Treasure of the Fire Kingdom (The Elemental Phases Book 4) (31 page)

“Four
minutes and forty-eight seconds.”  Hope kept her attention on Kingu as the cell
door swung open.  “You are just
spectacular
.”  There was genuine
admiration in her tone.  “I told you, you were a hero.”

Kingu
smiled.  It was the first time he’d ever been proud of himself.  Proud of his
abilities.  “I only did this because you asked.  So technically, I think
you
are the hero.”  His palm hesitantly brushed over her hair.  He wasn’t sure how
Hope would react to him touching her in the presence of another man.  To his
relief, she didn’t cringe away in shame or disgust.

Instead,
she moved closer and hugged him tight.  “Thank you.”

Oh
God.

Hope’s
arms went around him and Kingu’s heart cracked right in two.  No one had ever
hugged him before.  Or thanked him.  Or rested her face against his chest and
closed her eyes, because she absolutely trusted that he wouldn’t hurt her.

It
was… perfect.

Kingu
let out a shuddering breath and dropped a kiss onto the top of her head, right
through her fuzzy pink hat.  “You’re welcome.”  He got out hoarsely.

New
feelings crowded inside of him, huge and sobering.  Kay had never been able to
force him to his knees.  Nothing had.  But, for Hope, he would have begged,
killed, bled, died… Anything.

“Un-fucking-believable.” 
Lycus stepped out of his cell and looked at Kingu in amazement.  “Why the hell
would you free me?”

Kingu
glanced at the Phase, confused by the man’s confusion.  Wasn’t it obvious, even
for someone of Lycus’ diminished capacities?  “Have you never had a woman?”

Lycus
didn’t look pleased with that answer.  “Let Hope go back to her family. 
Believe me, you do
not
want to piss those bastards off.  Just let her
go.  I’ll take her home and maybe I can convince them to just forget this whole
thing.”

Kingu’s
mouth curved at that sheer stupidity of that demand.  “No.  I don’t think
that’s going to happen.”

“Um.” 
Hope cleared her through.  “Lycus, I don’t…”

Lycus
cut her off, his eyes on Kingu.  “You’ll have to let her go, eventually.  You
know that.  She’s not yours.”

Kingu’s
jaw went tight, because a part of him knew Lycus was right.  Hope belonged to
another.  Someone with a soul and a greater destiny.  Not that it mattered. 
“Anyone who tries to take Hope from me will discover unexplored dimensions of
pain.”

Hope
sighed reminiscently.  “Wouldn’t Oberon have loved him, Lycus?”

“Probably.” 
Lycus scowled even as Kingu snapped his fingers and made the plastic manacle
around Lycus’ ankle disappear.  “What if she
asked
you let her go?”  He
pressed.  “You’re saying that Hope talks you into doing shit…  Well, could she
talk you into letting her go home?”

Kingu
froze.

What
would
he do if Hope asked him to set her free?  It was becoming terribly
clear that she could make him fold like a card table with nothing more than a
bat of her lashes.  These feelings inside of him wanted her to be happy.  If she
started crying or pleading, how could he possibly refuse her?  On the other
hand, how could he possibly let her go and return to the emptiness he’d felt
without her?

“Oh,
I don’t want to go home, right now.”  Hope said, interrupting his increasingly
desperate thoughts.  “I’m quite happy here.”

Kingu
felt his jaw sag open in shock.  “What?”

At
the same time, Lycus started swearing a blue streak.  “
What?!
”

“I’m
supposed to be here with you.”  Hope blinked up at Kingu like that should be
obvious.  “I told you, the two of us finding each other is destiny.”

“Destiny.” 
He repeated.

He’d
explained that he’d been created without any input from fate, but she’d never
accept the truth.  She might have teased him about being a monster, but to Hope
he wasn’t a soulless creature, at all.

He
was just a man.

Kingu’s
mind went back to their earlier debate about movie monsters and Hope’s naive
insistence that the villains could be redeemed.  He’d actually read
Phantom
of the Opera
back in 1910, so he remembered how the story ended, even if
Hope didn’t.  Christine didn’t
escape
back to her normal-looking, above
ground, human lapdog…  The Phantom
let
her go.  Because he loved her and
he knew she deserved more, he released her back into the light.

