Djinn cut her off. “Best thing to do is to show him how much he’s wanted. Show him that he will never ever be free of you, so he might as well just submit. That’s how I got Pele.”
She nodded. “It’s true. There are only so many times you can try to kill a guy before it’s easier just to Phaze with him.”
“The Phazing energy could be wrong.” Teja insisted. “Let’s not rush into this. You could put him someplace safe --like Yemen-- while you try and figure out what to…” She trailed off, her head tilting as she regarded Hope more closely. “Jesus, Hope.” She whispered, wide eyed. “Do you understand what’s happened to you?”
“Oh she’s fine. New Matches are just a pain in the ass.” Djinn set Hope away from him and nodded like he was suddenly a marriage counselor. “There’s only one way to deal with this kind of stubbornness: Rule seventy-seven. It’s tough, but it’s fair. Are you ready for that?”
Hope drew in a sharp breath. “Don’t you think that’s a little extreme?”
“Do you want your Match to escape with another woman and leave you alone forever?”
“NO!” She cried. “No. He wouldn’t do that, though. Kingu loves me, too. He’s just having difficulty adjusting to it.” She hesitated, weighing her options. “Are you sure it’s the only way.”
“Absolutely! You’re looking at someone who’s been happily Phazed for four hundred years. I think I know a little something about winning a Match.”
Hope gave a slow nod. “Alright.” She agreed reluctantly. “If it’s the only way.”
Rule seventy-seven of being a Fire Phase: When in doubt, use chains.
It certainly seemed like a good idea… right up until the memories hit her.
*****
What had he done?
Kingu’s legs gave out and he collapsed heavily onto the stairs. He’d tied Hope to the bed. He’d made her cry. He’d gone into her room when he’d sworn that he wouldn’t and he’d put his hands on her when she wasn’t his. When she wasn’t even a quarter of his size and less than a fraction of his age. When she was harmless and special and important, and he was…
Kingu dropped his head into his hands.
What the hell had he done?
Insane as it was, he knew that Hope had been willing when they started having sex. He would’ve stopped if she’d asked him. He would do anything if she asked. At the beginning, everything had been fine. Sort of. Rationally, he knew that she’d been maneuvering him, in that oddly endearing Hope way, and ensuring that she won whatever game she’d been playing. But, --Christ!-- it wasn’t like she ever had to maneuver real hard to get him right where she wanted him. Hope was cheerful and devious and tiny and he’d fucking chained her.
Just like his mother had chained him.
Kingu cringed.
His palms pressed into his eye sockets and he realized he was close to tears. He had no idea what his powers had done to Hope. He could only imagine that whatever it was --combined with the realization that she’d just given her virginity to a hideous monster-- had broken her happy, teasing spirit.
How could he ever make this right?
He couldn’t.
He’d kidnapped the girl, and tied her up, and now she was weeping from the horror of touching him. She would never forgive him and why the hell should she?
He had to let her go.
Kingu let out a shaky breath as the truth of what he needed to do really hit him. He had to let her go and then he’d be… nothing. Without Hope, there was literally nothing left for him. Nothing left of him. He couldn’t go on without her. There was no point.
“You have something that belongs to me.”
The flat words had Kingu lifting his head. A Phase stood in his foyer. He had no idea how the man had gotten in, but it didn’t matter. Kingu knew the bastard and knew what he’d come for.
“Did she summon you?” He asked quietly.
He wasn’t sure how Hope could’ve done such a thing, but he also didn’t underestimate her. She would want to leave and, from what Kingu had seen, Qadesh would probably be her first call for help. The man who taught her to wield a knife and attended her tea parties.
“She didn’t have to summon me.” The assassin from Hope’s memories looked exactly the same as he had in the dream. A bandana was cinched around his head, his clothing all Transylvania black and chrome. He stood partially hidden in the shadows, the opaque blue of his eyes glowing like death. “I’ll always find her.”
“Are you her soul mate?” It hurt Kingu to even say the words.
