As much as he despised Raiden, Lansing still found himself rolling his eyes over in the Radiation Phase’s direction. He couldn’t be the only one who noticed that Chason was turning into friggin’ Howard Hughes.
If he couldn’t kill Chason with Raiden standing guard, maybe the best way to proceed was to get the assassin on his team. Raiden’s twisted morality aside, he wasn’t a moron. Anyone could see Chason was a candidate for a rubber room.
Raiden met Lansing’s sideways smirk with a blank stare. The son-of-a-bitch’s stare was always blank. He didn’t even watch Chason’s muttering and pacing in front of the whiteboard. His whole attention was fixed on Lansing. Radiation Phases could see through all sorts of objects. Lansing was never completely sure that Raiden couldn’t see right through him.
Creepy bastard.
“Holy… fuck.” Chason suddenly crossed over to a series of printouts he had taped up in a row. Apparently, he’d Xeroxed the sides of the Justice Tablet earlier in the day, so he could enlarge the writing. The symbols were his newest obsession. Last week it had been maps.
Chason ripped one of the pages off the wall and headed over to where Raiden stood. “You see this?” He tapped the paper hard enough to bend it in the center. “What does that look like to you?”
“Ink spot.”
“Bullshit.” Chason held it closer to his face. “Look at it!”
Raiden’s neon green eyes flicked to Chason for a long beat. The color of them perfectly matched the chartreuse streak that used to be at his temple. Raiden was the only Phase Lansing ever knew who shaved his head rather than wear the mark of his House. The guy was a freak… And he didn’t respond well to orders. Honestly, he didn’t respond well to anything.
Chason didn’t back down. “What does it look like to you?!”
Raiden let out a sound that, on someone who wasn’t an emotionless robot, would have classified as a frustrated sigh. He glanced down at the printout, jerking it out of Chason’s hand.
“Fine.” He studied it for a moment and then grunted. “Alright. I see your point.” He handed the page back to Chason. “But, you can’t know that it has anything to do with…”
He stopped short as Chason jumped out of the Magnet Kingdom, leaving him talking to thin air.
“He’s getting worse.” Lansing pointed out grimly. “The guy’s falling apart, right in front of us. At this rate, he’ll end up self-destructing by the end of week.” And it was already Friday.
“Chason will survive.” Raiden pushed himself away from the wall. “I’ll make sure of it. He’s the only hope for our world.”
“Then we’re all totally screwed.”
Raiden ignored that dour prediction. He headed over to collect the other printouts of the Justice Tablet from the wall, folding them and shoving them in his pockets. Chason didn’t let anyone else see the box and apparently Raiden was going to take things one step further.
He was even confiscating pictures of it.
“Chason isn’t the same man.” Lansing pressed. “You see that, too. I know you do. Since Parald died, he’s changed.”
“He just needs his Match back.”
“Finding Mara’s body isn’t gonna do a damn thing for his sanity. He’s snapped. How can he lead the men like this?”
“He doesn’t need to lead the men. The time for the Reprisal is over.”
The simple words detonated like an atom bomb in Lansing’s head. “The hell it is!” The Reprisal wasn’t over. It would never be over as long as Gion and Isaacs and the other Air Phases still breathed. He stalked towards Raiden. “The Reprisal is as strong as we ever were. More, now that Parald’s gone. We could be running the entire realm if Chason just woke up!”
Raiden didn’t even blink as Lansing got right in his face. “When Parald fell, the mission ended. That war’s over.”
“No!”
“Yes. The next fight has already begun.” Raiden casually stepped around Lansing. “You need to pick a side. Don’t let anger force you into the wrong one.”
Lansing’s mouth tightened in impotent fury. He wanted Raiden dead, but he wasn’t going to come at the guy head-on. Not only was he a mind reader, but he was also one of the largest Phases in any House. The guy was massive and a damn Samurai with blade. Lansing could bide his time. “If you and Chason keep this up, whatever side you’re on… I’ll be on the opposite one.”
