Magic of the Wood House (The Elemental Phases Book 6) (8 page)

A
few weeks ago, they’d agreed not to ply each other with questions about their
pasts, so Teja couldn’t ask. …But, she wanted to.

“Magic
is bullshit.”  He summed up succinctly.  “Now, I respect the fact that you’re
brainwashed by this wacky religion that tells you to sacrifice yourself to me
or whatever.”  He waved a dismissive hand.  “But, it’s just not true.  That’s
why you’re so adamant about not sharing any emotional ties.  You don’t even
want
me.”

“Of
course I want you.”  Had he not seen himself?  Who
wouldn’t
want him? 
“We just can’t have emotional ties, because I don’t feel emotions.”

“Uh-huh.” 
Sullivan clearly didn’t believe that, either.  Doing his damnedest to ignore
her, he went back to looking at the pictures on her dresser.  “Are these your
parents?”  He picked up a small painting of a couple embracing.  The man had a
periwinkle streak at his temple and the woman looked just like Teja when she
laughed.

Or
so people told her, back when she remembered how to smile.

“Yes.” 
Teja watched him.  “They died a long time ago.”

Sullivan
glanced at her.  “I’m sorry.”  He said, again.

He
set the picture down like he expected her to stop talking, or invoke the “no
personal questions” edict.  Instead, Teja decided to tell him the truth.  She
would do whatever it took to keep him from being scared of her.  Fire Phases
were used to inspiring fear, but never in their Matches.  Maybe if she
explained, he’d relax and understand why things needed to be this way.

And
maybe he’d start telling her something about himself.

“My
parents were very committed to their work.  They explored different realms and
tried to map them.  Explorers.  It was what drew them together, despite the
fact that their Houses hated each other.”

“He
was a Cold Phase?”  Sullivan guessed.  “The ones who Djinn thinks gave me
twelve-hour amnesia?”

“Oh,
Djinn blames the Cold Phases for everything.  Well, them and the cow.”  She
rolled her eyes.  “Don’t listen to him.”

“Believe
me, I haven’t been and never will.”

She
felt her mouth curving and quickly looked away.  Sullivan’s snarky comments
amused her and very few things amused her there days.  That was a bad sign for
the “emotional distance” part of their relationship.

Teja
cleared her throat, trying to refocus.  “If you ever get confused, i
t’s
easy to tell the Houses apart.”  She gestured to the photo.  “All Phases are
born with a colored streak at their temple to designate what kind House they’re
from.  Usually, it’s the same as their mother’s.  We’re a matrilineal society. 
My mother was the princess of the Fire House, so my streak should have been
red, like hers.”

“So, you’re a
princess.”  Sullivan nodded.  “Of course, you are.  Sci-fi women are always
princesses.  Or ninjas.”

“Don’t get
your hopes up.  I’m not a ninja.”  Teja assured him.  “Anyway, my father was
Cold Phase.  Their mark is periwinkle blue.” She pointed to her own colored
stripe.  “Which is where I got this.  Eight percent of Phases inherit their
father’s House designation.  Ordinarily, I would have been part of the Cold
House, because I bear their color, but I’m different.”  She shrugged as if it
was just a simple mix-up and not the defining feature of her existence.  “I
carry both Elements.  I can control Fire and Cold.”

No other
Phase in Elemental history had been born with powers from two Houses.  All her
life, Teja had been torn between the Fire House’s passions and the Cold House’s
pragmatism.  She’d never really belonged anywhere.  Only Oberon had ever
understood her sense of isolation.  It was why she’d chosen to ally herself
with the Fire Phases and why the Cold House still hated her.

“Oh.” 
Sullivan nodded.  “Alright.  Makes sense.  Sorta.”

Teja found
his easy acceptance… wonderful.  Sullivan thought all the Elementals were
strange, so he saw nothing weird about her duel talents, at all.  Everyone else
thought she was a genetic freak of nature, or a symbol of power, or a blessing
from Gaia.  Sullivan just shrugged.

It was
refreshing.

