Treasure of the Fire Kingdom (The Elemental Phases Book 4) (24 page)

“Don’t
you
dare
leave her…”  Kingu cursed as the Elemental jumped away, again,
leaving the basket sitting forsaken on the steps.  He inched closer and peered
inside, already knowing what he’d find.

Hope.

She
couldn’t have been more than a day old.  She watched the silver star charm
twirl above her head and didn’t seem overly concerned about being left for dead
by her bitch of a mother.  That was okay.  Kingu was pissed enough for the both
of them.

“Fucking
hell.”

He
sat down beside the basket, no longer sure this was just a dream.  It felt an
awful lot like he was reliving something that had actually happened and that was
just infuriating.  Hope’s mother had abandoned her because she was part human? 
Did that stupid woman not see that this girl was a treasure?

He
sat there, staring at the baby for a few moments.  Against his will, he found
himself smiling down at her.

God
she was cute.

A
big man with a red streak in his beard wandered over, interrupting Kingu’s
mushy thoughts.  It appeared that the guy was a Phase and that he was stealing
the house numbers off of the buildings in the square.  There was a screwdriver
in his hand and his overall pockets overflowed with random ones, sevens, and
threes.

“Hot
damn!  A free basket!”  He said cheerily and headed over to pilfer that, too.

Kingu’s
eyes widened, afraid that Hope was about to get kidnapped by this lunatic. 
“Don’t touch her.”  He warned.

As
the lunatic drew closer, he spotted the infant curled up in the basket and his
maniacal grin grew wider.  “Hot damn!  Free baby!”

Kingu
cursed as the Phase casually picked Hope up and held her at arms’ length.  The
man didn’t seem dangerous, but he also didn’t seem sane.  Why were all these
memories filled with gigantic lunatics?  “You’re going to break her, you
idiot.  Be careful.”

The
Phase couldn’t hear him.  Of course, he also couldn’t possibly hear Hope, but
that didn’t stop him from listening to
her
.  “Where do you belong,
girly?”  The man tilted his head, studying Hope for a long moment.  “Uh-huh.” 
He said as if he was really listening to her.  “Okay, we’ll find you a new
home, then.”

Hope
made a happy sound and kicked her little legs.

“Yep.” 
The Phase beamed at her.  “I know just where you belong, then.”

“She
belongs with me.”  Kingu muttered.  Was that what these dreams were trying to
tell him?  That no matter where she came from, or who her parents were, the
woman was his.

He
already
knew
that, so it had to be something else…

Kingu
awoke with a start, breathing hard and still sitting in his chair.  The dreams
had been trying to help him.  It had to be some kind of bizarre new
manifestation of his powers.  But, if those memories
had
really
happened, why hadn’t he seen Hope’s mother as a Color Phase?

Why
had she come from a kingdom filled with stars?

Kingu
snapped his fingers and a giant stack of books appeared.  His powers let him
recreate pretty much anything he wanted and right now he wanted to know
everything there was to know about Elemental history.

Although,
of everything he’d ever
imagined
wanting, that was dead last on the
list.

He
grabbed the tome on the top of the pile, which was entitled
A Complete
Lineage of the Elemental Houses
.  God only knew why, but the idiot Phases
had printed it in English. Kingu rolled his eyes and flipped to the index in
the back.  His finger ran down the lists of names and kingdoms:  Radiation
House, Reflection House, Shadow House, Smoke House, Sound House…

Star
House.

Kingu
turned to the designated page number and found that the whole entry was only
four paragraphs long.  It didn’t matter, though.  Kingu didn’t need the
hundreds of chapters the other Houses got to know the truth.

Right
in the center of the nearly blank page was a pen and ink sketch of one of the
charms from Hope’s bracelet.  The small silver star.  The image looked old,
even by Kingu’s standards, and beneath it was a blunt description:

The
rarest of the Elementals, the Star House has not been considered an official House
since the Second War of the Tyrees, when the Star Phases left the Elemental
realm.  Most stories of them are apocryphal, but it is known that the House
designation at their temple was midnight blue.  This was also the most usual
color for their eyes. Many accounts of their powers refer to their ability to
influence fortune or luck.  This is said to be the origin of phrases such as,
“luck of a Star Phase” and “born under a lucky star.”

Although
the Star House was small, the Star Phases were seen as some of the most
powerful Elementals and valued for their skills.  The Star Kingdom was sealed
when they left the Elemental realm and no Star Phase has been identified for
six thousand years.  Countless explorations have searched the uncharted realms
for their new homeland, but their whereabouts remain a mystery.  Some Star Phases
must continue to survive though, as the stars, their Element, still remain in
sky.

The
Star Phases were said to be fearsome opponents in battle.  Purportedly, their
energy could aid them in creating advantageous circumstances for themselves and
disaster for their foes.  It is said that the most powerful Star Phases often
seemed to have “bad” luck.  Their energy was always directing them to their
greater purpose and, the worse the circumstances seemed, the more important the
destiny they were bound for.  These powerful Star Phases were especially
revered and often called “the treasures of their House.”

Various
prophesies about the return of the Star Phases exist in our myths.  The most
popular being the legend of a seemingly forsaken man who prays to Gaia for
salvation and is eventually granted a Star Phase as his Match.  This story
relates to older anecdotes that say the Star Phases usually find Matches within
their own House, so any outsider to Phaze with one

 must first be blessed by
the gods.  In the tales, these Matches must usually endure some great trial to
prove their soul is worthy of the gift being given to them.

Kingu
read every word of the entry twice, his eyes constantly going back to the
drawing of the star.  The small caption under the picture read:

Ancient
Symbol of the Star House
.

Shit.

