“Chason looks beautiful all the time.” Mara murmured dryly.
Kahn, of the Light House was Mara’s cousin. He shuddered at that remark.
“Gion is very sorry for the Home Depot fight.” Ty assured the Council.
Gion snorted. “No, I’m not, angel.”
Teja ignored that. “And now Sullivan’s here defending the people who kidnapped him.” She waved a hand at her family. “We didn’t brainwash him or hire him to mastermind a bombing plot. We threw him in a dungeon! He has no reason to lie for us and every reason to want us gone. We insulted him, and nearly got him blown up, and made him watch inane holiday specials on TV.”
“That’s true.” Missy piped-up. “Sullivan was very annoyed when we put on Deep Throat. He said it was pornography and not at all in the spirit of Christmas.” She gave an elaborate shrug as if she couldn’t fathom such a crazy statement. “It must be a human thing.”
“Idiot canine.” Djinn concurred, getting annoyed at Sullivan all over again for his complaints. “It’s a goddamn metaphor for giving! How is that hard to understand?”
Sullivan didn’t rise to the bait, his eyes still on Teja.
“Sullivan Pryce is brutally honest and absolutely good.” Teja looked around the Council. “He’s one hundred percent trustworthy. He’s standing here, because he believes he can just tell truth and people will believe it. And I’m standing here, because I believe in him. So, if you want to find the Fire House guilty, fine.”
“Hang on, I don’t think that’s ‘fine,’ at all.” Pele objected.
Teja ignored that, too. “But, that man,” she pointed at Sullivan, “had nothing to do with this and I will kill anyone who says otherwise.” Her gaze fixed on Eian. “And that’s a goddamn promise.”
Sullivan’s mouth curved upward at one corner as Teja ended her rant. “No emotions, huh?”
“Shut up, Sheriff.”
Eian eyed Teja with palpable hatred. “You don’t deserve a Match. Not when so many Phases have none. Why would you get the only human half-breed we’ve ever found? Our brightest hope? The man all these better women, from better Houses, want for their own?” He gestured around the Council Hall. “Why you?”
Honestly? Teja had no idea.
Sullivan kept staring a Teja. “Because, she’s the one I’m in love with.” His head swiveled around to pin Eian with a deadly look. “And if you say another fucking word to her, I’ll drag you over that table and beat you to death.”
Eian’s eyebrows shot up.
“Oooohhhh! I hope Eian’s stupid enough to say something to her.” Frankie rubbed his hands in anticipation. “I got five bucks on the human.”
Teja blinked at Sullivan.
Hang on… He loved her?
Oh shit.
Beneath her frozen emotions, something started getting a lot warmer. It felt as if the ice encasing her heart was completely melting away. Panic washed over her. “You’re not supposed to love me.” She blurted out, confused and off-balance. “We had a whole discussion about it, Sullivan!”
“Yeah, well,” Sullivan shrugged, not meeting her eyes, “a lot of the stuff the Cult says doesn’t make sense, so I’m good at ignoring it.” He looked back at Job. “Are we done here, yet?”
“I think so.” Job smiled at him like a proud father and glanced around. “Who here believes the testimony of Sullivan Pryce?”
Hands shot up all over the hall, some of them just from spectators in the gallery.
“As do I.” Job banged his gavel. “The Council therefore finds the Fire House innocent of these crimes and we wish them well.”
“Yeah, blow me, ya dicks.” Djinn flicked them all off.
“That’s not fair!” Eian began in an outraged voice. “You can’t just…”
Job interrupted him. “As for Eian, King of the Cold House. I move that we begin an immediate investigation into his role in this bombing. And I suggest we keep him confined until he tells us what he knows about Vandal, of the Light House.”
The Light Phases grunted in agreement.
Freya closed her eyes in sorrow as the Council voted to imprison her brother.
Eian slowly got to his feet. “You think you can beat me, Job?” He hissed. “You think you can beat Vandal? He’s the greatest warrior who’s ever lived and you’re just a weak puppet of the Fire House. He’s going to free this realm from your tyranny. When he rises up to usher in the Dark King, this world will finally be cleansed.”
