The Tempting Touch Of Fire (Elemental Awakening, Book 1) (6 page)

He stared at me, clearly confused and disbelieving.

"You are one of the strongest
Gi's
I have ever encountered. The level of power you have at your command is reserved for elders. Do not lie to me,
Oraia
, I am..." he trailed off, the sentence unfinished. "I can tell," he said, rather weakly, instead.

"I'm not lying, Theo. I have no idea what you are. I haven't a clue what I have become. Just that you can make fire out of nothing, make me feel things that are so untrue," - and OK, so that
was
a lie, I did have feelings for Theo, but he didn't need to know that - "and you clearly want me to leave the city. I can talk to plants and make them do things, but obviously my control is not perfect, otherwise you'd still be hanging from vines."

"You are not an Alchemist. You are an
Ekmetalleftis.
An
Athanatos
," he concluded. I hadn't heard the first foreign word before, but the trees had whispered the second. And as to Alchemist, what the hell?

"I need your help," I whispered and watched his face shut down.

"You ask too much, Casey. Surely you know who I am. I would be within my rights to take your head. Right here. Right now."

"Please, Theo," I pleaded. "If you had any feelings for me over the past year, please help me figure this out."

He was kneeling beside me in an instant, his hand at my throat. There was no burning this time, and a part of me wanted to believe it was because he couldn't stand to see me hurt like that again. His response last night led me to think that, but could I truly believe it?

"You wish to rub in how easily you tricked me?" he growled low and soft. More threatening than if he had yelled. "For over a year I believed you to be human. I believed you to be someone you are not. You are good,
Gi
, why make the mistake of believing I care?"

At his hurtful words the vines wrapped around his wrists and arms immediately. He fought against them, struggled to remain at my throat. He almost won.

But with one last growl he was wrenched away. I blinked several times, sucked in much needed air, and when my eyes focused again Theo was standing in the middle of a pile of charred remains. The smell of burnt leaves assailed my nose. The sight of blackened twigs and patches of ash seared my brain. I stared at him, horrified. He'd burned the vines to a crisp to get out.

I staggered to my feet, planning on letting him have a piece of my mind. But I didn't last long, my body refused to obey my commands. My knees hit the concrete with a cringe-worthy thud.

"Crap," I muttered and frantically wiped away tears. I was just so tired of it all.

Theo watched on impassively, his face a staunch mask of blankness. The only evidence that he was affected by my sorry state was the tiniest glow of gold to eyes. Then he surprised me by saying softly, gently even, "You need to leave the city tonight, Casey. I find myself reluctant to watch idly as one of my Guard slices through your neck. Leave now and spare me that."

"Spare
you
that?" I asked with a choked incredulous snort.

"I am the one you have deceived," he pointed out reasonably. "You knew who you were toying with from the start. I would not have entertained you for so long, had I an inkling. I have every right to take your head."

I somehow managed to get to my feet on those last words, and advance on him before he could react. My finger thrust into his chest.

"You've already mentioned that little titbit. How about some originality? Like telling me what the fuck is happening to me! What am I?"

The trees started wailing, the branches thrashing around in the still night air. Loud creaks and moans, interspersed with the crystal-like shattering of the leaves as they agitatedly danced in the air. The earth rumbled beneath our feet, both off us losing our balance. Before we toppled over completely Theo grabbed me about the waist and leapt up on to the steps of the house. They buckled, he swore in Greek, and then he promptly threw me inside.

The door slamming behind him shut out some of the noise, but the earth was making plaster on the walls rain down. The house shifting on top of all that loose soil.

"If you destroy my house, Casey Eden, I will lock you in a concrete dungeon and feed off you for eternity. Fuck the rules! I will make you suffer my influence, I will make you beg for release. And I will never, ever let you near a plant again!" The last was roared, either in an effort to be overheard above the noises the house was now making, or just because he was fuming mad.

I cowered a little. I couldn't help it. He was impressive standing there; infuriated, beautiful. Unnaturally magnificent.

"Say please," I managed to whisper. God knows where this courage was coming from, but Theo seemed to bring out the worst - or best - in me.

Somehow he heard my strained voice through the incredibly loud noise though. He stared at me a moment, then shook his head from side to side.

"What the fuck are you?" he asked incredulously.

