Guardian of the Earth House (20 page)

Tessie living in the human realm, working in bars and restaurants, always keeping a low profile.  Tessie watching fireworks in a Civil War era hoopskirt on the 4
th
of July.  Tessie pouring drinks in a speakeasy.  Tessie playing a very old version of Monopoly with Parson, of the Wood House.  Both of them were blatantly cheating and neither seemed to mind.

Then, the scene shifted and Job was in Mayport Beach.  It was night time, but Job recognized the bright paint colors and towering palm trees swaying in the Gulf breeze.  All the cars were at least twenty-five years old in this memory and, instead of near the bungalows in the center of town, it was taking place in a trailer park right on the beach.  The residents had some incredible views.  Job could see out into the ocean and, in the ocean, he could see the reflection of flames.

One of the mobile homes was on fire.

“Tess!”  Job automatically shouted her name as he headed towards the blaze.  The entire structure was burning, orange flames twisting up into the sky.  Some instinct had him turning towards the far side of the trailer, which faced the water.  His eyes frantically scanned for her.

Something moved in the shadows and Job realized that people were watching the inferno… And not all of them were human.

Air Phases were milling around like circling vultures.  What the hell were they doing here?  This memory had to be years before the Fall. Years before Ty renounced Parald.  Years before Parald even rose to power.  How long had Kay been working with that bastard?  Ever since Tessie locked her in the Air Kingdom, Kay must have been looking for an ally and Parald was a greedy son-of-a-bitch.  It wouldn’t have taken much for Kay to dazzle him with tales of the Tablets.

“Tess!”  Job called, again.  He still didn’t see her.  Job’s high polished shoes sank into the sand as he raced along.  In the distance, he could hear the wail of sirens and he assumed that someone had called the fire department.  Damn it.  Where was Tessie?  This was her memory so she had to be here somewhere.

And then he finally spotted her.

Tessie was on the beach, dragging something away from the flames and from the Elementals.

Parson.

Shit.

This had to be the night that Parson died.  Job increased his speed so he could catch up to her, his heart in his throat.  Tessie was a blonde in this memory, her hair cut in a super curly bob accented with a floppy scarf bow.  She wore shredded jeans and a denim jacket over a faded
General Hospital
t-shirt.  Mascara streaked down her cheeks.

Tessie was crying.

He could see the tears cutting through the soot on her face as she silently wept.  Job felt his heart crack at the sight.  “God, Tess.”

Tessie wasn’t making much progress in the loose sand with the added weight of Parson.  He was completely deadweight.  In fact, he looked… dead.  It took a lot to kill an Elemental, but Parson was already too far gone to save.  Job liked Parson.  He always had.  But, at the at the risk of Tessie, then there was no choice.

“Sweetheart.”  Job glanced back towards the fire, where he knew the Air Phases were still waiting to pounce, and willed her to hear him.  “You can’t save Parson, now.  You have to leave him and run.”

Parson made a low, groaning sound.

“Parse?”  Tessie stopped pulling and dropped to her knees beside him in the sand.  “Parse?  Can you hear me?”

“Ann?”  Parson’s voice was barely audible over the waves and the sirens and the roar of the flames.  “Ann?”

“No.  It’s Tessie.”  She wiped a hand over her eyes. Ann had to be Parson’s Match.  According to Uriel, the woman had died along with Parson in the fire.  “Ann’s… fine, Parse.  She’s fine.  You just relax and I’m gonna take care of you.”

“Tessie.”  Parson gave a weak cough.  “You… safe?”

“Yes, I’m safe.  I wasn’t at your house.  I just saw the fire from my place.”  Tessie glanced back at the mobile homes and Job deduced that she must’ve lived next door to Parson.  Her eyes went to a silver Airstream trailer that was already being threatened by the flames.  “I should have been faster, though.  I should have been faster.”  She ran a hand through her hair and swallowed.  “Okay, we need to focus and get you some help.  Do Phases have doctors?  How do I find one?”

“Too late.”  Parson rasped.