“I’m her brother,” he snarled, “in every fucking way that matters. Did you think no one would come for her, because she has no Match?”
“No.” Kingu said honestly. “I knew you’d come.” From the minute he’d woken from that dream, he’d expected Qadesh to show up wanting Hope back. He’d just worried that it might be because the man was in love with her. In the midst of everything, he felt a knot of tension ease at the knowledge that Qadesh still saw Hope as a baby sister. “She’s the treasure of your House.”
“She is. And what would you do if someone stole your treasure?”
“I wouldn’t rest until I’d reclaimed her and killed the man who took her from me.”
“Then you understand what I’m about to do to you.”
“I do.” Kingu didn’t even blame him for it. And he sure as hell wasn’t going to raise a hand against Hope’s family, so this wouldn’t take long. “It takes a lot to kill someone immortal.” He warned.
“Luckily, I’m pretty fucking creative.”
Kingu almost smiled at that. It reminded him of something Hope might boast. He got to his feet and snapped his fingers so he was dressed. “Just tell her again that I’m sorry.” He’d tell her himself, but she wouldn’t want to see him again.
“You have powers like that and you’re just going to let me kill you?” Qadesh challenged when he saw Kingu wasn’t going to fight.
“Are you going to take Hope away?”
“Yes.”
“Then, yeah. I think you should just kill me.” Without Hope, he saw no reason to keep breathing, so having Qadesh kill him was quite simply the easiest option. Almost a relief. He wouldn’t have to go back to being alone and hopeless and longing for her. She was the only thing in the entire universe that he had ever loved, so it was…
Please, Kingu, I love you so much. Just let everything go and I’ll be yours forever.
Kingu froze, Hope’s earlier words coming back to him and finally penetrating his despair. Wait. Had she really said that or had he imagined it?
Qadesh stepped closer to him. “You’re not going to defend yourself?” His head tilted at an odd angle. “Why?”
“Hope loves you.” Kingu said, his mind whirling. “I would never harm anyone she loves.”
He didn’t even need Zakkery’s warning that it would be a surefire way to alienate Hope. Kingu had a more important reason. He just flat out wouldn’t do anything that would hurt her, even if it meant letting her relatives mount his head on a pike.
“Holy Gaia.” Qadesh’s strange eyes widened. “You’re her Match.”
“What?” Kingu’s brows drew together.
“You’re her Match.” Qadesh looked him up and down. “Her energy is connected to you. I can sense it. She Phazed with you.”
“What?” Kingu said again, because there wasn’t anything else to say.
The front door of the fortress opened.
Not blew open, or burst open, or flew open… It just opened. Like the supernatural locks weren’t even there. Only one being in the universe could walk right past his security.
Tessie.
His aunt had finally tracked him down.
She sauntered into the room, dressed in an orange tank top with a sparkly jack-o’-lantern face on the front. “Kingu, are you alright?” She demanded.
Behind her, Job, of the Earth House stood there looking like a stockbroker. His lawn green eyes were trained over his shoulder, ga
ping out at the bustling Cloud Kingdom. “My God… The Banished Phases are really here. Chason was right. Why didn’t we know this sooner? It’s a miracle for our species to have so many more Elementals alive.”
Typical that the King of the Earth House would see the Banished Phases’ resurrection from the most optimistic perspective available to him. Kingu could’ve told all the idiots in the Cloud Kingdom that they had nothing to worry about from Job. The man was like The Brady Bunch dad when it came to forgiving and forgetting.
Kingu stepped off the stairs and, for no good reason at all, moved between Qadesh and Tessie. He didn’t believe his aunt would harm an innocent bystander, but the boy was Hope’s innocent bystander and that meant Kingu would protect him.
Qadesh shot him a sideways look and stepped forward to stand beside him.
“You won’t think it’s such a miracle when you get to know the Banished Phases.” Kingu assured Job, but his eyes stayed on Tessie. He remembered his promise to Hope that he’d listen to the Quintessence if they ever came face-to-face and he did his best to keep his word. “Come visiting the poor relations, auntie?”
