The Tempting Touch Of Fire (Elemental Awakening, Book 1) (21 page)

"Where is she?" the King bellowed.

"Now it's really time to leave," Nico instructed.

"Bring her to me now! I will see this woman, I will hear from her lips that she has duped my son. Or I will take her head right now!"

Murmured words of agreement swept over the room as Nico forcefully pulled me to my feet. I swayed and he had to wrap an arm around my waist to stop me from toppling.

"We're getting out of here," Nico insisted in a hiss. "Nothing good can come of you facing the council now."

I wasn't sure what was happening, everything was spinning out of control. Was I ever in control? Since I woke up in that pit of dirt my world was not mine to command. And now this? Accused of deception, branded an enemy, about to either be killed or cast from the only place I have ever called home.

And Theo would pay for wanting me, for trying to keep me within his arms. He would pay dearly and it was all because of me. But there was nothing I could do to stop it. One
Gi
against the might of
Pyrkagia
elders. All those on the council were surely direct descendants of the original
Ekmetalleftis
created by
Aetheros.
Or worse still, the original casts made. How could I fight that?

I couldn't. It was over, I had to run. I had to leave Theo. Leave my shop and Sonya. My family, my brother. Leave my home. My world.

Nico quietly opened the door to the storage room and cursed under his breath at the noise of rapidly approaching feet. They sounded heavy, like they wore boots, and were moving in a synchronised fashion that led you to believe they were guards on the march. He shut the door and spat out a few more curses.

"We wait," he whispered. "We wait until they have searched
Pyrgos
and then we sneak out."

"Won't they search here?" I whispered back.

"No one knows of this place, no one visits it. Look at the dust."

"Someone must know," I pointed out, patting a stacked pile of crates. They had been stored here by one of the King's staff. It couldn't be that well unknown.

"Let's hope that person has forgotten," Nico murmured and headed back to the wooden box and our vantage point over the room. I stood frozen for a moment, but I wanted to see what would happen to Theo, so I forced myself to return to Nico's lap and peer through the hole.

"Your majesty," a deep voice rang out.

"Yes," the
Rigas
said, turning from a muted conversation with the councillor at his side to face a guard.

"The
Gi
is not in the waiting room. We are sweeping
Pyrgos
now. We will find her." Oh, dear God, I hoped not.

I watched as the King turned blazing eyes of gold on his son. I would have flinched, Theo just met his look stoically.

"You sent her a signal. You told her to run.
What have you done?
" The last sentence was spoken so slowly, in such a low, threatening voice, I felt a chill wash down my spine.

"I did no such thing,
Rigas
," Theo defended.

His father stared at him for a long silent moment. The room was frozen, well aware of the fury that was about to be unleashed. They could see it, feel it, as easily as I did. As easily as, I was sure, Theo did too.

"If I cannot lock her up to keep her away from you, then I will lock
you
up to keep you away from her," he announced.

"Fuck!" Nico whispered and my heart agreed completely.

"Arrest my son!" the King ordered, to the shocked and saddened looks on the faces of the council.

"No!" Isadora cried out and I immediately felt a deep seated sense of jealousy toward the woman. She could announce her reaction to the King's demand openly. But I could not.

Guards stepped forward and stood on either side of Theo, waiting for further command from the King, or just unable to carry out the one already given. How hard would it be to arrest their prince?

"Do it!" the King roared. "Take him from my sight and find... that... bitch!"

"Oh
Aetheros
," Nico murmured, lowering his head to my shoulder. "This is really bad."

No, it wasn't just bad, it was the end of the world as I knew it.

"Where will he be?" I whispered to Nico. It had been hours since the guards began their search, and still too many people roamed the hallway outside our room for us to escape undetected.

"The cells are located on the lowest floor," Nico whispered back. The council room was empty, but we weren't risking raising our voices to a normal level for fear of being overhead still.

"Like a dungeon?" I asked and Nico lifted his eyes to mine.

"Don't do this to yourself," he said evenly.

"He's there because of me," I pointed out as explanation. "Is it bad? The cells?"

He shook his head. "Not what you're envisaging. He'll be comfortable. Have amenities, food and water. But no fire."

No fire to fuel his
Stoicheio
. It was only early afternoon, but Theo would need Fire by this evening. I frowned at the dusty floor and contemplated how cruel this world was they all lived in.

"How can he do this to his own son?" I asked the dust motes surrounding my feet.

"He is
Rigas
. All Kings are cruel."

I shook my head in denial.

"Casey," Nico murmured. "We are
Athanatos
, we have had to develop a thick skin to survive. Eternity makes all of us a little ruthless."

"Theo is not like that," I pointed out, unable to imagine my Theo doing anything as merciless as this.

"Don't fool yourself," Nico muttered. "He is just as capable of condemning a person as the King. It's his job, it's what he's been raised to do. Theodoros Petropoulos is one of the most brutal scouts we have."

