Warrior from the Shadowland (11 page)

“I
just told you I liked Bach!”

Nia
rolled her eyes.  “Oh yeah,
that
was our real breakthrough moment.”

“Being
in the human realm is dangerous.  I think I have a right to know why you’re
endangering your life.  And
mine
, too, since we’re a Match.  If you die,
I’m probably gonna go with you.  Matches life’s spans usually
match
. 
We’re connected.  That’s simple biology.”

Actually,
if Nia died and he somehow survived it, Cross would let the whole universe
fall.  There wouldn’t be a point to keeping it around.

Nia
stared up at the flat clouds as if she had all the time in the world.  “If anyone’s
risking their Match’s life, it’s
you
. 
I’m
not the one bleeding
from my eyes.  If
I
was sick,
I
would go to a doctor. 
I
wouldn’t do anything to upset or endanger
you
.”

Cross’s
eyes narrowed.  She was playing dirty.  “I did go to a doctor.”  He said,
grudgingly.  “I went to Freya.”  Or Job had brought Freya to him.  And he’d
used that same damn argument to get Cross to submit to the examination.

Think
about your Match.

Cross
never thought about anything else.

Even
when she was driving him crazy.

“You
did?”  Nia looked reassured.  “You saw Freya?”  Freya was the foremost
Elemental healer.  “What did she say?”

That
there was nothing that anyone could do.

That
it was a medical impossibility that Cross could support the entire Shadow House
and she had no idea how he could even survive.

That
the headaches wouldn’t kill him, but they’d probably never go away.

“She
said I was fine.”

“Really?”

“Yep.”

“Oh.” 
Nia laid a palm over her chest.  “Thank God.  Ever since the Fall…”  She
trailed off and shook her head.  “I just couldn’t stand it if something
happened to you.  I just found you.”

Something
soft and warm twisted inside of Cross.  His feelings for Nia washed through him
like rain, primal and cleansing.  She was everything he’d ever dreamed of
having.  His Match was so beautiful, inside and out.  The Shadows stirred,
wanting to get closer to her.

Nia
looked at him sharply, feeling the strain as he pulled them back.  “Cross, our
energy will have to touch when we Phaze.  You’re holding it back and there’s no
need.”

Cross
stayed silent, because Nia was wrong.

The
Shadows could never touch her.  The weight of them would crush Nia.  Hurt her. 
No one knew that better than him.  He couldn’t allow their powers to merge and
risk destroying the only good thing he’d ever had in his life.  No way.

It
dawned on Cross that he would
always
have to hold the Shadows back from
Nia.

Forever.

It
was the only sure way to protect her.

Cross’s
eyes widened in horror.

Which
meant that they could
never
fully Phaze.

The
Shadows screamed in his head at the very idea and, for once, Cross completely
understood their swirling frustration.

He’d
only met Nia today and he was already going insane from wanting her.  How the
hell was he supposed to resist her for thousands of years?  For the rest of
their entire lives?  How the hell could he possibly survive
not
Phazing
this woman?

Cross
would lose what was left of his mind by the end of the first week.

Shit!

This
was going to be a problem.

He cheerfully ignored the laws that governed
the elemental

Ralph
Connor- “The Major”

Abel,
of the Stone House joined the Reprisal as a stepping stone to his future.

No
pun intended.

Some
people might have called his ambition crazy.  After all, signing on with an
organization that’s mission statement was the destruction of the universe
didn’t leave a lot of room for advancement.  In fact, it was the epitome of all
dead end jobs.

Or
it
would
have been if Abel actually intended for Chason and the rest of
the Reprisal to succeed in their goals.  Oh, he completely endorsed
some
of their agenda:

Kill
Parald and every other Air Phase:  Yep.

Topple
the Water House:  Yep.

Get
the Quintessence:  Yep.

End
the world:   Um…. No.  Not so much.

Abel
didn’t want to end the world.  If the world ended, Abel couldn’t rule it.

Chason
might have led the Reprisal.  But, he was also an idiot, blinded by his own
grief and rage.  He only focused on the past and getting vengeance for his damn
Match.  He completely missed the elephant in the room with his preoccupation with
using the Quintessence to destroy Parald.  It was like using an atom bomb to
microwave your popcorn.

Whoever
controlled the Quintessence became fucking GOD.  Not
a
god. 
The
God.  The world’s ultimate power.  The unmoved mover of the universe.

Whoever
controlled the Quintessence wouldn’t need to worry about getting some half-ass,
kamikaze revenge on every Phase who’d wronged him.  He could snap his fingers
and have them all eaten by weasels from the inside out, if he wanted.  He
wouldn’t have to worry about triggering the apocalypse if the Houses fell,
because he’d be
bigger
than the Elementals.  He could wipe out the
Council and never have to hear Job’s preaching again.  He could walk in every
realm as its rightful master.

