Treasure of the Fire Kingdom (The Elemental Phases Book 4) (32 page)

Hast thou
not been taught by experience that no human happiness can be

complete?-
that worldly felicity must ever contain within itself some

element of
misery and distress?”

G.W.M
Reynolds- “Wagner the Wehr-Wolf”

“We
should talk about your aunt some more.”

“What
about her?”

“Well,
I feel like you have a lot of unresolved feeling towards Tessie and you need to
express them.  Preferably in a way where no one dies.”

“How
are my feelings unresolved?  She wants me dead and I disagree.  Seems pretty
straightforward.”

Hope
sighed.  It had taken all of twenty minutes to free the trapped Phases from
their cells, so now it was time for lunch.  The rescued prisoners’ reactions
had varied between effusive thanks and snarled pronouncements that they owed
Hope and Kingu
nothing
, but at least they were all free.

Kingu
had rolled his eyes at least fifty times during the escape and muttered quite a
few insults about the entire Elemental species, but he’d never even suggested
stopping their mission.  Not when Emagene, of the Heat House had swept out of
her cell and cursed him for talking so long.  Not when Thalus, of the Cold
House had screamed like a maniac and jumped away at the sight of him.  Not even
when Akkadian, of the Crystal House stepped free of his padded room and smiled
the craziest smile ever smiled.

Kingu
truly was the most honorable warrior in the world.

Hope
took hold of Kingu’s hand as the two of them strolled up the main street of the
Cloudland.  The Banished Phases were watching again, their expressions a little
less suspicious of her today.  They’d all heard about the jailbreak and they
mostly seemed amused by it.  Galen wasn’t a beloved guy, so Hope and Kingu
stealing his prisoners was seen as a welcome slap in the face to his oppressive
authority.

A
few hardy souls had even made some Halloween decorations and put on costumes,
which violated Galen’s “I hate all of humanity” ordinance.  Obviously,
not
all the Banished Phases were anti-human bigots.  Nice to know that candy corn
and jack-o’-lanterns built cultural bridges.

“I
don’t think Tessie wants you dead.”  Hope told Kingu.  “I think she just hated
your mom and you got caught in the middle.  With Kay dead, you two can have a
whole new relationship.”

A
big part of her now blamed Tessie for Kingu’s distrust and loneliness, though. 
The Quintessence had locked him up with his mother and inadvertently allowed
Kingu to be tortured, after all.  Kingu had been traumatized by that.

Still,
Hope really didn’t want Tessie to die.  In her heart, she knew that Tessie
would
like
Kingu, if they could just get to know each other.  Hopefully,
once Kingu felt secure with their bond, he’d give up the need for vengeance
against his aunt.  It would be kind of awkward at the holidays if he tried to
behead Job’s Match at the dinner table.

Besides.
Kingu had more important things to focus on than revenge, now.

Like
Hope.

“Kay’s
not dead.”  He corrected grimly.  “She’s in a mystical coma.  When she wakes
up, Tessie and I will be her first targets.  That’s about the only ‘bond’ we
have.”

Hope
frowned.  “There has to be a way to make sure your mother is more permanently
gone.”

“I
told you, it’s hopeless.  The powers have to go to a female of Kay’s
bloodline.  Unless you find my long lost sister to take the power of the Khaos
from her, my mother will never die.”

“I
don’t believe anything is hopeless.”  Hope stared up at him.  “I know you don’t
want to talk about your life with Kay, but I’m here to listen when you’re
ready.  I won’t say a word if you don’t want me to.  I just don’t want you
bottling it all up inside.”

Kingu
sighed.  “There is nothing to say that you don’t already suspect.  She hurt
me.  Every day.  She was cruel and I hated her.  I still hate her.”

Not
as much as Hope did.

“The
worst thing was knowing that I’d never get away from her.”  Kingu continued
quietly.  “That I was trapped there with her
forever
.  With nothing to
look forward to and no one who cared if I was alive or dead.  I can never go
back to that life.  I would die first.”

