Warrior from the Shadowland (16 page)

“I’m
not going to leave.”  Nia promised.  “Look, we’ll figure this all out.  We have
plenty of time.  What matters now is that you’re okay.  Is your headache still
bad?”

“Some
minutes are better than others.”  He gave her another almost smile.  “I probably
deserved that headache, anyway.  It was worth it, though.”

“You’re
impossible.  If you weren’t such a good kisser, I’d toss you back.”  Nia ducked
slightly so she could loop his arm across her shoulder.  “Come on.  Let’s
concentrate on saving the rest of the world, since you seem determined to screw
everything up for the two of us.”

“I
already saved the rest of the world once and look where it got me.  Explain why
I should do it again?”

“It
got you
me
.”  Nia reminded him, smugly.  “And with me comes great
responsibility.”

“Actually,
I think that’s Spider-Man.”

Nia
hadn’t expected him to pick up on that reference.  She smiled at him, utterly
charmed by the idea of Cross reading comic books.  “Do you spend a lot of time
in the human realm?”  She’d assumed that he didn’t, since it took a lot of
energy to get here.  Usually, two or three Phases were needed to make the
jump.  Job could do it alone, but Job was Job so he didn’t count.  Cross was so
solitary that she couldn’t imagine him taking daytrips to visit humans with
some of his buddies.  Then again, his clothing was human.  And when the Air
House had attacked her, Cross had certainly gotten into this realm just fine on
his own.

“I
spent time here when I was looking for you.”  He explained.

“You
looked for me here?”  Elementals didn’t Match with humans, so she wasn’t sure
what he’d planned to do even if he’d discovered her living in this realm.

“I
looked for you everywhere except at the damn Council.”  He sounded disgusted. 
“I should’ve known you were my Match.  Over and over, Job would talk about
whatever crazy thing you’d done at that week’s meeting and –
God
-- how I
wanted you.”

Nia
froze.  “You wanted
me
?”

“Yeah.” 
He seemed confused by her expression.  “What?  You missed the fact that,
despite my best intentions, I’ve been trying to take you on every possible
surface since the minute I got here?”

“But,
that’s because I’m your Match.  You wanted me
before
that?  Just because
I’m Nia?”  Nia was captivated.  The power of the Phase-Match was so special,
but the idea that Cross would have been attracted to her
anyway
was
incredibly important.

She
hadn’t known how important until that moment.

“I’ve
wanted you since Job first said your name to me.”  Cross’s studied her face. 
“Nia, of the Water House.  Defiant and strong and willing to care about
things.  And, now that I’ve actually met you...”  He shook his head.  “If I’d
been given anyone else as a Match, I’d renounce her in a fucking
second
to
be with you, instead.  I don’t care about Phazing or Matches or destiny. 
There’s
nothing
I wouldn’t do to have you, Nia.  Just you.”

Nia
realized there wasn’t a single thing she could say to that and not have it
sound completely unworthy of him.  “Thank you for finding me, Cross.”  She
finally whispered.  “Thank you so much.”

His
mouth curved, slightly.  “You’re welcome.  Thanks for not getting killed by the
Air House before I got here.”

“Hey,
I was holding my own against them.”  Nia smiled, trying to hide how close she
was to tears.

Cross
made an “umm” sound.

“I
was.”  She nodded.  “Really.  I’ve been taking some self-defense lessons with
Uriel since the Fall.”

He
slanted her a dark look.  “With Uriel?  Didn’t I just have to save his ass? 
That’s
the teacher you picked?”

“It
was three against one!  He got two of them.”

“I
got four.”

Nia
couldn’t suppress a grin at Cross’s tone.  “You’re such a jerk.”  She leaned up
to kiss the side of his jaw.  “You can teach me self-defense from now on.  Will
that make you happy?”

“Thrilled.” 
Cross glanced at something that looked like a car covered with vines sitting at
the intersection.  He gave his head a “whatever” shake and turned back to Nia. 
“Why do you need self-defense?  Why is the Air House even after you?”

“They
aren’t.  They’re after Ty.  That’s why we need to get her out of jail, if she
and Thar haven’t already escaped.  She’s too exposed there.  Parald could find
her.”