Job didn’t look impressed. “If Vandal could beat me, he wouldn’t be hiding.”
Eian’s mouth tightened in fury.
Kahn started for Eian. “Tell us where Vandal is right now and we’ll let you keep most of your fingers, you little toad.”
“I’ll tell you nothing.” Eian’s gaze flashed back to Teja, his eyes glowing with wintery death. “This is your fault. It’s always your fault.”
“I didn’t want this.” She said dazedly, most of her attention still on Sullivan’s mind-blowing assertion that he loved her. “I wanted to be a family with you and Freya. You were the one who couldn’t accept me.”
Freya looked over at her and then back to Eian, her expression turning hopeful. “We can still be a family if…”
“I will never have a Fire Phase as my family! It’s me or her, Freya! Remember that!”
Freya’s face went cold. “Teja’s my family. And if I have to choose between you, it’ll be her.”
Teja’s head whipped around in surprise.
If he’d been standing closer to his sister, Eian would’ve hit her. “You traitorous whore!”
“Teja saved me from the bomb you set, Eian! She came for me, when you left me to die! What do you expect?”
“You weren’t supposed to be there! It wasn’t supposed to hurt anyone important!”
Freya shook her head in disgust. “I have no idea who you are anymore.” She looked over at Teja. “I’m sorry.” She said, simply. “I didn’t want to admit what, deep down, I knew was true. Forgive me.”
Teja blinked. “Uhh… Okay.” She had no idea how to deal with Freya not arguing with her. It felt awkward, but in kind of a good way. She floundered for what to say next and finally went with the practical. “You want to stay at the Fire Fortress while your palace is rebuilt?”
The Fire Phases cringed in unison.
“Okay.” Freya echoed and gave Teja a tentative smile. “That could be fun. We can do girl stuff!”
“Girl stuff?” Teja looked over at Sullivan in horror.
“Maybe you can show her how to sword fight.” He suggested, amused and happy for her.
Teja let out a shaky breath, the panic from his earlier declaration receding from her mind. For the first time since the Fall, she felt everything. Absolutely everything.
…And all of it was love.
She wasn’t frozen. She never had been. Her emotions had always been there. She knew that when she looked at Sullivan, because the feelings went straight down to her soul. It was all so clear. She was completely in love with this man.
Why had that ever scared her?
“Neither one of you is worthy of my House!” Eian reached beneath his robes and came up with his own Phase-killing gun. He could only have gotten it from Vandal. “I’ll kill you, Freya, for your betrayal, but first you.” Wildly out-of-control, he pointed the barrel at Teja. “Why should you get to live when you’ve taken everything from me, you evil bitch?!”
Even now, Teja hadn’t thought her cousin wanted her dead. Not really. Wanted to fight with her, and try to Banish her, and even to hate her, but to shoot her…? No. She just stood there, hesitating for half-a-second, her brain trying to catch-up.
Everyone else froze, too. Elementals didn’t use guns. No one had seen this coming. Eian was going to murder her with a human weapon and nobody could react fast enough stop him.
Except maybe a human soldier.
Sullivan’s powers slammed out. More Wood energy than anyone had ever let loose before and it moved
in an off-center, unPhase-like way. Teja realized she’d been right before. Without his walls, Sullivan could accomplish magic. He didn’t play inside the Elemental box, because nobody ever told him that the normal methods even existed. Eian might think he was unpredictable in pulling that gun, but he had no idea who he was up against.
Her Match was off-the-charts powerful and he’d received most of his training from comic books.
The Fire House’s humongous Christmas tree was still in the center of the Hall and it was suddenly… alive. Covered in barbed wire and implements of death, it reached for Eian. It literally reached for him. The whole monstrosity somehow lurched forward, grabbing the Cold King in its sinister branches.
“What the fuck!” Eian forgot about Teja and began wilding firing into the ornaments and garland. “No! Somebody do something!”
It was no use. Limbs wrapped around Eian, holding him tight. The tree pulled him deeper into its dense foliage, refusing to give up its prize. A hungry hole opened in its massive trunk, its bark becoming jagged teeth.
