The Tempting Touch Of Fire (Elemental Awakening, Book 1) (12 page)

I laughed. "The what?"

"It is not a laughing matter. It's an ancient Greek torture device that boils its victims alive. Being an
Athanatos
we can endure it for a very long time before even we pass out."

I stared back at him, horrified.

"He'd do that?"

A look passed over his face that I never want to see again. My hand came up and cupped his cheek. He would have seen the mortification in my eyes. Hell, he probably saw the green.

"See," he whispered. "This is what I'm worried about. You lack control over your reactions. Green." My eyes. I was right. "You have such delicate command of your
Stoicheio
, but you wear your heart on your sleeve,
Oraia
. You need to be more careful." He hadn't said any of that harshly, if anything, he'd said it with a look of infinite pain on his face. He leaned forward, when his speech was done, and kissed me softly. A chaste kiss that I felt right through my lips and into my heart.

"Then stop making me care," I whispered back, meaning anything but what I said.

"Before the night is through, sweet Cassandra, you may well have your wish." He pulled away and turned to the domed lids of the food.

Ominous words indeed.

I was too nervous to eat. I picked at the offerings, knowing they were delicious, but not tasting a thing. I was too scared. Too panicked about what would face us at the event we were about to attend. Theo had gone silent too. But he ate more than me. Obviously made of sterner stuff. With a father like that, I could see why. He'd had to be.

Aktor saw us off at the door. Pleased to see me dirt-free, I think. He really was quite a sweet old man.

"How old is Aktor?" I asked, as we drove down the driveway. I needed something other than impending doom to think about.

"Oh, I don't know for sure," Theo said, thinking about my question for a moment. "I guess, he served the elders. Somehow he was handed to me. From the look of him, I'd say at least twenty, maybe twenty-five."

I huffed out a laugh. "Yeah, right. Twenty-five years old." I snorted. Then hiccuped, trying to pull the snort back in. It sounded ridiculous.

Theo smiled through it all, then calmly said, "Twenty-five millennia,
Oraia
. We are
Athanatos
. Practically immortal."

I froze in my seat. My mind just went completely blank. What? What did he just say? Street lights blurred and strobed outside my window, the chaotic sounds of Auckland city at night felt like they came to me from down a very long tunnel. The pressure in the air, inside the car, crushed. I struggled for breath. My hand shook when I raised it to my forehead.

The car began to slow, but my breathing didn't. I'm not sure how much time had passed since Theo had answered my question and sent me spiralling into what was obviously a decent panic attack. But enough for us to make it from Mountain Road to Parnell.

"What?" I finally managed to get out between stiff lips.

And received a muttered swearword in Greek from Theo, who had parked the car and turned to look at me, getting his first real view of my uncontrolled state.

"I should have gone over this sooner," he muttered to himself. His hand gripped the steering wheel tightly, as though he wished to break it. Then his gaze scanned my face, lingering on my eyes. Whatever he saw made him frown; his brow furrowing and his lips dipping down at the edges.

"OK, Casey Eden," he said, suddenly sounding like a drill sergeant. It didn't help the swirl of shock and anxiety inside my head, right then. "We don't have time for this now, we've arrived at the venue and have already been seen. Dig deep, sweetheart, and push it from your mind. We'll talk about it when we get home. For now, get rid of the green and stop making the Earth shudder. I can feel it through the tyres, so I should think the guests will be quite aware you're throwing a tantrum."

I stared at him, vaguely aware that the vehicle
did
have a greenish hue.

"
Oraia,
please," he pleaded. Swore in Greek again, and then cupped my temples with both hands, his palms shielding some of the glow from my eyes.

But, no doubt, not all of it.

I gasped, I'm not sure if it was from the sudden proximity of Theo or just the realisation finally that I needed to get myself under control.

Before I could manage to deal with either of those thoughts, though, the car door sprang open at my side.

"What the hell, Theo!" Nico's voice sounded out over my shoulder. "Way to make an entrance. Control your
Gi. Pyrkagia
is watching."

Control your Gi. Pyrkagia is watching
.

