Treasure of the Fire Kingdom (The Elemental Phases Book 4) (25 page)

Kingu
would keep his stolen treasure and no one could stop him.

He
slowly got to his feet and followed Hope into the hall.   He hunted for a
subtle segue, but no conversational flash of genius occurred.  Ah, fuck it.  He
didn’t do subtle, anyway.  “Hope, we need to discuss what it means that you’re
part human.”

“What?” 
Hope’s voice went too high.  She scampered over the threshold to her own room
as if she knew he wouldn’t follow and she was trying to hide.

 Kingu
didn’t like to see her panicked.  Especially, not because of him.  Besides, he
wouldn’t learn anything if she refused to talk to him, again.  But he just
couldn’t let it go.  He had to know what he was up against, now more than
ever.  Kingu stood in her doorway and figured he only had seconds before she
slammed it shut again. “I wish to know about your soul mate.”

Fire is the soul of the universe.  Its elements are forever
brimming

over and pouring out over the world.

Victor Hugo- “The Hunchback of Notre Dame”

Hope
swallowed hard.  “I’m an Elemental, not a human.”  She backed up into the post
of the bed and somehow the black canopy netting tumbled down on top of her. 
“Oh dear.”  She batted it out of the way, so she could see Kingu.  “You saw me
jump into the Cloudland.  Humans can’t do that.”

Kingu’s
eyes narrowed.  “Most can’t.”  He agreed.  Snapping his fingers, he made the
netting disappear from around her.  “Some humans have extra abilities, though. 
Especially ones whose ancestors interbred with the Phases.”

Crap.

“You’ve
heard that Elementals and humans can interbreed, huh?  Because, we haven’t
really
proven that, scientifically.  A lot of Phases still say it’s a
total
urban legend…”

He
cut off her evasion.  “My aunt is half human and half… not.  I
know
humans
can mate with all sorts of creatures.  Elementals would be no different.”

“You
have an aunt?”

“Don’t
try and change the subject.  The point is, I
know
that Phases and humans
can produce offspring.  What’s his name… the old warrior,” Kingu made a vague
hand gesture, “Parson, of the Wood House. 
He
had a human Match and half
human children.  That’s all the scientific proof I need.”

“You
knew Parson?  How?”  Oberon had said the man was a great warrior, who’d one day
disappeared from his homeland.  What no one had realized at the time was he’d
gone to the human realm to guard the Quintessence.  He was like Tessie’s
father.

Hope
considered that.

Tessie
who was half human and half… not.

“I
didn’t
know
him.”  Kingu looked like he was trying to backpedal, now. 
“I just heard much about Parson when he died.”

Hope’s
eyes narrowed.

Parson
had died in the human realm over twenty years before, killed by the damn Air
Phases.  No one had known that until Tessie told Job, a few months ago.  No one
except
the damn Air Phases, anyway.  Or maybe someone working with them.

The
Fire House didn’t raise idiots, no matter what the rest of the Phases liked to
believe.

Hope’s
mouth parted on a soft, “Oh,” as she realized who her soul mate really was.  “I
know you.”  She stepped closer to the doorway, again.  “You’re Kay’s son.  The
one who was helping her find the Tablets of Fate, so the Air House could try
and kill us all.  The one everyone said was so cruel and…”
monstrous
.

She
didn’t add the final part, but then she didn’t have to.

Kingu
closed his eyes in something like hollow resignation.  “Yes.”  The word wasn’t
apologetic or defensive.  It was just… bare.  Like he was standing in front of
the judge, awaiting a mandatory death sentence.  Like there was no point in
arguing or pleading for mercy, because it wouldn’t come.  Like no one had asked
for his side of the story before and he didn’t expect it now.

How
sad.

Hope
titled her head.  “Did you
want
to help them hurt us?”

Kingu
eyes snapped open to stare at her blankly.  “What?”  His brows tugged together
in a baffled frown.  She’d apparently deviated from the script he’d mentally
prepared.

“Did
you want to hurt the Elementals?”

