Zakkery sighed. “Honestly, I’d do the same damn thing that you want to, even if it meant saving that asshole Chason. But, this isn’t your choice. Today we’re changing the future, whether you like it or not.” He met Raiden’s gaze. “Trust me your Match will be okay.”
“I have never trusted anyone in my fucking life and I’m not going to start with you.” Raiden had spent centuries maintaining control and now his temper snapped. Pissing off a Radiation Phase was never a good idea. If Raiden hadn’t been locked behind plastic, Zakkery would’ve been nuked into ash. “Open this goddamn door!” He slammed his fists against the Plexiglas wall so hard the entire cell shook.
Zakkery took a step back. “Yeah… Why don’t I go and get us some lunch. Give you a chance to think things over and not want to kill me. You like Chinese? Sure ya do. Everyone likes Chinese. Just meditate about eggrolls and be zen. Wait. That might be Japan.”
“You son-of-a-bitch! If I’m not dying today, I swear to Christ, I’ll make sure you and everyone else involved in this dies tomorrow.”
“Nobody’s gonna die. Vandal shot Chason, but he’ll live. Everything’s gonna be fine. Just stay calm and I’ll be back in later.” Zakkery jumped out of the room without waiting for a response.
“What!” Raiden roared even though there was no way Zakkery could hear him. “Are you out of your mind?! Vandal’s not the one who kills Chason!”
Chapter Thirteen
As a species we have in our possession the as yet unwrought elements of content— and that,
even now, in the present darkness and madness… it is not impossible that man, the individual,
under certain unusual and highly fortuitous conditions, may be happy.
Edgar Allen Poe- “The Domain of Arnheim”
He might be dying, but Chason had never been happier.
He was inside Mara’s memories.
Each couple was only supposed to get a single memory sharing, but a lot of things about their Match were out of the ordinary, so having another one didn’t really surprise him.
After today, nothing would ever surprise Chason, again.
He moved to stand next to Mara in the memory, even though she couldn’t see or hear him. He just wanted to be near her. To look at her. In fact, Chason’s schedule was suddenly filled up for the rest of forever. If he somehow survived getting shot and regained consciousness, all he planned to do with his new life was stare at his living, breathing Match.
Mara was back.
However it had happened, whatever the consequences or assassins’ plots, Mara had been returned to him. Nothing else mattered, at all.
Chason was barely paying attention as the memory played out around him. He didn’t care about it. All he wanted was to break free of the past and get back to his Match. His tangible Match, who was alive and well in the present.
This memory version of her was beautiful and he was dazzled to see her again, but he wanted the real version. The Mara who snapped at him and demanded muffins for breakfast… and who he’d already been falling in love with before he even knew she was his Match.
He had to survive Vandal’s attack and get back to Mara, just like she had come back to him.
The past Mara was sitting at the desk in her room, frowning intently at what looked like a seating chart. Nia, of the Water House sat on Mara’s bed, painting her toenails a vibrant teal. Chason barely even registered her. All he saw was his Match.
“Mara.” He whispered. “My God. I can’t believe…”
Nia cut him off. “Maaaraaaa.” She drew out the word on an impatient sigh. “We’re supposed to be doing pedicures. Do you plan on working on that stupid party all night?”
“It’s Chason’s party. He asked me to plan it for the Council. It has to be perfect.”
Nia made a face. Like most Water Phases, she had red hair and turquoise eyes. She also had an outspoken bossiness that was all her own. “Oh, please. Nobody even likes the boring Council parties. Put some cheese on crackers and call it a day.” She held up a bottle of nail polish. “You wanna go clear again or try something daring, for once. I have purple here someplace.”
Mara spared her a quick look. “This party can’t be boring. It just can’t. It has to be perfect. Chason is counting on me to do something worthy of a real Magnet House princess.”