The rest of the Wood House looked amazed at the spectacle. None of them had ever thought of something so grotesque. Of course they hadn’t. Because, Sullivan Pryce wasn’t part of the upright, rule-following, goody-two-shoed Wood Phases.
He belonged with the weirdoes of the Fire House.
Screams erupted throughout the Council Hall. People ran for the exits. Freya turned her face, so she didn’t have to watch. Gion scrambled over to protect Ty and Nia. Kahn moved in front of Mara. Satour woke-up with a start, blurting out obscenities and tumbling out of his chair. The rest of the Fire Phases were already on their feet, beaming at their carnivorous decoration. Job shook his head like he couldn’t believe the amount of power he was witnessing.
Teja barely noticed the chaos. She couldn’t look away as Eian was dragged into tree’s horrible mouth, stilling shrieking. It closed around him with a sicken crunch. …And there was a sudden silence.
The Christmas tree ate her cousin.
She slowly turned to Sullivan, who was watching the now dormant spruce.
“Alright. You win, darlin’.” He said calmly. “I guess I am part Elemental. But, that still would’ve been a lot easier if you hadn’t confiscated my gun.”
Frankie started laughing. “Fuckin’-A, would Oberon love that boy.”
Chapter Twenty
But there is another element, more important than all,
without which there cannot be the slightest hope of a permanent peace.
That element lies in the heart of humanity
Calvin Coolidge- Inaugural Address
Christmas Night
Djinn gave Sullivan a flea collar for Christmas.
Sullivan gave Djinn a McDonalds’ hamburger.
Djinn frowned down at his double quarter-pounder with cheese, a baffled expression on his face. “What’s this for? Is it poisoned or something?”
“It’s made of cow.”
Djinn glanced at him sharply. “The cow?”
Sullivan gave a meaningful shrug, letting Djinn draw his own insane conclusions. If the Fire House accepted that their bovine nemesis was dead, life would a lot more peaceful.
“Hot damn.” Djinn grinned with the demonic glee. “That spotted bitch finally kicked it, huh?” He took a huge bite of his burger, chewing happily. The maniac couldn’t have been more pleased if he’d just shot out someone’s eye with a Red Ryder BB gun. “Now, that tastes like a jolly fucking holiday.”
Around them, the Fire House celebrated Christmas with typical restraint. A hip hop version of Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer was blaring over the stereo, as Hope and Kingu decorated a new tree. With Freya staying in the fortress, Teja had vetoed the idea of dragging the original man-eating spruce back home. The Fire Phases had pouted about the loss, but Kingu created a new twenty foot pine for them, along with whole undead army of jagged, creepy, sometimes oozing ornaments. Sullivan found the skeletonized Kris Kringle on the top branch especially festive.
Yes, Virginia there really was a Zombie Claus.
“Is this just melted ice cream and bourbon?” Melanie asked.
Sullivan glanced at his cousin, who was squinted down at her eggnog. “It’s whiskey.” He corrected. “Missy tells me it’s a secret recipe.”
Melanie wrinkled her nose. “Are you sure you wouldn’t rather come back to the Wood House with Uriel and me? This place is kinda weird.”
“Wait until they open the rest of their presents. Missy got them all monster trucks.” His mouth curved, gazing around the mayhem. The Fire Phases were crazy and irrational and lived in a constant state of chaos …And for the first time in his life, Sullivan didn’t feel out of place. “I belong here, Mel.” He said quietly.
”I know.” Melanie sighed. “I see it, too.” She leaned over to kiss his cheek. “Congrats, Sully. You deserve to be happy.” She paused for a beat. “So what are you going to do about your Match?”
Teja was avoiding him.
His declaration of love had probably freaked her out and sent all her “frozen” emotions into a panic. Sullivan wasn’t about to take the words back, though. He couldn’t, even if he wanted to. He was in love with the woman and she was just going to have to deal with it. In fact, spending time with the Fire Phases was rubbing off on him, because Sullivan saw only one logical way to deal with her reticence.
