Treasure of the Fire Kingdom (The Elemental Phases Book 4) (20 page)

Unless
she hadn’t paid for it.

By
now, everyone in the Cloudland knew she was Kingu’s woman.  All Hope would have
to do is walk into the shop, ask for something, and the Phases would know to
hand it over, no questions asked.  None of them would risk Kingu’s wrath.  They
probably wouldn’t even add it to his tab.  Not that he ever
paid
the
tab, because why should he?  But, still, he liked the idea of Hope eating the
food he provided, even if it was by reputation alone.

Kingu
snapped his fingers and a new scoop of strawberry ice cream appeared on top of
her sugar cone.  With rainbow sprinkles.  Hope seemed like a rainbow sprinkles
kind of girl.

She
blinked at it in surprise and then cast a suspicious glance towards Zakkery’s
front windows.  Kingu arched a brow at her through the glass.

She
scowled at him and very deliberately slammed the ice cream down on top of
Zakkery’s mailbox.  It stuck to the roof of the curved silver box, upside down
and dripping down the sides.

“Great.” 
Zakkery muttered.  “Are you gonna clean that up?”

“No.”

Hope
looked triumphant.  She added an exuberant checkmark to her clipboard and
marched off, ponytail bouncing.

Kingu
sighed, his eyes trailing after her with undisguised longing.  Obviously, he’d
have no problem avoiding her for the rest of the evening.  Given her mood, she
wouldn’t want to be anywhere near him.

Damn
it.

“Yeah,
you definitely pissed her off.”  Zakkery mused.

“Brilliant
analysis.”  Staying away from her for his own protection was already grating on
Kingu.  He wanted to go after her and offer her whatever she desired if she’d
just forgive him for not falling for her seduction ruse.

What
would make Hope happy, again?  Ice cream clearly wasn’t going to work.  She
said she didn’t want a unicorn or a new realm.  What could he get her that
would make her want to stay with him?

“It
must be hard, though.”

“What?”

“Well,
you could hold that girl still with one finger.  Your powers could crush her,
without even trying.”  Zakkery kept his eyes on Hope’s retreating back.  “She’s
your captive and you can do
anything
to her.  Make her submit to any
twisted, dirty picture in your mind.  She is totally, utterly under your
control.”  He glanced up at him and smirked like he could read Kingu’s deepest
thoughts.  “But, you still can’t make her smile at you, can ya?”

“Fuck
off.”

Zakkery
chuckled.  “Yep.  That’s the thing about women.  You can steal
a lot
from them, but the shit that matters
--
everything that would make them
yours
--
they have to
give
.  No other way to get it.”

“The
woman’s already mine.”

“Not
yet, she’s not.”  Zakkery corrected.  “And you know it, don’t ya?  That’s why
you’re so worried about this soul mate.  She’s tiny and you’re huge.  You’re
powerful and she’s weak.  You can force her into your home and keep her there. 
Tie her up and take her body.  But, in the end, it’ll mean nothing.”  He leaned
closer to Kingu.  “The man she goes to willingly, stays with willingly, climbs
into bed with because she
wants
to be there…
That’s
the one she
belongs to.”

Kingu’s
jaw clenched.  “Fuck. 
Off.
”

Zakkery
pulled back, looking smug.  “So, before I leave this God awful kingdom forever,
let me offer you one last dating tip:  You wanna know about women who matter? 
Forget Hope’s soul mate.  Forget her dastardly schemes to get you naked. 
Forget her being human and all the rest of it.  To get that girl to be yours,
you’d better start thinking about how to get her to smile at you.”

Creatures
of the element,

That in
the colours of the rainbow live,

And play
i’ the plighted clouds.

John
Milton- “Comus, a Mask”

Much
to Hope’s disappointment, the Banished Phases weren’t plotting to take over the
world.  She’d spent the afternoon investigating their behavior and patterns,
and found nothing but a bunch a people who were terrified by any mention of
Job.  And of the Council.  And of Galen.  And of Kingu.

And
of her.

Hope
wasn’t used to being feared.  It was actually sort of flattering to see them
duck for cover as she past. 
Finally
she was being treated like a real
Fire Phase.  Her family would’ve been proud, even though she wouldn’t be
heroically stopping an invasion any time soon.  The Banished Phases really were
kind of a letdown when it came to evilness.

Galen,
of the Stone House was the man in charge of things and everyone seemed to hate
him.  Most of them were terrified that he’d have his soldiers arrest them and
toss them in prison if they spoke their discontent too loudly, though.  So,
they mainly they just sat in bars and whined about how everybody was out to get
them.  Everyone with a backbone had already been locked up in that plastic
jail.

Damn
it, why was it always so hard to find worthy adversaries?  Hope rolled her eyes
as two Electricity Phases scampered across the street to avoid her.

Maybe
Djinn was right and the Fire House should just start
hiring
enemies to
fight.