I stared back at Nico, searching for the lie. He held my gaze, forcing me to see the truth in his words.

"What exactly is a scout? And what has Theo been raised to do?"

Nico sighed and shifted his weight on the crate he was sitting on. He looked uncomfortable. "Scouts are our peacekeepers. Although that's a euphemism for what they really do. They hunt people down, usually people who have broken our rules. And then they mete out punishment. Theo has been trained to take an
Ekmetalleftis
life if the crime warrants it."

"So, he's like a policeman," I said, trying to put some meaning to what Nico was saying. Theo had mention the Guard, but never this
scout
word.

"Not just a policeman, Casey. He is judge, jury and executioner. All he requires is a tip-off that someone has broken the rules and he carries out the rest. The trial - if you can call it that - the sentence. The end."

When Theo had first suspected me of being a
Gi
trespassing in
Pyrkagia
territory he had threatened me with his right to take my head. I suddenly realised how close I had come to losing it. Theo had been exercising his position as a scout, not just a member of the Guard.

I shook my head and rubbed a hand down my face. Now, it wouldn't be Theo who came after me, but another scout. One who hadn't befriended me over the course of the previous year. One who had no feelings for me at all.

And it wasn't just me the scout would hunt.

"Nico, you need to hand me over."

"What?" he hissed. "No way!"

"They will already be wondering why they can't find you. How long before they put two and two together, and realise you are harbouring a criminal. Do you want a scout to come after you too?"

"Casey, Theo would kill me if I hand you over."

"Theo is in no position to do anything, but we are. Do you really think we'll get out of here? And what then? How do I leave the country? How do I hide? Not only have I got
Pyrkagia
hunting for me, but I now have the
Gi
. I don't want to hand myself over, but I also don't want either you or Theo to be harmed because of me. You've done enough. Risked enough. Both of you."

"You're his
Thisavros
," Nico said, as though that was reason enough to risk their lives.

"Am I?" I asked, eyebrow arched. "What about Isadora?"

Nico scoffed. "That was a scorned woman trying to cling to something that is no longer hers. Theo would have told me if Dora was his. And I have never seen his bite mark on her neck." His eyes scanned my neck then, I had a sudden urge to hide Theo's mark with my hand. To protect it, which was silly. Nico wasn't threatening Theo's claim. Or denying it.

"What if she is, though? She'd be better for him than me," I insisted, clearly not punishing myself enough yet.

Nico sighed, but didn't answer. Because, I was certain, he agreed. Isadora would a better 
Thisavros
than me.

We sat in silence for several more minutes. Every so often Nico would get to his feet and softly open the door to listen for foot traffic. It was getting less and less, but still too many passed for us to feel at ease enough to chance escape.

I was at a crossroads. One way led to my capture, possible death, or at the least deported from New Zealand. But it did mean Theo would be safe. The other was where my heart lay, where I longed to remain despite logic. With Theo, near Theo, fighting for what was rightly ours. It all boiled down to one thing in the end though. Theo. What would keep Theo safe?

If I stayed hidden and tried to remain beside him, he would be in danger. I loved him too much for that.

I stood up with renewed resolve and watched Nico stiffen.

"What are you doing?" he asked, as I dusted myself down as best I could.

"I'm walking out of here," I answered calmly. More calmly than I felt.

"Don't do this," Nico pleaded. "You hand yourself over and Theo will be distraught."

"I hand myself over and Theo will walk free."

"Casey," Nico started, but I held up my hand to stall him.

"It's my decision. Mine." I blinked through the sudden onset of tears in my eyes. "Just tell him..." I took a deep breath in and let it out slowly. "Just tell him this is for the best."

Nico made a strangled sound behind me, but my hand was already on the doorknob. I turned it, pulled the door open and stepped out without checking if the way was clear. What did it matter? I wasn't going to hide anymore.

As soon as I lifted the tapestry and stepped out, I knew I wasn't alone in the corridor. With my hand on the door still, I swiftly shut it in Nico's face. Leaving him inside the room and praying he'd remain there. I readjusted the tapestry and turned to face who I presumed would be a guard.

Several feet away a man in uniform stood, but it wasn't the uniform of a guard. It was the uniform of a butler.

"Aktor?" I said, uncertainly. He spun on his feet and blinked at me. Then started striding towards me with purpose.

"I knew that wretched hiding place was somewhere on this floor," he said, in a low voice. "Come, Miss Eden. The master is waiting."

He grasped my arm and pulled me several metres down the hallway, constantly looking over his shoulder for pursuers.

"Are you taking me to the cells?" I asked and was hushed immediately with a frown.

Time ticked by as he pulled me down corridor after corridor, ducking into rooms or alcoves or another tapestry hidden spot, as footsteps approached. For the entire journey he didn't utter another word. We swept down narrow stone stairways, that curved in on themselves. We ducked under low lying ceilings and at one stage even crawled through a laundry chute. Aktor knew
Pyrgos
like the back of his hand.