What
a stupid bastard.

How
could any monster give up his very salvation?

“Hope,
I swear to God, you are as crazy as your grandfather.”  Lycus glowered at her. 
“So, fine.  You wanna play house with the Incredible Hulk, here…
Fine
. 
Don’t say I didn’t warn you, though.”  With that, he jumped out of the prison,
bound for who-cared-where.

“You’re
welcome
.”  Hope called pointedly, even though Lycus was gone and
couldn’t hear her.  “Geez.  Is it wrong to think a ‘thank you’ is kinda warranted
when you save someone from rotting in jail?”

Kingu
stared at the small being who’d freed him from a prison far worse than this
one.  “Thank you.”

Hope
shot him a surprised glance.  “For what?”

“For
not asking me to let you go.”

For
not making him go back to the endless solitude of life without her.

“Don’t
be silly.”  She straightened his tie and gave him a wink. “If I wanted to leave
you, I’d already be gone.  I’m very talented at planning escapes, you know.”

More
Phases were headed their way, now.  Armed idiots with sharp swords and enraged
expressions, dashed down the hall from the opposite direction.  They all
skidded to a halt when the saw Kingu standing there.

“Kingu? 
What are you doing here?”  One of the sputtered.  “It’s not safe for you, sir. 
There’ve been reports of a jailbreak!”

Honest
to gods, they couldn’t even question the guards outside before charging in? 
The men in tar could have told them that Kingu was the one behind the escape,
but apparently no one had thought to ask them.  Unbelievable.  Even if they
had
been plotting against Job, the Earth King would’ve had nothing to worry about.

Kingu
stalked past the mass of stupidity that the Phases called guards, tugging Hope
along behind him.  “Search the premises and round up the criminals, then.  I
have every faith that you’ll do as thorough a job as always.”

“Enforcer
Galen was looking for you, sir.”  Someone else called.

“Tell
him I’m with my mate and I don’t want to be disturbed by idiots.”  That pretty
much ruled out everyone in the Cloudland.

Hope
glanced up at him as they walked away.  “You’re the one who’s being held
prisoner here.”  She lowered her voice so only Kingu could hear.  “They watch
you, all the time.  Maybe
you
should think about escape.”

“And
go where?  If you can think of someplace that welcomes gods and monsters, I’m
open to suggestions.”

Hope
shrugged with studied casualness.  “What about the Fire Kingdom?”

“What
about it?”

“Well,
I think they’d like a god on their side, over there.  You’re big and a warrior,
so you’ll fit right in.  Plus, you could make them all kinds of neat stuff. 
Pinball machines, and atomic weapons, and giraffes.  I’ve heard that Missy, of
the Fire House has always wanted a giraffe.”

Kingu
felt a stab of hurt.

He
hadn’t known he
could
feel hurt, but his stomach sank in disappointment
at her words.  For some crazy reason, he’d thought that Hope would say he could
go to the Color House.  That they could both go to her homeland and…

What? 
Live happily-ever-after?

Please.

He
rolled his eyes, disgusted with himself.  Of
course,
Hope wouldn’t want
him in her pretty, little kingdom.  Who could blame her?  You didn’t welcome
the sea monster on board your ship.

He
cleared his throat.  “The Fire Phases are not going to let me move in with
them.  They’re notoriously clannish.  They don’t let anyone in who’s not born
there.”

“Oh,
that’s not true.  I guarantee it.”

“Not
that I would even
want
to live there, surrounded by those maniacs. 
Aside from the fact that they eat their dead…”

“They
do not!  I told you that incident was
completely
exaggerated.”

Kingu
ignored the interruption.  “…they’re all criminally insane.  The Air Phases
used to whisper about their ritualistic slaughters.  They have some national
holiday where they all try to light each other on fire.”

“That’s
only once a year.  Almost everyone survives it.”  Hope sounded offended, now. 
“Honestly, how could you listen to the Air House?  What do they know about
anything?  The Fire Phases are a noble people.”

“Right
well, they’re nobly gonna turn my ass over to Tessie if I show up there.”

“Tessie?” 
Hope stopped her Fire House pitch, looking mystified.  “Isn’t she your aunt? 
“Why would it matter if she finds you?”

“She’s
trying to kill me.”

