"So, he's like a policeman," I said, trying to put some meaning to what Nico was saying. Theo had mention the Guard, but never this scout word.
"Not just a policeman, Casey. He is judge, jury and executioner. All he requires is a tip-off that someone has broken the rules and he carries out the rest. The trial - if you can call it that - the sentence. The end."
When Theo had first suspected me of being a Gi trespassing in Pyrkagia territory he had threatened me with his right to take my head. I suddenly realised how close I had come to losing it. Theo had been exercising his position as a scout, not just a member of the Guard.
I shook my head and rubbed a hand down my face. Now, it wouldn't be Theo who came after me, but another scout. One who hadn't befriended me over the course of the previous year. One who had no feelings for me at all.
And it wasn't just me the scout would hunt.
"Nico, you need to hand me over."
"What?" he hissed. "No way!"
"They will already be wondering why they can't find you. How long before they put two and two together, and realise you are harbouring a criminal. Do you want a scout to come after you too?"
"Casey, Theo would kill me if I hand you over."
"Theo is in no position to do anything, but we are. Do you really think we'll get out of here? And what then? How do I leave the country? How do I hide? Not only have I got Pyrkagia hunting for me, but I now have the Gi. I don't want to hand myself over, but I also don't want either you or Theo to be harmed because of me. You've done enough. Risked enough. Both of you."
"You're his Thisavros," Nico said, as though that was reason enough to risk their lives.
"Am I?" I asked, eyebrow arched. "What about Isadora?"
Nico scoffed. "That was a scorned woman trying to cling to something that is no longer hers. Theo would have told me if Dora was his. And I have never seen his bite mark on her neck." His eyes scanned my neck then, I had a sudden urge to hide Theo's mark with my hand. To protect it, which was silly. Nico wasn't threatening Theo's claim. Or denying it.
"What if she is, though? She'd be better for him than me," I insisted, clearly not punishing myself enough yet.
Nico sighed, but didn't answer. Because, I was certain, he agreed. Isadora would a better Thisavros than me.
We sat in silence for several more minutes. Every so often Nico would get to his feet and softly open the door to listen for foot traffic. It was getting less and less, but still too many passed for us to feel at ease enough to chance escape.
I was at a crossroads. One way led to my capture, possible death, or at the least deported from New Zealand. But it did mean Theo would be safe. The other was where my heart lay, where I longed to remain despite logic. With Theo, near Theo, fighting for what was rightly ours. It all boiled down to one thing in the end though. Theo. What would keep Theo safe?
If I stayed hidden and tried to remain beside him, he would be in danger. I loved him too much for that.
I stood up with renewed resolve and watched Nico stiffen.
"What are you doing?" he asked, as I dusted myself down as best I could.
"I'm walking out of here," I answered calmly. More calmly than I felt.
"Don't do this," Nico pleaded. "You hand yourself over and Theo will be distraught."
"I hand myself over and Theo will walk free."
"Casey," Nico started, but I held up my hand to stall him.
"It's my decision. Mine." I blinked through the sudden onset of tears in my eyes. "Just tell him..." I took a deep breath in and let it out slowly. "Just tell him this is for the best."
Nico made a strangled sound behind me, but my hand was already on the doorknob. I turned it, pulled the door open and stepped out without checking if the way was clear. What did it matter? I wasn't going to hide anymore.
As soon as I lifted the tapestry and stepped out, I knew I wasn't alone in the corridor. With my hand on the door still, I swiftly shut it in Nico's face. Leaving him inside the room and praying he'd remain there. I readjusted the tapestry and turned to face who I presumed would be a guard.
Several feet away a man in uniform stood, but it wasn't the uniform of a guard. It was the uniform of a butler.
"Aktor?" I said, uncertainly. He spun on his feet and blinked at me. Then started striding towards me with purpose.
"I knew that wretched hiding place was somewhere on this floor," he said, in a low voice. "Come, Miss Eden. The master is waiting."