"That's what I'd like to know?" I threw back, but made the earth slow its movements to just a tremor. I wanted the reminder of what I could do present in this hallway we stood within.

"You really don't know?" he asked, but I think the question was rhetorical.

The earth settled once I saw he wasn't coating me in fire or doing anything else to indicate I was screwed right now. He just stared at me, as though I was a freak. A huff of a laugh came out of my mouth.

Yeah, I was a freak, but then so was he.

"What are we, Theo?" I asked.

He ran a hand down his face and then roughly through his hair. It was a move I had never seen the immaculate and controlled Theo Peters ever effect until recently.

"I don't know if I can believe you," he admitted eventually. "
Athanatos
are born, not created. And you would have known from an early age what you were and what you were capable of."

"I was born human," I offered and watched him suck in a sharp breath. "Now I'm not, huh?" I said, trying to sound upbeat about it, but drastically failing.

"If the Alchemists have found a way to replicate us finally, then we are doomed," he said under his breath.

"Who are the Alchemists?" I asked, but he ignored me and started pacing, clearly trying to think this all through. Good luck to him on that one. Thinking never did me a blind bit of good.

"I can't hide this sort of information from the
Rigas
for long,
Oraia
," he said, finally shifting his attention back to me
.
Hearing him use his familiar term of endearment gave me hope and made me hold my breath. So I couldn't ask who or what the
Rigas
was. "But if I tell him, he will surely order your immediate death or worse."

I found my voice on that last word.

"Worse?" My voice, unfortunately, was a squeak.

"He will want to study you, find out how they did it. Tell me now, Casey. Are you one of the Alchemists?"

"Would you believe me if I said no?" I asked, hopefully.

He shook his head. "You are right. I can't believe you, but I will not send you to his laboratory. I cannot bear the thought of you there."

Oh dear God, a mad scientist's lab flashed before my eyes. Just what my life needed.

"But we will have to convince him you are something else," Theo explained further and I got an uncomfortable feeling in the pit of my stomach at the look on his handsome face.

Whatever he'd decided, pleased him no end.

"And what exactly is that?" I whispered.

He raised an eyebrow, gave me a sexy-smug smile, and said, "Mine."

"And how is being yours going to help me?" I asked, after managing to break through my initial stunned reaction to his words. Theo may have said he wanted to protect me, but he also continually repeated his
right
to slice through my neck. And now he thinks I'd be OK with being
his
?

I thought the man was more intelligent than this.

"You are either our enemy, an ambassador from the
Gi,
or you belong to one of us," Theo explained. "You say you are not an enemy, I reserve judgement on that. But I will give you the benefit of the doubt for now. You are clearly not an ambassador, we have no ongoing relations with the
Gi
. Your presence has not been arranged nor was it expected. So," he said, obviously enjoying this little conversation. He was leaning against the wall opposite me, relaxed, poised, smirking slightly.

Whatever decision he had just made excited him. In fact, I could almost see his pleasure at this proposal increasing exponentially. Just what the hell was he playing at?

"In order to remain in the city and live," he concluded, "you must be of some worth to a
Pyrkagia
. You need a patron. I am he."

I stared at him, trying valiantly to take in everything he'd just said. It would be so easy to turn tail and run. To leave Auckland and this strange new world I'd been thrust into. To avoid that ever so slightly hungry look on this man's face. He was danger with a capital D. He could control fire, for crying out loud. How much more dangerous could he be? Apart from the fact he repeatedly threatened to chop off my head.

I'd have to be mental to consider this.

Despite all evidence to the contrary, I am not certifiable. I just don't like being bullied. I've worked hard for what I have. I was born in this city. No one was going to make me run, just because they were simply bigger, could control fire, and made me burn with the desire to jump their bones.

Besides, who else was going to give me the answers I needed? If I left Auckland, I wouldn't simply become human again. And who would I turn to for help then? As much as it pained me, confused me, and downright gave me heart palpitations to think of it, I needed Theo Peters. Unfortunately, more than he needed me.

I never did like entering a business relationship on the weaker side.

And of course, there was Theo's repeated promise of protection. Part of me was unwilling to trust it. He'd scared me last night, burned my throat. But his reaction to harming me was tangible. And when given the chance to blister my neck again tonight, he hadn't. My gut,
my heart
, told me he
would
protect me. My head warned I was too trusting and Theo Peters was not someone to trust. He wasn't even human.