“You
won’t go back.”  Hope vowed softly.  “I don’t want you living in fear of Kay. 
No matter what happens, I will protect you from her.  I promise.”

Kingu
smiled.  “You were right earlier.  In my whole existence, no one has ever
wanted to protect me.  Only you.”  He lifted their intertwined fingers so he
could kiss the back of her hand.  “Thank you, Hope.”

Hope
gave his palm a squeeze.  “Just promise me one thing, okay?”

“I
would promise you anything.”

“Good
answer.  When you next see Tessie, take two seconds and
listen
to her,
alright?  Even if you’d rather just attack, I want you to hear what she has to
say and, when she apologizes, try to forgive her.  Both of you were victims of
your mother.  It would be so much better for you if you could let it go and
move on.”

Kingu
snorted.  “Tessie isn’t going to apologize to me.”

“Well,
then you’ll have the chance to tell me ‘I told ya so,’ won’t you?  But, if I’m
right, you and Tessie could start over.”

“You
have such a soft heart, Hope.  At one time, I would have seen that as a
failing, but now I know it’s a gift.  You see only goo around you.”

“I
see only
you
.”  Hope stepped in front of him to stop him from walking. 
“You promise me?”

“I
already told you yes.”  He arched a brow.  “Kiss?”

He
was learning!

“Kiss.” 
Hope agreed and instantly went on tiptoe to press her lips against his.  “And
now, you can buy me an ice cream cone for lunch.”  She informed him
breathlessly when they came up for air.

Kingu
brushed a hand over her hair.  “Just one?  Aren’t you going to be assaulting
anyone with extra strawberry cones today?”

Hope
rolled her eyes.  “Only
you
, if you keep being a wiseass.”

His
mouth curved in amusement.  “What if I…?”  He trailed off as someone in a
werewolf mask and a green polo shirt came by.  He was handing out plastic
goodie bags with orange and black scarecrows on them.

“Trick-or-treat.” 
The muffled voice said and gave one to Hope.

“Thank
you!”  She called, but the werewolf was already moving off down the street.

Kingu
scowled as Hope happily opened her bag.  “What is that?”

“It’s
Halloween candy.  Humans have this tradition where they give it out on the last
day of October.”  She arched a stern brow.  “You need to know things like that
now that you have a half human mate.”

Red
eyes glowed.  “You see yourself as my mate?”

“No.” 
Hope plucked a grape flavored lollypop from the bag.  “I see us as much more
than that.  But, I know that
you
see us as mates, so I’m being…”  She
stopped short, her eyes going to the unwrapped candy in her hand.

Halfway
to her mouth, she already knew it was loaded with poison.

****

“Oh
no.”  Hope gasped and Kingu heard something wrong in her tone.

Something
irregular and jagged.

“Hope? 
What is it?”

Hope
let go of his hand, suddenly struggling to breathe.  She dropped the candy and
leapt back from it.  “Red frog.”  She wheezed.

The
drug?

One
of the most potent Elemental narcotics was made from the ground up remnants of
red frogs.  It was poisonous if consumed in large doses, but in smaller amounts
the substance produced hallucinogenic effects and Phases took it recreationally
in a dust form.

Personally,
Kingu didn’t see the point of the Elementals working to make themselves even
dumber, but perhaps it was a chicken-and-the-egg scenario.  Were they morons
because they did stupid things, or did they do stupid things because they were
morons?  Only Gaia knew for sure, but red frog dust was for sale all over the
Cloudland.

Kingu
had no idea what any of that had to do with Hope struggling for breath, but his
heart rate slammed into overdrive.  Whatever was happening, he knew Hope was in
danger.

He
grabbed her arm, yanking her closer to his own body.  “Hope?”

Something
cold slid through Kingu and he vaguely recognized it as fear.  He’d never felt
that before.  At least, not that he could remember.  You had to care about
something to feel fear.  He’d thought Kay had tortured that ability out of him
centuries before.

“Are
you hurt?”  He scanned her for injuries.

