The Soothing Scent Of Earth (Elemental Awakening, Book 2)

by Claire, Nicola

  "Isadora knows the back roads better than I do, and we may well need them." It made sense, but I saw the firm set of his jaw.

  Theo was a dominant alpha in every sense of the word. He was not comfortable handing over the reins to someone else. Or maybe it was just Isadora. He was uncomfortable with her, just as much as I was.

  He opened the rear passenger door for me and helped me inside, then once he'd stowed his luggage, slipped into the seat in front, next to Isadora. Her steely eyes lifted to the rear view mirror and pierced me.

  "Now would be the time to pray to any human God you believe in, Cassandra," she announced. "The moment we leave the protection of this building, you'll be a beacon to every Gi out there."

  I slunk down in my seat, taking in the darkened tinted glass of the rear windows hiding me pretty much from sight.

  "Why don't you lie down and get some sleep, Casey," Theo suggested. "You still look exhausted, Oraia."

  I wanted to offer a quick witted comeback, something about him keeping me up most of the night. But my confidence was taking a hammering. Both Theo and Isadora were in danger because of me. The least I could do was hide my very wanted face from sight. I nodded to Theo, as he looked at me over his shoulder. He offered a smile, and then when I settled myself under a blanket in the back of the car, turned to face the front windscreen.

  I felt about an inch tall, as the car pulled out of the driveway. Banished to the back seat, instructed to sleep because I looked exhausted - which sounded like a euphemism for awful - with the weight of guilt weighing on my shoulders. I tried to suck it up. Just because Theo got to sit up front and converse with the bitch and I didn't, shouldn't have been something I desired at all. But the back seat felt miles away from the two of them, even though I could hear their soft voices and reach out and touch them both.

  The mind is a terrible trickster, especially when you're so worn down. Maybe Theo was right, and sleep would help. Even if the idea of driving down Manaus streets left my heart thumping and caused sweat to break out all over my skin.

  I lay looking blindly at the ceiling of the car, while Isadora and Theo talked about the route she planned to take, which would lead us on a round about path out of the city, avoiding all the known hotspots for Gi, using all the most human popular roadways.

  "The most treacherous part is this side of Manaus," Isadora was saying. "The further we are from the actual forest, the safer we'll be. But nowhere is one hundred percent secure. The Gi own this city and can appear anywhere."

  "Maybe I should be in the back with Cassandra," Theo suggested, and for a brief moment my heart swelled and my confidence lifted.

  "They won't be expecting you, Theodoros," Isadora argued swiftly. "Who would believe the Prince of Pyrkagia would give up his life for a Gi? I sure as hell don't understand it."

  "You've made that perfectly clear, Dora," Theo murmured, and my teeth ground together at his choice of name to use. Would the man never learn?

  "This is not you, Theo," she insisted, her hands curling tightly around the steering wheel. "You have been hypnotised into believing she is yours. She is not!"

  "Don't start this," Theo warned. "Not here." Not here? Then where? Somewhere I was not?

  "Theo," she begged. "Wake up, please! This will only lead to your exile or worse, your death."

  He was silent, staring out the side window, trying to ignore her. Or thinking her argument over inside his jumbled head.

  She lowered her voice. God knows she must have been aware I was still awake and could hear every word, but she made the effort to look the part of a concerned friend, and not the wicked witch.

  "What if she has channelled essence and used it on you," she whispered. Then her hand moved over the space between them and landed on his thigh. "Influenced you," she added, giving him a consoling squeeze.

  I stared, absolutely astonished she'd be so blatant, so forthright in her attempts to get him back. In front of me. I felt the temperature in the back of the car rise, and there wasn't a thing I could do to stop it. To hide it.

  "Isadora," Theo said, wrapping his hand around her own, and starting to lift it off his leg.

  She didn't like that. She made a frustrated sound, then said under her breath, "You're a fool."

  Silence, as Theo purposely placed her hand back on her own leg and released it. Then in a voice so soft, it made me feel every word alongside Isadora, he said, "But I'm no longer your fool."

