Magic of the Wood House (The Elemental Phases Book 6) (25 page)

“We
did nothing wrong.”  Sullivan reminded them.  “We don’t have to sneak.  We’re
going to show up at our trial and prove that we’re innocent.”

“You
want to
go
to the Banishment trial?”  Teja repeated like maybe she’d
misheard that statement.  “You mean just…
go?
”

“Exactly.”

Teja
still seemed confused.  “How?”

“How
else?  We’re walking through the door.”  Sullivan might not be fully human, but
he was still a cop and he believed in justice.  “I’m not about to live like a
criminal and I’m not going to let you be accused of bombing your father’s
homeland, Teja.  Not without telling them all that it’s bullshit.”  He shook
his head.  “I’m going to do just what Eian doesn’t expect me to do.  I’m going
to face that bastard and I’m going to win.”

They
kept staring at him.

“Gaia.” 
One of the other Light Phases finally breathed.  “He
is
Parson’s
grandson.  I told you he was more than just a human, Mannus.”

“No,
I told
you
, Daven.”

The
two of them descended into a bickering match.

No
one else seemed to notice.

Kahn
tilted his head to snap a crick in his neck.  “Yeah.”  He agreed grimly.  “We’ll
go straight into the hearing and deal with these bastards head on.  I like this
plan.  You want something done right, you have to fight it out.”  He looked
around.  “You guys care about a body count?”

Randa
sent him a disgusted glance.

“
Yes
. 
We care.”  Sullivan decided, overruling Teja and the other Light Phases who
were all shaking their head.  “We’re the
good guys
here.  We can prove
our case without killing and bloodshed.”

Hopefully.

Kahn
snorted at that.  “Yeah… He’s Parson’s grandson, alright.  Friggin’ Wood
House.”

Rysimer
rolled his eyes.  “The Banishment trial’s in two hours.  We’ll meet you at the
Council Hall and we’ll
try
not to kill anyone.  That’s all we can
promise, Teja.”  He jumped out of the room and the other Light Phases quickly
followed.

“Horrible
people.”  Randa murmured, with a shudder.  She let out a relieved breath when
they left.  “You shouldn’t even be associating with those ruffians, Chief Pryce.”

“They’re
dicks.”  Teja agreed.  “But, right now, they’re the only ones willing to work
with us, so we have to make do.”  She paused, staring at Randa for a beat.  “Don’t
worry about the Light Phases.  They aren’t a threat to you.”

Randa
gave a sniff.  “I’m not afraid of those brutes, I just don’t like them.”  She
reiterated like the most disapproving schoolmarm who’d ever shhh-ed a kid in
class.  “Their whole House is filled with illiterate barbarians.”

“And
they usually smell bad.”  Freya chimed in.  “It’s not like they have showers in
that backwater kingdom.  Or electricity.  Or cooked food.”  She slouched on the
sofa with her arms crossed over her chest and cast Teja a dark scowl.  “I can’t
believe you’d trust those savages over Eian.”

For
all her protests, though, the doctor wasn’t jumping out of the house or running
to have them arrested.  Freya kept arguing for her brother’s innocence, but she
obviously suspected Teja was telling the truth.  She just didn’t want to admit
it.

“Those
‘savages’ didn’t try to blow me up yesterday.”  Teja headed over to stand in
front of Sullivan.  “You really think we can win this trial?  Without cheating
or beheading anyone?”  The idea seemed to baffle her.  “I mean, I’ll try to
make the Council to see the truth, but nobody’s going to believe me.  Fire
Phases aren’t real popular with the other Elementals.”

Randa
and Freya both nodded at that assessment.

“I’m
popular.”  Sullivan lifted a shoulder.  “The other Phases like me a lot.  I
have a whole freezer full of casseroles they’ve given me, in fact.  You get me
into that courtroom and they’ll listen to what I have to say.”

Teja
was quiet for a beat.  “Alright.”  She agreed.

Sullivan
blinked at how easy it was to convince her.  “Just like that?”

“You
say the plan will work and I believe you.”

“Why?”

“Because,
I trust you, Sullivan.”

He
stared down at her, not knowing what to say to that.

Teja’s
mouth curved at his surprised expression.  “It isn’t so hard to have faith in
someone that you…”  She stopped mid-word, her gaze riveted on the Christmas
tree behind him.

Sullivan
turned to look at it.  “What?”

