Treasure of the Fire Kingdom (The Elemental Phases Book 4) (2 page)

If
something terrible and bizarre was going to happen, it was going to happen to
her.

Somehow
she’d brought this plague down on the Fire House.

“He
never should have adopted me.  I’m bad luck.  You
know
I am, no matter what
the books say.  I’ve told him that so many times and now this happened and…” 
She trailed off unable to go on because of the lump in her throat.

“It’s
not your fault, Hope.”  Pele had said that about fifty times already.  “Fucking
Parald did this.  But, even if you
were
somehow to blame… Oberon
still
would have brought you here.  Knowing everything that would happen, he’d do it
all again.  Because, you’re
ours
.”

Pele
was probably right about Oberon’s decisions and that made it all the worse. 
“Maybe… But, maybe I shouldn’t be in here, right now.  Maybe, I’m jinxing his
recovery by sitting next to him.”  The thought circled in her mind like a
vulture and yet she couldn’t bring herself to leave his bedside.  What if he
died and she wasn’t there?  She couldn’t leave him.

“This
is where you belong.”  Qadesh intoned.  “Stay right where you are.”

Hope
looked over at him, unable to see his face through the shadows.  In a family
that bred assassins, Qadesh was like the sniper.  Quiet and watchful, he was
more at home in the darkness than the light.  He didn’t say anything unless he
meant it and he’d always treated Hope like his baby sister.

Hope
ran a hand under her nose as the rest of the family nodded in agreement,
genuinely touched by the show of support.  “I love you guys.”  She swallowed
and more tears fell.  “If we all die today, I want you to know that.  I love
you so much.”

“Ooooohh. 
There, there.  No one’s dead, yet.”  Missy sat down next to Hope and gave her a
comforting pat on the shoulder.  “And, you know, rule number ten says that Fire
Phases really shouldn’t cry.”

She
stage whispered that advice, not in a mean or pointed way, but as if Hope might
have forgotten that rule.  The family never got past the idea that Hope was a
wee bit slow.  Of course, Masaya, of the Fire House talked to
everyone
like they were about four steps behind her, so Hope didn’t take her prompting
personally.  Missy just thought she was the cleverest person in the room.

Usually
she was right.

“I
know.  I know.  I’m sorry.”  Hope drew in a deep breath, scrubbing at her
cheeks.  “I’m sorry.  I…  Look, whatever you guys want me to read, is fine. 
Just tell me which book you’d prefer.”  She swallowed hard and looked over at
Teja, expecting a ruling on the literature debate.

Hope
was used to her adopted cousin taking control of things.  Teja was one of the
most powerful Elementals alive and, more importantly, the steadiest member of
the Fire House.  Unflappable and pragmatic, she was usually the voice of
authority in the kingdom.  Even Oberon listened to her.

Now,
though, Teja just sat by her grandfather’s bedside and stared at nothing.  She
wasn’t even in the room, anymore.  Not really.  It was like Teja had
disconnected from her body and was just… gone.  A chill went through Hope as she
stared at the beautiful, vacant face.  Teja was still physically present, but
she might as well have been a ghost.

“Djinn?” 
Hope whispered when she saw Teja wasn’t going to say anything.

With
Oberon dying, Djinn was next in line for the Fire House throne.  And with Teja
out of commission, he actually had to
lead
.  It had to be a huge
adjustment for the poor man.  Djinn wasn’t used to that kind of responsibility.

He
glanced over at his unresponsive cousin with a worried frown and then cleared
his throat.  “I’d rather hear
Valley of the Dolls
.  That’s got a lot of
sex in it, right?  Then, Alder would be happy and we could get more than two
sentences read.”

“Sounds
good.”  Pele nodded, apparently thinking her Match’s bold talent for compromise
made him the next King Solomon.  Only wiser.

Pele
and Djinn were so in tune with each other.  So in love.  The goal of every
Elemental was to find their other half.  Their Phase-Match:  The one person who
could complete them on a fundamental level.  Once a Phase found that person,
they went through a process called Phazing, which was sort of a sexually
induced merging of their powers.  It took two separate entities and made them
one cohesive whole.  Hope had never in her life seen a more perfect Match than
Pele and Djinn.  They were made for each other.