  "Theo," she breathed on a burst of saddened air, and oh now I wished I really wasn't bearing witness to this conversation. I felt my anger fold in on itself, my Pyrkagia Stoicheio soon followed.

  The large SUV seemed too small for the awkward silence that blanketed it. I kept my eyes shut, avoided looking at either of them, and willed our journey to be over.

  The beautiful streets of Manaus flashed by, whether there were Gi walking them or not, I didn't know. But at some stage I felt comfortable enough to open my eyes, and let them drift over the tops of the buildings that I could see from where I still lay, as they whizzed past my rear window. Lush greens of the rainforest were slowly overcome by concrete and brightly coloured shop awnings. The odd church spire and then a rash of bright yellow, blue and red houses one after the other.

  The road widened and tall palm trees lined the central island of a multi-lane highway. I sat up when the struts of a large bridge started to rhythmically flicker past the windows, indicating we'd made it onto the Manaus-Iranduba Bridge. No one spoke until the tyres ka-thunked over the final section, signifying our successful escape out of the Gi's most populated city.

  "We've made it," I said, sounding as surprised at our near miss as I felt.

  Theo turned and offered me a smile, while Isadora tapped her finger on the steering wheel and announced, "Just three thousand and eighty-eight kilometres left to go."

  But her agitated and clearly unhappy mood couldn't dull the excitement at having evaded Gi capture. The more distance between me and that beautiful rainforest, the better. Even if the Earth cried silent tears inside my head; a sensation of loss, more than a sound of heartache.

  It won't be forever, I promised, not sure if it could hear me when I wasn't touching the soil with bare feet. "I'll be back," I whispered, unaware I'd say those words, that vow, aloud until I did.

  Theo twisted in his seat again and searched my face, an obvious question in his intense hazel eyes.

  I gave him a small smile and a shrug of my shoulders, then said, "I just have a feeling I'm meant to come back, that's all." And I did, deep down inside I knew my role here had not been fulfilled.

  He held my gaze for several seconds and nodded, just when Isadora made a disgruntled sound. Theo ignored her completely and reached for my hand, giving a soft squeeze as soon as my fingers slipped in to his.

  Giving me, without request, what Isadora had tried to force. I hadn't meant to raise my gaze to the rear view mirror, but I did it all the same.

  And watched the hatred bleed into the gold haze that coated Isadora's eyes, as they sent a clear message of challenge back at me.

  I think Theo was mistaken. Isadora wasn't a rival anymore. She was a full-fledged enemy.

  An enemy helping us traverse another enemy's land. But was she dodging the landmines with us, or was she going to plant them?

  Chapter 14

  The Earth Made A Sound Of Sadness And Frustration On My Behalf

  "You should eat something," Theo said gently, bringing me out of my daze. I'd been staring out of the roadside diner’s windows we were at, watching the rush of traffic as it zoomed past in the twilight. Muted colours that the low setting sun turned into softly shining jewels instead of cars.

  I lifted my eyes to his and nodded my head in agreement, but the mouthful of

  feijoada that reached my lips failed to taste as good as it smelled. The fork clattered back onto my almost full plate.

  "Casey," Theo said, reaching for my hand across the small table. "What's wrong?"

  I glanced
up towards the bathrooms Isadora had just gone to use, and frowned. For the past day she'd behaved herself. Never overstepping the mark again since we left Manaus. She'd been courteous, pleasant and even contained her smirks. I absolutely did not trust her change of mannerisms at all.

  But that wasn't what had put me off my food. We'd taken a route away from the rainforest to begin with. The first part of our journey today had gone without mishap. But now, the BR-230 had brought us back towards the Amazon, nearer still to Santarém and the Gi. That alone should have been enough to keep me on edge. But it was more than that. So much more.

  "I can feel it," I whispered, my voice cracking through the dryness of my throat. I licked my lips and then reached for the glass of water on the table, swallowing twice before I could go on. "The Earth is calling to me," I admitted, a shiver of disquiet tracing down my spine. Theo frowned.

  "What do you mean?"