Teja
let out a breathless kind of laugh and reached over to pull an ornament from
one the branches.  It was a mirrored box with a red velvet ribbon tied around
it.  Sullivan recognized the shiny bauble as part of his grandfather’s massive
yuletide collection, although he’d never really paid much attention to it.  It
was just one of the million holiday decorations that Parson had left him. 
Every year he dutifully hung it on the tree and marveled at how ugly the damn
thing was.

“Do
you know what this is?”  Teja held it up so he could see it, a dazed look on
her face.

Sullivan
stared at the tacky cube for a beat and things suddenly made a crazy sort of
sense.  “The Happiness box?”  He guessed.

“The
Happiness box.”  Teja agreed with a grin.  “No wonder no one could find it. 
Parson had it hidden away with his stupid jingle bells and nutcrackers.”

Sullivan
snorted, because that was so typical of his grandfather that he should’ve seen
it all along.  “Well, I guess Djinn was right.  I
do
have that damn
thing.”

The
counsellor alone was in his element: shrewd, prompt, and active, he already
calculated the prospect of brilliant success in a strange, eventful, and
mysterious lawsuit.

Sir
Walter Scott- “Guy Mannering”

Christmas
Evening

For
possibly the first time in the annals of Elemental history, the felonious Fire
House and the noble Wood Phases were on the same side of a fight.

“This
is bullshit!”  Melanie O’Shea, Sullivan’s cousin and Uriel’s Match, paced in
front of the Council.  The rest of the Wood House was right behind her.  “There’s
about as much chance of Sullivan being involved in this bombing as there is of
me preforming with the fucking Rockettes.”

Job
wasn’t sure what that meant, but he knew agreed with her.  “An interesting
point.”  He fixed Eian with a calm look.  “Remind us all again of your evidence
against Sullivan Pryce?  Hopefully it’s credible, as my understanding is the
boy is quite will-liked.”

That
was an understatement.  The audience of the Council Hall was filled with
outraged women, most of them carrying posters or wearing t-shirts supporting
Sullivan.  Until he officially Phazed with Teja, the human was still the most
eligible bachelor in the realm.

Eian
seemed to know it, too.  He’d bypassed Job and called this Banishment hearing
by getting a slim majority of Houses to agree.  He wanted the Fire Phases gone,
but seemed to some other plans for Sullivan.

“I
don’t think
any
of us blame the human.”  Eian soothed.  “He and Freya
are both victims here.  Once they’re rescued, Sullivan can come to the Cold
Kingdom and my sister will help him recover from this ordeal. 
Personally.
”

Job
arched a brow.  “Freya agreed to this?”  He very much doubted it.

“She
will.”  Eian declared authoritatively.  “I believe Sullivan is simply a hostage
of those Fire House thugs.  He needs all our support.”

“We
want Sullivan returned to us.”  Abram, King of the Wood House interjected. 
“There is no evidence against the boy and the Cold House has no rights to him.”

Eian
glowered at him.  “
We
are the ones who can care for him best.”

“Sully’s
a
Fire Phase
.”  Alder shouted.  “He belongs to Teja and you assholes
know it.”

The
Fire House were seated in the center off the Hall, awaiting the Council’s
judgment.  Not that any of them looked particularly interested.  In fact,
Satour had nodded off in his chair.  Job didn’t care if they paid attention. 
He just counted it as a small miracle that they hadn’t killed anyone, yet.

Everyone
one else was riveted to the proceedings.  Representatives from nearly every
House were present.  They all had an opinion on how the Council should deal
with this mess and were vocally sharing it.  Half the Houses in the hall were
feuding with each other, so alliances and old feuds were the undercurrent of
everything.  Job had no idea how they’d get through this without sending the
universe even closer to extinction.

“Sullivan
belongs to
me
until I see him and make sure he
wants
to be with
you freaks.”  Melanie jabbed a finger at Alder.  “You can’t just kidnap my
cousin and force him to be Teja’s Match.”

“Sure
we can.”  Djinn retorted.  “Right, Pey?”

“Yep.”

“See?” 
He looked over at Job.  “Seriously, how much longer is this going to take?  I’m
playing nice, but I got stuff ta do.”

“The
only ‘stuff’ you’ll be doing is packing up and leaving the realm.”  Eian
snarled.

Djinn
rolled his eyes.

Cam,
of the Heat House snorted.  “This is ridiculous.  Let’s just have this stupid
trial so we can find them innocent and get out of here.”

