Guardian of the Earth House (18 page)

Nia gave her Match a kick in the ankle for ruining Job’s only relaxed mood
ever
.

Tessie flashed Cross a glare.  “Job can act however he wants.”  Her hand came over to rest on Job’s leg as if to shield him from Cross’ disapproval.

Job stared down at her fingers on his neatly pressed trousers and Nia realized that he was stunned by Tessie’s protection.

Cross and Tessie didn’t notice.

“Well, he’s never wanted to act like
this
until you showed-up.”  Cross retorted.  “Something weird is happened to him.  If you’re not his Match, then who the hell are you and why are you stringing him along?  You’re not a human
or
an Elemental are you?”

“No.”  Tessie said flatly.  “I’m a ‘C: Other’ sorta girl.”

“Leave her alone, Cross.”  Job repeated, coming out of his surprised daze.  He seemed baffled to find himself at the center of a tug-of-war between the nephew who’d always had a hard time letting him get close and a woman who his only a “houseguest.”  “Look, I appreciate you trying to save me from Tessie’s clutches, but I’m perfectly happy where I am.  She’s not a threat to me.  Tessie is very, very special for all of us.  She’s important to the universe.”

Ty’s head tilted to one side.

Cross and Tessie continued to watch each other.

Nia opened her mouth to wade into the fray.  Cross had spent a long time keeping Job at a wary distance.  But, he cared for his uncle, probably more than either of them realized.  Job was certainly the only authority figure Cross had ever respected.  He saw Tessie as a possible threat to Job and Cross wasn’t the subtlest of men when he didn’t trust someone.  Now, Nia had to --somehow-- defend Cross’ right to cross-examine the poor girl, because Cross was Nia’s Match and, even when he was wrong, she felt compelled to side with him.

Ty spoke up before Nia could say anything.

“Oh Gaia.”  She breathed, in wonder.  “It’s the Quintessence.  That’s it!  Nia, she’s the Quintessence!”

Nia felt her jaw drop.

Tessie met Ty’s eyes and grinned.  “Police record notwithstanding, I always knew you were the fastest Phase at the track. Nice to finally meet you, Ty.”  She held out a palm.  “I hear you’ve been looking for me.”

The purely human element remains the same

Richard Henry Dana, Jr- “Two Years before the Mast”

Tessie didn’t age, so interacting with humans could hit the occasional snag.  For instance, it was always hard to be around Sullivan Pryce.  She’d known Parson’s grandson since before the kid was born.  It would’ve been kinda confusing to explain to him why she hadn’t gotten any older in the thirty-five years he’d been alive.  Tessie, therefore, had to be a little creative with the truth.  She also had to be careful not to get
too
close to Sullivan, while still looking after him.  She owed that to Parson.

Tessie dealt with the problem by becoming her own “niece.”  That had worked so far, but it wasn’t foolproof.  There were only so many times she could wash the artful grey dye from her hair and reintroduce herself before even the dimmest of humans would begin to notice that something was up.

And Sullivan wasn’t the dimmest of humans.

In fact, Mayport Beach’s chief of police always struck her as being too bright for his own good. 
Cynically
smart, though.  As if he wouldn’t believe anything that he didn’t see with his own two eyes and could fit into one of the neat boxes in his mind.

He accepted Tessie as the descendant of the woman he recalled hanging around his grandfather, because what other explanation did he really have?  Sullivan would never believe that Tessie was anything other than human.  It wouldn’t fit into his stubborn, “what I’m looking at is all there is” view of the universe.

Sullivan wasn’t the most hopeful, fanciful, or imaginative man Tessie had ever met.

Still, having so many Elementals running around town was something that not even someone as skeptical as Sullivan could completely ignore.  The Phases looked like humans, but they couldn’t really blend in perfectly.  Sullivan seemed to chalk up all their weirdness to a “cult” setting up shop in Mayport Beach.  And he wasn’t thrilled about it.

The women obviously bothered him most.

Sullivan’s cousin, Melanie, was the only known part-human/Phase-Match in existence.  It only stood to reason that Sully would, therefore, be a possible Match, too.  As Parson’s grandson, Sullivan suddenly became the Cinderella of the Elemental world.  Dozens of women, desperate to find a Match, were in Mayport Beach to try him on for size.  They wanted the Phazing energy to hit a jackpot and they weren’t real subtle about their attempts to force the issue if they possibly could.

They slid up against him.  They smiled at him.  They tried to talk to him about anything under the sun.  They flat-out propositioned him.

For a guy like Sullivan Pryce, who never had a lot of female attention and who always drove on the paranoid side of the caution expressway, it was unnerving.  The more the Phases flirted, the more wary he became of the “cult” and what they must be plotting.  Tessie could see him looking for terrorist cells and mass suicide schemes in every bat of the women’s eyelashes.

