Warrior from the Shadowland (9 page)

“Okay.” 
The light switched to yellow.

“I
won’t hurt you.”  Uriel continued when she continued to sit there silently. 
“Not ever, Melanie.  If that’s what you’re thinking, now.  I don’t wish to
pressure you, but I really believe that you are my Match.  I would die before I
hurt you.”

The
light went red.

Melanie
cleared her throat.  “I don’t think you’ll hurt me.”  And she didn’t.  If he
wanted to, the guy could’ve speared her with a pine tree by now and escaped.

Another
long moment passed.

AC/DC
switched to Skid Row’s
18 and Life
.

Melanie
didn’t notice.

“You’re
an alien, aren’t you?”  She finally said and just the fact that she asked the
question without having some kind of break down was a miracle.

“No,
I told you, there are no aliens in this galaxy.  I am Elemental.  We control
the interconnected processes of the universe and maintain nature’s harmony.”

“Yeah? 
That sounds like a good job.  Time outdoors and all.”  Melanie reached up to pinch
the bridge of her nose.  “Okay.  An Elemental.  Right.”  She cleared her
throat, again.  “So, I’m just going to let you go, then.”  She reached over to
fumble with her seatbelt.  “Can you do something about the…the…”  She couldn’t
get the words out, so she just waved a hand at the fir trees.

Uriel
nodded.  “Yes, of course.”  A heartbeat later and all eight firs were gone.

Melanie
sucked in a deep breath.  “Okay.”  She opened her door and saw that huge holes
had now been left in the street.  If Sullivan asked, she was just going to tell
him it was a freak meteor shower.  It made more sense than the truth.

She
unlocked Uriel’s door and helped him out of the car.

He
towered over her, a massive wall of handcuffed, sort-of-alien hotness.  “I have
no wish to scare you.”  He said, quietly.

“I’m
okay.”  She started to turn him around so she could undo the zip ties holding
his wrists together.  “So, the other two people with you are…”

“Elementals,
too.  Yes.”  Uriel finished when she trailed off.  He resisted her attempts to
reach his hands.  “Melanie, you’re special.  Part Phase.  It’s a miracle.  It
shouldn’t be.  But, I feel it.”

“Okay.” 
Melanie was barely listening to him.  Her frazzled mind was stuck on how she
was going to get the other two non-humans out of their holding cells.  Sullivan
wouldn’t just release them.  Even if he saw a whole instant rainforest appear,
her cousin would never believe this.  Sullivan could be incredibly stubborn
about some things and Melanie had a feeling that Elementals visiting Mayport
Beach was going to be one of them.

“Melanie.” 
Uriel somehow shifted his body so she was trapped between him and the side of
the car.  “Pay attention to this.  It’s important.”

She
forced herself to focus and met his eyes, again.  “What?”

“Do
you feel something between us?  An attraction that is more than…?”

“Yes.” 
Melanie interrupted, flatly.  There didn’t seem much point in denying it.  For
all she knew, he could extract her thoughts with a ray gun, anyway.

Uriel’s
mouth curved.  “Good.  Will you allow me to try something?  It won’t hurt, I
promise.”

What
the hell?  Melanie nodded, feeling slightly light headed.  “Sure, cowboy. 
Knock yourself out.”  It wasn’t like he could do anything that would shock her
more than the evergreen jungle.  Besides, he was still wearing handcuffs.

“Thank
you.”  Uriel said, politely.

Then
he slammed his lips down over hers and Melanie’s world exploded.

Certain
elements, not seen and considered in the outset, were beginning to assume shape

and
consequence

T.S.
Arthur-“After a Shadow”

“Hey,
Job.  It’s Nia.”  Her fingers twisted in the cord of the payphone, her voice
straining to be casual as she left the message.  “Um… I guess you’re still in
that Council meeting, which -Yes,
I know
- I’m supposed to be at, too. 
But, some stuff happened today, and I have a really good excuse for running
late.  I found my Match!  How’s
that
for great news, huh?!  I can’t wait
for you to meet him.  He’s
wonderful
.  Very thoughtful and handsome and
charming.”

Cross
snorted.  He crossed his arms over his chest to enjoy the ‘Nia Lies to Job’ show.

His
Match was the charming one.

Lovely
and passionate and strong.

Nia
was… fun.

Since
Cross could easily have counted the fun moments of his life on one hand, he was
utterly captivated by her adventures.  Even with everything that had gone wrong
so far, he was exactly where he’d always wanted to be.  For the past two years,
he’d been listening to stories about Nia, of the Water House’s wacky schemes
and daring exploits, and now he was standing right in the middle of one.  It
was amazing.

He’d
expected to desire his Match, but this was even stronger than just Phazing
energy.  This was him wanting
Nia
.  The woman fascinated him.  Brilliant
and complicated and clean.  Cross found himself just watching her, unable to
believe she was real.  Sadly, she kept looking at him,
too
, probably
thinking the same thing, but for very different reasons.