The
Heat and Fire Houses were allies, their families hopelessly interconnected.  Cam
and Pele were related somehow, but damn if Job could trace the messy lineage. 
Frankie, of the Heat House had been born into the Fire House and then Phazed
with Hera, of the Heat House.  Through the Elementals convoluted family trees,
he was Cam’s grandfather and Pele’s uncle.  Frankie was, without a doubt, the
craziest person Job had ever met.

And
he
loved
to sit in on Council meetings, taking any empty seat that was
available.  Few people were suicidal enough to try and stop him.

A
groan went up as Frankie raised his hand.  “I got something to say.”  He announced.
 Today he was representing the Reflection House.  None of them had shown up at
the trial, fearful of being blamed for the bombing.  Or of answering some
pointed questions about it.  By and large, they were a self-involved and calculating
House.

Eian
tried to ignore Frankie’s bobbing palm, so Job did the honors.  “Yes, Frankie?” 
He called.

“I’d
like to discuss the tax situation.”  He said firmly.

Like
most Fire Phases, he had dark hair, streaked with red.  Unlike most Fire Phases,
he also had a long beard with a stripe down the left side.  Job had no idea how
he managed that.  No other Phase had House markers in their facial hair.  It
was… bizarre.  Frankie was bizarre.  His name wasn’t even Frankie.  That was a
human name.  He just refused to answer to anything else.

“You
want to talk about taxes?”  Eian glowered over at him.  “
Now?
”

“Yep. 
I don’t want to pay them.”

“You
don’t want to pay taxes?”  Eian repeated blankly.  He didn’t seem to know what
else to say.

Frankie’s
eyebrows compressed.  “‘Course I don’t.  What kind of dumbass
wants
to
pay taxes?”

“He’s
got a point.”  Pele volunteered loyally.

Eian’s
jaw ticked.  “You can discuss that later, okay?  With Job.”  He offered with
stiff politeness.

Frankie
was a raving lunatic, but you’d have to be even crazier to offend the guy. 
Frankie had trained the best Elemental soldiers for centuries.  No one else
came close to his skill with a blade.

“I
already talked to Job.”  Frankie glanced over at Job.  “Didn’t I?”

“Oh,
you did.”  Job agreed, enjoying this because Eian wasn’t.  “Several times.”

Frankie
looked back at Eian.  “Job gave me all kinds of bullshit about building streets
and schools, when my taxes are
really
going for robotic experimentation.” 
He thumped a fist against the table.  “Well, I don’t support cyborgs being built
with my hard earned money!”

Frankie
had never paid a tax in his long, long life.  Job would stake his life on it. 
“No one’s building any cyborgs.  I also told you that.”

“Well
sure,
you’d
say that.  You’re one of
them
.  An android.  Like
that show at Disney World, remember Cam?”  He glanced at his grandson.  “Where
the old guys in suits speechify at ya for --like-- three hours.  The boring
one.  What’s it called?”

“The
Hall of Presidents?”  Cam guessed.

“No. 
The other one.”  Frankie snapped his fingers.  “Space Mountain.”

Eian
had no idea how to shut him up.  He flashed Job a “do something” scowl.

Job
shrugged, in no mood to be helpful.

“I
don’t trust any of ya to be real.”  Frankie cast a suspicious frown around the
room.  “You just wanna follow those little donkeys to Pleasure Island and
you’ll wind up eaten by that dark whale.  I seen it all!  That creepy little
cricket didn’t fool me.”

“That’s
the Pinocchio ride, Frankie.”  Pele corrected, lackadaisically slouched in her
chair.  “In Disneyland.”

Hope
and Missy nodded.

“No. 
That’s Space Mountain, too.  I’m sure of it and I’m not waiting for ya all to
become real boys.”  He glowered at Eian.  “So, I’m not paying any more taxes. 
Not until I see a big improvement with you robots.  I mean it.”  He settled
back again with a righteous snort.  “I swear to Christ, sometimes I think
you’re all working for that shifty cow.”

Eian
blinked once.  Twice.  “Right.”  He looked around the room.  “Anything else?”

“Well,
if
he’s
not paying taxes, I don’t see why I have to, either.”  Story, of
the Wave House put-in.  She kept her attention on her Gameboy as she spoke. 
“I’m anti-cyborg and pro-Disneyland, too.”

“I
thought you guys were apolitical.”  Barnes, of the Color House said seriously.

