Queen of the Magnetland (The Elemental Phases Book 5) (34 page)

Kahn
didn’t even flinch.  Mara could see from her cousin’s contemptuous expression
that he had no idea what the weapon could really do.  Guns were a human toy.  He
went for Vandal, again, fully intended to continue the fight, even if he was
shot in the process.

“No!” 
Mara started forward at a run.  “Kahn, don’t!  That gun can kill us!”

She
grabbed Vandal’s wrist as he fired off a shot, yanking it to the side.  The
bullet hurtled passed Kahn’s ear, striking one of the stones and shearing off
some of the text.  Mara didn’t have time to cringe over the archeological
desecration.

Vandal’s
enraged black eye met hers.  “You have served your purpose, Magnet Queen!”  He
spun the gun around to point it at her, his hand tightening on the trigger…

…And
Chason loped it off.

Her
Match appeared out of nowhere, his blade coming down like a guillotine.  The
sword severed Vandal’s wrist, the gun dropping to the ground along with the
spasming hunk of meat that had once been his hand.

Mara
automatically scrambled backwards at the arterial spray of red.

Vandal
let out a roar, clutching at the stump of his wrist.  “
NO!
”  He
bellowed.  His black gaze reflected fury and shock.  “This isn’t supposed to
happen!”

“Oh,
it’s happening, alright.”  Chason snarled.  The sword glinted in his hand and
Mara felt his raging emotions screaming over their connection.  “Bad news,
asshole.  My Match is the strongest Magnet Phase alive and her powers now fully
link with mine.”

Mara
felt Magnet energy whip out, more than she’d
ever
used, and Vandal
emitted a sudden bellow of unbelievable agony.  His whole body twisted at an
unnatural angle as if he had no control over it.

Chason
tilted his head in that terrifyingly eerie way and Vandal’s bones started
snapping.

The
Light Phase tried to crawl away through the dirt, but his limbs didn’t seem to
be working.  The Magnet powers were killing him from the inside out, attacking
Vandal’s vital organs.  Everyone had trace amounts of metal in their systems,
so Chason’s powers had control of the Light Phase’s whole body.

Kahn’s
brows soared.

Chason’s
eyes glowed hot with a wild frenzy.  “It’s the wrong fucking day for anybody
with iron in their blood to piss me off.”  He loomed over Vandal like death,
his emotions boiling out of control.  “I’m having a creative renaissance when
it comes to not acting like a gentleman.”

Vandal
opened his mouth in a silent scream, in so much pain that no sound could
emerge.

“Chason.” 
Mara moved towards him, afraid for her Match.  “I’m alright.  Everything’s
okay.  Don’t do this.”

Mara
didn’t care if Vandal died, but she didn’t want her Match torturing him first. 
That wasn’t who Chason was.  The panic and insanity were pulling at him, but he
could fight through them.  She knew he could.  He wasn’t nearly as crazy as he
thought he was.

Chason,
of the Magnet House had been born for greatness.

He
shot her a look and his eyes cleared ever so slightly.

“Chason!” 
Job appeared, Kingu, Gion, and Cross at his side.  They must have seen Vandal’s
message in the sky, as well.  Job would be able to find the ruins in the Light
Kingdom just from the power they emitted.  “Don’t kill him!  Not until we find
out what he knows.”

“Nobody
takes my Match from me!”  Chason roared back.  He was fighting for control.  “Not
ever, again!”

Job
looked over at Mara and then back to Chason.  “Your Match is safe.”  He said in
a soothing tone.  “You protected her.  Vandal’s disarmed.”

“And
dis
handed
.”  Cross, of the Shadow House interjected meaningfully.

Chason
didn’t seem to hear that.  “You think I’ll risk losing her a second time?  Risk
going back into the dark?  Mara is my
light
.”  The word was anguished.

“You’re
not in the dark.”  Mara assured him.  “I’m right here with you.  Pull back from
it, darling.  I know you can.”  And once he did, he’d feel so much more
confident in his own sanity.

“I
think Chason is talking sense for once.”  Gion complained.  “I vote we let him kill
Vandal and go home.”