He grasped my arm and pulled me several metres down the hallway, constantly looking over his shoulder for pursuers.
"Are you taking me to the cells?" I asked and was hushed immediately with a frown.
Time ticked by as he pulled me down corridor after corridor, ducking into rooms or alcoves or another tapestry hidden spot, as footsteps approached. For the entire journey he didn't utter another word. We swept down narrow stone stairways, that curved in on themselves. We ducked under low lying ceilings and at one stage even crawled through a laundry chute. Aktor knew Pyrgos like the back of his hand.
I was bursting with the desire to ask questions. Where was Theo? Was it Theo he was taking me to? How did Aktor know of all these hidden passages? Why was he even here? Where were we going? Was Theo safe? The questions swirled around in my head causing an ache to start up behind my eyes. I was hungry and thirsty and scared out of my wits, but I remained silent and simply followed wherever the butler led. I trusted him, but the longer it took, the longer the silence, I was beginning to doubt. I didn't want to doubt Aktor, but the man was ancient, had been an Athanatos for so long. What had Nico said? Eternity makes all of us a little ruthless.
I eyed him carefully, looking for signs of betrayal. I couldn't see any, but then I was now aware of how good Ekmetalleftis were at hiding behind a mask of nothing. Aktor was no different from Theo in that regard. All that met my eyes was a blank, but focused face.
We spent twenty minutes in a shadowy alcove behind a statue as guards congregated no more than a few feet away. Their conversation was in Greek, so I didn't understand it. But their words were clipped, angry and quick. They were not happy, but I had no way of knowing if they were unhappy because they hadn't located me, or for some other reason.
My heart hadn't stopped booming in my chest since I opened the door to the room Nico and I had been in. I wondered if Nico had escaped. Shown his face somewhere and was being questioned at this very moment. I hoped no one would have considered he'd betray Pyrkagia. But my head told me, that was a naive wish.
A more paranoid bunch of people I had never met.
Finally the guards moved on and we slipped from our hidden location and quietly ran down the corridor until Aktor opened another tapestry hidden door. This one led to a darkened set of stairs, leading down to a dirt strewn tunnel. There was no light, but remarkably I could see shadows, slightly darker areas that depicted the corner of a wall, a jutting beam, or fallen piece of masonry. I stopped and immediately crouched low so my fingers could touch the soil.
Earth washed up and through me, sending a jolt of recognition and welcome through my mind.
"We don't have time," Aktor hissed urgently.
But the Earth was whispering something to me, so I waved Aktor off and tilted my head.
They are here. They have come. Beware.
"Who?" I whispered back, too wound up to think the words, but speaking them aloud instead.
The ones who seek you. The ones who mean you harm.
Well, hell. That could be any number of people.
"Not helpful," I whispered back. "Be more specific," I demanded softly.
But a noise on the other side of the door, at the top of the stairs we'd just come down, let me know my time was up. I could get answers from the Earth as soon as we were safely away. I stood and nodded to Aktor, who grasped my hand and led the march down the narrow tunnel.
It became smaller and smaller, until we were doubled over and squeezing our shoulders through gaps that larger bodies would not h
ave been able to pass. There was no way Theo used this passage. Which led me to believe that it wasn't Theo who awaited at all. I stared at the hunched form of Theo's old butler in front of me and I prayed with all my heart that he hadn't abandoned his friend; his employer. That the betrayal I suspected was not true.
I had no choice but to continue to follow him though. Going back would lead to whoever had discovered the door at the top of those stairs. Going forward was taking a leap of faith. One I wasn't sure I could manage. But the choice was made for me now, so I had to keep moving ahead.
Finally, after suffering through spider's webs and dripping, smelly water from the ceiling, we made it to a grate behind thick brush. I pushed my mucky hair back off my face and steadied my breathing for what or who lay on the other side. Aktor looked back over his shoulder to me, his familiar face helping to soothe my nerves, even though doubt of his loyalty still remained.
