Queen of the Magnetland (The Elemental Phases Book 5) (8 page)

Mara
swallowed hard, finding herself alone with Chason.

A
pissed off, much more possessive Chason, with super good reflexes and a deep
hunger.

He
tore his eyes away from her and glowered over at the spot where the Smoke Phase
had disappeared.  “Where do you think you can fucking hide that I won’t find
you?”  He bellowed up at the ceiling as if Zakkery could still hear him.

He
was swearing around her.  Mara couldn’t get used to it.  Couldn’t get used to
any
of it.  She surreptitiously tried to tug free of his hold.  Not because she
particularly
wanted
to go free, but because she was feeling so
overwhelmed.

Instantly,
Chason’s grip grew tighter, like he was afraid she might try to get away.  His
gaze whipped around to pin her with a fierce look.  “You think to go somewhere,
woman?”  He demanded.

His
voice made her whole body throb.  “I told you, I just want to go home.”  She
whispered back.

“We
are
going home.”  He promised darkly.  “
Mara’s
home.”

Her
tragical death combined with many of the elements

of her life
to convert her memory into a sort of legend

Henry
James- “Hawthorne”

Sometimes,
back before she’d died and all, Mara had spent her afternoons at movie
matinees.  She didn’t advertise that fact, of course.  She wasn’t even sure
that anyone else knew she was powerful enough to jump into the human realm
alone.  Elementals weren’t supposed to go there, at all, and very few could
make the jump without other Phases helping them.  It had always seemed
inappropriate to discuss how big her powers were.  Unladylike.

Besides,
it would just invite questions from Chason as to why he couldn’t feel part of
her vast energy. 
That
would lead to an awkward conversation about their
Phazing and how, if you looked at it from a certain perspective, Mara had never
entirely
connected with him.  That there was always that deeper piece
she held back and wouldn’t share.

No
doubt, that would make him feel uncomfortable.

It
seemed better not to discuss the whole subject.

So
about once a week, she’d tell her cousins she was with Chason, and Chason she
was with her cousins, and she’d sneak off to spend two precious hours all by
herself in a human movie theater.

It
didn’t really matter to her what film was showing.  Whatever was playing, she
ate her popcorn and watched.  It had started out with her just wanting to see
musicals.  Mara loved music.  But, as the humans made fewer and fewer of them,
she found other films were relaxing, too.  Eventually, Mara went to everything
from romantic comedies, to WWII dramas, to those movies where the last place
football team manages a comeback season thanks to their unconventional coach.

Action
movies were some of her favorites.  Back in the 1980s, she’d even seen
Escape
from New York
.  She’d liked the film.  She really had.  Kurt Russell was
very attractive, even with the eye patch.

But,
she’d never anticipated the day that she’d walk through the Magnet Kingdom and
experience a Snake Plissken-y sense of déjà vu.  The familiar landmarks were
still there, but everything was different.  Changed.

Dirtier.

Mara
slowly looked around the Magnet Fortress, shocked by the destruction.  A thick
coating of apathy and despair clung to everything.  Assorted debris lined an
uneven path through the house, which was difficult to follow because none of the
lights seemed to work.

What
had happened?

Everywhere
she looked, it was just… horrible.  Like a bomb had gone off.  Cobwebs and dust,
broken furniture and shattered windows.  The lands were dying, the buildings in
disrepair.  It seemed as if the entire Magnetland was deserted.

If
she hadn’t believed that two years had passed before, this would be some
convincing evidence.  Logically, she knew she’d been in a coma for a long
time.  Accepting it was more difficult, though.  Physically, she felt fine.  To
Mara’s mind, it had just been a few hours since she was last in the fortress.

Yesterday,
she’d straightened that mirror on the staircase wall.  Today, someone had
smashed it in as if they couldn’t stand seeing what it might reflect.  A few
days ago, she’d sat on the rug and played Monopoly with Prinny.  Today, the rug
was gone and the moldy game box was sticking haphazardly out of a hole in the
floor.  Last week, she’d listened to music on the Victrola in the corner.  Now,
it was tipped onto its side, hacked apart and covered in a confetti of broken
records.