“Don’t be a wiseass. Where’s Kay’s necklace?”
So far so good. No blood spilled. “I have no idea. I traded it.”
“Traded it!?” Her voice went high. “Why would you do something so epically dumb? Didn’t you feel that pulse of power yesterday? Somebody did something with that fucking hunk of silver and we have no idea what it might be!”
“I know.”
“Well who has it?”
There didn’t seem much point in lying. Perversely, he almost liked telling her the truth, because there wasn’t a damn thing she could do about it. “I gave it to Zakkery, of the Smoke House who apparently sold it to someone else. I don’t know who and I’m pretty sure Zakkery’s left the Cloudland, by now.”
“Zakkery’s alive, too?” Job gave an almost inaudible sigh. “If he’s involved then the necklace could be anywhere, Tess.”
Tessie watched Kingu in extreme frustration and then asked a truly bizarre question. “What did you trade it for? Was it important, at least?”
Kingu hadn’t been expecting that. He’d been anticipating violence and maybe to be locked in another shithole kingdom for centuries. “Of course, she’s important.” He snapped.
“She?” Job and Tessie chorused.
“Hope.” Qadesh said when Kingu remained silent. “He must have traded it for Hope. She’s his Match.”
Job’s eyes widened. “Holy shit.” He blurted out.
Tessie spared her Match an amused look at the uncharacteristic swearing and then refocused on Kingu. She still didn’t look ready to attack him. Instead, she suddenly seemed… hopeful. “Wait, you traded the necklace for your Match?”
“I traded it for Hope.” He wasn’t her Match. It was impossible. Except… didn’t Phase-Matches have memory sharings? Hadn’t he heard that once? And didn’t they have some kind of energy exchange when they mated for the first time?
Could you have a Match without a soul?
No one can love without a soul, Kingu, so how is it that you’re able to love me so much that I can feel it every time you look at me.
His heart was beating so fast, he was surprised the rest of them couldn’t hear it.
“Was she in danger?” Tessie persisted as Kingu tried to think.
“What?” He gave his head a vague shake. “She was in a gladiator ring. But, she’d already defeated five men.”
“Holy shit.” Job repeated.
Qadesh’s impassive face broke into a proud grin.
Kingu lifted his shoulder in a shrug. “Even though she was the victor, I still would never have left her with the Banished Phases, locked in their prison and at their mercy. Of course, I traded that necklace. I told Zakkery he could have whatever he wanted if he brought me my woman and he brought me Hope. It was an easy deal to strike.”
Tessie stared at him. “Alright.” She said quietly and nodded. “I would have done the same thing. I almost did, in fact. When Kay attacked Job, I would’ve traded anything to save him.”
She had that backwards. Hope had saved him.
Kingu met Tessie’s eyes and had a feeling his aunt already knew that, though. Tessie took a step closer to him and Kingu automatically backed up, thinking she was about to attack.
She stopped and sighed. “Kingu, I’m sorry for what happed between us. Kay ruined so many things. You know she did. You and I --if we could just start over-- we could put her behind us. I don’t want to fight with you. I want us to be a family, the way Job and Cross are a family. We both have Matches and better lives, now. We could both just be… happy.”
She’d apologized. He’d promised Hope that he’d try to forgive Tessie if she apologized. Hell, he wanted to forgive. He wanted that whole period of his life over and he wanted…
To be happy. Just like Tessie said.
He just wanted to be happy with Hope.
Kingu slowly shook his head, still not convinced, even as new, impossible thoughts ping-ponged through his brain. “Do I have a soul?” He whispered. Tessie was the only one who might know the truth. “Kay said I didn’t.”
Tessie scowled. “Why would you listen to your sociopathic mother about anything? Especially souls? What the hell would she know about them?”
Kingu swallowed hard, unable to argue that point.
“You have a soul.” Tessie said firmly. “Just the fact that you want one is proof of that. You think soulless things give a shit that they’re soulless?”