Even
before all these deaths, Hope had known that she’d never find a Match for
herself, though.  No man from any House was going to want her.  With such
limited powers, there was no way she’d ever be able to Phaze and very few
Elementals would accept less from a mate.  Hope had accepted that years before.

Still,
being with Pele and Djinn always made her sort of wistful.  They were just so
lovely together.

Of
course, they were also lovely
separately
.  All the Fire Phases were
stunning, with dark hair and exotic features.  All of them, except Hope, of
course.  She didn’t even rate as “ordinary” on the Phase attractiveness meter. 
She’d always been just sort of… there.  Too rounded, even by Elemental
standards, too short, and with blonde hair that looked positively empty without
a streak of color at the temple.

The
Fire Phases were also wonderfully tall.  Pele was one of the tallest, topping
even Djinn by several inches.  She absently twirled her double bladed axe
around like a baton, a release of nervous energy that was completely unlike
her.  Fire Phases were warriors.  Nothing rattled them.

Usually.

“Satisfied,
Alder?”  Pele arched a brow in her son’s direction.  “Hope’s gonna read your
precious porn.  Now will you shut the hell up?  Or do you wanna take a hammer
to a few kittens while you’re at it?”  She waved a hand at Hope’s still
brimming eyes.

“I’m
fine.”  Hope set Bronte aside and picked up Suzanne.  The silver charm bracelet
she always wore jingled with her movement, the sound depressingly cheerful. 
She wasn’t going to take it off, though.  Oberon had given it to her.  “I can…”

A
knock sounded at the door, interrupting her.  Satour reached over to open it,
Djinn, Alder and Pele automatically moving into defensive positions around
Oberon’s bed.  The Fall might take the Fire King, but nothing else was going to
make it past his family.

“Teja?” 
Freya, of the Cold House, Teja’s paternal cousin and the Elementals’ best
doctor stood on the other side of the threshold.  She looked exhausted and
resigned.  God only knew how many patients she’d already lost today.  She was
usually such a neat and tidy woman, but it looked like she’d been through a
war… and lost.  “You called about Oberon.  I’m here.  Let me see him.”

Everyone’s
head swung around to gape at Teja.  The Cold and Fire Kingdoms had been feuding
for years.  Teja knew that better than anyone, since she was the only member of
both Houses.  The Cold Phases had never forgiven her for choosing the Fire
House over them.  They generally didn’t speak to her, at all.  Teja
never
would have called Freya if she didn’t believe that Oberon was truly going to
die without some kind of medical miracle.

Hope
felt more tears well as the truth of it cut into her heart.  Teja’s powers were
vast.  She could do
anything
.  If she was this desperate, then there was
no hope, at all.

Teja
dully focused on Freya and got to her feet.  “He has the Fall.  Have you been
able to do anything to stop it with any of the other victims, yet?”

Freya
stepped into the room… and Satour let her.  More evidence of how frantic the
situation was becoming.  Ordinarily, the Fire Phases would die before they let
a Cold Phase into their house, now Satour practically propelled Freya towards
the bed.

“No. 
I’ll do what I can, but –as I said-- there’s no cure for this disease.  I’m
sorry.”  Freya eyed Djinn nervously.

Not
surprising since he had his hand on his sword.

And
he was… well…
Djinn
.

Still,
he moved back to give her room to work.

Freya
laid a hand on Oberon’s pulse and opened her doctor bag.  “Hope, have you taken
your medication today?”  She asked automatically.  Distaste for the Fire Phases
aside, Freya had a working knowledge of the health of everyone in the Elemental
realm.

She
was kind of nosey.

“Yes,
I took it.”

Satour
had all but shoved the inhaler at her about an hour before.  When he resigned
himself to Oberon’s death, he began preparing the rest of them for it.  For
Hope, that meant taking her asthma medicine, just in case she had an attack. 
Usually, she only got them when she was under a lot of stress or around
something she was allergic to, in particular red frogs.