“It’s too late, sweetheart.”  Job agreed.  He moved so he could keep a closer eye on the Air Phases.  They hadn’t spotted Tessie, yet.  But, it was only a matter of time, since she was exposed on the open beach.  She had to get out of there, even if Parson couldn’t.

“No, it’s not too late!”  She snapped.  “You told me there are healers in the Elemental realm.  I’m sure you did.  Who’s the most powerful?  Freya, of the Cold House or something, right?  I remember that, now.  I can jump us to her…”

“Too late.”  Parson whispered, again.  “Go.”  He lifted one hand and made a futile effort to push her away.  “Go, Tessie.”

“I’m not going to leave you here, you idiot.”  Tessie’s eyes skimmed over Parson’s extensively damaged body as if looking for a place to start bandaging wounds or applying pressure.

It was useless.

Parson was such a charred mess that his clothes were burned into the skin.  His flesh was blackened and cooked down to the bone in some places.  Even with just the moonlight and the glow of the fire for illumination, Job could see that Parson’s injuries were far beyond anything that even Freya could heal.

Tessie let out a shaky breath, like she knew it was hopeless, too.  Moving a conscious Parson was even more impossible than when he’s been deadweight.  Now that he was awake, just touching Parson would be excruciatingly painful.  Dragging him any further across the beach would be like taking sandpaper to his raw flesh.  And the saltwater touching Parson’s open wounds would be unbearable if she got him too much closer to the ocean.

Parson was stuck there.

“Tess.”  Job crouched down next to her.  “You’ve done all you can.  You have to go before…”

“When your prey decides to take a timeout and enjoy a moonlit stroll on the beach, it really does diminish the thrill of the chase.”  Gion suddenly drawled.  “Honestly, Parson, you’ve been retired for far too long.  You’re not making this fun for them.”

Job stood up, instinctively drawing power to him as Gion came closer.  Job didn’t think he could actually fight Gion inside Tessie’s memory, but he was willing to try.

Gion looked the same as always. Tall. Arrogant. Cape.  Twenty-five years was the equivalent of a long weekend to most Phases.  So, there really shouldn’t be many changes between this past Gion and the provoking bastard who’d caused the scene back at the courthouse.

Still, there was
something
different about him.  Maybe the changes had occurred too slowly for Job to notice in real time.  But, rewinding and observing Gion like this, Job could see subtle shifts between the guy’s past and present selves.  This Gion in Tessie’s memories was… colder.

Gion was
always
cold, but something must’ve happened between then and now to thaw him a little bit.  This Gion looked like someone who’d rather swallow shredded glass than lower himself to feel anything.  Modern Gion did to, of course, but to a
slightly
lesser extent.

Nice to know that he was growing as a Phase.

Job hadn’t really considered it before, but having emotions seemed like an oddly positive trait for Gion.  The Air Phase hid it, but Job was so strong that he could feel the small changes in Gion’s energy as his moods shifted.  You couldn’t be a total sociopath if you felt something.  Parald, for instance, never gave off any low grade emotional energy. Parald was empty.  Gion wasn’t, no matter what he might pretend.

Tessie moved so she was between Gion and Parson’s prone form.  “Who the hell are you?”  She was still kneeling in the sand, but she glowered up at him fiercely.  “If you come near Parson, I swear to God, I’ll make you sorry.”

Gion blinked as if he hadn’t realized she was there.  “Who the hell are
you
?  I thought you were…”  He trailed off as he spotted Parson.  “Shit.”

Genuine surprise filtered through Gion’s voice.  He hadn’t expected Parson to be seriously hurt.  Gion glanced back towards the fire and swore, again.  “Fucking cowards.”

“They did something to the fire so that Parson couldn’t put it out.”  Tessie glowered up at Gion, obviously willing to blame him for Parson’s condition.  “What did they do?”

“I don’t know.  I wasn’t invited to their evil brainstorming session.  I just heard something about Parson and…”  He trailed off.  “I screwed up.  I wasn’t fast enough.”

The other Air Phases were making more noise as they searched.

Gion’s powers swelled to a tornadic level.  The strong spirals of Air collected sand and piled it like a barrier behind him.  It only took a few seconds for Tessie and Parson to be completely hidden from the mobile home park’s view by a small hill.

