Sullivan’s jaw dropped. “A plague? Ty mention something about a sickness once, but… Jesus, are you okay?”
“I was immune. Everyone who’s left was immune. But, most weren’t.”
Sullivan studied her for a long moment. “What caused the Fall? Rats?”
“Rats?”
“Yeah, in the Middle Ages the plague was because fleas bit rats and then bit people.”
Lord, humans were nutty. “No, Parald, of the Air House released the Fall from the Heath Tablet. One of the Tablets of Fate. They can cause a lot of damage. That’s one of the reasons we’re looking for Parson’s box.”
Sullivan laid a hand against his chest, American ‘I pledge allegiance’ style. “I don’t have the Happiness Box. I swear it on my life. If I had some mystical, plague riddled, mirrored Rubik’s Cube, I would gladly hand it over to you. So, if that’s why I’m still here…”
“No, it’s not why you’re still here.” Teja interrupted and decided to cut to the bottom line. “You’re still here because it’s pointless to keep ignoring each other.” God knew she’d tried, but Sullivan was like the drip-drip-drip of a faucet. She just couldn’t tune him out. “I think we should go back the original plan.”
He squinted. “The plan where you showed up at my house and said we should sleep together with no emotional attachments?”
“Right.”
“That we shouldn’t talk about anything personal or exchange Christmas gifts, but I’d unleash my latent powers thorough ‘Phazing.’”
“Right.”
He arched a brow. “Then you kissed me, freaked out, told me the whole thing was a mistake, and vanished right out of my arms.”
“…right.” She cleared her throat. “Well, things got a little bit overwhelming for a second there. But, the plan itself is still sound.”
“Right.” He deadpanned. “Look, you’re stunning, and magical, and you have a lot of weapons.” He gestured to the modest assortment of swords on her walls. “You could have any guy you wanted.”
“Good. That’ll make things easier, then. I want you, so take your clothes off.”
She didn’t want to want him, but there was no getting around the fact that Sullivan was hers. Fire Phases knew destiny when they saw it. She’d tried everything she could to get out of this mess, but Sullivan Pryce was her Match and nothing was going to change that. They might as well just accept it before he went and got himself killed. It was her responsibility as his Match to Phaze with him as soon as possible. Honor and duty demanded that she get him naked.
Thankfully, Sullivan was incredibly, unbelievably hot, so the actual “jumping” part of jumping on this grenade was sure to be awesome. Teja wasn’t loving the idea of having a Match, but she was eager to explore the ripping-his-pants-off aspect of their relationship.
“Come on. Strip and let’s get this over with.” Teja ordered when he just stared at her. The only thing to do was face this mess head on. She’d panicked a bit the last time, but now she knew what to expect and she’d be able to block the unwanted emotions trying to break free. Like most Fire Phases, once Teja made up her mind about a plan, she just wanted to move ahead with it.
Sullivan’s jaw set in a stubborn line as he watched her begin to undress. “No.”
She paused in the act of unbuttoning Oberon’s old letterman-style cardigan. Since the Fall, she wore it every day. It made her feel closer to him. Her eyebrows compressed, confused by Sullivan’s obstinate refusal to participate in their Phazing. “No?”
“No.” He shook his head. “I won’t sleep with you. I don’t know why you keep doing this, but no way in hell am I falling for it.”
Teja let out a longsuffering sigh. God, he just had to make this difficult, didn’t he? “We need to Phaze, Sullivan. It’s for the greater good.”
“Uh-huh.” He didn’t believe her.
“I mean it. We need to make sure you’re protected.”
“Protected through mutant sex?”
“Through Phazing.” Once they’d officially Phazed, he’d be hers under Elemental law and she could keep him safely locked away from danger. Sullivan would be so much easier to guard once she’d claimed him. Not even Job could steal him from her clutches. It was the best option. “It’s like human sex only better.”
“Uh-huh.” He still wasn’t buying it. “Take me home.”