“Asthma.” 
She got out.  “Human disease.  Sorry.”

“You’re
sick?”  Kingu’s mind did a death roll rundown of the millions of human illnesses. 
The countless tiny problems that could assail their fragile bodies.  “What can
I do?”  His voice didn’t sound right, even to his own ears.

“The
candy… had red frog… in it…  Hang on.”  She was fumbling in her pockets for
something.

“
The
candy?”
  Kingu was still lost, but he was certainly willing to blame the
problem on someone killable.  “That werewolf is to blame for this?”

“I’m
allergic… to red frogs.”  Hope came up with a white canister and gave it a
rapid shake.  “Asthma.”  She popped one end of it into her mouth and inhaled
deeply.  Almost instantly, her ragged breathing smoothed.  “It’s a lung
thing.”  She coughed and dragged in a deep gulp of oxygen.  “My throat swells
and… I can’t get any… air…  It happens when… I get really… really upset or I
go… near red frogs.”

Kingu’s
hand came up to touch her face and he saw his fingers were shaking.  Dear gods,
humans had diseases that prevented them from fucking
breathing?!
  How
could such delicate beings survive?  “I will go get you help.”  There had to be
human doctors who could fix Hope’s lungs.  He’d just go collect a few and force
them to treat her.

“No,
I’m fine.”  She took another puff from her canister.  “Stay with me.  Please.”

“I
will
always
stay with you.”

Kingu
swallowed hard and sank to down to his knees so he could study her face.  Even
kneeling, he was still taller than Hope.  For such a small creature, she took
up all of the space inside of him.  He brushed back her hair, examining her for
signs of collapse.  She seemed better, but how could he be sure?  If he lost
Hope, he would be utterly hollow.

The
entire universe would be hollow.

“Monster,
I’m okay.”  She repeated, seeing that he was falling apart.  She did sound more
normal, but he damn sure wasn’t feeling that way.  Kingu wrapped his arms
around her and held tight.  Probably too tight.  Hope didn’t try to pull away
from the embrace, though.  She cuddled against his chest and kissed the side of
his neck.  “I wouldn’t leave you, either.”  She whispered.  “Don’t worry.”

“You
swear you will be alright?”  He got out harshly.

“Yes. 
I told you… the asthma is an embarrassing… birth defect.”

“Can
humans die from this disease?”

“I’m
not… entirely human.”

“That
wasn’t my fucking question.”  But her evasion pretty much answered it for him. 
Fear gave way to anger.  He could handle anger.  The terror at seeing her
struggling for air still had his stomach knotted.  “Son-of-a-
bitch
.”

“The
asthma just saved me.  It wouldn’t be this… bad an attack… unless the dose in
that candy… is lethal…  Without the allergy to red frogs… I wouldn’t have known
about the poison until it was too late.”

Kingu
was finally putting this together.  “Someone just tried to kill you.”  Any
other Elemental would have eaten the candy, completely unaware that it was
tainted with death.

Hope
nodded.  “Elementals don’t have allergies…  Just humans…  That idiot werewolf…
didn’t know… I’m a freak.”

His
forehead tipped forward to rest against hers.  “You’re not a freak.”

She
was a Star Phase.  When they seemed to have bad luck, like being born with a
human lung ailment, it was for a greater purpose… So, today it could save her
life.

Thank
God.

“Galen’s
behind this… you know.”  Hope told him.  “He’s pissed off about… the ice cream
and the jailbreak and… he wants me dead.”

“I
know Galen’s behind it.  You think it’s a fucking
mystery?
 I swear to
Gaia, I will
destroy
that little termite.”  Kingu’s jaw firmed and he
kissed the top of head.  “Just wait here for a moment and catch your breath. 
I’ll return shortly.”

He
moved away, grabbing the lollypop and Halloween bag from the ground as he past. 
Snapping his fingers, he made a trashcan appeared and tossed in the candy.  Then,
he snapped the receptacle away again, before continuing down the street.