Hope
might have been raised in the Color House, but she wasn’t a Color Phase.  She
was one of the rarest and most valuable beings in the universe.  Something so
damn special that creatures from every realm would covet and search for her. 
Her human DNA hid the midnight blue marker at her temple, but the strength of
her “jinx” was enough to prove that her powers were real and vast.

Shit.

Kingu
closed the book and stared broodingly into the fireplace.

He
starred in enough myths of his own to know most legends grew from a kernel of
truth.  Apparently, Hope was fated to be a Divine blessing for some worthy
man.  The higher gods weren’t going to be happy that Kingu had derailed that
plan and claimed her for his own.  Not to mention how pissed her asshole soul
mate would be.  Kingu had stolen some other male’s destiny.  Gaia would surely
do
something
to punish him for it and get Hope back.

…Or,
at least, She’d
try
.

Kingu’s
jaw tightened.  Hope was
his
now and he’d battle every god in the
heavens before he parted with her.  He’d known from the first moment he saw her
that she belonged to him and no Phase or god or fucking soul mate would change
that.  Going back to his empty eternity without her would be worse than death. 
He’d do
anything
necessary to keep her.

Obviously,
step one was never, ever tell
anyone
she was a Star Phase.

Hope
clearly didn’t know and that was good for Kingu.  If she knew the truth, she’d
leave him for someone far more deserving.  Strange that she’d never looked for
her biological parents, though.  Her overprotective family must never have
bothered to look into her origins, either.  Kingu couldn’t really blame them.

What
if her idiot mother had been discovered and wanted her back?  Her adopted
family wouldn’t have risked that.  Once you held Hope, you would
never
want to let her go.  Even if her grandfather
had
suspected the truth,
why would he share it and weaken his claim on her?  Why wouldn’t he ignore her
birth House and keep her for his own?  It was dishonest, but it was also
exactly
what Kingu planned to do, so he felt an odd kinship with that old man.

How
unnerving to have so much in common with Oberon the Color Phase.

“So,
are you ready to apologize?”

Kingu’s
mind was racing so fast, it actually took him a moment to notice that Hope had
finally left her bedroom.  She stood in the doorway of his room, wearing the
most colorful piece of clothing he’d created for her.  The piece of clothing
closest to his heart.

Everything
outside of her ceased to exist.

The
nightgown fell to her ankles in a waterfall of red silk and feminine lace.  It
wasn’t revealing in the traditional negligee sense.  Kingu wouldn’t provide her
with skimpy clothes just to satisfy his own prurient desires.

He
certainly
wanted
to, but he wouldn’t.

The
nightgown covered her body right down to her bare toes.  Truthfully, it didn’t
matter, though.  The way the crimson material hugged her curves, Hope might as
well have been dipped in raspberries.

His
eyes glazed over in helpless lust.

“Well?” 
She pressed when he didn’t respond.

Kingu
swallowed, realizing she actually expected some kind of coherent response.  He
wracked his brain for some glimmer of what her words might mean.  “Apologize?” 
He repeated warily.  That sounded right.  Sort of.  She’d definitely
said
it, but he was clueless as to
why
.  “For what?”  She couldn’t possibly
know what he’d discovered.  Just in case, he snapped his fingers and made all
the books disappear, again.

Midnight
blue eyes narrowed.  “Oh, I don’t know… apologize for calling me a lying tramp,
maybe?”

His
brows climbed up his forehead.  “I never called you anything of the kind.”

“Yes,
you did!”  She crossed her arms over her chest, which just drew Kingu’s eyes to
her incredible breasts.  Arousal roared through him.  Dear gods, she was
pretty.

Even
if she was crazy.

“No,
I
didn’t
.”  He tried to keep his gaze above her neck, but it was a
struggle.  “How could you be a tramp, for gods’ sake?  You’re a virgin.”  She’d
told him that and he believed it.  Hell, he was a fucking expert on the
subject.

“I
don’t know
how
. 
I’m
not the one who said it.”

“I
did
not
say…”  Kingu trailed off and shook his head in frustration. 
“Look, this is getting ridiculous.  I would never insult you and I would gladly
kill anyone who did.  Alright?  If you interpreted anything I said as a slur of
some kind, it was not my intention.”

Hope
sniffed, looking somewhat mollified.  “Well, if for nothing else, I want a
real
apology for you stopping that kiss right in the middle, then.  For no good
reason, at all.”

He
frowned.  “But, that was your fault.  You’re the one who tried to seduce me
into letting you go free.”

“I
did not!”  She shook her head, in exasperation.  “When I seduce you, monster,
you’ll know it.  I swear to Gaia, I tried to be understanding and gave you some
time to think about how wrong you’d been, but you haven’t learned anything. 
So, fine.”  She turned on her heel and started out, again.  “You just stay here
and keep being an idiot.”

She’d
called him “monster.”

She’d
also called him an “idiot,” but he didn’t care about that.  He cared about the
casual, saucy tone Hope used when she referred to him in the derogatory way
that so many others had in the past.  Everyone saw him as a monster.  Even
Kingu knew what he was, so he didn’t take offense at the word.  Or at least he
told himself he didn’t.  But, deep inside, Kingu had always hated it.

Somehow,
though, when Hope said it in her light, beautiful voice, he didn’t mind so
much.  She took away the shame he’d always carried at the epithet.

Hope
made “monster” into an endearment.

Something
moved in his chest.  Something beyond the pull of his powers or the attraction
of lovely body.  Something soft.  Something… more.

In
that moment, Kingu knew he really was a monster.

He
was selfish and cruel enough to keep her origins a secret and deprive her of
her real destiny.  He needed her far more than any other man ever could, no
matter what trials the bastard had endured in an effort to win Gaia’s blessing. 
In fact, the next item on Kingu’s agenda was to find out the man’s identity and
track him down.  A dead man would never try to claim Kingu’s woman.