Hope
made a “pfft” sound.  “Oh, for goodness sake.  I’ve seen Tessie swordfight. 
You have nothing to worry about.”

“Believe
me, she’s more powerful than she looks.  Plus, she hates me.  Hate gives a
person a lot of strength.”

“She
hated
Kay
.  Not you.”

“Well,
somehow I still got trapped in the Air Kingdom with my sadistic bitch of a
mother for over a thousand years, so I’m not splitting hairs about Tessie’s
motivations.”

Hope
frowned.  “Have you even talked to Tessie since Kay went into the coma?”

“No.”

“Don’t
you think you should?  Maybe she’s not after you, at all.  How do you know what
she’s planning unless you discuss it?”

“Oh,
we’ll discuss it, alright.  Once I get my full powers back, Tessie and I will
have nice, long conversation.”  Kingu smiled in anticipation.  “And when she
attacks me, I’ll rip off her head and burn her body to ash.”

Hope
winced a bit.  “Oh dear.  Job is not going to like that.”

“All
the better.  I’m not so fond of him, either.”

“To
hear you tell it, you’re not so fond of any Elementals.”

Actually,
knowing Hope had made him slightly more tolerant of Phases, in general.

Slightly.

“I
am fond of
you
.”  Against his better judgment, Kingu’s eyes went to the
Elementals trapped in the plastic cells around him.  He swore under his
breath.  “And if you wish these morons freed, I will see it done.”

Hope
looked amused by that non sequitur.  “You just want me to talk you into doing
what you already know you’re going to do.”

Kingu
made a face.  “I simply dislike seeing other beings suffer.”  Having endured
slavery himself, he wouldn’t watch other beings trapped in that dismal fate. 
He recognized the prisoners’ looks of desperation and impotent rage.  He knew
what it was like to be caged.  To have everything taken from you except one
tiny spark of… hope.

“You
really are the greatest warrior I’ve ever met.”  Hope said quietly.

He
glanced down at her, surprised to see she was serious.  “Because I am going to
help these idiots?”

“Because
your instinct is to protect people, even though no one’s ever protected you.” 
Hope gazed into his eyes.  “How do you not see that you have a soul?”

Kingu
realized he had no response to that.

Hope
shook her head and took hold of his hand, again.  “Come on, monster.  Let’s go
smash in some doors.”

How thou art
changed! I dare not look on thee;

I feel but
see thee not….

Some good
change is working in the elements.

Percy
Shelley- “Prometheus Unbound”

“I’m
telling you, someone used Kay’s necklace.”  Tessie paced around her Match’s
neatly organized office.  “I know what its power feels like and, whatever happened
yesterday, that pendant was behind it.”

Job,
of the Earth House leaned back in his leather desk chair.  “Kingu?”  He
guessed.

His
white blond hair was pulled back into an elegant ponytail and he was wearing a
three piece pinstriped suit, but he hadn’t totally escaped Tessie’s “casual-ing
crusade.”  His tie featured a haunted house in honor of Halloween and his desk
was decorated with a grinning pumpkin.  Tessie’s mission in life was to make
her buttoned-down Match have a little fun.

“I
can’t be sure that Kingu used the necklace himself, but he’s involved
somehow
. 
He’s the only one who could’ve taken the necklace off Kay.”  Tessie shook her
head in frustration.  “The question is why
would
he?  He knows how
dangerous it is.”

Tessie
just didn’t get it.

Kingu
understood the destructive powers of Kay’s pendant better than anyone.  What
could anyone threaten or offer him that would be worth such a risk?  And where
the hell
was
he?  Tessie had gone to the Air Kingdom looking for Kingu
and all she’d found was her bitch of a sister sleeping in that ugly hot pink
house.  She had no idea where her nephew could’ve gone.

That…
worried her.

Kingu
was a powerful guy, but he’d lived his whole life under Kay’s thumb.  He had no
idea how to really survive in the world.  What if something had happened to
him?  There were so many monsters in this universe who could’ve attacked him or
kidnapped him or tricked him into handing over the necklace.

Tessie
didn’t know much about Kingu as a person.  How could she with Kay always
standing between them?  And –granted-- Kingu himself was jussst a little bit
Dark Side and he completely hated her.  But, the boy was still her
nephew
. 
Tessie wasn’t about to let somebody harm him.  She had to figure out where he
was.