He banged twice on the grate with his fist and we waited.
Seconds later the brush was pushed aside and a shadowy figure grunted as he removed the grate, sliding it sideways, with a sickeningly loud creak and groan.
It was the muttered curse words in Greek that made me launch past Aktor. Directly into Theo's waiting arms.
Heat washed through me, no doubt at all in my mind that it was his Stoicheio. I'm sure he didn't mean to. He was exhausted and as dishevelled as me. It was a slip, a moment of weakness in the face of enormous relief. Because he wasn't alone. My Stoicheio was making the trees and bushes around us move protectively to offer cover. Surrounding us with an impenetrable wall of defence against the outside world.
Aktor cleared his throat at my back, causing Theo to pull away reluctantly from the kiss he'd been giving me.
"At least Cassandra uses her Stoicheio to hide you both. Theodoros, you should be ashamed of yourself."
Theo offered a rueful smile and ducked his head to kiss my lips lightly again.
"Are you hurt, Oraia?" he asked, hot breath washing over my face delightfully. I shook my head to say no, words impossible right then.
My hands were brushing over his arms, his chest, down his back. Everywhere I could reach to ensure he was unharmed. He didn't wince or pull away, so I assumed where I touched he was fine. But he must have realised what I was doing, because he whispered in my ear, "I am unhurt, as well." I sagged against him, fatigue finally catching up.
Theo swept me up in his arms and began leading the way out of our enclosure. He paused at the edge of our hidden spot and glanced in all directions, then crossed a short space to slip both of us into the rear seat of a sleek car. The windows were heavily tinted. Aktor rounded the bonnet and slid into the driver's seat, starting the car with practised ease.
I glanced around the surroundings, trying to work out where we were. Still near Howick, but a street I didn't recognise. Not the street that led to the Rigas' house.
"Where are we going?" I asked, resting my head on Theo's chest. He'd placed me in his lap, holding me about the waist, refusing to let me out of his clutches. I felt wanted and treasured... and loved.
"A house Aktor has kept for many years that no one knows about," Theo murmured, his lips brushing my head through my hair. I couldn't imagine what nasties had fallen into it, but he didn't seem to mind.
"How did you get away?"
"Aktor was waiting on the cell level. Once the guards imprisoned me, he chose his moment well. Only two guards were incapacitated in order for me to escape."
Incapacitated. Was that a euphemism or not? I didn't have it in me to ask. I knew it was weak, I should have found out. Because it was important. If Theo killed Pyrkagia guards to escape, then things were beyond repair.
Not that I truly thought this could be fixed, but I had hope Theo would not become a fugitive like me. Still, I remained silent.
"He got me out through the passageways and then returned for you. We could only guess where Nico had taken you. I described our former hiding place to Aktor." Theo let out a huff of a laugh. "Who apparently wasn't aware of it at all."
"My memory is not as good as it once was, sir," Aktor apologised.
"Your memory is more than good enough, my friend," Theo replied. I could see Aktor's smile in the rear vision mirror.
Several seconds passed before anyone spoke. It was me who broke the silence.
"What happens now?"
Theo leaned his head back on the seat and let a long breath of air out.
"I'm not sure, Oraia. For now all I can do is protect you, hide you. We'll work this out with time."
It wasn't an emphatically positive response. Theo's uncertainty matched my own. He had to know what doing this would mean. The consequences of betraying Pyrkagia. I closed my eyes and stifled my own reaction to his words. Theo was a wanted man. So was Aktor. And God knows what was happening to Nico right now. And all of this was because of me. You'd think, at least, I'd know why. But I didn't. Everything still made absolutely no sense. There was no explanation for what I had become, why I had become it. I didn't have any more answers than I did the first day I crawled out of that pit of dirt. If anything, I had more.
And on top of that, I had pulled the one man I had ever loved into the pit of confusion with me.