Abel
wasn’t surprised that he was the only one smart enough to see the true
potential of the Quintessence.  He was used to being surrounded by morons. 
Truthfully, the Fall hadn’t done much but thin out their ranks, a bit.  Abel
had lost his Match and both his parents in the Fall, but he didn’t sit around
and constantly whine about it.  Not like the rest of the Phases.

Pansies.

Abel
had joined the Reprisal because he’d known it was his ticket to greatness. 
Enough Stone Phases survived that he would never be King of that House and the
Council was a Good Ol’ Boys’ club of aristocratic ass-wipes.  After the Fall,
the Reprisal had taken all comers, though.  Any Phase, from any House, who
wanted to do their part in blowing up the world had a guaranteed place in their
army.  It had seemed like the best way for Abel to make a name for himself. 
And he hated the Air and Water Houses, so he was certainly qualified for the
job.

But,
the Reprisal’s endless crying and bitching was driving him nuts.  It was time
to circulate the old resume and climb the ladder of success.  Abel had been
just another, anonymous Phase all of his life, but now he had the potential to
be so much more.  To be a galactic fucking force.

And
no hairless chimpanzees were going to wreck it for him.

Abel
found humans utterly repulsive.  They were an infection far worse than the
Fall.  His first act when he became God would be to exterminate them all. 
Well,
first
he’d probably have to execute Chason and the rest of the
Reprisal.  Then, the Air House and the Water House would have to go.  And the
Council would need to vanish.  Especially Job.  Then, the jarhead Wood Phases
would mount some kind of attack and so would those Fire House psychos, because
they hated to miss a fight.  So he’d have to kill them, too.  But, humans would
absolutely be next.  His world would be so much better without their mortal
dumb-assery.

They
couldn’t even die properly.

Abel
scowled down at the blood staining the cuff of his light grey trousers. 
“Shit.”  He kicked the human body out of the way and leaned down to inspect the
sartorial tragedy.  “Look at this.  These were hand tailored in London back in
the ‘20s.  You can’t get that kind of craftsmanship anymore and now they’re
ruined.”

The
only aspect of human culture Abel could stand was their clothing.  In fact,
after his ascension to divinity, he’d need to spare a few of the best human
tailors and designers so that they could keep him in high fashion.

He
flashed the dead body another glower as he wiped at the rapidly setting blood
stain.  “You’re lucky that I already killed you.”

Two
other members of the Reprisal were with him.  Men Abel trusted to be just as
focused on the big picture as he was.  Fabian and Lansing weren’t the brightest
crayons in the box, but at least they didn’t get all whinge-y every time things
got rough.  Half of Chason’s pussy-whipped army would faint if they saw him
butcher a human. 
Why
, was a total mystery to Abel.  It would be like
mourning the rats after the cats got finished cleaning out the barn.

Fabian
was a Magnet Phase, the deep purple at his temple off set by the black of his
hair.  “Well, at least we know they were here.”  He looked around the serology
lab.  “What do you think Nia was looking for in a place like this?”

Abel
had no clue, but he wasn’t planning on sharing that news with his underlings. 
Aside from clothes shopping every few decades, Abel tried not to associate with
human culture.  Mayport Beach General Hospital may as well have been on Mars
for all he understood about it.  “They were looking for the Quintessence.”  He
said, as if that was the answer to everything.  “The Air House tracked Tritone
here.  We tracked the Air House.  Don’t ask stupid questions.”

Lansing
titled his head to one side, apparently not appeased by that answer.  He was a
Dust Phase, the streak at his temple a tarnished bronze.  “Yeah, but where
is
the Air House?  If they’d got Ty we would have heard about it and…”

Abel
cut him off.  “Just shut-up and keep searching.” He busied himself sorting
through some manila folders and wished like hell he could read human.  “And
hurry.  I don’t feel like killing anyone else who wanders in here.  It could
screw up my shirt next time.”

The
three of them had been examining the lab for ten minutes, trying to figure out
where the Water House had gone next in their quest for the Quintessence.  So
far they’d come up with zilch.  Although, two of those minutes
had
been
devoted to decapitating the human lab tech who came stumbling in on them.  Abel
should have just broken its neck or something, but he’d forgotten how fragile
the creatures were.  He’d wasted time in lopping the bastard’s head off.

“Um,
I think I just did something.”  Fabian said, suddenly.  “It was an accident.”

“You
moron.”  Abel stalked over to investigate the damage.  “What did you do?  If
you lost our chance to find the Quintessence, I swear…”

“No.”
Fabian interrupted.  “At least, I don’t think I did.  But, I touched the
computer and it went dead.”  He made a cringing “oops” sort of face.  “Sorry. 
I wasn’t thinking.”

Abel
squeezed his eyes shut.  Fucking Magnet Phases and their fucking energy.  “You
erased the computer?”  He ground out.  Not that Abel had any idea how to use
the thing anyway, but in principle he
could’ve
.  It may have been vital
to the mission.  Why was everyone else so fucking
stupid
?  “What if Nia
left some clue as to where they were going next on there?  What if it was the
next step to finding the Quintessence?”

“Why
would Nia do something like that?”  Lansing demanded.  “She’s not a moron.”