“Chason.”
 Mara crossed over to touch his arm, seeing him slowly pulling himself back
from the ledge.  “That’s it.  Don’t worry.  We’re fine.  No.  We’re so much
better
than fine.”  She moved to wrap her arms around him as he wrestled through the
passionate fury and returned to her.  “I knew you’d come.”

Chason
exhaled a long a breath.  She felt the frantic pull of his energy ease.  The need
for violence gave way to staggeringly relief… And he left the darkness behind. 
Chason would never get swept into madness, again.  He’d fought it.  
They’d
fought it.

Together
they could fight anything.

“Mara.” 
Chason wilted against her, drained.  “Don’t leave me.”  He buried his face in
her hair.  “I couldn’t survive it, again.  Not when I love you even more this
time.”

She
blinked back tears.  “I’m not going anywhere.  I told you, darling, we’re
forever and then some.”

Chason
swallowed and seemed to regain the last of himself.  Mara hadn’t ever doubted
that he could.  He might have some
flashes
of crazy, but Chason wasn’t
crazy.
 
She could feel every part of him and he was whole, now.  With a little time and
a lot of love, he’d heal completely.

Chason
looked over at Cross and Gion.  “I’m sorry I took Nia and Ty from you.”  He whispered
and clutched Mara like she might vanish at any moment.  “I forgot what it was
like to hold your Match.”

“I
don’t forgive you.”  Cross announced and looked at Gion.  “Do you forgive him?”

“No.”

“I’m
a Fire Phase.”  Kingu put-in importantly.  “We only kidnap our own Matches.”

Satisfied
that Chason would be okay, Job turned his attention to Vandal.  The Light Phase
was still writhing on the ground.  “Why have you returned?”  He demanded
quietly.

“Gaia
spared me,” one black eye looked up at Job with pure hatred, “to create a
better future for all Elementals.”  He surreptitiously grabbed for his severed
hand.  “A day of Darkness and Light is coming, Job.  A day of reckoning.”

Mara
had no idea how he found the energy, but Vandal somehow managed a jump.  His
powers surged out in a final uncoordinated show of strength.  His battered body
disappeared, leaving nothing by a bloody smear on the stone concerning the
Happiness box.

“You
let him get away!”  Kingu threw his hands up in annoyance.  “My daughter isn’t
even
born
yet, and she could’ve contained that man!”

Chason
released Mara, swearing.  He prowled over to stand next to Job as if he might
be able to sense where Vandal went.  He was pissed off, but he wasn’t about to
lose control, again.  “I did enough damage that he’s not getting far.  He’ll
have to surface to get help or he’ll be dead in matter of hours.”

“You
should’ve just killed him.”  Gion insisted.  “Then, we wouldn’t have to wait.”

Mara
ignored that.  Wherever Vandal had gone, he wouldn’t be bothering them for a while
and she had more important things to focus on.

Like
her cousin.

“Kahn?” 
She said softly.  He still hadn’t said a word to her.

He
got to his feet, his gaze locked on hers, and he started forward.  His broken
nose was seeping blood, and he absently swiped his wrist under it.  On his arm,
she saw he’d tattooed a wide memorial cuff.  It was the traditional way the
Light House honored their dead.  Seeing the sheer amount of ink on Kahn’s skin had
Mara stifling a wince.  Kahn had lost his whole family in the Fall; all six of
his sisters and Mara.

It
must’ve been torture for him to see her just
appear
like this.

“I’m
so sorry.”  Mara told him as he drew closer.  “I wanted to tell you I was back
in a much more considerate way, but…”  She trailed as he dropped to his knees
in front of her.

Kneeling,
he was still nearly as tall as she was.  One palm came up to touch her cheek
reverently.  Black eyes, identical to her own, traced over her features like he
was memorizing them.

Mara
leaned into his hand and smiled.  “Hi, Kahny.”

The
nickname broke him.

Her
cousin gave a choked sound of emotion and his huge arms seized her around her
waist.  Mara would’ve been knocked off balance, but he was holding on too
tight.  She hugged him back, laughing at the force of the embrace.  Light House
warriors weren’t a gentle breed.