The
Fire Phases didn’t like to acknowledge the exact triggers for her asthma, not
even to the doctor.  Very, very rarely a Phase might have asthma, but
Elementals
never
had allergies. 
Humans
had allergies.  If an
Elemental had a human disease, then she probably wasn’t entirely an Elemental. 
Following that line of reasoning could lead to a lot of sticky questions about
Hope’s DNA.

“Good.” 
Freya absently nodded.  “Make sure you take care of yourself.  I already have
too many patients.”  For the next few minutes there was nothing but the
clicking of instruments and the glow of a small flashlight she’d brought.

Electricity
had gone down the second day of the Fall, so the Fire Phases had been making do
with candles.  They’d also left the bedroom windows open, so that provided
light, as well.  That wasn’t the primary reason the curtains were torn aside,
though.  They’d done it so Oberon could look out over his lands as he lay
there.  That was one of the fundamental lessons that all Fire Phases were
taught or just instinctively knew.

Rule
number four of being a Fire Phase:  If you’re going to die, try and make it
home.

Of
course, rule number three was, “Don’t die,” and rule number fifty-nine was, “As
you’re dying, take down as many enemies as you can,” so you kind of had to pick
and choose what ones to follow on any given day.

Still
Oberon had seemed almost peaceful as he fell asleep looking at the Fire Kingdom
spread out beyond the glass.  Even in the daytime, the Fire Kingdom glowed in
volcanic shades of orange and red.  The black mountains that surrounded the
land were lit with streams of flowing lava and explosions of sparks from deep
within the steaming ground.  It was a stark and terrifying place.  A labyrinth
of odd shaped rock and molten magma.  The kind of spot where humans would
envision dinosaurs roaming or continents collapsing.  It was a world like no
other; unforgiving and beautiful.  It was a place you
really
didn’t want
to get lost.

It
was home.

Freya
let out a long sigh after she was done her exam.  She looked over at her cousin
helplessly.  “Teja…”

“Do
anything.
”  Teja interrupted.  “I don’t care what.  Any crazy,
experimental, long shot idea you have…
do
it.  Just save him.  I’m
begging you.”  Her voice broke.  “Please.”

Freya
squeezed her eyes shut.  “He’s going to die, Teja.”  She whispered.  “He is. 
I’m truly am sorry.  I’ll try…
something
.  I don’t know
what
, but
I will try
something
if you want me to.  It won’t work, though.”  Her
tone was hollow with defeat.  “There’s really nothing I can do for him.  I’ve
seen this again, and again, and again.  You have no idea what I’ve seen it do
to our realm.”

“I
don’t care about the fucking realm!”  Teja shouted.  It was the first emotion
she’d shown in hours.  “I care about my grandfather!  Fix him!”

“I
can’t.
”  Freya insisted.  “Don’t you think I would if I could?”

“No.” 
Teja snapped icily.  “You hate us.  All the Cold Phases do.  I never should
have fucking called you.”  She raked both hands through her hair so hard that
the pale flesh on her face pulled tight.

“I’m
a
doctor
.  If I can, I save lives, no matter
who
they are.  I
swear to you, I would do anything I could for Oberon, but this plague is bigger
than all our medicine.  It’s hopeless.”  Freya’s weariness gave way to anger. 
“I told you that on the phone, Teja.  I told you the Fall was incurable.  But,
I still came here because you asked.”

“Yeah,
and you’ve done such an incredible job of helping me, too.  I would have done
better calling a cable repairman to save Oberon.”

“I
would help him if I could, but I can’t!”  Freya shouted back, her frustration
with Teja and the world at large coming through loud and clear.  Freya always
had been known for saying too much at the wrong moments and Hope had the
feeling
a lot
people had blamed her for failing them today.  “I’m
telling you, Oberon’s got less than an hour left and there’s nothing
anybody
can do to save him.”

Hope
felt the words like a deathblow.  She actually doubled over in physical pain.