So
far, Nia had seen him hack the heads off of six Air Phases, which was possibly
the
worst
first impression in the entire history of relationships.  Then,
there was his reputation for ending the world.  And the clothes vanishing
thing.  And the vanishing
her
thing.

Christ.

Nia
must be wondering what the hell she’d done to deserve such a freak as a Match.

Luckily
for him, Thar, Uriel and Ty had been thoughtful enough to get carted off in
squad cars.  Most of Nia’s attention was on saving them from long prison
stretches, so she hadn’t tried to renounce him, yet.

Instead,
she focused on the rescue mission.

After
the walkie-talkie had started beeping, Cross had grabbed it and tossed it onto
the desk for the cop to find.  Even at that point, he could feel the tension in
Nia’s body.  Not at him or at the cop searching for them, but because she was already
planning her new mission:

How
to save her family from becoming convicts.

As
soon as they’d left the hospital, she began looking for a telephone.  Cross saw
no reason why Uriel and the Water Phases couldn’t escape from jail all by
themselves. Their captors were just humans, after all.  Nia’s relatives were
nutty, but they weren’t stupid.  Nia wasn’t taking any chances with her family,
though, which meant swallowing her pride and calling Job.

Still,
she seemed pretty cheery, all things considered.

They’d
finally located a phone in some little park with a gazebo and palm trees.  Even
in the shade, it had to be over a hundred degrees.  Cross squinted up at the
brilliant yellow sun, amazed by the heat it gave off.  Mayport Beach was very,
very different from the Shadowland.

It
was something of a culture shock.

“Cross
is just wonderful, Job.  You’ll love him.  I’m so happy!  You know how much I
always wanted my Match.  You told me he was out there.”  Nia kept up her one
sided conversation with Job’s voicemail, flashing Cross a bright smile.

The
Wave House’s powers allowed for all kinds of Elemental communication on human
technology.  Apparently, if you’d memorized the inter-realm phone directory or
whatever, you could even call the unofficial “Job, of the Earth House Hotline.”

Cross
would
never
ask Job for help.

Ever.

Nia,
on the other hand, had no problem with ringing up the High Seat of the Council
and putting him on stand-by to stage a jailbreak.  Cross sort of admired her
confidence.  It must be nice to know that Job would just drop everything and
come to the human realm with a hacksaw baked into a pound cake if you asked him
to.

Cross
would have much,
much
preferred to pick-up his Match and take her back
to the Elemental realm immediately, rather than do all this.

Three
things stopped him:  One, he knew that Nia wouldn’t willingly go anywhere
without her family and he really didn’t want to force her.  That wouldn’t
exactly build trust. Two, he was enjoying her, “Damn the torpedoes, full speed
ahead!” enthusiasm.  And three, dragging Nia out of here would probably mean
touching her, again.

Cross
did not want to lay one hand on Nia until he figured out what to do about his
powers.  The Shadow energy was more volatile around Nia, trying to connect with
her and begin the Phazing.

The
more Cross considered that, the more worried he got.

What
if he couldn’t control it?

Nia
blew out a long breath into the receiver.  “Ummm… So, we did run into a little
problem with Thar and Ty and Uriel, though.  Nothing I can’t handle.  But…  I’m
filling you in, just in case something else goes wrong.  We may need help. 
It’s nothing big.  Just… bail.”  She cringed at the word, as if imagining how
Job was going to take that request.

Cross
couldn’t blame her.  Mr. Law and Order would not be thrilled about two-thirds
of the Water House doing hard time.  Oh, Job would come and lend a hand.  He
doted on the Water Phases.  Plus, he was physiologically incapable of
not
being selfless and magnanimous.  But, he was going to lecture them all into
comas.

Job
was perfect.

Annoyingly
so.

But,
he still loved to harangue.

Cross
glanced down at his palms and cringed a bit, sure that he could still see the
blood drying on his fingers.  Keeping an eye on Nia, he headed over to the
nearest water fountain.  He’d already washed his hands back at the hospital,
but he swore the icy water ran red as it swirled down the drain.

“It
was a total misunderstanding, Job.”  Nia infused her voice with determined
cheer.  “We’re barely in the human realm, at all.  Just teeny, little Mayport
Beach.  Nothing to get upset over.  Really.  This is very fixable.  I’m all
over it.”

It
sort of annoyed Cross that
his
Match would automatically go to Job for
help.  But, it wasn’t a huge surprise.  Nia wasn’t an idiot.  If you were in
trouble, it made a lot more sense to dial up the Elemental’s own Captain
America, rather than ask a man whose weird, wrong, out-of- control powers had
just assaulted you.

Shit.

Cross
dried his clean hands on his pant leg and went back to scanning the park for
threats.  Being so exposed made him uneasy.  More Phases could attack his
Match, at any moment.

Aside
from a few spindle-y white birds and some squirrels, there wasn’t another
creature in sight, though.  He and Nia were alone in the park.

Which
was good and bad.

Obviously,
only having woodland creatures as possible enemies significantly cut down on
the risk of ambush.  But, it also meant there were very few distractions.  As
soon as Nia got off that phone, she was going to want to talk to him.  Only,
Cross had no idea what to say to her.

