?" I whispered.
Yours, the tree answered on the wind and in my mind.
Fuck this was freaky. But I didn't miss that the tree had heard my spoken words.
"Can you help me?" I asked, feeling a little stupid talking to a tree. Even if the Prince of Wales talks to his plants, I've never done it before now.
What do you need? The tree whisper-thought.
"I need to know if it comes to fighting him, can I count on you to help me win?"
Easy, the tree breathed. We are yours to command.
OK. Good to know. Still freaky.
I flexed my fingers and willed my heartbeat to slow. It might have been comforting touching the tree's bark, but my heart refused to calm. I took another deep breath, in an effort to chill, and so many scents assailed my nose. Oh dear God, it was so invigorating. And soothing. And simply divine. Who would have thought Auckland City at night could smell so damn good?
My sense of smell had altered. Along with me. Plant whisperer and freaky-deaky hound dog as well.
I licked my lips and blinked to clear my turbulent thoughts. "Where is he?" I asked and felt the tree respond, but not directly to me.
A surge of something strangely ancient washed over me as whispers in a language that made no sense filled my mind. Answers echoed from far away, bounced off one tree, then ricocheted off another, until my tree shook its branches out and sighed.
Mountain Road. We will guide you. The trees on his property await, Athanatos.
I had no idea what Athanatos meant, but I liked the sound of the rest of it. Mountain Road was in Epsom. Too far away to walk, but taxi's trawled Parnell Road all the time. I headed off at a trot, after patting the tree to give thanks, and waved the first taxi I could see down. Within minutes I was being dropped off at the corner of Mountain and Owens Roads. The moment the taxi took off, I stepped onto the grass verge and rested my hand against the bark of a small flowering Cherry Tree.
Number 119, the Cherry Tree whispered. I muttered a "thanks" and took off quickly, keeping myself close to the trees, so they could warn of anyone's approach.
I knew which house it would be before I reached it. Many times I'd driven past and wondered, who lived behind those wrought iron gates? Who lived up that winding gravel drive? Who required such tall trees for privacy, cameras topping each side of the plinths that held the automatic gates? I had my answer now. Theo Peters. And to think, he'd crossed town to buy lunch at my deli. I should have felt privileged.
I didn't.
I stopped just down the street, across the road in the shadow of a group of Cabbage Trees. And watched my destination for a few silent moments. Getting in undetected would be damn near impossible.
Not impossible, the Cabbage Tree closest to me whispered. Far north corner, away from the gate.
Freaky no longer covered it.
I walked down the street until I was just past the far north corner, well out of sight of the security cameras at the gate. Not having any idea of what would happen when I got there, I decided to just keep going and not stop to think. Thinking was not going to aid me in any of this. If I started thinking, freaky would seem tame.
As soon as I came to rest beneath a Norfolk Pine at the corner of the property, I got my first sight of what really lay within. I sucked in a shocked breath of air. Theo had every type of plant and tree imaginable on his property. Jealousy didn't even cover what I felt, but even that emotion was smothered quickly by rage. Why would he destroy my plants when he obviously enjoyed having nature around himself as well?
I shook my head, dumbfounded, and then tried to figure out how to climb over the fence. It looked impenetrable. With nasty spikes dotted along the top of each wrought iron post. No pain, no gain. I grasped one of the iron railings, brushing my fingers against some of the leaves of the Norfolk Pine. It shivered, as though being woken up, and then slowly one of its thick branches bent down towards me in a fashion that should not have physically been possible.
It creaked and groaned and I thought it might just set off alarms inside the perimeter fence, but nothing happened, except I now had a way to clamber over to the other side. I snorted in disbelief, but didn't waste any time taking advantage of the opportunity.
As soon as I climbed a way up the branch, it moved. Making me collapse along the length of it and grip its circumference tightly with my arms and legs. Then with a finesse that was not mine, I slipped from the end of the branch and landed in a crouch on the other side of the fence. The tree creaked back to its former position.
He is
inside, he is aware you are here, the tree whispered.
"Well, thanks," I said a little sarcastically. What use was a network of spying trees if they couldn't get me on the property undetected? I might as well have hit the buzzer at the gate.
He is attuned to you, the tree defended itself. We were not aware you were his Thisavros.