His
nonchalance encouraged Teja to keep talking.  “After my parents died, I got to
choose where I wanted to live.  The Cold House or here.  And I chose the Fire
Kingdom.”

“God, if this
is where you
chose
to be, I can only imagine what the other place was
like.”

“In any case,
the Cold House and the Fire House don’t like each other.”  That understatement
was so massive it might just count as a lie.  “Djinn was serious about that
part.  I mean, they
really
don’t like each other.  It was a wonder my
parents ever met, at all.  But they loved each other very much, despite their
families’… uh…
complaints
about the Match.”

By which she
meant the screaming and death threats and sword fights.

Sullivan
studied the streak at her temple.  “Ty and Nia have light blue stripes in their
hair.  Are they your cousins or something?”

“No, the
Water House has turquoise streaks, not periwinkle.”

“Oh.” 
Sullivan made a face.  “Those shades are hard for me to differentiate.  I’m
color blind and pastels can be tricky.”

“You’re
blind?”  Teja frowned.  She didn’t like the idea of Sullivan suffering.  “Can
you see me?  Does it hurt?”

“Yes,
of course, I can see you.  And no, it doesn’t hurt.  I just mix-up colors, is
all.”  He met her gaze full on.  “I wish I
didn’t
see you so clearly. 
It would make this easier.”

Teja
blinked at that.

Sullivan
looked away, his gazing going back to the portrait of her parents.  “Did they
die in a plague, too?”  He asked, trying to change the subject.

Teja
let him.  “No.  There was an accident on one of their exploration trips.  I was
with them when it happened.”  She didn’t like to remember this, but it was
important that he understand.  “I was young.  I wasn’t powerful enough to stop
the rock slide.  Elementals are very hard to kill, but they can be crushed just
like anything else.  For a long time, I wished that I had died, too.”  She
raised her shoulder in a small shrug.  “It’s hard to lose someone you love.”

“I
know it is.”

“Who
did you lose?”  Teja asked.  “Parson?”

“Yeah,
and my grandmother.”

“I
knew Parson.  He was a great man.”  Teja took a deep breath and got to her
feet.  “Seeing so much death takes something out of you.  You can’t ever get it
back.”  She walked over so he had to meet her gaze.  “I can’t ever love
someone, again.  I can’t love
you
,
even though you’re my Match. 
I just don’t have it in me, anymore.  I’m frozen inside.  Do you understand
that?”

“Of
course you don’t love me.”  He scoffed.  “Christ, why would you?”

Teja
frowned at how easily he said that.  “If I could, I’d be a better Match to
you.  I would.  You deserve it.”

“…Okay.” 
Sullivan sounded like he wasn’t sure what she expected him to say.  “Is this
your versions of the ‘It’s not you, it’s me’ speech?”

Teja
had no idea what that meant.  “I’m just trying to figure out why you’re taking
this part so well.”

“What
do you mean?”

“I
mean, why aren’t you insisting that I be real Match?  Are your emotions frozen,
too, or is there some other reason, or…?”  She trailed off expectantly.

“No. 
I can feel things.  I mean, I feel important stuff, anyway.  I love my cousin
Melanie very much.”

Teja
nodded.  “Alright.  Well, that’s good.”  She loved her family too, no matter
how hard she tried to block the feelings out.  “Just so you don’t love
me
. 
I can’t reciprocate, so that would be a disaster.”

“Somehow
I’ll resist the impulse to recite sonnets at your window.”

Teja
gave a reluctant smile at his tone.  “Wiseass.”  Sullivan’s sardonic cracks
delighted her.  She stared up at him, her eyes tracing over his handsome face.

Sullivan
shifted so his damaged cheek was hidden from her view.

“Why
do you do that?”  She tilted her head so she could still see the scar.  Any
Elemental would be proud to wear it.  “I’ve never heard of anyone who didn’t
want to display their warrior’s mark.  It’s weird.”

“
I’m
weird?”  Sullivan tried to evade her focus, keeping his eyes on the wall.