Job kept his eyes Kingu’s face. The Earth Phase must have seen something there, because he cleared his throat. “How does anyone know if they have a soul?” He asked. “There isn’t an X-ray for it. You just… know.” He regarded Kingu seriously. “Although I supposed we could conduct a pretty standard and foolproof test, if you’d like.”
“A test?” Kingu braced himself. “Yes. Do it. Now.”
“Certainly.” Job cleared his throat. “Just standing here, who can feel the connection between Hope and Kingu’s energy?”
Tessie, Qadesh and Job’s hands shot up.
“Excellent.” Job nodded like a LSAT proctor and refocused on Kingu. “Good news. I believe you past. You Phazed with Hope and you can’t Phaze without a soul. Period.”
Kingu still didn’t believe it. He didn’t dare. “Are you sure I’m her Match?”
Job regarded him with the oldest, most compassionate eyes Kingu had ever seen. The Earth Phase was technically younger than Kingu, but he understood so much more of the world. “Did you have a deep connection to Hope from the first? Do you love her beyond everything? Did you feel the Phazing happen?”
“Yes.” Kingu’s answer to all of that was unequivocal.
“Then you already know you’re her Match, don’t you? It’s interesting. I believe Hope to be a worthy sort of girl.”
Kingu’s eyes narrowed. “Of course she’s fucking worthy.”
“Cursing.” Qadesh intoned.
Kingu shot him an annoyed look, realizing the other man had started including him in that stupid swearing contest… And that he’d lost this round.
Job kept talking. “So, if Gaia has Matched Hope with you, I assume that means She’s found you worthy, as well. Not many men know that kind of blessing.” He inclined his head. “Congratulations, nephew.”
Star Phases usually find Matches within their own House, so any outsider to Phaze with one must first be blessed by the gods. In the tales, these Matches must usually endure some great trial to prove their soul is worthy of the gift being given to them.
Kingu blinked rapidly.
Tessie beamed over at her Match. “I knew you could talk to him, Joby.”
Kingu barely heard her.
The Phazing… The endless love he felt for Hope… The sudden realization that Tessie was right when she said Kay had lied to him about everything, so why would he believe her about this…?
And then Kingu just… knew.
He hadn’t been forsaken. He’d endured and suffered, but it had been worth it. Because, in the end, he’d been granted a new beginning. He’d been given something beyond price, because Gaia saw that he’d understand the value of the gift. She’d never entrust a treasure to somebody beyond the natural order --to a soulless god or monster-- only to someone truly… blessed.
Kingu suddenly knew that he must have a soul.
He had Hope.
Chapter Twenty-Three
By the blessing of the gods her soul shall be blown through and
through with the free air of heaven whilst yet the elements
in her are blending to their final shape.
George Gissing- “Thyrza”
On Hope’s charm bracelet there was a small silver Model T. It was a souvenir from a particularly fun bank robbery Hope had planned as a surprise for Oberon back in the 1930s. Her grandfather had been Dillinger’s biggest fan. She remembered everything about that day.
Hope had been hanging on for dear life, while Alder floored the car through downtown Chicago. Missy laughed happily as she dumped the human money they’d just stolen out the window, creating a confetti parade in the Depression era streets. Even Teja had looked amused, her cloche hat framing her smiling face as the human police tried to chance them down.
Oberon had loved it most of all. Her grandfather had been decked out in pinstripes and spats, standing on the running board, with a Tommy gun on his hip and a huge grin on his face. He leaned into the passenger’s side window and gave Hope a smacking kiss on the temple.
“Best birthday ever, my star.”
Every charm on Hope’s bracelet was a memory like that and she had a hundred thousand other joyful moments, as well. But, now new images suddenly filled her head.
Images from Kingu’s past.
Hope staggered backwards as she started seeing memories that weren’t her own. Scene after scene of blood and pain and horror. And not in a good way. The Fire House loved a good war as much as anyone, but this was just brutality.
Hope’s eyes widened as she realized what was happening.
Treasure of the Fire Kingdom (The Elemental Phases Book 4) Page 32