“I know. I’ve seen it.” Raiden stopped in the doorway to regard him seriously. “There’s still time, though. Change your course, because I won’t let you harm Chason. If he dies, we all die. I’ve seen that, too.”
“I don’t believe you.” Lansing spat. “You’re saying that because you know he’s weak and I could easily kill him. A broken leader can’t stay in charge. He has to die. Has to! I won’t let him ruin…”
Raiden cut him off with a sword. The sharpened steel was extended before Lansing even saw him move. One second, Raiden was standing there looking bored, the next he was grabbing Lansing and throwing him against the wall. One hand held him off the floor, the other wielded the blade. The edge of it pressed into his throat hard enough to draw blood. Lansing could feel it running down his neck.
He froze.
“I knew it was pointless to reason with you. Let’s make it clearer.” Raiden leaned down so their noses nearly touched. “If you move against Chason, I will stop you.” He words were terrifying in their flatness. “No matter what I have to do, I won’t let the universe fall. His fate is tied to all of us, and there are things in this world that I won’t lose. Things that I will protect, no matter what I have to do.”
“Like what?” Lansing ground out, discreetly reaching for his own blade. “You have nothing and we both know it. No Match, no family. Even your own House wants you dead.”
“Pick a side.” Raiden snarled. “Either you’re with Chason or you’re gone.” He gave Lansing a harsh slam against the stone wall, preventing him from pulling his weapon free. “One more body on my conscience means nothing to me, at this point. Nothing, at all.”
“I’ve been a Reprisal soldier for longer than you have! You can’t kick me out. I outrank you! The men will follow me.”
“Anyone who would go, I don’t want here, anyway. Take them.” Raiden finally stepped back, lowering the sword. “You have an hour to decide if you’re leaving, before I choose for you. Think carefully. One path doesn’t end well.”
“Save your prophetic bullshit. Jesus! I don’t even want to be here. The Reprisal is bigger than Chason or the Magnet Kingdom. They’re both dead, anyway.”
As he said the bitter words, Lansing realized they were true. The Reprisal was alive and well, but the mission couldn’t survive in this place, surrounded by unbelievers and insanity. No matter what the cost to his pride, he needed to walk away and carry on elsewhere. It was his duty. The reason he’d survived the Fall: To bring justice to the world. Raiden and Chason’s punishment could wait. Lansing had more important plans.
“I’ll go and I’ll take the mission with me. I’ve always been the only one who really believes in our destiny.”
“You’re wrong. I do believe in destiny.” Raiden said quietly. “That’s what scares the hell out of me.”
Chapter Nine
I am not from the East nor the West, nor out of the seas nor from beneath the
ground, not natural or unearthly, not composed of elements at all. I do not
exist. I am not a part in this world or part of the next.
Rumi
“Technically, I’m not any kind of man.” Kingu’s voice was flat. “I am a god. I believe I’ve mentioned that before.” He snapped his fingers and a pewter goblet appeared in his hand. He took a casual sip from it as if he refused to let her disapproval affect him. As if this was just another day at the office here in CrazyBanishedLand.
As if Hope hadn’t just caught him doing business with criminals.
“I don’t care if you’re a sea monkey, you can’t make deals with the Banished Phases
. Especially, not Zakkery. He’s a bad person. We all assumed he was dead and we were happy about it.”
“Honestly, I’m not thrilled about his survival myself.”
“And yet I just watched you hang out with the guy!” Hope stomped down the steps, vacillating between anger and incredulity. Good Lord, it was no wonder Oberon had sent her here to save her monster. Kingu was completely screwing up his life. “Zakkery and that Galen guy are probably plotting against the Council and you’re in on their schemes?! How could you?”
“If it makes you feel any better, having even an ancillary connection to a plan conceived by the Elementals makes me ask myself the same question.” He snapped his fingers again and held out an identical goblet for her as she marched closer.
Hope automatically took it. “You think you’re being a fucking wiseass, but I live with a lot of them and I’m immune.” She ran her free hand through her hair. “And shit –shoot-- there goes another demerit in the swearing contest.” Perfect. Qadesh was going to beat her for sure at this rate. Hardly ever talking already gave him a natural advantage. “Well, I hope you’re happy.”
