The Soothing Scent Of Earth (Elemental Awakening, Book 2) Read online

  "How will Cassandra be able to use Gi if they are blocking?" Isadora asked, and for once her question seemed genuine. No snarky tone, or smirk on her face. She was completely focused on the fight ahead and its ultimate success.

  There were many things I hated about this woman, but she was an agent of the Pyrkagia, skilled in this sort of thing.

  Bitch.

  I rolled my head on my shoulders, not bothering to answer her question, leaving it up to Theo.

  "Don't mind Casey, she has many talents," Theo murmured, distracted now. Ready to make our move.

  Isadora took one last long look at Theo's face, he didn't turn away from the front windows of the diner. His eyes flashed gold, purely focused on the goal in front of him. Jaw firm, shoulders set, back rigid. He looked magnificent. Isadora could see it too. Her eyes flicked over his face and frame, then darted back to his lips.

  If she thought she'd get a goodbye kiss out of him, she was shit out of luck.

  "You've got two minutes to get to the roof, Isadora," I instructed, breaking her love-sick gaze. She scowled at the interruption. "I suggest you get going now." I cocked my head and offered a faux sweet smile, adding, "Good luck!"

  She blinked, then reached out a hand to rest on Theo's upper arm, her eyes on me, not him. "I'll try to rendezvous with you in Belém tomorrow evening. Keep a fire open and we'll touch base."

  Theo nodded, still not turning his attention from the waiting Gi out on the forecourt. She squeezed his arm once, smirked at me and then ran towards the back of the building and I guessed, roof access of some description. Theo glanced at his watch, counting down her two minutes, but didn't say a word.

  Two minutes isn't that long, but the things that went through my head, things I wanted to say, to explain, to ask. So many things, but I didn't voice any of them. Now was not the time, even if my mind wouldn't let any of it go.

  "Release your hold on Gi," Theo whispered, when I guess one minute was up. I hadn't realised I was still communing with my Gi Stoicheio, but made a conscious effort to block the Earth's call and reached instead for my Pyrkagia side. Finding it harder said than done.

  "I can't find my Fire," I admitted, sounding a little panicked, considering our two minutes allowance for Isadora was surely up. "I need a flame to tap into it."

  Theo turned to look at me, his eyes searching my face. He nodded once, reached up and wrapped his hot palm around the nape of my neck and pulled me against his chest.

  "I have no idea what happened earlier, but know this, Oraia. You are mine, no matter what."

  Then his lips crushed down, his tongue forcing its way between my teeth, tangling with my own, sending a jolt of awareness and pure, molten Fire down my throat. I gasped, which turned way too quickly into a moan, and then he pulled back.

  "There it is," he whispered. "Beautiful."

  "Theo," I breathed across his lips.

  "Use me when you feel your Stoicheio waning. I have more than enough Fire to spare for you."

  He held my gaze, making sure I understood what he was saying. It wasn't a boast on how powerful his Stoicheio was, although I knew Theo Peter's Stoicheio was stronger than most. No, this was a declaration of how he felt for me, despite any misunderstandings, despite any potential misgivings. Despite my own fears of what his past secrets meant. He wanted me. That desire fuelled his Stoicheio, so if mine faltered, his would always be there.

  No matter what.

  My body was shaking from the thrill of being held so close, being kissed so possessively. Being looked at in such a deeply meaningful way. I didn't have an answer to who Melita was or what she meant to him, but I did have an answer to who I was, and what I meant to him. I was his, and he was mine. To hell with Isadora and her conniving storytelling. To hell with Theo's past.

  "That's my girl," he murmured. "Ready?"

  No, but time was up. Sooner or later the Gi would attack, even if they'd been avoiding destroying a business within their territory up until now. Their patience was surely about to run out.

  "You take the guys on the left, I'll take the guys on the right," I said.

  "Make them burn, Cassandra. Aim for their heads," was all he said, as he grasped my hand and pushed the front door of the diner open, bringing us out under the darkening sky.

