Treasure of the Fire Kingdom (The Elemental Phases Book 4) (14 page)

“Oh,
I know you’re a monster.”  Hope readily agreed.  “Speaking of which… you don’t
have any other woman here, right?”

“No.” 
He muttered.  So she still saw him as monster.  Wonderful.

“Are
you planning to
get
any more?”

He
snorted.  “No.”  Hell, it had taken him forever to even find one woman.  Now
that he finally had Hope, Kingu had no intention of ever going through this
ordeal, again.  Truthfully, he didn’t even
want
another woman.  All he’d
ever wanted was
his
woman and now that he’d found her, he didn’t see the
point in shopping for any others.  “I think I’ll have my hands full with just
you.”

She
appeared content with that answer.  “Good.  To avoid future problems, maybe we
should talk about our love lives and clear up any misconceptions.”

“I
don’t have a love life.”  Kingu said flatly.

“Me
neither.”

They
stared at each other.

Encouraged,
Kingu pressed on.  “What about a Match?”  All Phases had those.  One day, some
useless Elemental might lock onto Hope’s energy like a parasite and connect
with her in ways that Kingu would never be able to touch.

Until
Kingu beheaded the bastard.

Which
he absolutely would.

“Oh,
I don’t have a Match.  Probably not, anyway.  Although, my grandfather said
that…”  Hope paused and then crossed over to sit on the bed, looking a bit
cagey.  “Well, I’ll tell you about that later.”

“Very
well.”  Her grandfather was still a loaded topic so soon after the bracelet
incident.  Kingu was more than willing to not discuss whatever great wisdom
that do-gooder had imparted.

“So,”
Hope cleared her throat, “Zakkery said you don’t have a Match, either.”

Kingu
tried not to watch the black silk sheets slide against Hope legs as she hopped
up onto the mattress.  Well, no.  Actually, he
didn’t
try.  At all.  He
unabashedly studied the soft pink flesh peeking through the shredded remnants
of her rainbow colored tights.  Then his eyes reached the plastic restraint on
her ankle and he looked away in self-loathing.

“Kingu?”

“Gods
don’t have Matches.”  That was true, but also an evasion.  Matches were an exclusively
Elemental phenomena, but gods had
mates
.  Kingu was sure of that.  Every
species had someone to share their lives with.  Kingu didn’t belong to any
normal taxonomic classifications, though.   There was no “other half” waiting
for him out there, because he was never supposed to exist, at all.

Created
not born.

However
he was connected to Hope, it wasn’t because of destiny or Gaia linking them. 
It was just because his powers told him she was
his
.

“You
know, you shouldn’t give up hope.”

Kingu’s
mouth curved into a cruel smile at her encouraging words.  “Believe me.  I
won’t.”  Now that he had Hope, he was never giving her up.  Even if he did have
to keep her at his side with a plastic manacle.

Monster
.

“Good. 
Because Tessie, of the Earth House isn’t an Elemental, but she still Phazed
with Job.”  Hope nodded earnestly.  “She was his Match.  He could feel it.  And
that that was enough to let them Phaze, even though she was a whole different…
thing.  Whatever Tessie is.  I don’t know.  Divine being, I guess.”

Divine
being his ass.  His bitch of an aunt had locked him in the fucking Air Kingdom
with his psychotic mother for
twelve hundred years
.  “Tessie’s mostly
just a human.”  He snapped.

Hope
flinched at his tone.  “Do you not like humans?  Or people who are maybe just
–like-- part human?”  Her voice was hesitant.

Kingu
regarded her like she was crazy.  “No, I don’t like humans.”

What
kind of question was that?  What was there to like about that mass of teaming
bacteria?  Plus, the fucking Babylonians had killed him off in all their myths
and Kingu was still holding a grudge.