Chason frowned at her insistent tone. Why in the hell would Mara be worried about some stupid party? He’d asked her to plan a few, but he’d never thoughts she’d stress about them, for God’s sake. Nia was right. They were boring as hell. In fact, the only Council parties anyone ever enjoyed were the ones planned by Mara.
And what did she mean by a “real” Magnet House princess?
“A ‘real’ Magnet House princess?” Nia chimed in, as if she overheard his thoughts. “You are a real princess, Mara. I have no idea how you could be the only one who still doesn’t get that.”
“That’s easy for you to say, Nia. You were born into royalty. I have to work harder to get it right.” Mara kept her attention on her seating chart. “The last thing I want is to embarrass Chason.”
Was she kidding? Chason squinted at her in amazement. “Mara, you could never embarrass me.” He told her even though she couldn’t hear him.
Surely she knew that. Mara could do anything she wanted and Chason would be fine with it. Not only because she had impeccable judgment and more taste than everyone else in the realm combined, but also because he was blindly, insanely in love with her. He would’ve killed the first bastard stupid enough to question so much as the placement of a fork at her party.
Not that anyone had.
Everything Mara did was creative and beautiful. Even if she had somehow made some grievous party planning mistake, no one would’ve notice. They would’ve all assumed it was a stylish new trend. If Mara started wearing a trash bag as a dress, stores in every kingdom would be selling them within the day.
How did she not realize that?
And when was he going to wake up, so he could actually be with her? He didn’t have time for this. He wanted Mara. It had been two years. Longer than that in so many ways. He wanted his Match. He’d apologize for ever making her plan those stupid parties and for everything else, if only he could talk to her.
Chason refused to die. It wouldn’t happen.
Not when he was so close to having the only thing he’d ever wanted.
The scene shifted to a new memory. This time Chason saw a younger version of himself. He and Mara were in the dining hall of the Magnet Fortress, eating breakfast. They always ate breakfast together. Chason looked around, surprised at how different their home looked before the Fall. He knew it had changed, obviously, but seeing it so clean and bright…
“Chason, what are your plans for today?”
Mara’s voice drew his attention, because he could hear something in it that he hadn’t in a very long time: excitement. She was uncharacteristically excited about something and sharing it with him. Chason found himself smiling with pleasure as she continued happily chatting. This is what wanted from her. To be allowed passed the reserved formality of their Match and be… more.
Better.
“Because, if you’re not too busy, Singin’ in the Rain is playing. I’ve just been waiting and waiting for that. Gene Kelley is…” She trailed off. “Chason? Are you listening?”
“What?” Chason watched his past self look up from a stack of papers --Papers regarding some battlement plan that Chason didn’t even remember now-- and smile politely at Mara over the breakfast table. “I’m sorry, what did you say?” He looked back at the pages before she even started talking, again.
Chason got a terribly cold feeling in his gut. “You fucking moron.” He didn’t want to see this. He glanced back over at Mara and saw that she wasn’t giving up. She sat there, looking so damn beautiful she rivaled the sun, and kept trying to talk to him.
Why she didn’t just get up and leave was anyone’s guess.
“I said Singin’ in t
he Rain is opening today. The movie.” She prompted when past-Chason still didn’t respond. “It’s going to be wonderful. The music…”
“A human film?” Past-Chason asked as if there were another kind.
“Yes.” She nodded. “It’s a musical. I love musicals.”
“I know you do.” He flipped back through the papers. “Well, I’ll get you the record, if you like. For your collection. Don’t worry.”
“Thank you, but this is a romance, you see. The movie itself looks very interesting.” She tucked a strand a black hair behind her ear and looked so hopefully that Chason had to avert his eyes. He knew what was about to happen. “Do you think we could go?”
“Go where?” Past-Chason ran a hand over his chin, his attention still on his paperwork. “These figures just do not add up.”
“Go to the picture.” Mara chewed on her lower lip. “It wouldn’t take long and it’s all in Technicolor. I think it will be just…”
“Go to the human realm? Without Council sanction?” Past-Chason glanced at her and frowned. “That’s against the law.”