But then, apparently, neither am I anymore.

An image of my dead grandfather standing beneath that Moreton Bay Fig Tree flashed through my mind. Yes, I was no longer human. And I needed to know what.

I stared at Theo now, tried to really see him. To look past the handsome façade, the powerful physique, the glittering promise in his eyes. I knew I was out of my depth here. I knew I had no one else to turn to. And I knew, so help me, that I wanted to see what that promise meant in Theo's eyes.

At my heart I am all woman. I have craved him for too long. And we'd been about to venture on to more, with the invitation to our first date. I could run from all the strange new scary things that were happening to me. I could run because of the threat from a bully for me to leave... or else. But could I run from him?

No.

The honesty in that statement made me blush bright red from tip to toe. Theo traced the progress of heat across my cheeks and down my throat with hungry eyes. Even now, even when he'd gone all alpha on me, there was that sensual promise in his gaze, on his face. In the way he leaned closer without even being aware he did so.

Could I trust that he
would
protect me because of the promise I saw in his eyes?

"What would you get out of this?" I asked, finally. Theo had remained patient, even as he'd eagerly devoured the reaction evident on my flushed skin with his eyes, while I battled to come to terms with reality, as it now was, according to him.

He smiled widely, the whites of his teeth standing out against his tanned skin. A predatory gleam settling in his eyes.

"It's really quite self explanatory, Cassandra," he said silkily. "You would be mine in every sense of the word."

I sucked in a slow breath and held his gold tinted gaze. I'd expected that, I'd come to the conclusion that Theo's promise would be carnal in nature. But hearing him state so openly that
I would be his in every sense of the word
, was a wake-up call.

I wanted to ask him to explain further, to give details, but I felt my inexperience would surely show at voicing those words. I'd never belonged to anyone. The only reference I had to go on, was visions of a slave in my head. But even though I was practically an innocent in regards to intimacy, I wasn't entirely naive. Theo looked like he was about to become the owner of a rare treasure, one he coveted, one he desired very much indeed. You don't look like that if your possession is just washing your laundry and darning your socks.

So, he still wanted the promise of more too.

A shiver shot down my spine at that conclusion. Could I actually do this?

Who was I kidding? I'd made the decision when I chose to confront him on his home turf.

"We put a time limit on it," I said, voice level and utterly controlled. I liked this new decisive Casey.

"A time limit? How quaint," he husked, suddenly appearing right in front of my face. "Sweet, sweet, Cassandra." He leaned in, his hot breath washing over the sensitive skin of my earlobe. "You won't want it to end once you are mine. You will beg me to keep you. You will be unable to imagine a life without me in it. You will do everything in your power to keep me happy, so I will not tire and throw you away. You
will
be mine in every sense of the word."

He pulled away, leaving me shaking and suddenly bereft of his warmth, and returned to his side of the hall. He was supremely amused at his effect over my body right then.

Oh, I think I truly hated him. I really freaking did.

But I
wanted
him even more.

"However," he said, pulling at the cuffs of one of his sleeves, then straightening his tie, "you need not fear. No doubt the
Rigas
will put a time limit on this little arrangement for us. He was never one to let me enjoy the spoils for very long."

Just what the hell did that mean?

"Who's the
Rigas?
" I asked, grabbing the first question that didn't show how out of my depth I actually was.

"The King of the
Pyrkagia
of course. You really don't know this, do you?" he asked sounding stunned. He was looking at me strangely, as though he'd suddenly seen the truth in my words on my face. I'm not sure what did it, but I was relieved he was seeing something that led him to believe I wasn't lying about all of this. How much good it would do me, remained to be seen.

"I've told you, Theo. Two days in a pit of dirt and I woke to this." I spread my arms out around me and made the house shudder by commanding the earth beneath its foundations to stir. It lasted a mere second, but Theo's delicately raised eyebrow let me know he was impressed.

"You have unreasonable control of your gifts," he admitted. "Why were you not born
Pyrkagia
?" he said, as though to himself. He shook his head and straightened from the wall.

Then proceeded to walk around my body. His gaze taking in every inch of me. From the skin tight yoga pants that hugged my thighs and rear, to the fitted hoodie which curved over my breasts. I suddenly wished I'd worn something else. I don't think Theo was of the same opinion.