Anyway,
the
last
thing he wanted to talk about was his aunt.  Hope apparently
didn’t know that Kingu and Tessie were related, and he’d just as soon keep it
that way.  Kingu was sure to be the bad guy in any stories the Phases told. 
The Quintessence probably had all sorts of heroic tales about how she planned
to slay him and save all the little children of the world.

Kingu
didn’t want Hope to know
anything
about his past.

Hope
was back to watching him worriedly, again.  So, Kingu figured he’d better get
the conversation on safe ground.  “Explain why you can’t have a Match.”  Maybe
not casual small talk material, but he needed to know.

It
still seemed likely that she was holding out for some Phase in shining armor to
come and rescue her from the dragon.  Even though he’d just gotten through
telling himself that it didn’t
matter
if she loved another, because
Kingu was the one who physically possessed her… it was already pissing him off,
thinking about Hope longing for another man.

“Because,
I’m jinxed.”

He
hadn’t been expecting that answer.  “Jinxed?”

“I
have bad luck.  Really.  It’s good that I’m warning you now, so you’ll be
prepared.  Strange things just happen to me.”

Finally
,
he believed she was telling the truth about something.  “Like gladiator
fights?”

“Yeah. 
And getting locked in jail by Banished Phases.  And sometimes there are –you
know-- walls falling down and crushing people, or bats attacking, or… birth
defects.”  Hope ducked her eyes as if she was embarrassed.  “I was born wrong. 
That’s why the doctors all said I will probably never have a Match.  Not enough
energy to Phaze with another Elemental and so,” she shrugged, “no Match.”

Kingu’s
powers gave another satisfied purr, latching onto the last part first.  So she
couldn’t
Phaze with one of those pathetic males.

Good.

Still,
it surprised him that Hope would think she was somehow flawed.  Her soul was a
like a deep, clear pool of crystal blue.  She was so… pretty.  So vibrant and
alive.  How could she consider herself
wrong?

Kingu
had assumed that the other Phases cared for Hope, because of her soft, pampered
exterior.  But, maybe he’d been giving those morons too much credit.  Maybe
they rejected her because she lacked their laughable “powers.”  Maybe the other
Color Phases were malicious little bastards who tormented her for being
different.

Empathy
filled him, quickly followed by anger.  Kingu knew what it was to be different.
 To be ridiculed and hated.  Normal society despised anyone who didn’t fit the
mold.  Hope was definitely unique, so perhaps the vast mob of mindless Phases
resented her. 
Of course
they would, given their own dull limitations
and her… sparkle.

Rationally,
it was pointless to be so livid on Hope’s behalf.  He knew that.  No matter
what she’d endured, Kingu had surely faced worse in his countless lifetimes. 
But still, the fury didn’t abate.  Imagining Hope facing the kind of cruelty
that existed in the world…

No. 
Unacceptable.

“Do
the rest of your people ostracize you?”  Another question with no right
answer.  If Hope didn’t fit in with the Phases, it might be easier for her to
transition into her new life without them.  Which was good.  But if those
insects
had
shunned her, he was going to have to hunt down the offenders
and end their pitiful little lives.

No
one was allowed to hurt this girl.  Her earlier tears still ate at him.

“Oh,
no!  My family never treated me like a freak.”

“You
love these people?”

“Of
course I do.  They’ll be upset that I’m missing, but they’ll understand. 
Anyone in my family would be reacting this way if they found someone like you
waiting for them.”

Of
course they would.  Any Color Phase would be terrified of a monster and willing
to submit to his demands.

Hope
nodded almost to herself.  “Yeah, for right now, I know I need to stay in the
Cloudland.”

Kingu
considered explaining that “for right now” stretched into the foreseeable
centuries, but a pounding at his door interrupted him.

He
sighed in annoyance.  “Wait here.”  He already knew who was coming to bother
him and it wouldn’t take long.  Kingu stalked down the hall again, down the
stairs and into his foyer.  The fountain in the center of the floor cascaded
down in droplets of blood red poison.

Hope
had called the jagged glass water feature “elegant.”