The guilt was a weighty blanket that settled on my shoulders and made the world turn a little darker outside. And despite being held tenderly in Theo's arms, despite knowing he was right there beside me searching for the answers to all of this as well, I felt so very alone.
Because I knew, God knows how, but I freaking knew, that I would have to fix this myself. No one else. It started with me and it would end with me. Of this I was resoundingly sure. And yet, I had no idea why.
Chapter Twenty-One
In A Delicate Dance Against My Skin
The drive to Aktor's property took another forty minutes. The roads were quiet, but winding as they headed further east, out towards the shore and away from suburbia. We finally pulled up outside a single storey gated house, right on the water's edge at Beachlands. Nikau Palm trees lined the short driveway, mixed in with low lying shrubs and a few ferns. The lawn was immaculate and well cared for. I wondered how often Aktor came out here to get away from city life.
The car pulled to a stop under a portico and the sounds of waves gently lapping the beach replaced the hum of the engine as Aktor switched it off.
"It's beautiful, Aktor," I said as I stepped out of the car, Theo climbing out behind me and placing a hand immediately on my hip, pulling me against his side.
"Thank you. This is my refuge when I need a little peace and contemplative silence."
I glanced at the old butler; his words held more meaning than they should have.
"Sometimes we need solitude, Cassandra," Aktor explained, obviously seeing the question on my face. "When you are as old as me, you crave moments of privacy and isolation. Too many memories can clog our minds, and for some, seclusion is all that keeps us from crumbling under their weight."
"Yet for others, distraction works just as well," Theo offered and received an arched eyebrow from his butler.
"Tell yourself that, Theodoros, but wait until you reach my age. You begin to lack the desire to seek out diversions for the sake of amusement."
"Ah, Aktor," Theo teased, "we are more alike than you realise."
"Really?" the butler muttered and headed toward the front door of the house. "Could have fooled me."
"But that's the point," Theo said as he pulled me after Aktor. I wasn't sure if there was much of a point to the conversation, other than reminding me how very old both men actually were.
I ducked out from under Theo's arm and received a frown for my efforts.
"I need to talk to the Earth," I said, slipping out of my shoes and walking backwards, keeping my eyes on Theo's. "I'll be in shortly. I promise." Solitude sounded good about now, I think Aktor was on to something.
"Is everything all right?" Theo asked, taking a step after me.
"I'm fine. Really. I just
want to check on things." Theo cocked his head and arched his brow, but refrained from asking the obvious question on his mind. He just nodded, thrust his hands in his trouser pockets and took a step toward the now open front door to Aktor's house.
"Call out if you need anything, Oraia," he murmured and I could have sworn there was a vulnerable look on his face. But if it was there at all, it was gone too quickly to be sure. I nodded and turned around to skip across the grass to the largest Nikau on the property.
My hand reached out and ran over the layered trunk of the tree, my fingers tracing the ridges. I had always been intrigued by the regularity of the segments to a Nikau Palm's trunk. Like stacked cylinders, they rose up the body of the tree creating a perfect sculpture of nature. I walked around the girth of the plant and just breathed for a time. Allowing the scent of Earth to calm me.
"Who are they?" I whispered eventually, when I'd settled my nerves enough to ask the one question that had been on repeat in my mind since escaping Pyrgos.
They are coming, the palm whispered back.
"Yes, but who is coming?" I pushed.
Those who mean you harm. Since when had they started to talk in riddles?
I stopped my trek around the circumference of the trunk and frowned down at the ground. Why weren't the trees being more forthcoming? They had been honest with me in the past. Told me things without having to be asked, but whoever they were referring to now, was obviously not something they could divulge. Which didn't make any sense at all.
It was getting late and I was tired and hungry, having only eaten a few mouthfuls of breakfast and nothing since. I felt filthy, grubby and emotionally wrought. Trying to work out the Earth's riddles right now was beyond me. I needed a shower, food and sleep. Preferably in that order.
Elemental Awakening Book Bundle Page 21