Kingu didn’t look happy. He looked baffled. Like he’d expected the conversation to go in a very different direction. His expressionless mask slipped a bit and he lowered the goblet. “Swearing contest?”
“Yes! It’s really hard and now I’ve lost another round. You’re not supposed to swear for a day and then you win. Maybe I could have gotten an exemption for almost getting beheaded, but this time is definitely going to count.” She frowned. “Anyway, don’t change the subject. This is about you being okay with that slimy son-of-a-bitch…”
He cut her off, looking almost fascinated. “Who are you in competition with?”
“Don’t change the subject, I said!” Hope glowered waaay up at his face, not wanting to be distracted by talk of the Fire House. Or taken in by Kingu’s beautiful red eyes. It was pretty much a lost cause on both fronts. “Okay, fine. My family and I are all playing the game, but none of us can win. It’s been weeks. Now focus on how your buddies…”
“Color Phases find it that difficult to abstain from constant streams of profanity?”
“Yes, we do. So shut the hell up and start explain your behavior.” Hope crossed her arms over her chest. “Why are you doing business with them?”
Kingu’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t answer to you, woman. Your opinions on my actions have no bearing on our relationship.”
God, why could warriors never admit when they were wrong? “Don’t be an idiot. Of course, it has a bearing on our relationship if you’ve gotten mixed up with the Banished Phases!”
“You think to leave me?” He arched a brow and drank from his goblet like they were discussing the weather. No. More unconcerned than that. The weather from last Tuesday, maybe. “You think I’d let you?”
It wasn’t really a matter of “letting her” do anything. Sooner or later the Fire Phases would track her down. Hope figured she’d be in the Cloudland for forty-eight hours tops. Not a lot of time to redesign her entire future around a grouchy monster with a flair for decorating and a bad group of friends.
Hope was getting dizzy managing all the conflicting thoughts whirling in her head.
On the one hand she knew that, physiologically, she couldn’t have a Match. But, on the other hand she also knew that Kingu was the monster that Oberon had told her to save. Fire Phases could always quickly identify destined partners and, no matter what Kingu believed, their meeting today was destiny. She looked at this man and just knew him straight down to her soul.
On the one hand, she couldn’t wait to get out of Cloudland and never look back. But on the other hand, Kingu didn’t seem ready to pack up and move to the Fire House with her, yet. No Fire Phase would leave their other half and Kingu seemed stubbornly fixated on staying in this horribly pastel kingdom.
On the one hand, Hope had never been happier then when she looked up into Kingu’s beautifully monstrous face. But, on the other hand, the man was apparently intent on driving her up a wall.
It was a confusing day, all around.
“I’m not talking about leaving you.” Hope said honestly. “I’m talking about helping you.” Planning her own escape was a last resort.
Alder and Missy would be sooo disappointed if Hope didn’t a give them a fair chance to rescue her before she freed herself. They lived to plan out rescue strategies like this. Her family would be worried when she didn’t come home, but they’d also have a wonderful time finding her. They were Fire Phases, after all. Hopefully, if she stayed here a little longer, Kingu would be ready to willingly leave the Cloudland with her, rather than having to tie him up and carry him.
He really was very big.
Hope tried to stay positive. Hopefully, she wouldn’t need to kidnap Kingu. She would if it came to that, but maybe he just needed a little more time and he’d learn to trust her. Making him realize that he wanted to work against the Banished Phases was a perfect opportunity for team building.
“You’ll… help… me.?” He repeated like words were foreign to him.
“Yes, I’ll help you see how wrong it is to support these criminals. Then, I’ll help you get back that necklace do-hickey you just gave him.”
Kingu seemed perplexed. “Why would I care about that?”
“For crying out loud!” She started to take a sip of her drink, but somehow one of the gemstones in the goblet’s side fell off and landed in the water. Hope stopped mid-lecture. “Oh dear.”