“So what?” Real-Chason shot back.
Bastard. He should have kidnapped the cast of Singin’ in the Rain and brought them to the Magnet Kingdom to reenact the entire movie, if that’s what it took to make Mara happy. He saw that so clearly, now. To keep her smiling at him, he should have done anything.
“Well, I know, but it’s so hard to get films to play here in the fortress. The Magnet energy erases them.” She chewed her lower lip. “And this movie is set in the rain, Chason. We met in the rain.”
Real-Chason’s heart turned over with desperate, pitiful love.
Past-Chason smiled, also touched that she’d remember that. “You’re right. We did.” He paused to think of a law-abiding solution. “Perhaps I can get permission from the Council for us to go to the movie.”
“How long will that take?”
“Oh, a month or so.” He said vaguely
“But, the movie won’t be in theaters…”
“Besides, I’m working on the battlement plans right now, anyway. I can’t just leave them half done and go today, can I?”
“You fucking moron!” Real-Chason could have killed the man. His gaze slashed back over to Mara, seeing the disappointment she tried to cover.
“Well, if you’re busy, certainly.” She acquiesced. The woman he’d left back in reality would’ve been pushier. Would’ve insisted. This Mara pulled back and Chason hated it. “Maybe another time.”
“Of course.” He sent her an absent smile and went back to work.
They’d never gone to see Singin’ in the Rain. They’d never gone to see any movie.
Chason covered his eyes, feeling totally defeated, as memory after memory played out before him. Breakfast after breakfast of Mara subtly asking him to stop working, and do something fun with her. Breakfast after breakfast of his pointless excuses.
Until finally… she stopped asking.
As if she decided he just wasn’t worth the fight.
Chason swallowed a knot in his throat. Mara sat at her end of the table now, a human newspaper spread out before her. She stared down at a full page ad for My Fair Lady, an odd expression on her face.
“What are your plans for today?” Past-Chason asked her. He didn’t have any work piled next to his plate, for once.
Real-Chason watched the other man –who sadly wasn’t another man, at all-- trace his eyes over Mara’s averted face. He remembered this day. Or maybe it was one of a hundred just like it. Wishing that Mara would talk to him. Grin at him like she did at other people.
“Hmmm?” She glanced up from the paper and smiled, but it was the polite one she always gave to him. “I’m sorry, what did you say?”
Real-Chason realized he was close to tears. He looked up at the ceiling and blew out a long breath.
“I asked what you were planning to do today.” Past-Chason prompted. “My father’s in the Agora. We could…”
“I’m going to the Light Kingdom.” Mara said swiftly. Too swiftly. Real-Chason’s head snapped around to look at her, catching the way she quickly ducked her eyes. “It’s Kahn’s… birthday.”
Real-Chason blinked in amazement. She was lying. He saw that now, though his past self seemed oblivious. Mara had lied to him?
“Oh.” Past-Chason cleared his throat. “I thought that was last month.”
“Well… yes, it was. We’re just… celebrating it again.” She nodded like that made perfect sense and grabbed up the newspaper, folding it under her arm. “Have a good day.” She headed for the door.
“Follow her!” Real-Chason bellowed as his past self just sighed and looked back at his breakfast. “Are you an idiot? Shit.” He took off after Mara, desperate to see where she was going. Horrible soul-destroying visions of her running off to meet another man burrowed into his head like worms. He would track down the son-of-a-bitch and…
The scene shifted.
It was still the same day, he could tell by the purple sweater she wore. Chason looked around and realized that they weren’t in the Magnet Kingdom. Or the Light House.
They were in the human realm.
“Oh my God.” His eyes went wide as a 1960s style Buick traveled passed him on the street. This was Mayport Beach, Florida. He recognized it. Before the barriers fell, it was the easiest place for an Elemental to cross into the human realm.
Mara had jumped there all by herself.