Cross
grunted.  “Those Reprisal assholes are right.  Parald needs to die.”

“I
know, but I’m not risking Ty to do it.”  Nia leaned against him.  “I’m glad you’re
here.  You can help me keep her safe.  I need help saving the world and you
have experience.”

“God,
if I’m your white knight, then you’re in trouble, baby.”

“I
am
in trouble.  We all are, Cross.  That’s why it’s so important that we
find information on that blood donation.  I think that it will lead to
something special.”

“Oh
yes, the speed dating question that you refused to answer: ‘Why are you here?’”

Nia
bit her lower lip and took a chance.  “I’m looking for answers; following
clues.  Haven’t you wondered why I picked
this
human town to search?”

Cross
glanced around.  “No.  Human towns all look alike to me.  One’s as good as
another.”

She
rolled her eyes.  “Well, Ty and I found something in our research.  You
probably didn’t notice, since you’re so strong, but Mayport Beach is actually
the easiest place to jump into the human realm.  For some reason, the barriers
are weaker here than anywhere else.  We think that other beings are drawn here,
because the shields are easier to bypass, and we’re… looking for someone.”

“For
another being?”  He didn’t seem thrilled with that news.  “Aren’t the humans
bad enough?  What else is lurking around?”

“We
think that…”  Nia hesitated, then finished in a rush.  “We think maybe the
Quintessence is here.”

Cross
looked at her, sharply.  “There’s no such thing.  It’s a fairytale, baby.”

Nia
had known he’d feel that way.  The Quintessence was pure Indiana Jones material. 
Phases had searched for it for years and no one had ever even come close to
finding it.

Until
now.

“It’s
real, Cross.  Ty was looking at human blood and she found something.  Something
that shouldn’t exist.  Something that isn’t human or Elemental or anything
else.”  Nia pushed on determinedly.  “Something Divine.”

“In
human blood?”  Cross almost looked amused.  “Why would the Quintessence be a
human?  If I were all-powerful, I’d go for a dinosaur or something.  No, wait,
a continent.”

“I’m
serious.”  Nia insisted.  “I have no idea why the Quintessence is donating
human blood and I don’t care.  If we could find it, we could fix things.”

“Fix
things?”  Cross repeated, warily.

“It’s
magical
, Cross.”  Nia waved an all-encompassing hand.  “It can do
anything.  It could undo the Fall.  Maybe bring back my parents…”

Cross
cut her off.  “You lost your parents in the Fall?”  He looked disturbed by that
idea.

“
Everyone
lost their parents in the Fall.”  Nia swallowed hard against the memories. 
“Didn’t you?  You must have.  Your father was the Shadow King and I know that
he died.”

“Vice
wasn’t my father.”  Cross’ voice went utterly emotionless.  “My father died
when I was a boy.”

“Oh.” 
Nia gave him a quick compassionate squeeze.  “I’m sorry.  I didn’t know that. 
It must’ve been terrible to lose him so young.”

“Shit
happens.”  Cross shrugged.  “But, usually because it’s
supposed
to
happen, Nia.  Nothing can change that.  Not even the Quintessence.  You can’t
fix the Fall.”

“Cross,
I have to try.  Don’t you see?  I can’t just ignore this when I know the
Quintessence is here somewhere.  I can feel it.  Will you just trust me? 
Please?”  Nia willed him to believe her, even though she knew he wouldn’t.  It
was like asking him to accept that Elvis was alive and living in Atlantis.

Cross
stared at her for a long moment.  “Damn.”  He muttered.  “Finding it will be the
least of our worries.  Once we have it, Parald and the Reprisal will destroy
the world to get that thing.  Literally.”

“You
believe me?”  Nia blinked.  “Really?  You believe it exists?”  Job certainly
hadn’t.

“You
could tell me anything and I’d believe it.”  He shrugged.  “But, this?  Hell,
if anyone could find the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, it would be
you, Nia.  Of course, I believe you.”

Nia
couldn’t help it.  She threw her arms around his neck and hugged him.  “Thank
you.”  She realized that the tears were starting to fall, and tried to wipe
them away.  “You’re the only one…”  She sniffed and trailed off.  “Thank you,
Cross.”