I sucked in a deep breath, closed my eyelids and willed my body to relax. Theo kept his hands cupping the sides of my head, his thumbs gently stroking over my cheeks. Seconds passed. Maybe as long as a minute, and then I pulled free of his too comfortable hold and turned to look at Nico.

He didn't seem angry, as I had expected him to be after that announcement. If anything, he looked concerned. For Theo? Or for me?

"I'm new to this," I said haltingly, still reeling from the latest information dump; how old - or should that be
ancient
- Aktor was. "I was human only a couple of days ago," I defended.

I have no idea why I said that. I'm not even sure if Theo trusted Nico enough to be divulging this secret at all. But Theo didn't correct me, or stop me, he just met Nico's gaze over my shoulder.

Something flashed in Nico's eyes. Not colour, not gold, but more an emotion; a reaction to what I was or had been, or to the confirmation he saw in Theo's face.

He sucked in a slow breath of air, scanned my face briefly, then murmured, "And she makes the Earth dance to a delicate tune." His eyes coming back up to lock on Theo's. "Just
what
have you uncovered, Cousin?"

And gone was the concern of before. Now he looked positively frightened... laced with a little awe.

"She is mine," Theo reminded Nico, then slipped out of his side of the car.

"Touchy isn't he?" Nico said, offering me his hand and lightening the moment with his witty remark.

I took the offered palm and slipped mine inside. His fingers wrapped around my smaller hand. It felt... like nothing. One hand in another. How could Theo's touch bring out such delicious sensations and Nico's do nothing to me at all?

Theo gently pushed Nico aside and offered me his arm instead. My lips quirked up. If I didn't know any better, I'd say Theo was rather protective of me and he saw Nico as a threat. Nico caught my eye and winked. He'd not missed the possessive action either.

"What should we expect in there?" Theo asked under his breath, his eyes taking in the curious gazes of those people still standing outside the venue. It was a restaurant. One of those fancy, big ones, that could be used for private functions. A sign off to the side of the double doors read,
Welcome, Peters Corporation. Enjoy your night.

"Curiosity, mainly," Nico whispered back. "But be warned, Leon and Mikkos are here." Theo sighed. "They've been asking pointed questions. They suspect your Cassandra is an agent. Having just returned from Athens, I can understand why."

Theo turned narrowed eyes on his cousin.

"And you? What do you suspect?" he asked darkly. I was thinking if Nico had any sense he'd say exactly what Theo wanted to hear.

"Theo, I know you. You would not risk
Pyrkagia."
I wasn't sure how to feel about that statement. Was it a good thing that Theo still wanted me here, when his loyalty to his race was so staunch? For some reason the logic that said that
was
a good thing, wasn't in me. The young, innocent woman inside wanted a declaration of love above all else.

I wasn't ever going to get it. Even if Theo had deeper feelings for me. He was prepared to let me go in four weeks time.
Pyrkagia
held his heart, not me.

Theo nodded to his cousin and turned his face to me. He smiled. I could see the mask of an actor slipping into place. In there, we would be on a stage. In there,
I
would be on show. Just what did they want to see? I smiled back, hoping my acting skills were going to be as good as Theo's.

We started heading toward the entrance but didn't make it inside. From out of nowhere, people approached. Some blatantly staring at me. Their gaze taking in my attire, how Theo held my arm in his, and my eyes to see if they were green. And then confusion crossed their faces briefly when they registered my dark blonde hair, not brunette. I could see the question flash on their faces. One after the other. But like Theo, they seemed to put my difference to a
Gi's
normal appearance down to hair dye.

It was obvious when they came to that conclusion, because the mask of inquisitiveness was replaced with wariness instead. The next time their eyes assessed me, from head to toe, the looks were calculating and guarded.

I didn't think the story of being a refugee seeking asylum in
Pyrkagia
was going to cut it. They'd all assumed, like Theo, that I was a spy. Why else would I hide my appearance? Until they were told, or my eyes flashed green - or a plant did something untoward in my presence - they would think me human. The hair colour was an obvious ploy to throw them off the scent.