His Match was walking around the human realm, alone and unprotected. He almost hyperventilated. “Oh my God, Mara.” He whirled around to face her. “Are you out of your mind?”
She couldn’t hear him, of course. Gaia only knew how long she’d practiced to be able to jump to the human realm. No matter how powerful she was, she was younger than Chason and she’d easily accomplished something that even he’d had difficulty in achieving, at first.
He’d had no idea that she was that strong. He’d never felt that kind of power when their energies combined. How could she hide so much power from him?
Matches should automatically share all their energy once they Phazed. She’d given him some. Enough that he’d never considered that there might be so much more inside of her. But, to achieve a jump like this at her age, she’d have to be one of the most powerful Phases alive.
Powerful enough to hold back, during their Phazing.
Chason realized he couldn’t breathe properly.
Mara had held back from him.
That was the gap.
Chewing on her lower lip, Mara glanced up and down the street, then back to the newspaper in her hand.
“Looking for something, Miss?” A man came up next to her, tipping his hat. “Seem a bit lost there.” He was an older man for a human, nothing but helpfulness in his gaze.
Chason still snarled at him.
“Um… yes. Thank you.” Mara looked briefly thrown. She’d probably never spoken to a human before. “I would like to see this picture.” She unfolded the newspaper and held up the ad for My Fair Lady. “All the human…” She coughed to cover the slip. “All of our magazines say it’s just wonderful. I would like to see it for myself.”
Chason’s jaw clenched at the wistfulness in her tone. It took such small things to make her happy and he couldn’t even give her that.
“Sure, darlin’. Head right up Main and you’ll find the theater.” The stranger smiled. “Awful pretty to be goin’ to the film by yourself. Where’s your fella?”
If the human wasn’t probably long dead, Chason would have happily beheaded him.
Mara seemed disconcerted, now. She edged away from the human, apparently not sure what to make of his question. In the Elemental realm, everyone knew she was the Magnet Queen. It was common knowledge who she belonged to and Chason liked it that way.
“Well, I have a… husband.” She said, carefully using the human word, which wasn’t nearly clear enough in its meaning for Chason.
“She has a Match.” Chason moved
to stand between Mara and human, like that could possibly make a difference.
“Shame. I got a son who needs a pretty girl like you.” The human shook his head. “Never mind. You from around here? I haven’t seen you before. What’s your husband do? Maybe I know him.”
“Well, he sort of… plans defenses for… Houses… and he goes to meetings and things. He has a very important job. Many people depend on him.” She nodded earnestly, as if she really believed all that.
“Real bigwig, huh? Too busy to take out his girl on a Friday night?”
Chason hated that old man.
“Oh, he wouldn’t want come to a movie with me.” He and I,” she shrugged, “well, we don’t have that sort of relationship.” With a quick smile at the human, she headed off down the street to find her movie theater, black hair bouncing.
We don’t have that sort of relationship.
She’d given up on him. Chason saw it clearly as she walked away from him. She didn’t trust him to be a real Match. He’d screwed up so badly that she just stopped fighting and gone her own way. He’d realized his mistakes too late.
She was leaving him alone in the darkness.
Chason pressed a hand to his temple, trying to stop the sick pounding, as more scenes came and went, years passing over that breakfast table. Always one of them asking about the other’s plans for day and always the same generic responses.
He now understood those torn ticket stubs he’d found around the house after she “died.” He’d never been able to make sense of them in his fractured mind, but now it all seemed so obvious. God only knew how many films she’d seen over the decades.
Sometime in the 1980s, Mara was nearly hit by a truck dashing through the rain to see Flashdance. Chason’s heart stopped as he watched her tumble out of the way, tumbling to the pavement and breathing hard.
If she’d been killed, he never would have even found her body. He’d had no idea where she was all those times she went to the human realm. No one would have thought to look for her there. She would have just disappeared without a trace.
Queen of the Magnetland (The Elemental Phases Book 5) Page 22