“Oh,
God.  Don’t cry.”  Cross drew her closer and buried his face in her neck. 
“Baby, you’re killing me.  Don’t cry.  And stop thanking me for things.  I
haven’t done anything.”

“Yes,
you have.”  Nia whispered.

The
Phazing energy flared, again.

Suddenly,
Nia saw a barrage of images in her head and she realized that she was
experiencing Cross’s memories.

…And
every one of them was like a horror movie.

Low lies the
plant to whose creation went

Sweet
influence from every element

Ralph
Waldo Emerson- “Woodnotes”

“If
anyone asks, this
so
isn’t the way this went down.”  Melanie pushed back
a handful of blonde hair and frowned at Uriel.  “Seriously.  We met at –like--
a library or church group.  I
never
arrested you.  You
aren’t
an
alien or an Elemental or whatever.  And we absolutely did
not
sleep
together twenty minutes after we met.  No way.”

Uriel’s
mouth curved.  “Perhaps, we should also
not
mention the handcuffs,
then.”

“Shit.” 
Melanie closed her eyes.  The zip cords were still holding Uriel’s wrists
behind his back.  That meant that the state of their clothing and the sexual
misconduct in the back of her squad car had all been her handiwork.  She
had
ravished him on the way to the station.

 Sullivan
would toss her ass in jail for public indecency if someone reported this.

Fortunately,
there were some kind of leafy plants all over the car, now, blocking the
windows.  Since the vines had appeared instantly and were growing right out of
the street, Melanie figured that they were Uriel’s way of hiding them from
passersby.  His consideration touched her.  It was certainly way more foresight
than she’d been able to muster.  She wondered if it was even worth mentioning
that a car covered in jungle vegetation, stopped at a traffic light at a
Mayport Beach intersection, was going to attract even more attention than two
people having sex in a car would have.

How
long had they even been here?  Melanie vaguely recalled radioing Sullivan with
some excuse on why she wasn’t back at the station yet, but damn if she
remembered what is was or when she’d done it.

Uriel
nuzzled the side of her neck and Melanie decided that she didn’t care.  She
actually felt like laughing.  “I was going to blame myself for this mess, but
it’s really all your fault.”  She pulled away so she could meet his eyes. 
“What the hell did you do?”

“Phazing
is a mutual process.”  Uriel shifted his body, so Melanie was beneath him. 
“Once it begins, very few Phases have the strength to stop it and I certainly
did not wish to.”  He gazed at her, lovingly.  “You feel it, too, correct?  The
connection and wholeness.”

She
felt it.  Oh, God, did she feel it. “Yes.”  She whispered.  The Phazing had
been a lightning storm of passion.  Melanie was kind of surprised that she’d
lived through it.  There were still aftershocks going through her and, beneath
the passion, was a growing sense of peace.  Of rightness.  “Let me get the
cuffs off of you.”  She sat up again and reached for his wrists.  “You
alright?  Can you feel your fingers?”

“I
feel…
excellent
.”  Uriel purred out the word.  The second his hands were
free, they were all over her.  Scooping Melanie up so she was on his lap, he
grinned down at her triumphantly.  “I waited for you.  I looked for you.  And
now that I have you…”  His voice trailed off.  “Thank you, Melanie.”  He
studied her face, reverently.  “There are not words.”

Melanie
felt her heart crack open.  “You’re welcome.”  She dropped her head forward so
it rested on his shoulder and cleared her throat.  “So… um… tell me again why
are you wearing this shirt?”  It was the safest topic she could think of. 
Melanie plucked at the pink fabric above the “Sexy Grandma” logo

“Because,
I could not take it off with my hands behind my back.”

“No,
I mean why
this
shirt.  Why not something less…sparkly.”

Uriel
frowned, slightly.  “I saw from you memories that this clothing is inappropriate. 
It was Tharsis’ doing.  He provided the disguise.  Apparently, he finds my lack
of knowledge about human culture amusing.”

“Sweetie,
you are definitely not lacking knowledge in every way that matters to
this
human.” 
Melanie assured him.