I was bursting with the desire to ask questions. Where was Theo?
Was
it Theo he was taking me to? How did Aktor know of all these hidden passages? Why was he even here? Where were we going? Was Theo safe? The questions swirled around in my head causing an ache to start up behind my eyes. I was hungry and thirsty and scared out of my wits, but I remained silent and simply followed wherever the butler led. I trusted him, but the longer it took, the longer the silence, I was beginning to doubt. I didn't want to doubt Aktor, but the man was ancient, had been an
Athanatos
for so long. What had Nico said?
Eternity makes all of us a little ruthless.

I eyed him carefully, looking for signs of betrayal. I couldn't see any, but then I was now aware of how good
Ekmetalleftis
were at hiding behind a mask of nothing. Aktor was no different from Theo in that regard. All that met my eyes was a blank, but focused face.

We spent twenty minutes in a shadowy alcove behind a statue as guards congregated no more than a few feet away. Their conversation was in Greek, so I didn't understand it. But their words were clipped, angry and quick. They were not happy, but I had no way of knowing if they were unhappy because they hadn't located me, or for some other reason.

My heart hadn't stopped booming in my chest since I opened the door to the room Nico and I had been in. I wondered if Nico had escaped. Shown his face somewhere and was being questioned at this very moment. I hoped no one would have considered he'd betray
Pyrkagia
. But my head told me, that was a naive wish.

A more paranoid bunch of people I had never met.

Finally the guards moved on and we slipped from our hidden location and quietly ran down the corridor until Aktor opened another tapestry hidden door. This one led to a darkened set of stairs, leading down to a dirt strewn tunnel. There was no light, but remarkably I could see shadows, slightly darker areas that depicted the corner of a wall, a jutting beam, or fallen piece of masonry. I stopped and immediately crouched low so my fingers could touch the soil.

Earth washed up and through me, sending a jolt of recognition and welcome through my mind.

"We don't have time," Aktor hissed urgently.

But the Earth was whispering something to me, so I waved Aktor off and tilted my head.

They are here. They have come. Beware.

"Who?" I whispered back, too wound up to think the words, but speaking them aloud instead.

The ones who seek you. The ones who mean you harm
.

Well, hell. That could be any number of people.

"Not helpful," I whispered back. "Be more specific," I demanded softly.

But a noise on the other side of the door, at the top of the stairs we'd just come down, let me know my time was up. I could get answers from the Earth as soon as we were safely away. I stood and nodded to Aktor, who grasped my hand and led the march down the narrow tunnel.

It became smaller and smaller, until we were doubled over and squeezing our shoulders through gaps that larger bodies would not have been able to pass. There was no way Theo used this passage. Which led me to believe that it wasn't Theo who awaited at all. I stared at the hunched form of Theo's old butler in front of me and I prayed with all my heart that he hadn't abandoned his friend; his employer. That the betrayal I suspected was not true.

I had no choice but to continue to follow him though. Going back would lead to whoever had discovered the door at the top of those stairs. Going forward was taking a leap of faith. One I wasn't sure I could manage. But the choice was made for me now, so I had to keep moving ahead.

Finally, after suffering through spider's webs and dripping, smelly water from the ceiling, we made it to a grate behind thick brush. I pushed my mucky hair back off my face and steadied my breathing for what or who lay on the other side. Aktor looked back over his shoulder to me, his familiar face helping to soothe my nerves, even though doubt of his loyalty still remained.

He banged twice on the grate with his fist and we waited.

Seconds later the brush was pushed aside and a shadowy figure grunted as he removed the grate, sliding it sideways, with a sickeningly loud creak and groan.

It was the muttered curse words in Greek that made me launch past Aktor. Directly into Theo's waiting arms.

Heat washed through me, no doubt at all in my mind that it was his
Stoicheio
. I'm sure he didn't mean to. He was exhausted and as dishevelled as me. It was a slip, a moment of weakness in the face of enormous relief. Because he wasn't alone. My
Stoicheio
was making the trees and bushes around us move protectively to offer cover. Surrounding us with an impenetrable wall of defence against the outside world.

Aktor cleared his throat at my back, causing Theo to pull away reluctantly from the kiss he'd been giving me.

"At least Cassandra uses her
Stoicheio
to hide you both. Theodoros, you should be ashamed of yourself."

Theo offered a rueful smile and ducked his head to kiss my lips lightly again.

"Are you hurt,
Oraia?
" he asked, hot breath washing over my face delightfully. I shook my head to say no, words impossible right then.

My hands were brushing over his arms, his chest, down his back. Everywhere I could reach to ensure he was unharmed. He didn't wince or pull away, so I assumed where I touched he was fine. But he must have realised what I was doing, because he whispered in my ear, "I am unhurt, as well." I sagged against him, fatigue finally catching up.