I understood then, that Theo had only been acting as any
Pyrkagia
would. Threatened by my duplicity. But I wasn't deceitful and I had no way of making them understand that.

Instead I held my head high, looked them in the eye and dared them to challenge me.

Where on earth had this courage come from? It's not as though I couldn't hold a conversation with my customers or people on the street before. My reticence had always been when interacting in a social setting with the opposite sex. But despite that distinction, I was not what I would call brave. But somewhere along the line, somewhere between falling in that pit of dirt and being buried for two days, to here; facing off against these opinionated people, I'd found a spine. I straightened it. And faced the growing circumspection from the crowd.

Theo shook hands, spoke easily with a few more talkative of those to approach, and slowly pushed us forward until we entered the restaurant itself. Inside were so many more dark haired, tanned skinned, hazel eyed Peters. The Peters Corporation enjoyed nepotism, it seemed. I worked on breathing steadily, on smiling when those in the room approached and on ignoring the obvious whispers circulating the room.

"What have you here, Theo?" a man, slightly older than Theo, asked as he approached. Of course, I had no hope of guessing his age. I stifled the almost-sob that wanted to escape on the reminder of what these creatures were. I couldn't, as yet, categorise myself in with them. It was hard enough to think of immortality being a reality, there was no way I'd except that I was now a member of that exclusive club.

The man had a stunningly gorgeous woman on his arm. She wore the typical
Pyrkagia
traits, but she carried herself in a regal fashion. I wondered if she was a princess to Theo's prince.

"Damon, Sophia," Theo replied, shaking the man's hand and leaning in to kiss the cheek of the woman's. "How have you been?"

"Nothing of note to report, but
you,
on the other hand, are the talk of century." That phrase had so much more literal meaning now. "Who is this delightful
Gi
?" he asked, reaching forward and clasping my hand. He lifted it slowly to his lips to kiss my knuckles, his eyes on mine. I was thinking to see if he could make them turn green.

Heat. Fire. A burn so deep that it threatened to set my blood alight, ran through my body. Goosebumps rose up my arm. His now gold-flecked eyes shifted from my face to the hand he held, noting the physical response to his
Stoicheio
. The woman watched on with mild curiosity. Her partner's behaviour was not a surprise, he'd already warned her. She knew he was testing my control.

"Tell me," I said, cocking my head to the side to hide the frantic beating of my pulse at the base of my neck. My words were slightly breathy. "If it is considered an attack for me to use my
Stoicheio
, what am I to make of this?"

The man, Damon, stood upright and released my hand as though it was something foul.

"If you choose to entertain such a creature, Theo, do not be alarmed if your position is challenged. Many here believe you have lost your mind with this enterprise. The
Rigas
has refused to pass comment, letting the masses decide your fate. You would risk all you have worked for with this impertinent
Gi?
"

I expected Theo to defend me, but he didn't.

"The dare is to tame her, Damon. The prize is defiling one of their most treasured possessions." I told myself it was an act. I knew in my mind, that is
was
an act. But I couldn't stop my heart from plummeting. I caught myself before a reaction could show.

It was an act.

It was an act.

No, repetition didn't work.

The man returned his now hazel eyes to my face.

"She is royal?"

"She has not confirmed it, but her control of her
Stoicheio
would lead me to believe such."

Why would he say that? Surely it would cause more speculation, increase the chance of danger for me. What would making them believe I am royal do? I couldn't fathom it. It made no sense. Theo made no sense at all.

"Well, then. I shall await with eager anticipation your success."

"As do I," Theo said with a bow, moving us past the couple.

I didn't get a chance to whisper a query or to figure that last interaction out in my head. We were assailed by another equally judgemental couple. This time Theo didn't repeat I was
Gi
royalty, he just blatantly said I was worth every moment of discomfort, as my performance was unparalleled.