“No.” 
He sounded even more confused, now.  “I never really cared
what
the
Phases did.  Why would I, until I met you?  I didn’t have a choice, in anything
Kay planned.”  He hesitated.  “I should have fought harder to stop her, but,
honestly, it wouldn’t have done any good.  During the Fall I was locked…”  He
stopped and cleared his throat.  “You need to understand.  My mother was
insistent
about getting her own way.  There was… pressure to go along with her plans.”

“Because
you were a slave.”  It wasn’t a question.  The way he’d said “insistent” and
“pressure,” plus his earlier argument with Lycus filled in all the blanks for
her.  The picture staring back was horrendous, even as it made a terrible sort
of sense.  Hope swallowed.  “Your own mother kept you as a slave?”

“Yes.” 
The word was stark.

Hope’s
lips pressed together into a tight line.  She’d kill the bitch.  “Where’s Kay
now?”  She demanded.

“In
the Air Kingdom.  In a coma.”

Fine. 
So, Hope would kill that bitch in her
sleep
, then.  It made no
difference.  The woman had hurt her Match and
no one
hurt her Match.

“I’ve
thought about killing her.”  Kingu said as if reading her mind.  “But, it would
end the world to lose all the nothingness in the universe.  Kay’s powers are
vast.  They have to be held by someone and they can only pass through our
bloodline.”

“So
you
could inherit them.”

“She’s
not stupid enough to let that happen.  Kay made sure I couldn’t hold the powers
when she created me.  They have to pass to a female in our family and Tessie’s
already holding the Quintessence.  She can’t hold the Khaos, too.  There’s no
one else.”  He shook his head.  “Kay knows she’s safe and she knows I betrayed
her.  She’s inside her body right now, plotting what she’ll do to me when she
finally wakes up.”

“You
think she’ll wake-up?”

“One
day?  Of course, she will.”  His sounded absolutely certain.  “You’ll be safe,
though.  She’ll kill me so fast that she’ll never even have a chance to notice
you exist.  Trust me.  I wouldn’t have looked for you, if I thought it would
put you at risk.  All her focus will be on making me suffer in the most violent
and bloody way possible.  I know her.  She’s not into psychological torture
when she can use hot irons and a mace.  It’s more fun.”

“Your
mother tortured you with
a
mace?
”

Kingu
cringed at the memory of it.

Oh
God… “Kingu, what else did she…?”

“
I
don’t want to fucking talk about it.
”

It
was Hope’s turn to backpedaled.  “Of course, you don’t.”  She wanted to know
everything about Kingu’s past, but he was hurt.  Warriors’ egos were sometimes
touchy things and Kingu was already so mistrustful.  If she pushed, he’d shut
down.  “I won’t pressure you about anything, monster.  I promise.  You’re safe
here with me.”

His
flash of wounded anger faded into confusion at her soothing tone.  “Don’t you
understand?  You should hate me, now.”

“No,
I shouldn’t!  Nothing that happened was your fault.”  Jesus!  Kingu had been an
even greater victim of Kay and the Air House than the rest of the Elementals. 
His mother had kept him in bondage, trapped in that horrible place, forcing him
to do terrible things for Gaia-only-knew how many centuries.

What
if Tessie hadn’t put Kay into that coma?  What if Kingu was still his mother’s
captive?  Hope never would have met him, at all!  And what kind of soul mate
was she to have abandoned him to those bastards for so long?  A real Fire Phase
would have somehow known Kingu was in danger and gone to rescue him.

She’d
completely failed him.

Kingu
just stared at her like he had no clue what to say.

“I’m
so sorry.”  Hope whispered.  “If I’d known you were out there --in that
unbearable place with those evil people-- I would have come for you.  I
swear
. 
I would have come to save you, Kingu.”

His
expression shifted to a place somewhere between incredulous and reverent.  Red
eyes traced over her face.  “I would have come for you, too, Hope.  Even
chained to a wall, I would have found a way to reach you.”  He gave his head a
slow shake.  “Nothing could have stopped me, if I’d known you were really out
there.  Nothing at all.”

“I
know.”  She said simply.  “We belong together.”

“I
know.”  He repeated.  It sounded like a surrender, although she couldn’t
imagine why he’d been fighting.  Kingu glanced away.  “So, I told you these…
things about myself.  And now I need you to tell me about
you
.  It’s
important.”