She
looked over at Job.  “Do you think someone forced him to hand over the
necklace?”

“I
don’t know.”  Job’s lawn green eyes watched her pace.  “Given that he’s
immortal and the size of a mountain, I can’t imagine how anyone
could
force him to do much.”

“I
know he’d big, but he’s not used to being out in the world.  Think about it,
you’re the oldest Elemental alive and Kingu had already been trapped in the Air
Kingdom for two hundred years when you were
born
.  It’s all he knows. 
Where else would he go?”

“I
don’t know.”  Job said, again.  “I imagine he’ll go wherever he always wished he
could
go when he was trapped.  Now that he’s free, the universe is wide
open to him.”

“He’s
not someone who’d just take off on a ski vacation or whatever.”  Tessie shook
her head.  “This isn’t good.  Either someone made Kingu hand over the necklace
or he’s taken the necklace himself and is planning something.”

“You
think he’ll come after you?”

“Probably.” 
Tessie ran a hand through her hair.  “The kid wants me dead.”

“Cross
disliked me for a long time, too.  We worked through it.”

It
was sweet of him to try and cheer her up, but Tessie wasn’t buying it.  “
Your
nephew and
my
nephew aren’t even in the same ballpark, hon.  You
never locked Cross up for a millennia and Cross never tried to help eradicate
an entire species because he was pissed about it.”

“You
didn’t have a choice except to lock up Kay.”  Job insisted.  “It was
her
fault that Kingu was trapped there, too.  And Kingu wasn’t responsible for the
Fall.  That was all Kay and Parald’s doing.  You and Kingu can have a
relationship if you both just try.  I know you want that.”

“I
don’t think
he
wants it, though.”

“When
we gave him a chance, Kingu walked away from his mother and let you put her
into a coma.  He sided with
us
.  That tells me the boy isn’t all bad.”

Tessie
stalked over to window and stared out at the orderly green Earth Kingdom.  “I
just want to find him.”

“We’ll
find him.”  Job leaned across his desk and cleared his throat.  “When we do…
what are you going to do if he
is
plotting something horrible with that
pendant?”

“I’m
going to stop him.”

“How?”

“I
have no idea.”  Tessie had no intention of hurting Kingu.  He was her only
blood relative.  All she really wanted was to get along.  She had no idea how
to accomplish that, though.  “I’ll guess I’ll have to talk to him or… Wait.” 
Her eyes narrowed thoughtfully as a new idea occurred to her.  “
You
should talk to him, Job.”  She spun back around to face him.  “We’re a Match,
so he’s your nephew, too!”

Job
blinked.  “But, I barely know Kingu.”

“That’s
probably for the best.”  She restlessly headed back to his desk.  “People like
you more than me.  Kingu will
never
listen to me, but I’m sure you can
have him coming around to Team Tessie in no time.”

Job’s
mouth curved.  “I am captain of Team Tessie.  But, I don’t think I’m the right
person to talk to the boy.  Doesn’t he hate Elementals?”

“Oh,
he hates everyone.”  Tessie waved that aside.  “Come on.  I
know
you can
do this.  When we find him, you say something awesomely life changing and
monumental that completely changes his outlook and makes him adore me.”

“Oh,
is that all?”

“Yes!” 
Tessie nodded.  “Also it would be great if you somehow got that pendant back.”

“Tess…”

Her
eyelashes fluttered.  “Please Joby?”

Job
was amused by the blatant flirting.  “Alright.”  He relented.  “I’ll
try
,
but I don’t think it will…”

The
lamp on his desk flickered and Chason, of the Magnet House jumped into the
room.  He looked like he hadn’t seen a bath in about a month, his purple eyes
wild with madness in his sunken face.

Job’s
eyebrows climbed, still unused to the lack of barriers and how easy it was for
Phases to just pop into his home.  “Chason.  You couldn’t have called first?”

Tessie
was a bit more blunt.  “What the hell do you want, Chase?”  She stalked closer
to the hollowed out shell of a man who used to be the Magnet King.  “Unless
you’ve come to give Job back the Justice Table that you stole,
get out
.”