  Everything happened at once, as though the Gi had been waiting for exactly this moment; when Theo and I emerged from the restaurant. One step onto the concrete carpark that bracketed the diner on three sides, and I felt the Earth rumble and groan in protest. The natural instinct to soothe it was blinding in its intensity. For a moment, only Theo's Pyrkagia was apparent in the space between us and them. Fire tore out from his hand towards a Guard on the left, as the Basilissa raised her arms up into the air above her head, green eyes target locked on me, and then she brought her palms together in a thunder crack of sound.

  Concrete split and broke apart, then soil rose up and out from beneath to sever the advance of Fire. So quick. So simple. A move I could not have perfected, and I was sure the Queen's Guards would have been unable to as well. But the Queen herself made it look like child's play. We stood on concrete, but she was still completely in control.

  The Fire was snuffed out as if she'd reached forward and squeezed a candle's flame between her fingers. In the silence that followed she cocked her head and smiled, a chillingly evil grin.

  "You waste your efforts, Prince. Stop now and we may let you live," she said, in the type of voice that resonates within your head and body, not just your ears.

  Theo was breathing heavily, but otherwise looked completely calm and controlled.

  "Let us pass," he countered, in a voice that surprisingly echoed the power of the Queen's, "and we may let you live."

  I couldn't stop the twitch of my lips, even though I was sure he was bluffing. He sounded so cocky, so arrogantly princely. I loved him for his confidence alone right then.

  The Queen only laughed. "Then you are a fool," she declared and before she'd finished her cackle, Theo had attacked.

  I was guessing he was sick of being called a fool. This time his Fire connected with a Guard, and in a movement almost as quick as the Queen's had been when she'd protected them before, the Guard's head disconnected from his body and flew through the air.

  A moment of stunned nothing followed; everyone, including me, surprised that Theo had succeeded. And then, as if the world caught up with the head when it finally slammed into the concrete some ten feet away with a wet splat, everyone moved at once.

  The Guards' eyes blazed green, the Queen screamed a warning, but didn't use the theatrics of raising her hands above her head, and the ground beneath us opened up. We started to fall, as space appeared where once solid concrete had been, and sharp tipped roots started shooting out from the sides of our tunnel towards us, as we plummeted deeper and deeper out of sight of the night sky.

  Theo burned them as they approached, one after the other, while I finally - and God hadn't that taken long enough? - managed to grasp my Pyrkagia Stoicheio and pulled on my Fire to add weight to his. But it wasn't enough to get us out of here and we both knew it. So, without a second thought I pulled on Gi as well, using Pyrkagia to boost my claim, overriding the Guards, but probably not the Basilissa.

  I didn't have time to consider if she was about to strike, we had to get out of this pit, before they covered us in soil. Pyrkagia burned around us, up the sides of the funnel, like some super-sized cauterising weapon used to stop nature's bleeds. The roots were halted in their tracks, leaving just a blackened wall on all sides, twenty feet deep.

  We couldn't jump, we couldn't climb - the roots and vines had been seared off - and Athanatos can't fly, as far as I'm aware. All of this was determined within a second of landing in a crouch at the base of the pit the Gi had created. Before Theo could offer a solution, and I'm sure he was trying to think of one, I called on the Earth, fuelled my request with the singeing heat of Fire, and demanded it release us from this trap.

  It made
a sound of pain, that segued into a defiant noise of acquiesce, and then the ground beneath us rose at an unfathomable speed and jettisoned us from the depths, hurtling us through the air over and above the Basilissa and her Guards, and then cushioning our fall as our bodies tumbled to the concrete... right next to our car.

  "Fuck!" Theo exclaimed, reaching into his trouser pocket and pressing the keyless remote to unlock the vehicle. Thank God he'd been the last one driving. It beeped, as the Earth whispered, She's rallying. Hurry.

  Theo threw up a wall of Fire between us and them, and astonishingly so did Isadora from on top of the roof to the diner. Our plan hadn't gone exactly as intended. One Guard had died, the rest were still happily breathing, and the Basilissa, although disgruntled, could hardly be called confused. But Isadora offered what distraction she could, when she saw it was our only chance of escape.