“You’re being pointlessly stubborn.” Fire Phases didn’t do well with rejection. Teja resisted the urge to toss him back in the dungeon until he saw reason. No other Match in the universe would say “no” to Phazing. Why did hers have to be such a pain in the ass? “Look, I’m the only one who understands what’s really going on here, so you should just shut-up and do what I say.”
“Or what?”
She frowned. “Or what what?”
“What will you do if I don’t do what you say? Set me on fire?” He didn’t seem particularly cowed by the idea, but she could tell he thought it was a real possibility.
“No, I’m not going to set you on fire.” She snapped, insulted that he would say such a thing.
A Fire Phase wouldn’t harm their Match. It was all spelled out in rule five of the Fire House code, which was, “Protect your Match above all.” Shit, she didn’t even need the rule to tell her that Sullivan was the most important thing in her world. She could feel it and she couldn’t feel anything. Teja would take a sword through the eye before she let this idiotic human so much as stub his toe. All she’d done since she’d met Sullivan was look out for him and he still didn’t understand?
Obviously not.
Sullivan watched her suspiciously, not looking at all ready to hop into bed.
Teja let out a frustrated breath. Sullivan was only thirty-five years old and from a much simpler species. He was also a Wood Phase. That House never budged from what they thought was right. Not even with a cattle prod. Teja knew that from experience.
Obviously, this was going to take a while.
“Alright,” she sat down on the side of the mattress, “let’s start over.” She hoped she looked calm and unintimidating. “I’m Teja.” She laid a hand on her chest. “I’m your Match. Do you understand what that means?”
“I’m guessing it’s like a girlfriend.”
Was that what human called their mates? It seemed so tepid. “Okay. So, you see that there’s no reason for me to hurt you.” She shook her head. “None, Sullivan. I am the one person in this world who will do anything to keep you safe. You and I are connected.”
Wood Phase brown eyes narrowed. “Why me?”
“I don’t know. It’s just the way Gaia willed it.”
“That’s your god?”
“She was before the Fall. When I still thought She cared.”
For the first time all day, she saw his wariness fade. Sullivan believed that statement. It made her wonder when he stopped having faith in his own God.
“So you think we should sleep together because this uncaring goddess has somehow connected us?” He translated. “Jesus, you are in a Cult.”
“For the last time, it’s not a cult. And the connection is real. I know you feel it, too.”
He rolled his eyes. “Uh-huh.”
Teja deliberately let lose an erotic pulse of energy and saw him flinch. The man didn’t recognize his own powers, but they recognized her. She could feel his energy move against hers. God, he had so much of it. How did he not sense it was there? Just that slight brush sent her whole system jangling.
Sullivan frowned over at her, beautiful, and wary, and very, very young. “How do you make it feel like I’m touching you?”
Her mouth curved at the question. “Magic.”
“I’ve never believed in magic.”
“Never?” That was odd. The Wood House were some of the do-goodingest, purest, most faith-driven Phases in the realm. Sullivan should have grown up leaving milk and cookies for Santa. What had made him so suspicious of everything?
A few weeks ago, they’d agreed not to
ply each other with questions about their pasts, so Teja couldn’t ask. …But, she wanted to.
“Magic is bullshit.” He summed up succinctly. “Now, I respect the fact that you’re brainwashed by this wacky religion that tells you to sacrifice yourself to me or whatever.” He waved a dismissive hand. “But, it’s just not true. That’s why you’re so adamant about not sharing any emotional ties. You don’t even want me.”
“Of course I want you.” Had he not seen himself? Who wouldn’t want him? “We just can’t have emotional ties, because I don’t feel emotions.”
“Uh-huh.” Sullivan clearly didn’t believe that, either. Doing his damnedest to ignore her, he went back to looking at the pictures on her dresser. “Are these your parents?” He picked up a small painting of a couple embracing. The man had a periwinkle streak at his temple and the woman looked just like Teja when she laughed.
Or so people told her, back when she remembered how to smile.
“Yes.” Teja watched him. “They died a long time ago.”
Sullivan glanced at her. “I’m sorry.” He said, again.