But then again, maybe he was.

"This will not do,
Oraia,"
he said shaking his head from side to side. "You cannot be presented to the
Rigas
in such an outfit. It would be a show of disrespect." Great, not only did I feel like I'd been ogled at, but now I felt woefully inadequate.

"But," Theo continued, still pacing around my body, "I have an idea." I bet he did.

I sighed, his eyes finally rose to my face, having been target locked on my rear, chest, hell, everywhere but there.

"Do we have an agreement,
Gi
?" he asked suddenly. "I stand between you and my King, for however long he allows it, in order for you to stay in the city unharmed."

Tense silence hung between us. I chewed on my bottom lip.

Stay. Go.

Stand up to the bullies. Leave with my tail between my legs.

Let Theo
own
me. Keep my independence but be utterly alone.

Find out what has happened to me. Stay in the dark and never know.

Trust that Theo would protect me. Never know what more with Theo Peters actually felt like.

It should have been an easy decision, but it was the hardest I'd made in my entire life. So many unknown variables, but the alternative was to always wonder, to live in fear due to my ignorance. And I couldn't deny I was inexplicably drawn to Theo. Always had been. From the moment he walked into my store, I had been lost.

It had crossed my mind that he'd influenced me this entire time, but never once had I seen that gold in his eyes until he'd seen my green.

God damn it, what did I do?

I wanted to know. About what I had become. About what this strange new world was that Theo lived in. About what I could do, who I could trust.

About what it would be like to belong to Theo Peters.

Dangerous, dangerous longings. It would be my downfall, I was sure. But there was a part of me that already knew, I couldn't imagine my life without this man in it. I didn't belong to him yet. But then a part of me already did.

"OK," I said. It sounded so small.

"Don't seem so unsure,
Oraia
. I treat my possessions well." Oh, and didn't that just make me rethink my decision.

"If you call me a possession again, I will tie you up with vines and do some serious damage."

Theo chuckled, a deep and delicious sound that went directly from his chest to my stomach, making butterflies scatter inside.

"Oh, Cassandra. You do please."

I bit back another retort. He'd only twist it to his perversions.

I watched as he pulled a slim cellphone from his jacket pocket. He swiped the screen, tapped out an instruction, and then held the phone to his ear.

"Nico!" he said when the call was answered. "I have a favour to ask. I need your tailor to come to my house with a selection of dresses suitable for an audience with the
Rigas
. Size," his eyes trailed over my my body, "four."

"Six," I muttered, reluctantly.

"Four," he repeated, giving me a purposeful look. Great, I was going to look like a hooker.

Theo chuckled. "Oh, you will meet her, my friend. I plan to have her on display as soon as possible." A pause, I couldn't make out what this Nico chap was saying, then Theo said, "She is delicious." The call disconnected.

"That sounded really creepy," I pointed out.

"I need them to believe I am so captivated with you, they will not doubt why I entertain a
Gi
." Oh, it was all an act. Creepy though it was, I had kind of liked it. Now I just felt flat.

I had to keep reminding myself that this
was
an arrangement. Theo had called it such. I needed to make sure I didn't forget that little fact. I needed something from him, for some reason he wanted to keep me around. But it should not be confused with anything more than curiosity and a passing desire on his part. I knew he found me intriguing, I knew he
wanted
me, but whether that meant anything to Theo Peters, or his kind, I had no way of knowing.

But my gut told me otherwise. Whatever Theo was, he could instil lust in his conquests. How one sided and disappointing that chase must be? How mundane and routine were his liaisons? But it proved I was nothing more than a plaything, no different from any he'd acquired in the past.

I would not forget that.

The house shook once, as though the earth beneath it agreed with that final conclusion.

"If you do that in the presence of the
Rigas
," Theo said reasonably, "he will be the one to take your head. Behave,
Gi.
Or you shall not see this night out."

"Are there rules, or etiquette, that I need to know about?" I said, suddenly feeling extremely nervous about meeting this King.

"The standard," Theo replied, starting to walk away. I stood still, unsure if I should follow him or not, but then he kept talking, so I scrambled to catch up and listen. "Curtsey on being announced. Do not speak unless spoken to. Call him, 'Your Majesty'. Never offer him your back. Be polite and show respect. You can surely manage that for a five minute audience."