She
wasn’t sure what to make of his statement that he could see into her memories,
because, images had filled her head, too.  Flashes of Uriel’s life.  For a few
moments, it had been like she was really right there next to him as the events
happened.  The incredible beauty of his homeland.  A younger Uriel playing some
kind of rugby-like game with his family.  Uriel fighting men with golden yellow
streaks at their temples in battle.  The Air House.  The Fall.  A sickness that
had wiped out so many people that the numbers seemed incomprehensible.  Uriel
holding his little brother as the boy died.

“I’m
sorry about Vonner.”  It seemed like a pitiful thing to say after witnessing
Uriel’s grief in her mind.

Uriel
nodded, as if it was only natural that she’d know the boy’s name.  “He was a
child.  It was so unfair that the Fall would steal anyone so young.”  He sighed
and hugged Melanie closer to his chest.  “I miss him, greatly.  It is one of
the reasons I’m seeking the Quintessence.  Maybe there is a way to bring him
back or undo the Fall...”  His voice trailed off, as if he knew he was grasping
at straws.  “I want to believe that Gaia has a reason for all that’s happened.”

Melanie
didn’t have to ask what the Fall was, because she just knew.  Uriel’s memories
filled in the cultural gaps for her.  The Elemental way of life wasn’t that
different than humans’.  They ate and slept, loved and mourned.  They watched
TV and bickered about everything under the sun.  And they had organic bodies,
although they lived much longer than humans.  That idea sort of depressed
Melanie, because she knew Uriel was going to be real upset when she died in
sixty or seventy short years.  But, she wasn’t ready to worry about that, right
now.  Or about anything else.  Not even about what came next.

Because,
there was no fucking way she’d ever give Uriel up after this, so they were both
going to have to deal with it.

“Uriel?”

“Yes,
my love?”

“Can
you read minds?”

“No. 
Not thoughts or emotions.  The images in your head are just part of the
Phazing, making us one.  Don’t worry.”  Uriel sounded amused.  “It seems odd to
me that your culture doesn’t share memories.  How do Matches get to know of
each other’s pasts?

“Usually,
their moms bring out embarrassing baby pictures and high school yearbooks.”

“The
Elemental way is better.  Gaia chooses certain experiences in our lives and
allows our Match to relive them in their minds, so they can understand us more
fully.”  He petted a hand over her hair.  “I am very proud that you are my
Match.  You are caring and fierce.  That man came at you and, in my head I
worried that you’d be hurt, but you defeated him…”  Uriel trailed off with
another pleased sight.  “It was beautiful.”

Melanie
knew exactly what memory he was talking about.  She hadn’t been exactly sure
what images from her past he’d seen, but it figured it had to be the one where
she’d shot somebody.  “Aw, hell.”  She tried to move away from him.  “That guy
lived, ya know, and I…”

“You
saved those children from a father who abused them.”  Uriel interrupted.  “You
are a warrior.”

“Oh.” 
Melanie settled back against Uriel, comforted by his obvious admiration for her
peacekeeping talents.  “Thanks.  That son-of-a-bitch reminded me too much of
Sullivan’s dad.  I hated my uncle.  Hated how he treated Sullivan.”

“I
now hate your uncle, as well.”  Uriel assured her.  “I would kill him for you,
if he weren’t already dead.”

“Thank
you.”  Melanie was actually moved by that.  She cleared her throat and tried to
steer the conversation towards happier topics.  “Didn’t you see any good
memories?”

“Well,
I saw your love for you cousin.  I saw your appreciation of nature and the
kindness that you show creatures weaker than yourself.”  He smirked.  “And I
now know that you sing songs very badly when you’re at bars.”

Melanie
ignored his analysis on her karaoke. “These flashbacks aren’t –like-- something
that happens every time you guys hookup with a girl, right?”

“There
is only one Phase-Match.”  Uriel’s eyes met hers and held.  “You are the only
woman in the universe I will ever ‘hook up’ with.”

He
said it with such precision that Melanie found herself grinning.  “Yeah, you
remember that, cowboy.  ‘Cause I gotta gun.”  She hesitated again.  “You really
think that I have some kind of Elemental DNA in me?”

“I
know it.”  He assured her, with all his Spartan-y confidence.  “And I have the
proof, should the Council question my right to have you.”