In
addition to the innumerable bars and gambling houses, the Banished Phases had
also set up a general store, two places that she suspected were brothels and an
ice cream shop.  What kind of lame ass super-villains had an
ice cream shop?
 
She was going to have to think of a new way to pass the time here, because
these nimrods were clearly not a threat to the galaxy.

Still,
since she’d dropped her first cone and then impetuously ruined the strawberry
one Kingu had created for her, Hope didn’t have much of a choice but to backtrack
to the shop for third try.  Since it was his fault she’d been so angry, she had
no qualms about charging it to Kingu’s account, either.  Served him right.

Hope
heard several patrons whisper, “It’s the monster’s woman,” as she ordered her
dessert, but no one came up to her.  Heck, she didn’t even have to wait in
line.  The perks of infamy just went on and on.

The
Cold Phase behind the counter handed her an ice cream come without even a whisper
of protest.  His nametag read “Fort.”  Unlike most of the Banished Phases, he
didn’t seem terrified to the point of running.  His ice blue eyes were wide and
curious.  “Is it true you killed five gladiators?”  He asked in respectful awe.

“I
only killed three, but I
defeated
five.”  Precision on victories was
always important.

“And
now you belong to the monster?”

“The
monster belongs to me.”  Another topic where accuracy was key.

Fort
swallowed, visibly gathering his nerve.  “Is Job coming to help you kill us?” 
He blurted out.

“What? 
No!”  Hope scoffed.  “First of all, I wouldn’t need his help if I was going to
kill you.  I’m a warrior.  And secondly, Job would never hurt anyone.  He’s
like the Elementals’ Papa Smurf.”  She looked around the shop and found most of
the customers eavesdropping on the conversation with various degrees of
suspicion.  “Job gave amnesty to the
Air Phases
.”  She pointed out in a
louder tone.  “He’d
certainly
forgive any Banished Phase that came back
to the Council, too.  I guarantee it.”

“How
can you be sure?”  Someone called out.

“Because
I’ve known him since I was a little girl.  Since the Fall, all he cares about
is rebuilding our world.”  There wasn’t a doubt in Hope’s mind that Job would
be thrilled to find more Phases, criminals or not.  “We’re starting over.  All
the barriers are down.  All the laws are changing.  Phases are going to the
human realm to look for Matches and Job is a hundred percent behind it!”  She
shook her head.  “Whatever crimes you people committed, nobody cares anymore.  When
Job looks at you, all he’s going to see is another warm body between us and
extinction.  You don’t have to stay under Galen’s thumb.  You can come
home
.”

She
saw several Phases blink back tears at the very idea.

Hope
looked out over the ice cream shop patrons and realized that her words were
going to be spread around the Cloudland within minutes.  Everyone was paying
rapt attention.  They all wanted to go back to their own Houses.

“Give
the Council a chance and they will offer you all amnesty.”  She assured them. 
“I promise, Job, of the Earth House is fair and you can trust him.  And if he
does
screw you over… how much worse off can you really be?”  Lifting her shoulder in
a shrug, Hope left the ice cream shop.

Given
time, she knew the Banished Phases would see she was right.  And in the
meantime, maybe she could pass the time with some other good deeds.  Balancing
the replacement for her replacement ice cream cone in one hand and her
clipboard in the other, she frowned down at the map she stolen from Kingu’s
library.

Alright,
since preserving the universe from an invasion Banished Phases was a bust, who
else could she heroically save?  Hope’s gaze fell on the picture of the jail
where they’d kept her earlier.  Where they kept
all
the
prisoners/gladiators/interesting people…

“I’d
have thought Kingu would have killed you by now.”

Hope’s
head snapped around to see Galen standing beside her.  Mr.
I-Am-The-Law-Of-The-Cloudland looked as cheery as ever.  He was seriously
pissed she’d survived her execution and not even bothering to hide it as he
glowered down at her.

“Kingu
would never harm me.”  She said with absolute confidence.  “I’m his destiny.”

Galen
expression somehow got even darker.  “You’re nothing but a dirty human whore
who’s beguiled him.  Even someone as stupid as that oaf will see through your
lies, though.  It’s just a matter of time.”

“Really?” 
Hope took a step closer to him and smirked.  “Then why do you look so worried?”

“I
heard you in there, trying to incite a riot among my people.  Trying to get
them to trust Job, when he’s the one who Banished most of us.  I don’t know
what your game is, but I won’t allow you to endanger my kingdom.”

“
Your
kingdom?”  She looked pointedly at the olive streak at his temple that marked
him as a Stone Phase.  “Did I miss the part where you converted to the Cloud
House?”

“I’ve
claimed this land for all the Banished men and women the Council wrongfully
expelled over the years.”  He loomed over her like he expected her to be
bullied.  “I don’t care what kind of powers you’re hiding, I won’t see my work
ruined by you or that deformed reptile you’re fucking.”

Someone
really should have told him that Fire Phases didn’t intimidate easy.