Oh sweet agony. It was an act. It had to be. But with another and then another disparaging comment, I felt the weight of all Aktor's millennia on my shoulders and in my heart. I'd known that I would need to be strong to endure this evening, I just hadn't realised that I wasn't strong enough. I'd tried. I'd held my head up high, I'd made that pointed comment to Damon, but as the evening progressed, and one after another, after another, after another of Theo's equals brought out more and more snide remarks, fuelling Theo's heart shattering responses, I was drowned.

I took my last breath in and felt only crushing water in my lungs.

My eyes blurred with the need to shed a tear, or turn green, I'm not sure. To not be able to fight back, when countless
Pyrkagia
tried to push my buttons with their
Stoicheio
, was sheer hell. I wasn't sure if I could forgive Theo for putting me through this. Was it really necessary to bring me so low? Is this what he meant by breaking me, moulding me into compliance? I was agreeable, shattered but standing beside him without any fire in my belly at all.

This was a cruel world. And I did not like it.

"Theo," someone called and I didn't bother to lift my head from its angle, staring blindly at the floor. "Theo!" the woman shouted out again. A breath of air escaped through my noise forcefully. Even when numb I was capable of differentiating a female's voice from a male's.

"Isadora? When did you get back?" Theo sounded happy. I lifted my head.

My eyes rose in time to see a woman lean in and kiss Theo on the lips. His arm left mine and he gripped her shoulders, returning the kiss briefly.

"Why didn't you tell me your were home?" Theo asked.

She laughed in answer, obviously pleased to see him. When she pulled back her eyes ran over his face, chest, then she leaned back further and let her gaze take all of him in. Gold flashed across her hazel eyes.

The numbness receded.

"I've only just landed. Came straight here to see everyone. Tell me, what's been happening while I've been gone?"

Theo glanced at me. What was that look on his face? Regret?

"First you," he said, returning his attention to the woman, who on closer inspection, was utterly gorgeous. Of course she was.

"I'll be giving my update to the council tomorrow. I gather you'll be attending?" she said, her eyes having never left him yet. I wasn't sure if she knew I was even there.

"Ah," Theo said. "I'm taking a break from politics right now."

She frowned delicately. "Why? You're the
Rigas'
right hand man. You need to be there for this brief. Things are progressing much faster than we predicted."

"Tell me," he said, sounding entirely too caught up in the conversation now.

"Not here," she replied, "and besides, I can't divulge anything until the
Rigas
is made aware. Even to you, my love."

And if I had any belief I'd survive this evening, it just shattered beyond repair.

"Well," Theo said with a smile that I knew was false bravado at its best. It seemed I'd gotten to know Theo in a short amount of time too. I searched to see if the woman could pick up what I had seen in that smile. She hadn't, her eyes were now on me.

She interrupted Theo by asking, "Who is your plaything?" Ouch.

"Isadora, this is Cassandra," Theo said, a little awkwardly I thought.

"You didn't tell me you were entertaining a human while I was gone." Isadora didn't sound awkward, she sounded hurt. She also hadn't heard the rumours.

My eyes flicked to Theo's, his were on Isadora’s face. He looked a little sad.

"Dora," he said, voice soft and barely audible. His nickname for her so intimate. I didn't need any
Stoicheio
to make my face heat. Her gaze shifted back. A smile as false as the one Theo had worn graced her lovely lips.

"It's all right, darling. I understand. I was gone for such a long term, this time. When you have had your fill, you know where to find me."

I blinked in shock. No way in hell could I be so forgiving of someone, who was obviously very close to me, cheating. Not that Theo was cheating on her with me. Well, he kind of was, but not entirely, not all the way. We'd only kissed. And I was living in his house. And he had been ostracised by his father, the King, for four weeks in order to have me. Nothing really.

Right.

"What is your name, child?" Isadora,
Dora,
said, a brave countenance on her face. She'd obviously not heard Theo's introduction, I decided to stick with his name for me, he seemed to want everyone to call me that.

"Cassandra," I said, surprised to note compassion in my voice for the woman.

She blinked slowly. "You know some of our world, if Theodoros has brought you here this evening."

I nodded.

"Isadora," Theo tried to interrupt, but she held a delicate hand up to stall him. I noticed it shook slightly.