He set the picture down like he expected her to stop talking, or invoke the “no personal questions” edict. Instead, Teja decided to tell him the truth. She would do whatever it took to keep him from being scared of her. Fire Phases were used to inspiring fear, but never in their Matches. Maybe if she explained, he’d relax and understand why things needed to be this way.
And maybe he’d start telling her something about himself.
“My parents were very committed to their work. They explored different realms and tried to map them. Explorers. It was what drew them together, despite the fact that their Houses hated each other.”
“He was a Cold Phase?” Sullivan guessed. “The ones who Djinn thinks gave me twelve-hour amnesia?”
“Oh, Djinn blames the Cold Phases for everything. Well, them and the cow.” She rolled her eyes. “Don’t listen to him.”
“Believe me, I haven’t been and never will.”
She felt her mouth curving and quickly looked away. Sullivan’s snarky comments amused her and very few things amused her there days. That was a bad sign for the “emotional distance” part of their relationship.
Teja cleared her throat, trying to refocus. “If you ever get confused, it’s easy to tell the Houses apart.” She gestured to the photo. “All Phases are born with a colored streak at their temple to designate what kind House they’re from. Usually, it’s the same as their mother’s. We’re a matrilineal society. My mother was the princess of the Fire House, so my streak should have been red, like hers.”
“So, you’re a princess.” Sullivan nodded. “Of course, you are. Sci-fi women are always princesses. Or ninjas.”
“Don’t get your hopes up. I’m not a ninja.” Teja assured him. “Anyway, my father was Cold Phase. Their mark is periwinkle blue.” She pointed to her own colored stripe. “Which is where I got this. Eight percent of Phases inherit their father’s House designation. Ordinarily, I would have been part of the Cold House, because I bear their color, but I’m different.” She shrugged as if it was just a simple mix-up and not the defining feature of her existence. “I carry both Elements. I can control Fire and Cold.”
No other Phase in Elemental history had been born with powers from two Houses. All her life, Teja had been torn between the Fire House’s passions and the Cold House’s pragmatism. She’d never really belonged anywhere. Only Oberon had ever understood her sense of isolation. It was why she’d chosen to ally herself with the Fire Phases and why the Cold House still hated her.
“Oh.” Sullivan nodded. “Alright. Makes sense. Sorta.”
Teja found his easy acceptance… wonderful. Sullivan thought all the Elementals were strange, so he saw nothing weird about her duel talents, at all. Everyone else thought she was a genetic freak of nature, or a symbol of power, or a blessing from Gaia. Sullivan just shrugged.
It was refreshing.
His nonchalance encouraged Teja to keep talking. “After my parents died, I got to choose where I wanted to live. The Cold House or here. And I chose the Fire Kingdom.”
“God, if this is where you chose to be, I can only imagine what the other place was like.”
“In any case, the Cold House and the Fire House don’t like each other.” That understatement was so massive it might just count as a lie. “Djinn was serious about that part. I mean, they really don’t like each other. It was a wonder my parents ever met, at all. But they loved each other very much, despite their families’… uh… complaints about the Match.”
By which she meant the screaming and death threats and sword fights.
Sullivan studied the streak at her temple. “Ty and Nia have light blue stripes in their hair. Are they your cousins or something?”
“No, the Water House has turquoise streaks, not periwinkle.”
“Oh.” Sullivan made a face. “Those shades are hard for me to differentiate. I’m color blind and pastels can be tricky.”
“You’re blind?” Teja frowned. She didn’t like the idea of Sullivan suffering. “Can you see me? Does it hurt?”
“Yes, of course, I can see you. And no, it doesn’t hurt. I just mix-up colors, is all.” He met her gaze full on. “I wish I didn’t see you so clearly. It would make this easier.”
Teja blinked at that.
Sullivan looked away, his gazing going back to the portrait of her parents. “Did they die in a plague, too?” He asked, trying to change the subject.