Abel
shot him a glare.  Once he became God, both of these idiots were on his hit
list.  Banished from the garden of his universe.  “Just keep looking.”  He
ground out.  He headed for the office in the back of the lab, wanting to escape
their death spiral of ignorance.

The
minute he passed the threshold of the office, he felt something.  The echoes of
power.  A lot of power.  Had Job been here?  Had he discovered Nia’s plan and
come to drag her back home?

Abel
noticed that Job paid a lot of special attention to Nia.  Really, Abel had
always sort of wondered if Job wasn’t planning to secure himself another
kingdom by trying to Phaze with her.  Ty may have been the queen, but everyone
knew that Nia was the real boss of the Water House.  This whole Quintessence
scavenger hunt had Nia’s brazen fingerprints all over it.  Maybe Job thought he
could convince Nia to give him a shot in the sack and see if they were a Match.

Or,
maybe, Job was just a condescending, meddling old fart.  Because, honestly,
every time Abel tried to picture their Phazing attempt, his mind came up with a
bed, some porn style lighting and two Phases staring at each other in awkward
silence.  Nia seemed like she’d be an incredible lay, all those red curls and
that soft flesh.  That audacious spark of challenge that begged for a man to
bend her over and show her her place.  But,
Job
?  Nope.  It was like
imagining an android having sex.

Still,
someone
had used a huge amount of energy in the office.  Abel leaned
back into the main office and called for Lansing.  Dust Phases could sometimes
read all the invisible little specks floating in a space and tell you about
things that happened there.  It was a handy talent to have.  Abel much
preferred his own abilities as a Stone Phase, though.  The power to solidify
anything just rocked sometimes.

No
pun intended.

“What
happened in here?”  Abel demanded as Lansing stepped into the office.  “Can you
tell?”

“Someone
used a shit load of power.”  Lansing summarized, instantly.  “Gion?  I mean
that would make sense if the Air House was here.  He or Job would be my first
guess.  Then, maybe Teja or Yuan.”

Abel
held his temper with such a supreme effort of will that he might as well have
already been God.  “I don’t care about your
guessing
I want to know what
you
see
.”

Lansing
rolled his eyes and took another look around the office, his power fanning out
in a smooth blanket of energy.  “Darkness.  Blood.  A Woman.”  He tilted his
head.  “Nia.”

“Nia
and blood?  She’s dead?”  Well, damn.  Abel hadn’t realized how much his little
Nia porno imagery entertained him until now.  If she’d only waited to die until
after
he was God that curvy little body would have been at his beck and
call.  God could take any woman he wanted, after all.  And everyone knew that
the Water House bred some of choicest, plumpest ass in the Elemental realm. 
Abel’s own Match had been a stick figure.  Plus, Nia was his best lead on the
Quintessence.  Her death was a setback no matter how you looked at it.

His
disappointment didn’t last long, as Lansing shook his head.  “She’s alive.  The
Air Phases are dead, though.”

“Good.” 
Fabian muttered.  “How’d the Water House beat them?  Did Uriel…?”

“Shadows.” 
Lansing cut in.  “That’s the power we’re feeling.  I haven’t felt it in so long
that…”

Abel
was the one to interrupt this time.  “Shadows?  You mean
Cross
?  He’s
insane.  The weight of the House drove him nuts.  Everyone knows that.”

“He
was here and he’s with Nia.”  Lansing inhaled deeply as if he was smelling the
room.  “Holy Gaia.”  His tone went from surprise to shock.  “Do you feel that?”

Abel’s
brows rose and Fabian’s gaze cut around the perimeter of the room.  “Feel
what?”  They chorused.

“The
energy.  Fuck.  He’s Nia’s Match.  He started Phazing with her.”  Lansing’s
eyes drifted over to the desk.  “Right there.”

Abel
frowned, slightly.  He could visualize Nia spread out on that desk, but with a
lunatic like Cross?  That was even worse than Job.  Cross was feral.  Little
more than an animal or even a human.  At this rate, she’d be grateful to
personally worship Abel when he became God.

Fabian’s
breathing got deeper.  He stared at the desk as if he was picturing Nia perched
on it, too, and liked what he saw.  “That crazy bastard gets a Match like her? 
When so many Phases have nothing, why should he have a woman?  Especially a
woman like
that
?”  His arousal quickly switched to anger.  “I have no
Match.  I’ll probably never have a Match, since there are so few of us left. 
And
Cross
gets to Phaze with
Nia?
”

“She’s
from the Water House.”  Lansing shrugged.  “Odds are, she’ll renounce him,
anyway.”

A
beeping noise sounded from the corner of the room.

Abel
shoved past the other two and went to investigate.  A small, human, radio-ish
devise was sitting on a desk.  He picked it up, trying to figure out what the
hell it was and why it was chirping like that.

“It’s
a fancy walkie-talkie.”  Lansing explained, coming up behind him and seeing his
confusion.  “You think Nia and the others left it here?  Maybe we can use it to
track them.”