Story
cracked up laughing.

“It’s
not a fucking joke!”  Eian raged.  “We’re here because the Fire House needs to
face judgment for all they’ve done.”  He scowled over at Djinn.  “You’re
through. 
All
of you.  You’ll never see your horrible kingdom, again
.
”

“My
grandfather’s ashes are in soil of that kingdom.”  Djinn said quietly.  When
Djinn spoke quietly, the hair on the back of Job’s neck stood on end.  It was
such an unnatural and eerie sound.  “You really think I’ll let you take
Oberon’s land, Eian?”

“You
don’t have a choice.”

“Don’t
I?”  Djinn glanced around the Council and suddenly Job felt like he was looking
at Oberon, again.  “‘Cause, I’m pretty sure you all know my cousin-in-law.  The
immortal, all-powerful
god
.”  He nodded towards Kingu, who snapped his
fingers.

Half
the room flinched as the Fire House’s Christmas tree appeared, complete with
gleaming knives, blood-red tinsel, and an illuminated vampire angel on top.

Job
chuckled.  His nephew wasn’t a subtle man.

“Then,
there are my sons, the trained assassins.”  Djinn gestured towards Satour,
Qadesh, and Alder.  “And I
know
I don’t have to introduce my adorable
daughter.”

Missy
waved.

This
time
everyone
flinched.

“Not
to mention my doting Match.”  Djinn sent Pele a fond look.  “I don’t
just
love her for her incredible body, let me tell you.  The woman is an artist.  I
seen her skin a man with a paperclip.”  He nodded.  “True story.”

Pele
smiled.  “Our honeymoon.”  She let out a reminiscing sigh.  “Good times.”

“And
there’s my little cousin Hope, pregnant with a child who already controls vast
portions of our universe.  Plus, Hope’s the only Star Phase who’s ever been
found.”  Djinn paused.  “Maybe you guys didn’t know that.”

No,
they hadn’t known that.  Fierce whispering filled the hall.

“Did
you ever see a Star Phase in a battle?  It’s un-fucking-believeable.”  Djinn
adopted an eager expression.  “Hey, somebody piss her off, just for fun.  I
dare ya.  It’s goddamn hilarious to watch the carnage she can create.”

“That’s
very flattering, Djinn.”  Hope said sweetly.

No
one volunteered to be Hope’s victim, so Djinn went on.  “Finally, there’s me
and Teja.”  He shrugged, exactly like his grandfather would’ve.  “Me?  I’m a
simple, peace-loving guy.  You all know that.”

“Djinn,
you
are
under oath.”  Job reminded him, trying not to smile.

Djinn
ignored the interruption.  “Teja, on the other hand… I mean, don’t get me
wrong.  I love the girl.  But, she’s a vengeful bitch, with more power than
pretty much any Elemental ever born.”  He shook his head sadly.  “She isn’t
going to take this Banishment thing well.”  He paused, his voice getting colder. 
“I don’t think
any
of us are taking it well.”

“I’m
definitely
not taking it well.”  Qadesh intoned, scanning around the
room like he was memorizing faces for his future hit list.

Phases
cast sideways looks at each other, wondering who would be the first to die.

“You
just can’t come in here and threaten us!”  Eian bellowed.

“I’m
not threatening.”  Djinn lifted his hands innocently.  “I’m just being up front
about my concerns. 
Maybe
I could preach restraint to my family, but --realistically--
it’s probably not going to happen.  We can all be a little bit crazy.  You can’t
reason with crazy.”  That was a direct Oberon quote, a man who was never quite
as crazy as he pretended.  “So, I think it’s my responsibility to warn all of
ya: If you vote to Banish us… you’re going to have a real short New Year.”

Dead
silence followed that threat.

Job
cleared his throat.  “I don’t think Banishment will be necessary.”  He put in,
trying to lessen the strong arm tactics.  “As I’ve been saying all along, the
evidence against the Fire House is inconclusive.”

“I
said that, too.”  Herod, of the Gravity House squeaked, his panicked gaze on
Djinn.  “We should just vote to let them go.”

Eian
was furious at the Herod’s sudden change in mood.  Until five minutes ago, the
Gravity Phase had been all for Banishment.  “We should execute them for this
outrage!”

Djinn
pointed at Kingu, again.  “Immortal.”  He reiterated.  “Also, you probably
don’t want to kill all the Fire Phases left in the world.  It might get a
little chilly.”