“I’m going to kidnap her.”
Melanie blinked at him. “You’re going to kidnap, Teja, of the Fire and Cold Houses?” She repeated in astonishment.
He nodded. “Just a little bit.”
Melanie belted back her eggnog and went to get another. “Christ, he really does belong here.” She muttered to herself.
Sullivan took that as a compliment. He checked his watch and saw that it was about time for his nefarious crime to begin. “Kingu?” He looked over to his accomplice. “Everything ready?”
Kingu gave him a thumbs-up, not lifting his head from kissing Hope under the mistletoe.
Excellent. Sullivan got to his feet and headed downstairs. The Fire Phase dungeon was look noticeably less gloomy thanks to Kingu’s finger-snapping efforts. The smell was better, too. The cell where they’d held him early now had an actual bed, with pillows, and some candles burning, and door that closed. And a mirror ball. He didn’t recall requesting that, but it was a thoughtful touch.
Sullivan checked his watch again and leaned against the wall.
Waiting.
Thirty seconds later Teja jumped into the cell, her gaze sweeping around and settling on him. “Are you alright?” She demanded, sounding out of breath. She was so frantic, she didn’t even notice the cell’s new décor.
“I’m fine.” He crooked a finger at her, pushing away from the wall. “Come ‘ere, darlin’.”
Teja moved closer, not suspecting a trap. She trusted him so deeply that it was humbling. When she’d shouted at the Council that he was the best person she knew, Sullivan had been overwhelmed. There was no one in any dimension like this woman and she was his.
He just had to convince her not to dump him.
“Kingu said Djinn re-kidnaped you and locked you down here.” Teja frowned, still looking concerned. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“I’ve never been better.” Sullivan arched a brow. “You know when you told everyone how honest I am, though? Well, it turns out, I’m occasionally okay with lying.” His palm shot out encircling her arm. Spinning her around, he quickly wrapped the plastic zip-ties around her wrists. “Sorry about this. It’s for the greater good.”
Teja automatically tried to get the handcuffs off, but they weren’t budging. “What are you doing?” She asked in confusion. “Hang on, are you kidnapping me?”
“Just a little bit.”
Teja stared up at him for a beat, an unreadable expression on her face. “Shit.”
Sullivan’s stomach sank.
Teja shook her head in amazement. “I can’t believe I didn’t see this coming.” Her mouth c
urved into a dazzling smile. “It’s just what a Fire Phase would do.”
Relief poured through him. “I thought you’d like the plan.” He backed her up so she was against the wall. “Want to talk about why you’ve been avoiding me all night?”
“You told me you loved me.”
Damn it, he’d known that was the problem. “I do love you.” Sullivan kept his gaze locked on hers. “I loved you before I even knew your name.” Right from the beginning, his instincts had known she was his and he was hers.
They belonged together.
“But, you don’t trust me.” Teja went up on tiptoe, her body moving against his. “And if you don’t trust me, you won’t Phaze with me. And if we don’t Phaze, you could still leave.” She ran her tongue over the ridges of his scar. “I don’t want you to leave, Sullivan. It would take hours to track you down again and I need you now.”
Sullivan’s eyes flickered shut. He had no idea how his energy could have stayed hidden from him for so long. He could feel the powers pulling against his control, trying to reach her. “I’m not leaving you, Teja. Ever. And I do…”
She cut him off. “So, I haven’t been avoiding you. I’ve been thinking of ideas.”
“Ideas?” His hands went to her sweater, unbuttoning it, because he had to see her. “That sounds ominous.” With the handcuffs in place, he couldn’t get her cardigan down her arms, but he was nothing if not flexible. He left it hanging open and started on her blouse.
“It’s good ideas, wiseass.” Teja leaned forward, urging him along as he began stripping her. “I’ve been making a list of ways to make you trust me.”
He smiled at that. “Like what?”
“Well, obvious, I thought about stealing you something nice. Like maybe a tank.”
“Very thoughtful.” He got her shirt open, too, and let out a long breath. “No bra?” He got out hoarsely.
Magic of the Wood House Page 24