“It’s
important.”  Chason barely seemed to process her, all his attention focused on
Job.  “Do we have records on the Phases who were Banished?”

“Of
course.  The Council keeps records on every trial, but why…?”

“A
Light Phase is still alive somewhere.  I know it.”

Job’s
eyebrows climbed.  “I see.  And how do you know…?”

Chason
cut him off as if he didn’t even hear Job talking.  “He took Mara’s body and I
have to find him, so I need all the information you can give me.  He
has
to be in the records.”

“How
do you know this man was Banished?”

Chason
scowled as if Job was being deliberately obtuse.  “Well what else makes sense? 
None of the five Light Phases that we know of did this.  I’ve questioned them. 
It’s someone else.  Someone we don’t know about.  Which means that it has to be
a Light Phase you didn’t count in the census after the Fall.  So it’s someone
outside
the House.  What Phase would be outside their House for this long besides
somebody Banished?”

Tessie’s
lips parted as she realized that Chason was actually making sense.  Her eyes
met Job’s in amazement.  “After the Fall, did you guys ever look for the Phases
you’d Banished over the years?”

“No.” 
Job said softly.  “It didn’t even occur to me.”  He gave his head a slow
shake.  “My God, if it’s true,
this
is why Llian isn’t supporting the
whole Crystal House by herself.  There are more Phases out there that we don’t
know about.  This could do so much to help save us from extinction.  If we
could…”

“
Who
the fuck cares about the Crystal House?
”  Chason roared.  “All I want is
the Light Phase who took Mara.  I already know he’s not with the others in the
Cloudland, so I
need
to see those records, Job.”

“The
Cloudland?”  Job and Tessie coursed.

“Yes. 
The Cloudland.  Where all the Banished Phases have been congregating for weeks.” 
Chason frowned in his not-quite-sane way.  “Hang on, did I forget to tell you
that part?”

“There
are Banished Phases in the Cloudland?”  Job repeated like he didn’t fully
believe it.  Not shocking since the source of the information was a lunatic. 
“Are you
sure?
”

“Of
course I’m sure.”  Chason straightened his torn uniform with grave dignity. 
“The Reprisal has spies all over the realm.  Or we did.  I think most of my men
have left now.  Probably for the best.  I’ve been getting… and the music… and
the… the…”  He gave his head ruthless shake as if he was trying to stay
focused.  “Wait, what was I saying?”

“Cloudland.” 
Tessie prompted, eyeing him warily.  One day Chason’s shattered mind was going
to wander and just not come back.

“Oh
right.  So, thanks to my spies, I know who’s in the Cloudland and there aren’t
any Light Phases.  Just a bunch of nobodies killing time with
other
nobodies and a few heavy hitters wandering around looking for an opportunity to
hit:  Lycus, Mallachi, Falyn, Kingu, Akkadian…”

“Akkadian’s
alive?”  Job winced.  “How is that even possible?  Wasn’t he eaten by lions?”

“I
guess he got better.”

“Wait,
rewind.”  Tessie held up her hands.  “Did you say
Kingu’s
in the
Cloudland?”

“Yes,
he’s there.”  Chason nodded distractedly.  “But, don’t worry.  I don’t think he
has Mara.”  Clearly, his missing Match was the only aspect of this that
interested him.  “I went through the whole roster and not even the strongest
squatters in the Cloud Kingdom can control Light.  None of them are likely
suspects, at this point.  I need to have those records to see who else might be
out there.”

“I’ll
get you the records.”  Job promised quietly.  “And then, Tess, you and I will
go find Kingu.”

“And
you’ll talk to him?”  She prompted.

God
only knew what Kingu was up to in the Cloudland.  Hanging out with Elemental
criminals didn’t exactly scream “innocent citizen.”  Still, she very much
doubted that he’d moved there because real estate prices were so low.  Someone
else had been involved in that decision.  Probably the same person who’d used
Kay’s necklace.

Tessie
frowned.  “Whatever’s going on, Job, it has to do with the Phases.  I don’t
want Kingu caught in the middle of some war.  All his life, he’s been caught in
the middle of fights he didn’t start and I don’t want him hurt again.”

“Hurt?” 
Chason squinted.  “Isn’t this guy a gigantic dragon?”

“Yes.” 
Job sighed.  “But, he’s also our nephew.”