Teja let him. “No. There was an accident on one of their exploration trips. I was with them when it happened.” She didn’t like to remember this, but it was important that he understand. “I was young. I wasn’t powerful enough to stop the rock slide. Elementals are very hard to kill, but they can be crushed just like anything else. For a long time, I wished that I had died, too.” She raised her shoulder in a small shrug. “It’s hard to lose someone you love.”
“I know it is.”
“Who did you lose?” Teja asked. “Parson?”
“Yeah, and my grandmother.”
“I knew Parson. He was a great man.” Teja took a deep breath and got to her feet. “Seeing so much death takes something out of you. You can’t ever get it back.” She walked over so he had to meet her gaze. “I can’t ever love someone, again. I can’t love you, even though you’re my Match. I just don’t have it in me, anymore. I’m frozen inside. Do you understand that?”
“Of course you don’t love me.” He scoffed. “Christ, why would you?”
Teja frowned at how easily he said that. “If I could, I’d be a better Match to you. I would. You deserve it.”
“…Okay.” Sullivan sounded like he wasn’t sure what she expected him to say. “Is this your versions of the ‘It’s not you, it’s me’ speech?”
Teja had no idea what that meant. “I’m just trying to figure out why you’re taking this part so well.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, why aren’t you insisting that I be real Match? Are your emotions frozen, too, or is there some other reason, or…?” She trailed off expectantly.
“No. I can feel things. I mean, I feel important stuff, anyway. I love my cousin Melanie very much.”
Teja nodded. “Alright. Well, that’s good.” She loved her family too, no matter how hard she tried to block the feelings out. “Just so you don’t love me. I can’t reciprocate, so that would be a disaster.”
“Somehow I’ll resist the impulse to recite sonnets at your window.”
Teja gave a reluctant smile at his tone. “Wiseass.” Sullivan’s sardonic cracks delighted her. She stared up at him, her eyes tracing over his handsome face.
Sullivan shifted so his damaged cheek was hidden from her view.
“Why do you do that?” She tilted her head so she could still see the scar. Any Elemental would be proud to wear it. “I’ve never heard of anyone who didn’t want to display their warrior’s mark. It’s weird.”
“I’m weird?” Sullivan tried to evade her focus, keeping his eyes on the wall.
The scar was oddly shaped. It looked like four concentric circles. Teja had seen more weapons than she could name, but she had no clue what had caused the mark. “How did you get it?” She asked, reaching up to touch his cheek.
Sullivan shifted out of range. “Private question.” He said flatly.
The terse answer startled her. Teja dropped her hand. He didn’t want to talk about his battles? All warriors wanted to talk about their battles. Maybe he just didn’t want to talk about them with her.
It was a lucky thing she’d stopped feeling anything or that would’ve stung.
“Sure.” She cleared her throat. “Private. That’s… fair.”
She’d told him that they wouldn’t press each other for a lot of answers, so she couldn’t demand them now. It would just make her look like a hypocrite. Sullivan was sticking to the agreement they’d made and that was good. The less involved they got, the easier this Match would go. It would be best for both of them if they kept everything impersonal. Teja knew that. They had some practical ground rules established and they both needed to follow them.
No sharing about their pasts.
No emotional ties.
No complications.
It was much safer that way.
“I appreciate you going along with the plan I laid out at your house.” She decided, refusing to let his stonewalling irritate her. “About keeping things very… detached. We’re not getting bogged down in the feelings crap, just like we agreed. You’re taking our agreement very seriously. It’s… good.”
It probably wasn’t the best time to mention the memory exchange that happened between Matches. That would only push Sullivan further away. No one knew why, but all Matches experienced a memory sharing at some point. There was no way out of it. Certain important moments in your Match’s life replayed in your own mind. You couldn’t change events or interact with anyone, but you could see it all as it happen.
Elemental scholars believed that it was all part of Gaia’s will. A way to ensure that, since Phase-Matches were irresistibly drawn together, they got to know each other as fast as possible. Inevitably, the phenomena would strike Sullivan and Teja, too.
Magic of the Wood House Page 7