Kahn’s
head fell to her shoulder.  He wrapped himself around her like she was all that
was keeping him upright.  He’d just beaten a man half to death, but he now his
whole body shook as he desperately clung to her.  This time he didn’t seem to
care if she saw him cry.

“Mari.” 
He breathed and she heard the tears in his voice.

Mara
kissed the top of his head.  “I love you, too, brother.”  She whispered and
then in a lighter tone she added.  “But you look terrible.  Tell me, did
everyone
give up on showering while I was gone?”

Indeed, the element of time seemed to be one of very
considerable importance

Charlotte M. Yonge- “Corporal Cameron”

Mara
stood on the ladder and ripped a long piece of the hideous paper off the wall
of her bedroom.  She’d been removing the dismal grey stripes for half-an-hour
and already the room seemed brighter.  The twisted strip of paper dropped to
the ground and Mara moved to the next section, humming Andrews’ Sisters songs
as she worked.

“Do
you really have to do that, right now?”  Chason asked from the doorway.  “It’s
almost midnight.  Wouldn’t you rather be in bed?  With me.”

Mara
shot him a grin.  “You are insatiable.  I like that in a man.”  She teased. 
“Five more minutes and I’ll quit for the night, alright?”

It
had taken hours before Kahn let her leave his suffocating embrace.  As much as
she loved him and the Light Kingdom, she was happy to be standing back home in
the Magnet Fortress and eager to start making it better.

Chason
leaned a shoulder against the jam.  “What are you even doing?”

“I’m
redecorating.”

“After
all we’ve been through today, you’re redecorating?”

She
glanced at him.  “When I was dying a made a list of things I would change about
my life.  Getting rid of this ugly wallpaper was number thirty-one.”  She
hesitated.  “Number thirty-five was have a child.”

“Interior
design rated higher than a baby?”  Chason sounded amused.

“Well,
it wasn’t ranked in order of importance, wise guy.”  She shot him a mock
glare.  “Anyway, I was thinking about it and… I think
that’s
why we
couldn’t get pregnant.”

“The
wallpaper?”

“No,
the fact that we always had that gap in our energy.  You have to be Phazed to
have a child, and we always had that little bit of distance between us. 
That’s
why it never happened.  There was never anything physically wrong with us that
Freya could find.  We’d just never fully Phazed.”  Mara smiled in excitement. 
“But now that’s
fixed
, Chason!  It’ll work now --I can feel it!-- and this
room could be the nursery.”

Chason
looked around, blinking like his eyes had gotten misty.  “I’d like that.”  He
said softly.

“But,
the baby can’t have wallpaper this dreary.”  Mara pointed out.  “And even if we
never have a child, I don’t want us to have separate bedrooms, anymore.  So…”

“That’s
not even under discussion.”  Chason interrupted.  “You sleep beside me.  Every
night.”

Mara’s
eyes gleamed.  “
So
,” she continued, “this whole space needs to be
changed and my belongings all have to be moved into your room.”

“Our
room.”

“Our
room.”  She agreed.  “Really, the whole kingdom will have to be redone, you
know.  We need to repair the buildings and restore utilities and clear off the
grime.  The Magnet Phases deserve to have the homeland back.”

“I
know.”  He sighed.  “It’s gonna take a long time to fix it all, though.  And
even longer to fix
me
.”

“You
don’t need to be fixed.  I like you just the way you are.”

“The
madness almost took me when Vandal kidnapped you.  What if I hadn’t been able
to come back?”

“You
would always come back to me.”  Mara knew that right down to her soul.  “You
aren’t crazy, Chason.”

“Well,
I’m sure not a hundred percent sane.”

“You’re
mostly sane
and that’s probably all anyone can claim.”  She could feel
her energy matching up with Chason’s on every level and she knew how quickly he
was healing.  “I wouldn’t change anything about the new you, darling.”  She
arched a brow.  “Of course, I don’t think you’ll be winning ‘Elemental of the
Year’ again anytime soon.”

“It
was a boring banquet anyway.”