“I’m
pretty much the only one who can question that, actually.  Although, Sullivan
will probably try.”  Melanie wasn’t exactly clear on what the Council did from
Uriel’s memory.  She got the impression they were like the Elemental United
Nations, though.  “Um, what kinda proof are we talking about showing them.  ‘Cause
I’m a real open girl.  Seriously.  But, if you wanna try that Phazing thing
with an audience of old Council guys in robes all
watching
…”

Uriel’s
laughter cut her off.  He laughed so hard that tears rolled down his cheeks. 
So hard that he wasn’t even making any sound.

Melanie
found herself grinning, as well. “That’s a ‘no’ to voyeurism, I take it, huh?”

“If
you knew Job…”  Uriel tried unsuccessfully to get the words out.  “The idea of
him… at our Phazing…”  More laughter.  “Ah, Melanie.  You are truly a treasure.” 
He wiped at his eyes. “No, my love.  I meant that I had seen proof in your
memories.”

“Hey,
cowboy, trust me on this.  If I could perform your little miracle grow
gardening tricks, I’d recall it all by myself.”

“Your
mother’s father.  I saw him in your memories.  He is dead?”

“Yeah.
 He died when I was younger.  I loved him something awful.”  Melanie remembered
her grandpa vividly.  A tall, athletic man with an easy smile, who’d toss her
up in the air and tell her stories of magical kingdoms.  Most of the time, he’d
been in his garden.  Some of Melanie’s earliest recollections were of kneeling
beside her grandfather in the dirt while he explained the different plants and
flowers to her.  It was no surprise that Uriel had seen those images in her
head.

“He
had the mark of a Wood Phase.”  Uriel touched the streak of mahogany at his
temple.  “I saw it.”

Melanie
wrinkled her nose in deep concentration.  Her grandfather’s hair had been
blonde, like hers.  If she pictured him in her mind, she could visualize the
darker shade on the left side of his head, though.  “He was an Elemental?”

Uriel
nodded.  “I know of him.  Parson.  He was very old, even when I was a boy.  A
great man.  A warrior.  But he’d seen too much and he walked off alone one day
never to return.  We did not know what became of him.”

“He
retired in a trailer park twelve miles from here and fished a lot.”  Melanie
said, dryly.  Her grandfather’s name had been John Parson, so even if she’d had
a small bit of doubt remaining about her paranormal heritage, it vanished.  “I
wish he was still here, so I could ask him stuff.  Like what the hell he was
doing playing bingo instead of ruling the world or whatever.”

“Parson
must have Phazed with a human.”

Melanie
made a face.  Imaging her grandparents engaged in the same activity she and
Uriel had just completed kinda skived her out.  “Whatever.  Let’s not go
there.”

“But,
don’t you see?  For eons, the Council has insisted that humans and Elementals
could not interbreed, but they were clearly misinformed because here you are. 
A mix of human and Phase DNA.”  He eyed her considering.  “Do you feel
alright?  Being around my energy may activate some of your own.  We can’t be
sure how Phazing with me will affect your powers.”

“I’m
peachy.”  And Melanie could definitely see the coolness factor in developing
some superpowers.  “But, if …?  Would you…?”  She glanced away from him. 
“Would you still want to be with me if I was only human?”

His
expression softened.  “There is nothing that could ever make me leave you,
Melanie.”  He dipped his head so he could meet her gaze, again.  “Not the
Council or any rule ever written.  I am a Wood Phase and I follow the code of
Elementals.  No law against Phazing with humans will
ever
equal my
Gaia-given right to have my Match and protect you always.”

“Even
if your Gaia-given Match just has a lot of regular, human, cop DNA?”

Uriel
shrugged.  “If I discovered you were comprised of rodent DNA, I would still
have no other as my Match.”

“Charming.” 
She wrinkled her nose, even as she relaxed against his body.  “Ya got a real
way with words, cowboy.”

“I
prefer action.”  He was getting aroused, again.  She could feel it in him and
the coiling tension fed into her own passion.  There was an energy around him;
a weighty power that brushed against places that she didn’t even know she had
and electrified them.  “Melanie?”

“Yeah?” 
She bit her lip and moved against the growing bulge between his legs, her palm
sliding downward.  Skid Row was playing on the radio again and if there was a
better song to make love to than
I Remember You
, Melanie hadn’t heard
it, yet.