Kingu looked shocked. “How did that happen? The goblet was only created two seconds ago. My powers don’t make faulty…”
“It’s me, not you.” She set the drink down. “I have bad luck. Ignore it.” They had bigger fish to fry. “Look, you should care about saving the Elemental realm from whatever it is these Banished Phases are plotting.”
How could Kingu not understand? The two of them being here was destiny, again. She and Kingu were supposed to do something to stop this disaster. Fire Phases were warriors. Hope wouldn’t just let this happen and do nothing to stop it.
“They’re plotting nothing of importance. Believe me, the Banished Phases aren’t strategizing an attack on Job. They’re too busy preparing for the Council’s attack on them. Obviously, they’re too stupid to realize the Council couldn’t care less that they’re still alive. Well, Zakkery may be slightly smarter than the rest, but…”
Hope cut him off. “But, what if they try to assassinate Job or something?”
“Good. I don’t like Job. Or his Match.” Kingu scowled at the mere mention of Tessie, probably because of his human prejudice.
“My family doesn’t like Job all the time, either, but we’ll still never allow him to be usurped.”
The Fire Phases cared nothing for Elemental politics, but they would absolutely fight to the next end of the world before they let someone take over the Council by force.
Rule number thirty-two of being a Fire Phase: Never support a revolt that you don’t start.
“They have no plans to usurp anyone. They couldn’t even spell the word.”
She ignored that. “We are going to have stop this and it’ll be easier now than later.” Pacing back and forth in front of Kingu, Hope chewed her fingernail in agitation. “The question is how do we do it?” Fire Phases weren’t trained for this kind of situation. The curriculum was heavy on ways to start violence, not prevent it.
Kingu stopped in the process of examining his own goblet for flaws. “Who is ‘we’?” He demanded warily.
“You and I!”
A long pause, like he couldn’t believe what she’d just said. “You see us as a ‘we’?”
“What else would I see us as? A them?”
He blinked. “And you truly think we should involve ourselves in this pointless squabble?”
“Yes! Zakkery and Galen and the rest of them are the bad guys.”
An even longer pause. “So what am I?” The question was delivered in a whisper
.
“You’re a good guy, of course. A confused good guy, apparently, but we’ll work on that later.” She waved a dismissive hand, focused on strategizing. “Let’s start with you telling me everything you know about their schemes.”
Kingu no longer seemed reluctantly fascinated. He looked flat-out transfixed. “What facet of my character could possibly make you think I’ll suddenly act like a hero?” He demanded. His flame colored eyes were intense. “I’m the monster of this tale, Hope. Not the knight.”
She tilted her head. “Can’t you be both? Isn’t that who a warrior is, at his core? Fierce and heroic, at the same time?”
The longest pause, yet. So long that Hope wondered if he planned to answer, at all. He just stared at her with something like longing.
Poor Kingu. He was so lost, he couldn’t even find himself.
Hope reached out to touch his arm again and he jerked away.
“No!” Kingu gave his head a clearing shake. “The Phases are not my problem.” He slammed his drink down on a decorative table shaped like a tombstone. The impact cracked the black marble top, sending a hunk of it crashing to the floor. “You will not make their petty bickering my problem, with your words and eyes. I will not be controlled by you or any other.”
“I’m not trying to control you. I’m trying to save you.”
“I don’t need to be fucking saved!”
His bellowing didn’t bother her. Honestly, she liked it a lot more than his cold mask. “I think you do.” Hope arched a brow. “And the Elementals need both of us to save them.”
“I don’t. Want. To save. The Elementals.” He spaced out the words like she might have a brain ailment. “How much clearer can I make that?”
“I want to save them.”
“And you think I care about this asinine desire?” He snorted. “I am the captor here. What I want is all that counts.”
She nearly rolled her eyes. Oh, please. No Fire Phase would stay captive unless they willingly allowed it. Did he really not get that?
“So you don’t care about my feelings, at all?” Which is no doubt why he’d all but offered her the moon when she’d been upset about the bracelet. Because he was soooo hardhearted.
Treasure of the Fire Kingdom (The Elemental Phases Book 4) Page 14