His what? And it hadn't failed to register with me that the trees were easily reading my thoughts. Why hadn't they before, back at my home? I wondered if it had anything to do with the fact that I now believed. Doubt had still festered in my mind when I first thought my question at the Rimu Tree. I had no doubt now that the trees and I could communicate. What I doubted was my plan to confront Theo Peters.
Well, here goes nothing. I was here. He knew I was here. I might as well come out guns blazing.
Or come out trees blazing.
"Those plants closest to the building, please get his attention," I instructed, taking off at a run towards where the trees all pointed, and had to be the location of the house itself. They parted as I ran, herding me in the right direction. Without their guidance I would have gotten lost, so thick was the foliage. It was a veritable forest here. I kind of loved it.
After several seconds I heard the noise. Tree branches creaking, setting a beat that the tinkling of the leaves accompanied. A musical of nature, none ever before seen nor heard by man. It was magnificent. It was magical. It was so freaking unreal I kept shaking my head.
Lights blazed from every window of the three storey brick mansion. Lit up like a Christmas tree, but I wasn't fooled by its festive façade. Did a monster live within those walls? Prepared to kill me? Who had killed my potted plants?
I came to rest beneath the tree-line that bordered Theo's house and realised there was a rather large flaw to my plan. No tree or plant came within twenty feet of the building. And it wasn't surrounded by grass, but paving stones and gravel instead. It stood in a moat of concrete and stone, not a plant in sight. Well damn. I could hardly use pavers against the man. What now?
Theo slowly walked down the steps at the side of the house where I stood, looking composed, dressed in his suit still. Looking too bloody good, it was completely unfair. I reached out and wrapped my hand around the leaves of the closest tree, seeking courage and comfort, and maybe a hint of an idea of what I should do next.
The plant was silent. I guess my network of spies was fresh out of ideas too.
"You trespass, Gi," Theo said in that silky, accented voice of his. I felt it wrap around me, fill me with warmth, set my blood alight.
I gritted my teeth, felt the branch I was holding wind around my wrist... and then stab me with a thorn on its side.
I gasped, trying to hide my painful reaction, and watched as a drop of my blood slipped down the side of my arm and fell to the soil at my feet.
And then all hell broke loose.
Chapter Four
Oh Dear God, A Mad Scientist's Lab Flashed Before My Eyes
The gravel began to rattle where it lay, the concrete paving blocks shuddered from an unseen force. The ground made a deeply horrific groaning sound, the trees joined in, turning the miscellaneous sounds into a cacophony of unnatural noise. Some plants creaked and moaned, some leaves shattered the night air with high pitched tinkling sounds. And the earth beneath the concrete that surrounded, protected, Theo and his house, heaved.
He lost his footing, landing on his side in an undignified heap. And swore a litany of unspeakable words in Greek. I ran at him. No freaking idea what I would do, but the ground continued to move in a jerking wave that unsettled him, but somehow aided my footing, so I just kept going. I would wing it, but the bastard would pay for hurting my plants and being a git to me.
I leapt on his back and kicked and scratched and punched - ineffectually - all the while we rolled around and bucked with the movement of the earth.
"Are you mental?" he yelled in my face.
"Murderer," I shouted back and kneed him between the legs.
More Greek swear words. It was impressive.
And then a wall of fire erupted from nowhere and headed towards the line of trees.
"Call them off, Cassandra. Or the plants burn."
Holy freak. He caused the fire. Theo made fire from nothing and would barbecue the plants to get me to comply. I hated him. I really, truly did.
"Arsehole!" I spat, whacking him across the side of his head. His hand came up and grasped my wrist, the other wrist had been immobilised early on. He flipped us, somehow timing the motion to match a lull in the wave of pavement beneath us. So I landed with a thud, but was cushioned by a spring-like feeling that was impossible, in a normal world, to expect when being hurled at concrete.
"Oraia," he said between clenched teeth. "Call off your pets. Now!"
Stop! I thought and it miraculously worked. Theo's wall of fire dissipated immediately, making me think it took something out of him to sustain such an incomprehensible thing.
In the wake of such upheaval, both Theo and I were breathing heavily. In the silence that followed my mental command, it sounded so very, very loud.
"You are trespassing," he said in a way too reasonable voice.
"You killed my plants," I ground back at him. He frowned.