Gion didn’t seem to notice the incredible expenditure of energy that it must’ve taken, especially since Gion had shielded the spike of power from the searchers.  “Parson.”  He stood over the wounded man and frowned.  “You need to get to your feet and keep moving.  Lying there is unacceptable.”

Job’s eye brows soared.  That was incredible.  Not Gion’s callousness in suggesting that a mortally injured man was just being lazy or stupid for not jogging off to safety.  No, that was classic Gion sensitivity.  But, was Gion trying to… help?  However misguided and cold, was he trying undermine the Air House in favor of Parson?  Why?

“Are you insane?”  Tessie snapped at Gion.  “He can’t move.  He’s
hurt
, you asshole.”

“He’ll be dead if the others find him.”  Gion said pitilessly.  “You really need to go, human.  I’ll jump Parson back to the Wood Kingdom, but you need to get out of here.”

Job was shocked.  Since when did Gion give good advice?  Since when did Gion help Wood Phases?

Gion’s father had been a Wood Phase, but, as far as Job knew, Gion had never shown any particular fondness for the House.  Or for
any
House, really.  Job certainly hadn’t known that Gion cared for Parson, although the man had raised Gion for most of his childhood.  Parson must’ve been the only person alive that Gion gave a damn about, though.

Job blinked.

Amazing.  Gion just didn’t seem like the sentimental type.

“Who are you?”  Tessie repeated, still not trusting Gion.  Job had always known that she was an intelligent woman.  “You’re one of the Air Phases, right?  Why do you want Parson to get away?”

“Because, I’m a hero.”  Gion sneered.  “In about two minutes, it’ll be too late.  Trust me,
run
.  Standing in the middle of this fight is a bad place to be, human.”

“Not… human.”  Parson put-in weakly.

“Oh, fuck.”  Job wasn’t given to casual swearing, but he couldn’t quite hold back the word.  “Parson, shut the hell up.”  It wasn’t right to shout at a dying man, but telling Gion about the Quintessence was just a really bad idea.

Tessie apparently thought so, too.  “Parse…”

“Well, she’s not Elemental.”  Gion interrupted.  “Human does seem like the most likely option.  But, I’m not in the mood to play, ‘guess the species’ and, really, what does it matter?”  He looked down at his platinum wristwatch, even though Job doubted that he could see the dial in the darkness.  “You have about ninety seconds, woman.”

Job had no idea where Parson found the strength, but Wood Phases were trained to be warriors; to fight through pain and focus on a goal.  Parson somehow surged into a sitting position and seized Gion’s other wrist.  “You… now… Gion.  You… watch her, now.”

“Oh, hell no!”  Tessie exploded.  “Parson,
no
.  Just let me jump you to the…”

“Watch her do what?”  Gion interrupted.  He didn’t shake Parson’s hand off of him, but he didn’t look happy at the contact.  He glanced over his shoulder, again, and then sighed in frustration.  “We have a minute, maybe less.”

“Watch… the Quintessence.  You’re the… only one… who can.”

Job felt his jaw drop as he realized where this was going.  Tessie had said that there was usually an Elemental watching the Quintessence and that the outgoing guard picked a successor… But,
Gion
? 
Gion
was the one Parson had passed his duties, too?  Job wouldn’t have trusted him to care for a cinderblock.

“The Quintessence.”  Gion repeated skeptically.  “Yes, I’ll absolutely keep my eyes on it for you.  I’ll watch Elvis and the Maltese Falcon, as well.”

“Thank you.”  Parson wheezed.  “Watch her.  Know…you can be…
better
… than… you are, Gion.”

“Uh-huh.  Well, I try to be a good boy for Santa, too, then.”

“God, you’re annoying.”  Tessie wiped another hand over her wet cheeks and petted Parson’s burnt hair.  “Ignore him, Parse.  I’ll be fine.  Just please don’t move around.  Lay down back before you hurt yourself even worse.”

Parson leaned back in her arms, releasing his hold on Gion and focusing on Tessie with a deep relief.  “Okay, now.  It’s okay, baby. Safe.  He’ll… be a good man.”