  My hand left the glass and settled over my chest, right above my heart, and rubbed.

  "It's in pain," I said, my tone relaying the agony I could feel through Earth's call. "It says I'm the only one who can save it. Theo," I said on an almost whimper. "I don't know if I can ignore its call forever."

  "How long has this been going on?" he demanded, as though I'd been hiding vital information from him and he felt let down.

  "The past two hours."

  "Cassandra," he chastised. "Why didn't you say something?"

  I glared back at him, matching his increased anger with ease.

  "Maybe because of the company we're keeping?" I said a little sarcastically.

  "This is not something that we can keep from Isadora. It affects all of us. It could be a trap."

  I hadn't thought of that, but he was right. The Gi could use the Earth to trick me. Hell, they'd done it enough in the past. I wondered if I were to use my Pyrkagia Stoicheio, if I could tell whether this was true or not. But using my Pyrkagia Stoicheio in front of Isadora brought me back to the reason why I hadn't said a thing about the Earth's constant pull until now.

  "I can't be sure it's not," I admitted reluctantly. "But I might be able to tell if I use my Fire."

  Theo raised a brow, surprise etching itself on his face. "Well," he said. "That is interesting. Have you used the two Stoicheio in conjunction like that before?"

  I nodded, just as I saw Isadora emerge from the toilets at the back of the diner. Theo followed my gaze, then returned intense eyes to mine.

  "We say nothing for now," he murmured, somehow making it easier to breathe. "We'll be finding a place soon, to stay at tonight, and once alone we'll see what we can do." He squeezed my fingers and then withdrew his hand as Isadora approached the table.

  I realised, uncomfortably, that he'd been doing that all day. Maintaining a distance between himself and me whenever Isadora was watching. His way of keeping the peace. Her way of placing a wedge between us.

  I sat back sullenly in my chair and crossed my arms over my chest, my eyes boring into Theo, ignoring Isadora completely. He refused to look back at me, just returned his attention to his meal. Ignoring us both.

  I hadn't taken Theo Peters for a coward. But right now I was astounded to see that's how he appeared.

  Isadora made a fuss of sliding gracefully into her chair, but didn't comment on Theo's behaviour, or mine. She was behaving herself, all right. Which only made me fume more. I had a horrible feeling that she was winning this battle, and I couldn't even identify the target in order to fight back.

  I played with my food, the silence at the table deafening. And all the while the Earth cried out for me in my head, in the trees outside the window, on the sweet scent of the air.

  Aether, it called. We need you, it stated. Save us.

  A single tear trickled down my cheek and I turned away from the table to brush at it. I did not want Isadora to see me crying and think it was for something else. Familiar feelings of isolation welled up inside me. Feelings I hadn't felt since I fell into Theo's arms back in Manaus. Feelings I thought I'd be able to forget, never have to experience again. Yet here they were; taunting me, terrifying me. Alone.

  The Earth continued its plea inside my mind, the noise of the diner filled the space around us, as Isadora started up a casual conversation about Pyrkagia issues with Theo, leaving me out in the cold. I tried to concentrate on what she was saying; I was Pyrkagia now too, and a small part of me had a whimsical hope that I would be accepted in their society one day. So I should pay attention. But the Earth's call escalated, as the noise in the diner became a throbbing beat, and Isadora's voice provided the high pitched string section of an orchestra hell bent on making me break.

  I stood up abruptly from the table, making the conversation stop and the Earth hold its breath. The diner noise continued, giving me some relief that I wasn't losing it just yet.

  "I'm going to freshen up," I advised, sliding out of my seat.

  "I'll come with you," Theo suggested, standing up as well.

  "No," both Isadora and I said in unison, but for entirely different reasons. I needed to be alone, ironically. God knows she didn't want Theo alone with me.

  I stared at Isadora as she stared at Theo, a mask of friendly concern on her face.

  "Women always go together to the bathroom, Theodoros," she stated, getting to her feet as well, so now we were all standing around the table staring at each other. I think my mouth had fallen open.

  "You went on your own before," Theo pointed out.