“But
you looked so handsome on that podium.”  She fluttered her eyelashes at him. 
“Not that you aren’t even
more
handsome, now.”

Chason’s
mouth curved and he strolled further into the room.  “So… What else was on that
list of you made?”

“Many
things that you and I will be doing together one item at a time.  I won’t live
with regrets, Chason.  I
will
be rocking the boat.  Be prepared for nagging
and impositions on your schedule and demands that you spend time with me…”

“If
you think you’re ever leaving my sight, again,
you’re
the crazy one.”

Mara
kept going.  “You will be coming to my birthday parties and spending time with
me in the Light Kingdom.  There will be dancing and music.  And I’m going to
look into working at the university.  And we’re going to movies and vacationing
in the Colorland and eating breakfast sitting
next
to each other, understand?”

“I
want to do everything with you, Mara, especially when you start getting bossy
about it.  I love that.  But, I
think
I might have a death sentence in
the Colorland.  There was a small… thing.”

“A
small thing?”

“When
I was less
mostly sane
than I am now.”

“Oh.” 
Mara hesitated.  “Well, we’d better skip number thirty-three on the list,
then.”

Chason
came to stand under her.  “Does your list mention anything about Phazing on a
ladder?”  His hand seductively brushed up calf and Mara’s heartbeat sped up.

“You
can’t Phaze on a ladder.”  She whispered.  “If it were possible, I would’ve
seen it in a movie.”

“Oh,
you’d be surprised how creative I’m becoming.”  He crooked a finger at her. 
“Come here, princess.”

She
beamed at him…

…And
then she was falling.

A
tornado rocked the room, knocking the ladder right out from under her.  Mara tumbled
off the wooden step and into the hot rush of flying debris.  She couldn’t even
see the floor under her as she fell, but she knew she was about to hit it.

Chason
lunged forward, grabbing Mara before she impacted stone.  He caught her against
his body, his training keeping him on his feet.  In one quick movement, he dropped
her behind him and turned to face the doorway.

Or,
at least, the
direction
of the doorway.

It
was impossible to actually see it in the dust storm.

This
was some kind of ambush and it was working.

Mara
had to close her eyes against the tons of grit in the air.  It was clogging her
lungs, filling her nose and mouth, so she couldn’t breathe.  The grimy interior
Magnet Fortress provided unlimited amounts of dirt to feed the cyclone.  Glass
from the mirror shattered.  Furniture toppled.  Dirt particles hit against her
skin like small bullets.

Chason
pushed her towards the ground, trying to get her beneath the worst of onslaught. 
“Stay down!”

“Do
you think you can just get
everything?
”  Lansing, of the Dust House
bellowed from somewhere in the whirling darkness.  Chason’s former second-in-command
sounded incensed.  “That you can turn your back on the Reprisal, and abandon
our mission, and stop killing those bastard Air Phases and just
walk away?
”

“You
son-of-a-
bitch.
”  Chason shouted back.  “I did nothing to stop you from
leaving!  Go and wage your pointless war!”

“The
men won’t follow me!”  Lansing screamed back.  “Not the way they did you.  They
all still respect you, even after you let us all down.  They will
never
be
mine as long as you’re alive.  And now you even get to have your Match back,
while I have
nothing!
”  Lansing’s powers picked up the shards of mirror,
spinning them into a whirlwind.  “Well, it’s all ends now!”

Mara
screamed as the jagged missiles flews towards Chason’s face.  They weren’t
going to have time to jump before the glass…

Bang
.

The
loud report of a gun sounded over the wail of the dust storm and everything
suddenly stopped.  The sneak attack ceased and the sandy debris in the air
rushed back to earth, coating Mara in a layer of filth.  The sharpened
projectiles that had been headed for Chason’s eyes and brain fell to the floor,
shattering into smaller bits.  The whole room went eerily still.

The
fog of dirt cleared…

And
Daphne, of the Time House stood there.

At
her feet, Lansing lay dead.

Daphne
was wearing a silver snakeskin jacket and looked like she belonged in a high
school glee club, but she’d just shot the Dust Phase in the back of the head. 
The gun was still clutched in her hand as she stared down at his body.