The
scar was oddly shaped.  It looked like four concentric circles.  Teja had seen
more weapons than she could name, but she had no clue what had caused the
mark.  “How did you get it?”  She asked, reaching up to touch his cheek.

Sullivan
shifted out of range.  “Private question.”  He said flatly.

The
terse answer startled her.  Teja dropped her hand.  He didn’t want to talk
about his battles?  All warriors wanted to talk about their battles.  Maybe he
just didn’t want to talk about them with
her
.

It
was a lucky thing she’d stopped feeling anything or that would’ve stung.

“Sure.” 
She cleared her throat.  “Private.  That’s… fair.”

She’d
told him that they wouldn’t press each other for a lot of answers, so she
couldn’t demand them now.  It would just make her look like a hypocrite. 
Sullivan was sticking to the agreement they’d made and that was
good
. 
The less involved they got, the easier this Match would go.  It would be best for
both of them if they kept everything impersonal.  Teja
knew
that.  They
had some practical ground rules established and they both needed to follow
them.

No
sharing about their pasts.

No
emotional ties.

No
complications.

It
was much safer that way.

“I
appreciate you going along with the plan I laid out at your house.”  She
decided, refusing to let his stonewalling irritate her.  “About keeping things
very… detached.  We’re not getting bogged down in the feelings crap, just like
we agreed.  You’re taking our agreement very seriously.  It’s… good.”

It
probably wasn’t the best time to mention the memory exchange that happened
between Matches.  That would only push Sullivan further away.  No one knew why,
but all Matches experienced a memory sharing at some point.  There was no way
out of it.  Certain important moments in your Match’s life replayed in your own
mind.  You couldn’t change events or interact with anyone, but you could see it
all as it happen.

Elemental
scholars believed that it was all part of Gaia’s will.  A way to ensure that,
since Phase-Matches were irresistibly drawn together, they got to know each
other as fast as possible.  Inevitably, the phenomena would strike Sullivan and
Teja, too.

Teja
hated that idea, though.  She dreaded Sullivan knowing about the period after
Oberon’s death.  Her plan to kill herself wasn’t her finest hour.  Certainly,
not a moment in time she was eager for her Match to witness.

“Getting
invested in you would be a mistake.”  Sullivan agreed with a nod.  “I’ve been saying
that all along.”

Wasn’t
he just
sooo
damn agreeable?

Son-of-a-bitch,
why was he so willing to go along with this “detached” plan?  It was like he
was determined not to show her
anything
about himself.  Was he hiding
something?  Matches usually fell in love almost instantly.  Why did he not feel
that?  Why was he so hard to read?

“It’s
okay to be a
little
invested.”  Teja heard herself say.  “Enough to know
that we’re connected in a way that you
aren’t
with anyone else.  We
supposed to be together.  We’re a Match.”

Still,
nobody was entirely clear on how Matches worked with humans.  That was why so
many women followed Sullivan around Mayport Beach, trying to lure him into
bed.  (Well, that and the fact that he was annoyingly, exotically gorgeous.) 
His human DNA meant that there was a chance that Sullivan could choose his own
mate and have children with any woman he wanted.  Odds were good that Sullivan
might be able to Phaze with all sorts of people
.
  He could renounce Teja
and move on with someone who could give him all the feelings he deserved.

Someone
Teja would fucking kill.

Maybe
Sullivan
could’ve
found a more worthy Match, but there was no one else
in the universe he’d be safe with.  All those other women were useless.  Teja
was one of the most powerful Phases alive.  A trained warrior.  A Fire Phase. 
How could she ever turn Sullivan over to somebody who couldn’t protect him?  He
needed her.  He was her responsibility.

He
was
hers.

Sullivan
looked over at her, still mistrustful.  “You’re the most stunning woman I’ve
ever seen,” he began, “but you’re completely delusional.  I’m not supposed to
be with you, I’m not your boyfriend, and we’re definitely not connected.  The
game’s over.”

This
was what happened when you got mixed up with someone so young.  Teja’s eyes
went to his belt buckle.  Things would probably go easier if she just tied him
up.  “Tell ya what.  Let’s see how you feel after we get you naked.”