Truthfully, it was kinda funny.

Plus, watching Sullivan edge half a step back every time some sultry Phase tried to sidle up next to him took Tessie’s mind off of the Water House.  As far as Ty and Nia were concerned the Quintessence should be able to do magical things.  The fact that Tessie apparently couldn’t or
wouldn’t
use her powers to help the Elementals just set them both off.

Across the courthouse lawn, Tessie could see Job trying to explain that the Quintessence couldn’t undo the Fall.  She really wasn’t eager to be part of the conversation, so she was staying well off to the side.  Tessie didn’t want them to ask her questions that she couldn’t answer.  As it was, Cross, of the Shadow House was already flashing her suspicious looks.

Mayport Beach sat right on the Gulf of Mexico and Tessie breathed in the sea air, trying to calm herself down.  It didn’t work.  Even standing next to the statue of Mayport Beach’s founder, Milton May, made her antsy.  She’d known the guy and he was a dick, but that wasn’t the problem.  She just felt exposed here, with so many eyes on her.  It wouldn’t be long now until all the Phases knew who she was and started demanding some proof of her powers.  Since she didn’t have anything to show them, it wasn’t going to take a NASA engineer to put together that she was vulnerable.

She really did have to figure out a new place to hide.  There were lots of unexplored, uncharted realms out there.  She just needed to pick one far away from the Elementals.

And from Job.

She had to leave very, very soon.  The fake Phazing energy between them was getting too strong.  People would notice. 
Kay
would notice.  The idea of endangering Job scared the hell out of her.

It was time to start planning for the future.

“Sully?”  Tessie neatly stepped between him and a Dust Phase in a miniskirt who’d just offered to buy him a Corvette if he’d try Phazing with her.  “Can I talk to you for a sec?”

“God, yes.”  Sullivan latched onto Tessie like she was a lifeline.  “Yes.  Good.  Let’s talk.  Right now.”  He shot the Dust Phase a suspicious, vaguely frightened, frown and tugged Tessie away.

The Dust Phase looked crushed.  “Sullivan, can
we
talk next?”

“No.”  He snapped.

Job caught sight of Sullivan touching Tessie’s arm and his eyebrows drew together.  His eyes flicked to hers and she could see that he wasn’t happy.  Phases didn’t like other people touching their Matches.  Even their pretend Matches.  Job actually took a step forward.

Tessie waved him back.  “It’s fine.”  She called loudly.

Job stopped, but his face had that stiff, disgruntled set to it.

Tessie gave in and maneuvered herself free of Sullivan’s hold.  She shot Job a “satisfied?” sort of glance.

Job inclined his head slightly.

“You’re so uptight.”  Tessie mouthed at him with a teasing smile.  Then, she turned her attention to Sullivan, again.

Sullivan didn’t seem to notice her brief distraction.  He lowered his voice so he could talk to Tessie without anyone overhearing.  “What the hell is wrong with these people?  Why are the women all over me?  Am I imagining it or is it really happening?”

“Oh, it’s really happening.”

“Well, it’s fucking creepy.  I don’t like it.  You seem to know these Fruit Loops.  Make ‘em stop or I’m gonna start running them all in for solicitation.”

Tessie bit the inside of her cheek to hold back her snickering.  “Maybe they just like you, Sully.  They can’t help that.”

“Bullshit.  They’re up to something.  It’s like an initiation prank for the Cult or something.”

The very definiteness of his tone had Tessie’s grin fading.  It was like Sullivan couldn’t imagine any woman wanting him unless she had an ulterior motive.  It was Tessie’s fault.  She’d tried to look after him since Parson’s death, but Sully’s deep seeded resignation and sarcastic shell were impossible to break through.

It probably didn’t help matters that Phases were almost universally lovely.  Every woman trying to pick him up could’ve come straight from a casting call for “tall, thin, knockout in skimpy clothes.”  Sullivan wasn’t biting on any of the hooks the Phases dangled in front of him.  Instead, he was getting more and more unimpressed with their toothpaste ad smiles.

He’d never think their come-ons were real.  Sullivan stood six foot six and had a sort of roughhewn attractiveness about him, but there was a large circular scar on the side of his face.  He just didn’t understand that, while it might’ve limited his dating options among the humans, Phases really
liked
scars.  Typically, only the bravest warriors ever carried them, so they were a status symbol.

Most Elemental women genuinely thought that Sullivan was total eye candy.  That, added to Sullivan being the only stud on the farm, meant that he’d be voted “Sexiest Man Alive” on every Elemental magazine cover for the foreseeable future.  She had a feeling he wasn’t going to jump for joy over the title, though, so somebody else could break the happy news.