Hope
cringed at the request.  Damn it, things were going so nicely and now they
would be ruined.  How was she going to get out of this without Kingu being
disgusted with her down to her very DNA?  And what was he going to say if she
admitted she wasn’t a Color Phase, at all?  Probably nothing she wanted to
hear.

“Hope?”

Silence
as her mind raced for a believable story.

Rule
number forty-seven of being a Fire Phase:  When you lie, don’t get caught.

That
rule had always been hard for her to follow.  Hope sucked at lying.  It always
took her an extra second or two to come up with some halfway believable untruth
and the other person saw right through her.  Her little fib about the Color
House was the only time she hadn’t gotten caught and that had been so spur of
the moment, it probably counted as an accident.

Kingu’s
tone went even gentler.  “Treasure, I need to know.  If for no other reason
than some of the Banished Phases don’t like humans very much.  They seem to see
the mixing of Elemental and human blood as some kind of genetic insult to their
whole squabbling, insignificant species.”

Hope
chewed on her lower lips.  He’d called her “treasure.”  That was… promising. 
It got her looking at him, again.  “They already tried to kill me in the
arena.  How much worse can it get?” 

That
was an admission and they both knew it.

“You’re
definitely part human, then?”  Kingu pressed, wanting the words.

Hope
gave in.  “Probably definitely.  I told you, I was abandoned at birth, so I
could technically come from anywhere.  One of my parents must have been human,
though.  It explains my flaws.”

“You
have no flaws, Hope.”

“Ha!” 
She edged further back from the door, not trusting his easy acceptance and the
lack of yelling.

“Do
not back away from me.  Please.”

She
stopped moving at the entreaty.  Her head tilted in confusion.  “Aren’t you
mad?”

“
No
.” 
He looked frustrated.  “Hope, in a world full of flatness and uniformity, you
shine so bright it almost blinds me.  I wouldn’t change you, no matter where
you come from.  You are my one.”

She
felt her eyes water at the words and blinked rapidly to ease the tears.  “What
are you talking about?  You hate humans.  You said so.”

A
pause.  “Is that why you’re upset?  Because you think I would hate you?”  He
swore under his breath.  “For gods’ sake, I hate everyone
except
you!”

She
blinked harder at the sweet sentiment.  “I just thought you’d be kinda repulsed.”

A
longer pause.  “Treasure, have you seen me?”

“Of
course.”

“And
you truly understood what I told you about my past?”

“Yes.”

“And
yet you believe
I
would be repulsed by
you?
”

“Well…
yes.”

“What
do you see when you look at me?”  Now he sounded perplexed.  Genuinely curious.

“A
monster.”

He
sighed, again.  “Anything else?”

“A
warrior.  A man.  Someone who’s mine.”  Hope sighed dreamily.  “Flame red eyes,
coal black hair, big, big hands.  I think you’re spectacular, Kingu.”

“Liar.”

The
feeling that she was about to cry at his poetic words screeched to a halt and
her anger resumed.  “Stop calling me that!  Damn it, I’m allowed to want you if
I want to.  You might be able to stop me from actually doing anything
about
it,
like you did yesterday.  But, I can
feel
whatever I like.”

“You
just said you saw me as a monster!”

“Well,
you
are
a monster.  It was the first thing that attracted me to you. 
You’re
my
monster.  I find it sexy.”

Kingu
looked befuddled by that.  “You… do?”

“Yes! 
That’s why I was so mad at you yesterday.  I wouldn’t seduce someone I wasn’t
attracted to.  How could you think such a thing about me?”

His
head titled.  “I didn’t intend to hurt your feelings.  Not at all.”

“Well,
you
did
.  I’m not some floozy who lets strange men pin her up against
walls for kicks, you know.  It’s only ever been you.”

“But…
why would you want me?  And what about the other man?  The one you claimed to
have waited for.  Your
soul
mate?”  He spat out the words.  Clearly,
this
was the part he was most interested in discussing.

Lord,
he was dim.  “
You’re
my soul mate, genius.”

Kingu
didn’t believe her.  He had trust issues.  “Who he is, Hope?”

“
You
,
Kingu.”