He
glanced over at Nia, again, just because he couldn’t help himself.  Even
standing in the dingy phone booth, she was stunning.

A
miracle.

What
the hell was he supposed to do with a woman so completely out of his league?

“So…
Yeah.  Alright.  I guess I’ll call you back later, then.  Oh.”  She hesitated. 
“Ummm… Don’t be mad, but also some Air Phases got killed.  Okay, bye.”  She
hung-up as quickly as she could and dropped her head against the metal payphone
booth.  “Holy crap.  He’s gonna freak out on me.”

Cross
couldn’t imagine Job “freaking out.”  It would be like Gandhi throwing a temper
tantrum.

Nia
glanced up at him.  “Now what?”  She asked.  “Should we wait for him?”

Cross
didn’t think that was a good idea.  Nia didn’t have her cellphone with her and
Cross didn’t own one, at all, so Job couldn’t call them back.  They’d have to
keep trying him again and again, and that meant they’d have to stay put.  It
was hard to find payphones these days, even in a time-capsule of a town like
Mayport Beach.

That
made Cross feel strange, since he remembered when telephones were
invented
. 
Human technology moved so quickly.  Probably because humans had such short
lives.  They had to cram everything in as fast as they could.  Elementals took
a much longer time to adjust to changes.  Cross was always overwhelmed by the
new gadgets and ideas that humans came up with and he was still young.  Only
two hundred and forty.

Job
was over a thousand.

That
thought came out of nowhere.

Job
must feel a constant struggle just to keep up with all the shifts.  From horses
to trains.  Trains to Model T’s.  Model T’s to jets.  Since Job was perfect,
Cross didn’t feel a lot of sympathy for him.  Still, he realized for the first
time that the Earth King might actually have some problems of his own.

“Cross?” 
Nia prompted when he didn’t respond.  “What should we do, now?”

Cross’s
mood soared as he realized that Nia wasn’t
asking
for his help, because
she just automatically knew that he’d give it.  She was just
assuming
that they were in this together.  Instinctively trusting him to be on her team.

That
was sort of gratifying.

Nia
was really accepting this Match.  Seeing them as “we.”  Cross wasn’t used to
being part of a “we.”  Or having someone ask his opinion.  It was a gift.  “Um…
I think we should go bail out your family ourselves.”  He said, truthfully, and
braced himself for a list of reasons why they needed Job’s expertise.

Going
solo was apparently the answer Nia was looking for, though.  She grinned at
him.  “I agree.  Honestly, I
really
don’t want Job here, anyway.  Not
unless something else goes wrong and we’re completely screwed and desperate.  I
mean, he’d be super helpful and fix everything.  But, he lectures.”

Cross’s
mouth curved.

“I
should also warn you, I’m sort of in the middle of rebellion.”

“I
doubt you’re in the ‘middle’ of anything, Nia.  If there’s a rebellion, I’m
sure you’re leading it.”

“Maybe.” 
Nia winked at him.  “Seriously, though, Job’s not going to be pleased about this
whole mission.  He told me not to come to the human realm.  Just consorting
with me, could probably get you banished by the Council.”

“I’ll
take my chances.”

“You
sure?”

“I’m
not hoping to see any other Council members naked, so I think I’ll stick with
you.”

She
snickered at that.  “Good choice.”  She gave him a quick kiss on the chin and
Cross felt the impact of it straight through to his soul.  The Shadows roared. 
“Anyway, Uriel gave me a lot of human money, so bail will probably be simple. 
How much do you think it costs to get three people out of jail?  Thar’s the one
who knows stuff like that.  Like forty dollars?”

Cross
blinked, ignoring the blinding pain in his head.  He was completely clueless
about money.  Elementals didn’t pay for a lot of human products.  They just
took them.  “Sure.  Forty dollars sounds right.”  He guessed.

Nia
nodded, shrewdly.  “And if that doesn’t work, I’ll hire them a lawyer.  Or
stage a political prisoner protest rally.  Or just jump in and steal them.  Or
we could tunnel into their cell.”

Job
would
really
not like any of that.  Not that Cross cared what Job
thought.  Absolutely not.  Still… “Let’s try bail first.”

“Right.” 
Nia grabbed the phonebook, again.  “Alright.  Step one.  Find the jail.”  She
began flipping through the pages, looking for an address.  “Oh perfect!  Look
at this.  Map!”  She ripped the rendering of Mayport Beach right out of the
book and headed back over to him.  “So, it looks like we have to go that way.” 
She pointed to the left.  “Do you know how to drive a car?”

“No.”

“Me
neither.  No point in stealing one, then.”  She gave a disappointed shrug. 
“We’ll have to walk.”  She started off with total authority, red hair bouncing.

Cross
almost smiled.

Nia’s
self-confidence was incredibly appealing.  He’d never met anyone so cheerfully
sure of themselves.  There wasn’t a doubt in Nia’s mind that she could stroll
into the police station and save the day.  And, really, Cross didn’t doubt it,
either.

His
Match was a savior.