“They’re harmless.”  Tessie assured him.  “Melanie’s Matched…er…
engaged
to one of them.”

“Don’t remind me that she’s been baptized into this madness.  I swear to God, I’m gonna come home one day and find ‘Healter Skelter’ written on my walls and poisoned Kool-Aid in my fridge.  These lunatics aren’t normal.”

Tessie couldn’t argue with that.  “I know.  But, they really won’t hurt anybody.  I’ve known them for a while.  They’re screw-ups, but they aren’t dangerous.”

Sullivan didn’t look convinced.  “Yeah, well, the only beheading that’s ever happened here, or
anywhere
outside the French Revolution, happened the day they hit town.  In the hospital where I arrested Ty and the others.  While they were carrying swords, like something out of
Gladiator
.  It doesn’t take Sherlock Holmes to find that kinda suspicious.”

Well, when he phrased it like that…  “Ummm… Didn’t Melanie say that it looked like some crazy serial killer must have done that?”

“A serial killer who randomly hacked up a lab tech and then vanished, again?  No.  The Cult was behind it.  I’m
positive
.”

Tessie cleared her throat and tried to divert him from investigating the Reprisal’s handiwork.  Rumor had it that Abel, of the Stone House had done the killing and then Cross had vanished the bastard with his Shadow powers, so the case was closed.  Sully just didn’t know it.  “So, –What?-- you think that little redhead, Ty, decapitated someone?  The one with the Hello Kitty logo on her purse?”

“No, not
her
.”

“Melanie’s fiancée, then?  The guy who asked you to be his best man?”

“I’m
not
going to be his best man.  And no, I don’t think Uriel did it, either, or Tharsis.    They were in custody when it happened, but, one of them did.  That Gion punk is on my short list of suspects.  When I try to question him, though, I’m met with his fucking legal team from Tampa threatening me with harassment suits.”

“Wait, Gion hired
lawyers?
”

“Oh yeah.  Your buddy Gion hired lawyers so expensive, I’m pretty sure they’ve each gotten a new yacht out of this case and I haven’t even questioned him, yet.”

Why was she not surprised?  Gion had a warped sense of humor and a seemingly random dislike for Sullivan.  Of
course
he’d mess with the kid.

Tessie sighed.  “Sullivan, trust me, Gion didn’t behead that lab tech.  If that bastard had killed someone, you probably wouldn’t have found a body, at all.”

“Very reassuring.”  Sullivan scowled, as a Weather Phase with a barely buttoned blouse waved at him.  “Anyway, what did you need to talk to me about?  Take your time explaining it.  Use a lot of words and make it complicated, so I can use you as a human shield.”

Tessie rolled her eyes.  “You’re the chief of police, Sully.  Try to show some backbone or just ignore them.”

“They’re stalking me!  If I ignore them, it’ll just give them an opening to club me over the head and tie me up somewhere so they can assault me.  They’re insane.”

Tessie disregarded that.  “Anyway, I’m sorry to say that I don’t have a long complicated question to ask you.  I just need to know about Mr. Parson’s stuff.”

“What stuff?”  Sullivan asked distractedly, his deep brown eyes still scanning the crowd.  “Everything got burned up in the fire.”

Tessie didn’t like to think of the fire that had killed Parson.  It still hurt too much.  “I know it was a pretty terrible blaze.  But,
all
his stuff wasn’t in the mobile home, was it?”

“No, he kept a lot of it at the White House.”  Sullivan snorted.  “What the hell do you think?  Where
else
would all his stuff be, but the trailer?”

Tessie reached up to twirl her finger around her necklace.  “My
aunt
gave him something and there’s no way that it could burn.  She checked the rubble after the fire and it wasn’t there, so he had to put things
someplace
offsite.”

Sullivan shrugged.  “I don’t know what to tell you.”

“Like a safety deposit box, maybe?”  Tessie pressed.  “Think about it, because it’s super important.”

Sullivan stared up the sky for a moment as if he was really concentrating.  The clouds were flat and devoid of picture since the last of the Cloud House died off.  Sullivan was oblivious to the loss.  “Uh…Yeah.”  He blew out a breath that was more of a sigh than it was an agreement.  “Well, I guess maybe some of Grandpa’s stuff
could
be in Melanie’s attic or something.  Maybe mine.  I don’t know.  If he left it with my aunt and forgot about it or…”  He trailed off with a vague, unconvinced gesture.  “Whatever.”

“Great!”  Tessie jumped on that.  “Can I come over and look?”

“What are you looking
for
?”  Sullivan asked warily.

Tessie tried a noncommittal, meaningless, “Ya know… stuff.”  Not willing to give him a lot of specifics.  Advertising her real purpose could get him dead.