"What plants?"
I sucked in a slow breath, trying to get my heart to still so I could concentrate better. I searched his face for the lie. But all I saw was curiosity and a lingering sense of anger.
"My plants at home," I finally managed to whisper.
Something wasn't right here and part of me was already aching for it to be true. For Theo to not be the person who had destroyed my home.
But was he acting? I'd thought before it might have been an act. Was it now?
Oh dear God, I don't know how I would deal with the disappointment and pain if everything he'd ever done and said was a lie. Which made me realise that's exactly what he had been feeling too. Was he as scared as me of being let down?
His head tilted slightly to the side, an eyebrow raised in confusion.
"Your home," he said in a flat voice. Then immediately sucked in air. "Someone's been in your home? Already?"
I couldn't talk. I could hardly breathe. Please. Please let this be real. Please don't let it have been Theo.
"Casey," he said with a shake of his hands on my wrists to get me to focus. "Have you met any others like me?"
Like me. My mouth opened to answer him, but no words came out.
Was this the truth? It wasn't him? Could I dare hope?
I swallowed my fear and managed to murmur, "I did meet a doctor at the Emergency Room last night called Dr Peters."
Theo's face clouded briefly. I held my breath. "I see," he said, voice low and heavily accented. "Did she recognise you?"
Something in his tone told me this was the answer I'd been seeking. Dr Peters had recognised me, why else did her eyes flash gold and the curtains burn in her wake? I nodded, biting the inside of my cheek as I waited for his reply.
He let a long breath of air out. "Why have you not heeded my warning and left? Can you not see now, how important it was for you to escape while you still could? Xanthe's husband is in the Guard," he added, eyes deadly serious. "The next time it will be your head."
God, this was hopeless. I'd gotten what I wanted, an answer to who destroyed my flat, killed my plants. But instead of feeling relief, I was petrified. At least with Theo, I knew him. But the doctor's husband, a member of Theo's Guard, I did not know at all.
Fear skittered along my spine and I lost the ability to contain it.
"Casey?" Theo prompted, and something snapped inside.
"I'm getting a little sick of that threat," I replied, on a rush of frustrated air.
"I have your best interests at heart," he pointed out, but his jaw was set hard.
We stared at each other for a long moment. I was acutely aware he was still moulded above me; body to body, chest to chest. Hell, even our breaths were intermingling. But the se
nsations caused by his physical proximity had nothing on the gamut of emotions swilling inside me right then.
"I am not your enemy," I finally managed to say. It did come out much firmer than I had intended, but I was past caring how I sounded now. My body was tired, my head ached. I was about to break apart.
"What planet do you live on?" he scoffed, not helping my temper in the slightest and proving he was just as on edge as me; snapping back with equal rashness. "Since when has it been legal to enter another's territory without invitation or permission? We are well within our rights to respond with force."
"Whose permission do I need to live in my place of birth?" I demanded; the snapping had escalated into a snarl. "And who the hell are you to police this city?" That was almost shouted, the snapping was officially done; anger now fuelled every harshly spoken word.
Freaking hell, I was sick of this roller-coaster ride of confusing reactions to this man, to my life. One minute I'm desperately wanting him to be more than he appears, the next anger at his behaviour has taken root inside my mind. I was so weary of the confusion. I just wanted an answer to what I had become.
So, I started to struggle. Of course I did; it was the least sane thing to do. God knows what I thought I would achieve, but all the pent up rage and fear and confusion and incredulity at what was happening to me combined to make a boiling pit of desperation deep down inside. Like a wild, unthinking animal I lashed out.
In my efforts to get out of his grip, I writhed and bucked, threw my entire body into the battle, making my forehead come within an inch of his nose. He shifted at the last minute, avoiding a bloody scene. But the movement made his thigh slip between my legs. We both hesitated, surprised by the intimate contact. But then, with a cunning and calculated smirk on his lips he took advantage of our new position, and rubbed.
His eyes never left my face, looking for a reaction.
Thankfully, I was too pissed off to react.
He frowned and instantly a warmth rushed through me, melting all resistance and making me gasp out loud. I then, so embarrassingly, writhed beneath him in an entirely different fashion than before, seeking more friction, there.
Elemental Awakening Book Bundle Page 5