Someone
had destroyed her music collection.

Chason
followed her gaze and cleared his throat.  “That was… It was a regrettable…
moment.  I’m sorry.  I can replace it.”

Mara
nodded vaguely, too overwhelmed to even process the madness around her.  “Well,
whenever you have the time.”

Chason
crossed his arms over his chest, his attention coming back to her face, and yet
not meeting her eyes.  He hadn’t really looked at her, or away from her, for
more than a moment since the jail cell.  It made her uncomfortable.  Even that
lustful moment they’d shared was
so
different that she didn’t know how
to process it.

This
man was
not
her Match.

At
least, not the Match that she’d known for so many years.

Her
Chason was gentle and neat and reserved.  He held open doors for her and asked
polite questions over dinner.  His principles were rock solid, his honor
unquestioned, and his hygiene above reproach.  He was an officer and a
gentleman, in every sense of the word.

This
Chason was so… dark.  His eyes stayed narrowed, suspiciously, no matter who was
talking.  He spoke so abruptly and he made deals with criminals.  He smelled
like a brewery.  His clothes were disheveled, his face much too thin.  His hair
touched his collar...  A collar that he hadn’t even buttoned.  He was even standing
closer to her than usual.

And
their energy didn’t feel the same.  They’d always had that cautious separation,
but that was such a small thing.  It did nothing to distract from the purity of
their combined powers.  At least, not that Mara ever knew.  And Chason had
never even seemed to
notice
her holding back.  No, everything had seemed
fine
before.  Now it seemed like there was a much wider gulf between
them.

The
problem had to be coming from Chason.

Something
had changed within his energy, making it stronger and less predictable.  He was
pushing further into their connection than he ever had before and, in the small
places where the edges of their powers didn’t line-up exactly, it created a
rift.  A gap big enough so that things didn’t feel
neat
, anymore.

After
nearly seven decades of living with this man, their predictable, courteous life
was now in chaos.  She wasn’t sure how to deal with the new distance between
them, on top of everything else.

She
just felt alone.

“I’d
like to see Kahn.”  She needed a familiar face and she wanted to see for
herself that he was okay.  Maybe her cousin would recognize her.  Maybe he
could convince Chason that she wasn’t her own evil twin.

Or
maybe he’d react just like Chason was.

If
Kahn didn’t believe she was really Mara, either, she had no idea what she would
do.  Chason might still renounce her and kick her out of his House.  Then, she’d
have no home, at all.  No family.  Where would she even go?  Maybe the Water
Phases or Job would let her into their kingdoms.  Unless they all thought she was
a fake, too.  How could she get her life back if everyone she cared about
turned their backs on her?

Why
was this happening?

She
tried so hard to be what everyone wanted.  Why was it was never quite enough?

So
many panicked, self-pitying thoughts ricocheted through her head that Mara
couldn’t even process them all.  All she could do was try and get through the
next second without crying or screaming.

“You
can see Kahn tomorrow.”  The words were flat and uncompromising.  Her Chason
never spoke to her like that.  “If you’re still around, we’ll see what he
thinks about ‘Mara’s’ apparent resurrection.”

For
a heartbeat of time, Mara thought about just jumping to the Light Kingdom,
right that second.  She didn’t need Chason’s permission to see her cousin. 
Especially not this new Chason, who was a complete stranger to her.  She wanted
to go someplace safe and familiar.  She wanted someone to hug her and tell her
she was okay.  That they believed her and knew who she was.  She wanted to hide,
until the world made sense, again.

Three
things stopped her from just leaving:

First
off, she needed a shower and to change clothes before she went anywhere.  She’d
apparently been buried in this outfit, for God’s sake.  Mara was trying not to
think about that, but it was difficult to ignore the grime.

Secondly,
she wasn’t sure what this new Chason would do if she just left.  He might yet kick
her out of the Magnet Kingdom, but he wouldn’t want her to choose to go on her
own.  He didn’t seem entirely stable.  Mara had never been afraid of Chason and
she still wasn’t.  He wouldn’t hurt her.  She knew that.