Mara
blinked, wiping the soot from her face.

“How’s
it feel to be out ambushed, you fucking asshole.”  Daphne raised the weapon
again and put two more bullets into Lansing’s body just to be sure he was gone.

Chason
coughed, waving a hand in front of his face to clear the air.  “Daphne?”  He
guessed.

She
let out a long breath and dragged her attention from Lansing’s corpse.  “Just
so you know, you’re not really my favorite person, either, Magnet King.  I have
no idea where Vandal is thanks to you.  You almost
killed
him.”

“When
you find him, let me know and I’ll finish the job.”

Daphne
made a face and turned to Mara.  “We need to talk.”

Mara
shook her head.  “You just shot Lansing with one of those future guns.”

“Don’t
worry.  History won’t miss the guy.”

“I
don’t care about
him
.  I care about
Vandal
, who attacked my Match
with a weapon just like that!”

“You
think that was
my
doing?  I’m not arming Vandal. 
Nobody
hates that
guy more than me.”  She looked over at Chason.  “Alright, maybe you.”

Chason
inclined his head in agreement.

“Well,
where else could he have gotten the gun?”  Mara demanded.

“I’m
not the only Time Phase in the world who can jump back here, alright?  I’m just
the only one who can
survive
the trip.  Maybe some people don’t like me
messing with the timeline and they’re trying to rewrite my rewrites.”  Daphne flicked
a hand.  “None of that matters.  We got bigger concerns.”

“Bigger
than Chason almost dying?!”

“I
just
saved
Chason.  Without someone stepping in, he was scheduled to die
today.  Originally that was Raiden’s job.  But, since there was a
slight
a change of plans, it was up to me to play hero.”  Daphne gestured towards
Lansing’s bloody form.  “You’re welcome.”

“Where
is Raiden?”  Chason demanded.

“He’s
busy and you two owe me.”

Mara’s
eyes narrowed.  “What do you want?”

“Hey,
dial back the hostility, okay?  We’re all on the side.”  Daphne assured her.  “A
war is coming and, trust me when I say, you
want
to help me stop it.”

“That’s
why you brought me back?  To help you stop this war?”

“Well,
it also got my team the Justice box, but yeah… I needed you alive.”  Daphne
stepped closer to her, her expression intent.  “You’re the only one who can
read the numbers carved into the tops of those stones.”

Mara
watched at her warily.

Daphne’s
eyes narrowed.  “There are only two sides in this fight, kiddies.  Me and
Vandal.  Someone’s gonna win and someone’s gonna die.  Now, who do you want to
vote for?  The girl who saved both your asses or the psycho-killer who thinks
he talks to Gaia?”

Well,
put in those terms…  “The stones are numbered one through nine.”

“I
know
that
.  What’s the
sequence?
”

“I
told you, one through nine.”

“In
order?
”  Daphne gaped at her for a beat.  “No cat shitting way!”

Growing
up with Kahn, Mara had thought she’d heard every curse there was, but that was
a new one.  “That’s what the stones said.  They start with the largest marker
and continued in a clockwise circle.”

“I
spend fifty-eight years trying to figure out that sequence and it’s just one
through
goddamn nine!
”  Daphne scrapped a hand through her hair and gave
a slightly hysterical laugh.  “
Fuck!
”  Her time with them was running
out quickly, the edges of her body getting fuzzy and indistinct.  “Unbelievable. 
If I didn’t have a hell of a good sense of humor, I’d be so damn pissed that…”

“Was
Vandal right about the Dark King?”  Mara interjected before Daphne vanished.

Daphne
frowned at her.  “Who?”

Mara
couldn’t tell if she was lying or if she really didn’t know.

“I
want Raiden returned to me.”  Chason said flatly.  “
Now
.”

Daphne
shook her head.  “Sorry, you’re kinda on my naughty list this year.  Like I
said, back in the old history, you
didn’t
leave Vandal a beaten mess today. 
Now I have no clue where he went or what he’s planning and that’s all your
fault.