Treasure of the Fire Kingdom (The Elemental Phases Book 4) (45 page)

Was
she… Mara?

“Actually,
I’d try to keep a low profile on this whole thing, if I were you and wanted to
avoid a lot of drama.”  Zakkery lit a cigarette.  “Plenty of folks are gonna
have questions about why she’s not dead anymore.  There’s bound to be a whole
zombie debate and whining about playing God.  Not to mention some bad guys are
going to be looking for her, pretty soon.”  He shrugged.  “Technically, her
body’s right there, though, so no reneging on our deal.”

“You
made a deal with him?”  The woman gasped.  “Why?  Who is he?  Why am I even in here?”

Chason
slowly shook his head.  This couldn’t be ‘real.’

The
woman wasn’t his Match.  She couldn’t be for many, many,
many
reasons. 
First of all, her energy wasn’t the same.  It felt like Mara’s power, but he
could sense gaps around the edges now, where their energy didn’t line-up as
seamlessly it should.  Their Phazing had never been the perfect whole that most
Matches’ achieved, but now it was worse.  Like their energies barely connected,
at all.

And
secondly…

Well,
reasons two through seven thousand as to why the woman was an imposter were
pretty self-evident: 
She was fucking
alive
.

Chason’s
hands came up to press against the side of his head.

No.

He
was crazy, but he wasn’t
this
crazy.  He took a step back from the
woman, ignoring her gasp of astonishment when he didn’t move to free her.

“Chason.” 
She whispered, black eyes wide with betrayal.

No.

He
wasn’t falling for this.  Zakkery was trying to trick him.  To prey on his
insanity and overwhelming desire to be reunited with his Match.  He’d…
created
this woman somehow.  She was a charlatan in Mara’s clothes and face. 
Logically, that
had
to be it.

But,
even though he knew that, his instinct still screamed to get closer to her.

No.

He
had to get away from her before he
forgot
that she was a fake.  Before
his fracturing mind and unstable emotions just convinced him of what was
impossible.  What he so desperately wanted to believe.  What he would have
gladly done
anything
for even the faintest chance of receiving:  His
Match returned to him.

But,
he would never disgrace Mara by accepting some… imposter.

He
hadn’t been a worthy Match to her, as it was.  He wouldn’t betray her memory.

Chason
turned and stumbled for the door, trying to stay in control, even as everything
in him pulled towards the woman.  He wanted to free her from that cell and pull
her close.  Wanted to grab her before she vanished again and left him alone in
the darkness.

It
took centuries’ worth of self-discipline just to get the words out:

“Whoever that is, she’s
not my Match.  The deal is off.”