But,
he might hurt
other
people and he’d never been a big Kahn fan.  She
really didn’t want to trigger a violent fight between her Match and her
cousin.  Chason had always taken such care to control his temper.  Now, she
wasn’t so sure he’d bother.  Being with
this
Chason felt like being a
room with a ticking bomb.  Adding Kahn into the mix would just make the bomb
nuclear.

And
three… Despite or because of everything, she just wanted to be with her Match. 
Regardless of whether or not he
thought
he was her Match, she trusted
Chason to protect her.  In their entire relationship, he’d never been to Light
Kingdom, so it didn’t seem likely he’d start now.  Even going back to her
homeland seemed like a bad idea, if he wasn’t there.  This new future world
frightened her.  She had to get her bearings.

“Fine.” 
Mara rubbed at her temple and didn’t fight him.

Not
fighting was second nature, really.  She could get through her inner turmoil on
her own.  She was used to holding her emotions in and dealing with them alone. 
Which would obviously come in handy, when everyone she knew disowned her.

“I
think I’d like to go to my room, then.”  Without waiting for a response, she
turned and headed up the stairs.  The banister was loose.  It moved as she laid
her hand on it.  Mara gave it testing shake and frowned.  “You need to have
this fixed this, Chason.  Someone could get hurt.”

Chason
blinked as if it hadn’t occurred to him that his home was deathtrap.  “Of
course.”  He said instantly and sounded almost like himself.  He apparently thought
so too, because he shook his head and went back to being a jerk.  Following her
up the stairs, he gestured to the left.  “I kept your room the same.”

Her
room was to the
right
.

Mara
shot him a frustrated look and very deliberately turned towards her
bedchamber.  It was right next to his, connected by an interior door.  The
Magnet Phases traditionally kept separate bedrooms.  So did the Light Phases,
actually, only for different reasons.

In
the Magnetland it was about genteel propriety.

Back
home, it was an issue of trust.  Light Phases didn’t let down their guards
easily and sleeping in a room with another person left them vulnerable.  Even
Matches didn’t like to be so exposed with each other.  Maybe that was why she’d
always had such a hard time with the idea of handing Chason every part of her.

“Honestly,
Chason, if I really was an imposter, I think I would have done enough homework
to know where I’m supposed to sleep, don’t you?  Seems fairly basic.  I’m sure
I wouldn’t be a
dumb
spy.”

He
looked irritated.  “Well, tell me something that’s
not
basic, then. 
Something only Mara and I would know.”

“Like
what?”  At the moment, Mara couldn’t think of a single cute, couple-y secret
that they shared.

Chason
became quiet, like he couldn’t come up with any, either.

God,
that was depressing.

Mara
sighed as she reached the top of the stairs.  “We met in the rain.”  She tried,
because it was easier to say something than to let the silence grow.  The
instinct to not rock the boat kicked in and she tried to smooth over the
awkward moment.  “In the courtyard downstairs.”

“That
wouldn’t be hard for someone else to find out.”  Chason muttered.

“No,
I guess it wouldn’t.”  Mara was exhausted with his attitude.  “I’m out of
ideas, then.”

It
was insulting that her own Match didn’t recognize her.  As changed as he was,
she still knew that he was really Chason.  Why couldn’t he tell it was her? 
What was wrong with him?

As
usual, when Chason hurt her feelings, the small piece of herself that Mara kept
separate from him came to the forefront.  He was really straining the edges of
her patience and she just didn’t have it in her to keep fighting for him to see
the truth.  With their weakened energy connection, it was even easier to pull
back from him.

As
if he could feel her metal retreat, Chason instantly moved closer to her.

He’d
never sensed her pull away before.

Mara
glanced up at him in surprise.  Purple eyes bore into her and she had no idea
what he might be thinking.  Except, she knew that some part of him
did
know she was really Mara.

He
had to.  If he wasn’t ninety percent sure, he wouldn’t have allowed her into
his home.  Chason was in some kind of bizarre shock, or denial, or suspicious
haze, but his instincts were telling him that she was real.  She could tell
from the way he kept trying to reach for her with his powers and his body.  His
hands hadn’t touched her again, but he was in her personal space bubble and his
powers were definitely brushing against hers, trying to connect more deeply.