  I froze, one hand on the door to the passenger side of the SUV, my eyes searching for her up on top of the diner. I couldn't see her, so I could only hope they wouldn't find her. Which left me feeling all kinds of perplexed, because Isadora wasn't meant to be the reason why we escaped here today. She wasn't meant to be our last chance. She sure as hell wasn't meant to be helping me in any way. But here we were, sliding into the car, Theo starting the engine, and with what seemed an impossible amount of luck, or good timing, or just plain fucked-if-I-know-what, we pulled away. Exiting the carpark, and leaving a confounded Gi regiment and a furious Gi Queen in our wake.

  "Will she be all right?" I asked, breathlessly.

  "She's good at hiding, evading capture," Theo replied, but his lips were pressed in that thin line they get into, when something really has him worried.

  "Will they follow us?" I asked, gulping in much needed air.

  "Maybe," he replied, fingers tightening on the steering wheel, turning his knuckles white, as his foot pressed down harder on the accelerator.

  The world flashed by as the Earth cried out its triumph at our escape, then quickly silenced when the Basilissa let out a roar of rage. I could hear it; inside my head, all around me. On the air, in the trees that we sped past, in the repetitive thunk of the tyres across uneven pavement. Everywhere. The Queen raged, the sound so terrifyingly close, but instinctively I knew that they weren't able to follow. Whatever Isadora was doing, was pinning them down.

  "Man, she's furious," I said, under my breath.

  "You can feel her anger?" Theo asked, flicking me a surprised glance, then returning his attention thankfully to the front of the rocketing car.

  "I can hear her. Can't you?"

  He shook his head.

  "What's she saying? Is she following?"

  My turn to shake my head, as my grip on the handrail above my head tightened, the speed with which we were travelling making my head spin.

  "She's raging, roaring. Nothing coherent. But I feel distance expanding between us. Whatever is holding her back is working."

  "Dora," Theo said on a breath of expelled air. And I couldn't find it in myself to correct his use of her nickname, not when she was obviously the reason why we'd escaped at all.

  I hated owing her this. I hated acknowledging that in the end she'd pulled through for us, for me. And I hated, just as much, that she may now be in danger; fighting for her life, surrounded by the enemy.

  I sucked in a long breath of air, preparing to own up to my mistake and admit that I may have misjudged her, when the Basilissa growled, a voice laden with contempt...

  Alchemist. This time you go too far.

  Pain lanced through my mind as whatever the Queen was doing to this Alchemist reached me, muffled by distance and the fact that I wasn't her target, but strong enough, invasive enough, to propel me towards oblivion.

  "Casey!" Theo cried, but I couldn't answer. And in the brief second before darkness consumed me I heard a voice cry out in agony and defiance inside my head, She is ours to protect!

  Noah.

  Chapter 16

  Leaving Me Alone With A Very Turned On, Very Determined, Very Experienced Pyrkagia Prince

  Confusion consumed me when light met my blinking eyes.

  "Shhh," Theo murmured, running a warm wet sponge over my forehead, cradling me closer in his strong and familiar arms. "I'm here, Oraia. I'm here."

  The crackle of a fire could be heard over his softly whispered words. Then, surprising the hell out of me, Aktor said, "Has she come to?"

  "Are you back with us, Oraia?" Theo asked with a small quirk of his lips. I reached up automatically and brushed my fingers along his jawline. A natural reflex action to being so close, to being held so intimately, to him. "She may need a few more moments, Aktor," Theo announced, not taking his eyes off my face. "She's a little out of it still."

  I blinked, twisted my head to look around the room we were in, but couldn't find Theo's butler.

  "He's communicating through the Fire," Theo explained.

  "Hello, Miss Eden," Aktor sounded out in amongst the hiss and pop of burning wood .

  "I'll never get used to that," I murmured, trying to sit up. Theo fought me for a split second, but then must have taken pity on my pathetic efforts, and instead turned my body to settle into the couch beside him, in front of the hearth.

  We were in a cosy little rustic wood panelled cottage; the bed and dining area all in the same large room as the kitchenette and front door. A smaller door led off to what had to be the bathroom on the side. The room was refreshingly decorated, in cool blue and pale yellow furnishings, sheer curtains hung over large oversized window frames, and pot plants galore were dotted throughout the space. Even without the palms and orchids it would have been a pretty room. With them it was spectacular.