Rule
number eighty-one of being a Fire Phase: When someone threatens you, it just
means you’re doing something right.

Hope’s
eyes narrowed and her third ice cream of the day bit the dust.  Without even
stopping to think about it, she slammed the cone into Galen’s stupid, fussy
uniform.  All around them, the Banished Phases who’d been covertly watching the
exchange burst into laughter.

“Shit!” 
Galen leapt back, ineffectually wiping at the dripping mess on his shirtfront.

“Say
another word about Kingu.”  Hope got right in his face.  “I dare you.”

Galen
was thrown off balance by her refusal to back down.  He actually retreated a
step in confused alarm.  Obviously, most of the Banished Phases were easier to
strong-arm than Hope.  “You have no idea who you’re dealing…”

“No,
you
have no idea who you’re dealing with.”  Hope interrupted.  “I have a
humongous god on my side and don’t even
need
to call him in to beat you
senseless.  I can do it
myself
, if you push me.”  She gave his shoulder
a taunting shove.  “You saw what I did in that gladiator ring and I wasn’t even
trying.  Push me and I’ll show you what my House does to wormy little assholes
who are stupid enough to get in our way.”

Galen’s
face was bright red in humiliation.  “
I
am the leader of this kingdom
and
no one
treats me this way.”

“You’re
not the leader of
anything
.  You have all these people trapped here,
terrified of the Council because you want them under your control.  Well, guess
what?  As soon as I get home, I am going tell Job
alllll
about this
place and how you tried to kill me.  Then he’s going to come here.  He’s going
to save all your ‘followers’ from you and there’s not a damn thing you can do
about it.”

“Yes,
there is.”  Galen hissed.  “I can make sure you never
get
home.”

“Hope? 
Are you alright?”

She
glanced over and saw Kingu pushing his way through the crowd that had
gathered.  “I’m fine.”  She stepped back from Galen and waved an unconcerned
hand at him.  “You can go, now.  Unless you want to threaten me some more in
front of the really pissed off monster who’d kill for me.”

Galen’s
mouth thinned in hatred, but he went stalking off through the snickering mass
of Phases around them.

Asshole.

Hope
dismissed him from her mind and turned to Kingu.  “I’m still not speaking to
you.”  She informed him.

Kingu
didn’t seem to care.  “What did Galen want?  Did he hurt you?”  His red gaze scanned
her body for injuries.

“Of
course not.”  Hope rolled her eyes.  “You think I’d let myself get hurt by
someone so lame?”

One
large hand came over like Kingu wanted to touch her hair and then he let it
drop.  Kingu cleared his throat.  “Galen is sneaky and dangerous.  Don’t go
near him, alright?  In fact, I should probably just go kill him, right now.”

That
was sweet, but Hope refused to be taken in.  “I’m not speaking to you, no
matter what romantic things you say.”  She reiterated firmly.  “I can handle
Galen, so just leave him alone.  The guy’s a coward who’s been given a tiny bit
of power and uses it like a club.  He’s not even worthy of a real warrior’s
attention.”

“If
you weren’t dignifying him with your attention, why did he just leave here
covered in ice cream?  I’m pretty sure that’s your calling card.”

“He
said something that annoyed me.”

“What
did he say?”  Kingu still seemed convinced he should just go slaughter the guy.

Hope
made a face.  “Nothing.”  She muttered.

He
wasn’t letting it go.  “Was it something about you?”

“No.”

Kingu
hesitated at her grouchy tone.  “Wait… something about
me?
”  He
translated incredulously.  “Hope, tell me you didn’t get into an argument with
an armed idiot because he insulted me.”

“I’m
not telling you anything, because
I’m not speaking to you.
”

He
ignored that.  “Jesus Hope, you
did
, didn’t you?  Why?  Do you think I
care what Galen says about me?”

Actually,
yes.  She
did
think he cared.  Not about Galen’s opinion particularly,
but about how people as a whole treated him.  Kingu was lonely and mistreated
and…  Damn it, she was
not
going to forgive him, yet.  Not until he
apologized.

“I’m
going to go buy another ice cream.”  She grumbled and headed back towards the
shop.  “Well, actually
you’re
buying it.  I’m charging it to your
account.  Deal with it.”

“Hope?”

She
turned back to him, feeling put upon.

Kingu’s
eyes met hers.  “Thank you.”  He said softly.  “It was a stupid thing to do,
but no one’s ever tried to defend me before.  It was… nice of you.”  He looked
sincerely touched and kind of amazed that anybody would stick up for him.

“I
didn’t do it to be
nice
.”  Fire Phases never did anything to be
nice
.

“Then,
why did you do it?”

“You’re
a smart guy.  You figure it out.  And when you do,
maybe
I’ll speak to
you, again.”  Sighing loudly at his baffled expression, Hope headed back into
the ice cream store.

This
time she was going to sit perfectly still and eat the damn cone right there in
the shop.