  "I'm not being hunted by the Gi." Good point, bitch. "And you can't follow her into the women's bathroom," she added with a delicate laugh. "But I can."

  "There's no need," I said, sure I could handle myself for a few minutes of solitude.

  "I insist," she replied, casually. "Or had you forgotten, Theodoros," she added, steel suddenly coating each word. "That I am the expert in this territory."

  Theo considered her words for a moment and then to my horror, turned apologetic eyes to me.

  "She's right, Casey," he said, cajolingly.

  Oh God, crap, freaking hell.

  "Safety first," he added. I stared at him, utterly dumbfounded. Safety first. What the...?

  "Whatever," I said without much conviction. "Stay, come, go fuck yourself for all I care." Then I stormed off towards the bathroom, hoping I could lock myself in a fully closed-in stall and block the wicked witch out.

  I didn't wait to see if she was following. I tore into the ladies toilets and came to an abrupt halt at the cubicle style stalls. Even when I locked myself inside one, she could peer over the top, look in from underneath the sides, or just plain listen to me do my business. Which meant...

  I locked the stall as Isadora's voice reached me through the too many gaps.

  "You really have gotten yourself quite an attitude, Gi. Did they teach you that at the fortress? Harden you up? Condition you to snap and snarl like a child, wear your emotions on your sleeve."

  I sucked in a fortifying breath, determined not to reply, and sat down on the closed lid of the toilet, head in hands, elbows to knees.

  "I expected more from Theodoros' Thisavros," she murmured. "He deserves someone who knows how to play the game."

  Oh, it was tempting to ask, wasn't it? I bit my lip, tasting blood.

  "Of course, with you he could just mould you into whatever he needs. A blank canvas. It's early days, he's probably only just started. Coaxing you to reach beyond your comfort zone, but never going so far you can see what his ultimate goal is. He hides it behind a façade of tenderness, making you think he's holding back to protect you, but he's just setting the trap."

  Oh, what an evil woman she was.

  "False sense of security," she added on a laugh. "Has he started yet? Tempting you, but not letting you fall too far? It's one of the things I admire most about him. When you let go, he handles the rest. Your place in his world. Your place in his bed. His needs become your needs, and before you know it he's defiling your body, your mind, your soul, and making you think it was
your idea."

  My hands fisted so tightly in my lap I felt the skin break and blood begin to well beneath my nails.

  "Take it from someone who's been there, Cassandra. Let him. It's worth it to taste his hunger without restraint. Oh, how he must still be holding back with you; his sweet little Gi." How dare she use his term of endearment. How dare she know it. "But of course," she added, casually. "You can never completely be what he desires, what he needs. A Pyrkagia Prince with a Gi... what? What are you exactly? You're not royalty, so I hear. You're nothing to the Gi but something to torment and torture. An imposter to their eyes."

  If that's what she thought, she didn't know half of the truth yet. A relief I'd cling to.

  "You are so far out of his league, little girl, you might as well admit defeat now. He needs a woman with Fire. Someone who could match his passion with a Fiery passion of their own. You lack in every way it counts, poor thing. In experience. In the boundaries that lack of experience imprisons you within. Even in your Stoicheio. Earth and Fire, how do you really think that works? You are grounded in the soil of life itself. He's free to float on the embers of Fire. To your settled, controlled mind he is but a too hot spark, forever just outside of your reach."

  The longer I sat mute in that stall the worse it became. I thought silence was the way to go. Ignore her, she'd eventually give up. But the woman was tenacious. Hell, two thousand years of taking what he gave and then accepting his retreat, again and again, only to offer him open arms whenever he returned, was definitely the epitome of not giving up. This woman would never give up on Theo. To her, I was a blip in the long eternal road map of their lives.

  I had to play this carefully. Losing my temper and showing her just who I was now, would be a disastrous mistake. I had thought silence was the answer, but like Theo had mentioned, Athanatos are predators, and at the moment my silence was making me look weak.

  I stood up, smoothed down my hair and then my singlet top, and opened the toilet stall. My green blazing eyes met Isadora's. They immediately flashed gold back at me.