  "Where are we?" I asked, accepting the glass of water Theo presented me.

  "In a cottage for rent half way between Santarém and Belém," he replied. "We were lucky," he added, but didn't say more. Whether it was luck that he found a place for us to rest in, or luck that place had a fire we could use to touch base with Aktor, or luck that the Gi hadn't found us yet, I didn't know. And right then any of those would suffice.

  I nodded, then sipped some more water. Theo was watching me closely. And with Aktor silently waiting at the other end of a Fire telephone call I felt a little under pressure.

  "What happened?" Theo finally asked.

  No beating about the bush, no let's re-hash the escape, or the Basilissa's ability to talk mind to mind. Not even let's decide where to next. No, we were right back in that bathroom, where Isadora lay paralysed on the floor.

  "I thought it would be obvious," I managed to say.

  "I can guess what transpired, but I'd like to hear your version first," Theo countered.

  I glanced at the flames. "Right now?" I asked, thinking this was a conversation best had in private.

  "Yes, right now," Theo almost snapped back. He might have had an idea of what had happened to make me lose control in that bathroom, but he was not happy about the outcome nonetheless.

  I wasn't sure how to say this, how to address the topic of him having a former Thisavros. I really didn't feel comfortable talking about it in front of Aktor, even though the butler was not physically here, he was still listening. This was embarrassing, having Theo admit he'd lied, and maybe, just maybe, admit that Melita still meant something to him.

  I'd been through hell the past three months, and the past seventy-two hours had not been an improvement. Sure, Theo was here with me now, but he'd brought Isadora. Her presence almost outweighed the pleasure of his. I was tired, exhausted, emotionally spent. And he wanted to discuss this. Now.

  I shook my head, words failing me. I just wanted to curl up and sleep for a week.

  "I would have thought you'd know bringing her would be a mistake," I finally said, after what felt like an excruciatingly painful silent few minutes.

  Theo blinked back at me for a suspended moment, then said, voice low and too even, "She helped to save our lives back there, Cassandra." I sucked in a breath to argue, bu
t he beat me to it. "Now, I understand she riled you up. Perhaps goaded you into the attack. But as Athanatos we cannot allow ourselves to succumb to cheap tactics such as that. We are above it. You need to learn restraint."

  My head jerked in shock, I arched a brow, crossed my arms over my chest, and glared at him. He frowned back.

  "I didn't sever her head, Theo," I said very precisely. "If I had no restraint at all she'd be dead."

  Aktor started laughing through the fire, his chuckles making the crackle sound like the happy beat to a song. An incongruous song for that particular moment. Theo just ran a hand through his hair, frustrated.

  "I know Isadora can be persistent, but she does it because she gets a reaction," he pointed out. "Don't give her one."

  "I tried that," I grumbled. "She kept going and going and going. Like a dog with a freaking bone."

  "And what was her bone, Oraia?" Theo asked in a whisper, moving closer all of a sudden. His arm was placed on the back of the couch behind my shoulders, his nose started nestling into the side of my neck, rubbing in amongst my hair and inhaling.

  He took me so much by surprise I blurted, "You. And me."

  A tongue flicked behind my ear, teeth began nibbling on my lobe, his hot hand came to rest on my thigh, kneading.

  "What about us?" he murmured.

  I bit back a moan and shifted in my seat, trying to get a handle on my visceral heated response to this man.

  "Tell me," he urged, his lips trailing along my jaw, heading for the corner of my mouth.

  "The usual," I whispered, voice deeper and rougher than normal. "I'm not worthy of you. Not fit for a prince. How you'd leave me in ten years time."

  Aktor scoffed, Theo pulled back, and I was left high and dry. My hands curled into fists on my legs, as I blinked back the haze of his Pyrkagia Stoicheio. Desire was abruptly replaced with anger. Another Fire, but this one was my own.

  "Did you just use Pyrkagia on me?" I demanded.

  Theo didn't react to my question, he looked thoughtful. Something was working hard behind those incredible hazel eyes.

  "Ten years," he finally said, nothing else.