Kingu
glanced over at his elegant waterfall of death and refused to be charmed by the
description.  Instead, threw open the door located in the portcullis and
glowered at the idiots he already knew would be waiting.

Sure
enough, Zakkery stood there a smile on his face.  “Are those wedding bells I
hear, big guy?”

Beside
him, Galen was looking seriously pissed that Hope had survived the execution. 
“You had no right to steal that woman from the arena.  She’d been judged guilty
and sentenced to death.”

“The
woman is mine.”  Kingu said flatly.  “Are you here to challenge my claim?”

Galen’s
mouth thinned.  “No, but she is clearly one of the Council’s human spies and
doesn’t belong in my kingdom.”

“The
girl is a Color Phase.  Not a human.”  Kingu stationed his body in the doorway,
forcing Zakkery and Galen to remain standing on the drawbridge outside.  No one
came into his house.  Especially, not when Hope was sitting on that bed
upstairs, looking like a damn sugary confection.  Kingu felt his hand tighten
on the edge of the doorframe, blocking the other men’s path with his arm even
as he kept his voice calm.  “Despite her Elemental heritage, I find her…
interesting.”

“Well,
before you do
whatever
to her, and probably kill the girl in the
process, I’d like to at least question her further.”

Kingu’s
lip curled into a snarl.  Her undefeated gladiatorial career aside, Hope was
fragile.  Easily broken.  There was no way he’d hand her back over to the
Banished Phases for an interrogation.

“And
I’d like a nice, bright constellation named after me, like the other gods have,
but sometimes the fates are unfair.  No one comes near my woman.  Not unless
they’d like to spend a few moments gazing at their own kidneys before the die.”

Zakkery
snorted as if that threat amused him.

Galen
ground his teeth.  “We need to discover how that
human
could best five
trained warriors.  It doesn’t seem possible without
some
kind of powers
and the woman has no discernible energy.”

Kingu
stared at him.  “You’re not listening, boy.  I already told you that my woman
is off limits.
 I
require all of her attention.”

The
way he delivered the statement basically meant, “I’ve got her naked and I’m
keeping her that way.”  It was the easiest excuse he could think of for why he
wanted the Phases to stay away.

Honestly,
he agreed with Galen’s assessment of Hope’s death match triumph.  That was the
problem.  It
wasn’t
possible for her to defeat five trained warriors. 
She’d basically just stood there while the other contestants slaughtered
themselves.

No
one had luck that good.  Certainly, not a woman who claimed to be jinxed.

When
Hope entered that arena, something had happened.  Some kind of powers had
kicked in to help her.  Since it hadn’t been
his
doing, it had to have
come from Hope herself.  The more Kingu thought about, the more certain he
became that it was the only explanation.  Hope didn’t
feel
like she had
any energy, but she possessed latent powers that Kingu didn’t understand.  And
since Kingu knew a shitload about supernatural talents that meant Hope’s gift
was rare.

Hell
if he was going to tell Galen that, though.

Kingu
wasn’t about to share his treasure.

“Can
we cut the chitchat here?”  Zakkery put in.  “Kingu, I got you what you
wanted.  Now, it’s your turn to honor the deal.”

He
wanted the necklace.

Whatever.

Kingu
reached into his suit pocket and pulled it out.  He’d taken it off his mother’s
comatose body earlier that day.  About twenty minutes after he first saw Hope,
he’d gone back to the Air Kingdom where Kay slept in undisturbed solitude… and
he’d yanked the pendant right off her neck.

In
retrospect, that should have worried him.  Until today, Kingu had been content
to let the necklace stay locked around his mother’s throat.  Then he’d been
pushed into acid by a chaotic, mismatched tornado and suddenly he’d wanted the
necklace close at hand.  In his pocket.  Ready and waiting.  Because, he’d
already known that he was going to trade it for Hope.

Kingu
could admit that, now.  He’d known from the first that she was his one.

No
price was too high to have her.