reason why Uriel and the Water Phases couldn’t escape from jail all by
themselves. Their captors were just humans, after all. Nia’s relatives were
nutty, but they weren’t stupid. Nia wasn’t taking any chances with her family,
though, which meant swallowing her pride and calling Job.
Still,
she seemed pretty cheery, all things considered.
They’d
finally located a phone in some little park with a gazebo and palm trees. Even
in the shade, it had to be over a hundred degrees. Cross squinted up at the
brilliant yellow sun, amazed by the heat it gave off. Mayport Beach was very,
very different from the Shadowland.
It
was something of a culture shock.
“Cross
is just wonderful, Job. You’ll love him. I’m so happy! You know how much I
always wanted my Match. You told me he was out there.” Nia kept up her one
sided conversation with Job’s voicemail, flashing Cross a bright smile.
The
Wave House’s powers allowed for all kinds of Elemental communication on human
technology. Apparently, if you’d memorized the inter-realm phone directory or
whatever, you could even call the unofficial “Job, of the Earth House Hotline.”
Cross
would never ask Job for help.
Ever.
Nia,
on the other hand, had no problem with ringing up the High Seat of the Council
and putting him on stand-by to stage a jailbreak. Cross sort of admired her
confidence. It must be nice to know that Job would just drop everything and
come to the human realm with a hacksaw baked into a pound cake if you asked him
to.
Cross
would have much, much preferred to pick-up his Match and take her back
to the Elemental realm immediately, rather than do all this.
Three
things stopped him: One, he knew that Nia wouldn’t willingly go anywhere
without her family and he really didn’t want to force her. That wouldn’t
exactly build trust. Two, he was enjoying her, “Damn the torpedoes, full speed
ahead!” enthusiasm. And three, dragging Nia out of here would probably mean
touching her, again.
Cross
did not want to lay one hand on Nia until he figured out what to do about his
powers. The Shadow energy was more volatile around Nia, trying to connect with
her and begin the Phazing.
The
more Cross considered that, the more worried he got.
What
if he couldn’t control it?
Nia
blew out a long breath into the receiver. “Ummm… So, we did run into a little
problem with Thar and Ty and Uriel, though. Nothing I can’t handle. But… I’m
filling you in, just in case something else goes wrong. We may need help.
It’s nothing big. Just… bail.” She cringed at the word, as if imagining how
Job was going to take that request.
Cross
couldn’t blame her. Mr. Law and Order would not be thrilled about two-thirds
of the Water House doing hard time. Oh, Job would come and lend a hand. He
doted on the Water Phases. Plus, he was physiologically incapable of not being selfless and magnanimous. But, he was going to lecture them all into
comas.
Job
was perfect.
Annoyingly
so.
But,
he still loved to harangue.
Cross
glanced down at his palms and cringed a bit, sure that he could still see the
blood drying on his fingers. Keeping an eye on Nia, he headed over to the
nearest water fountain. He’d already washed his hands back at the hospital,
but he swore the icy water ran red as it swirled down the drain.
“It
was a total misunderstanding, Job.” Nia infused her voice with determined
cheer. “We’re barely in the human realm, at all. Just teeny, little Mayport
Beach. Nothing to get upset over. Really. This is very fixable. I’m all
over it.”
It
sort of annoyed Cross that his Match would automatically go to Job for
help. But, it wasn’t a huge surprise. Nia wasn’t an idiot. If you were in
trouble, it made a lot more sense to dial up the Elemental’s own Captain
America, rather than ask a man whose weird, wrong, out-of- control powers had
just assaulted
themselves. Their captors were just humans, after all. Nia’s relatives were
nutty, but they weren’t stupid. Nia wasn’t taking any chances with her family,
though, which meant swallowing her pride and calling Job.
Still,
she seemed pretty cheery, all things considered.
They’d
finally located a phone in some little park with a gazebo and palm trees. Even
in the shade, it had to be over a hundred degrees. Cross squinted up at the
brilliant yellow sun, amazed by the heat it gave off. Mayport Beach was very,
very different from the Shadowland.
It
was something of a culture shock.
“Cross
is just wonderful, Job. You’ll love him. I’m so happy! You know how much I
always wanted my Match. You told me he was out there.” Nia kept up her one
sided conversation with Job’s voicemail, flashing Cross a bright smile.
The
Wave House’s powers allowed for all kinds of Elemental communication on human
technology. Apparently, if you’d memorized the inter-realm phone directory or
whatever, you could even call the unofficial “Job, of the Earth House Hotline.”
Cross
would never ask Job for help.
Ever.
Nia,
on the other hand, had no problem with ringing up the High Seat of the Council
and putting him on stand-by to stage a jailbreak. Cross sort of admired her
confidence. It must be nice to know that Job would just drop everything and
come to the human realm with a hacksaw baked into a pound cake if you asked him
to.
Cross
would have much, much preferred to pick-up his Match and take her back
to the Elemental realm immediately, rather than do all this.
Three
things stopped him: One, he knew that Nia wouldn’t willingly go anywhere
without her family and he really didn’t want to force her. That wouldn’t
exactly build trust. Two, he was enjoying her, “Damn the torpedoes, full speed
ahead!” enthusiasm. And three, dragging Nia out of here would probably mean
touching her, again.
Cross
did not want to lay one hand on Nia until he figured out what to do about his
powers. The Shadow energy was more volatile around Nia, trying to connect with
her and begin the Phazing.
The
more Cross considered that, the more worried he got.
What
if he couldn’t control it?
Nia
blew out a long breath into the receiver. “Ummm… So, we did run into a little
problem with Thar and Ty and Uriel, though. Nothing I can’t handle. But… I’m
filling you in, just in case something else goes wrong. We may need help.
It’s nothing big. Just… bail.” She cringed at the word, as if imagining how
Job was going to take that request.
Cross
couldn’t blame her. Mr. Law and Order would not be thrilled about two-thirds
of the Water House doing hard time. Oh, Job would come and lend a hand. He
doted on the Water Phases. Plus, he was physiologically incapable of not being selfless and magnanimous. But, he was going to lecture them all into
comas.
Job
was perfect.
Annoyingly
so.
But,
he still loved to harangue.
Cross
glanced down at his palms and cringed a bit, sure that he could still see the
blood drying on his fingers. Keeping an eye on Nia, he headed over to the
nearest water fountain. He’d already washed his hands back at the hospital,
but he swore the icy water ran red as it swirled down the drain.
“It
was a total misunderstanding, Job.” Nia infused her voice with determined
cheer. “We’re barely in the human realm, at all. Just teeny, little Mayport
Beach. Nothing to get upset over. Really. This is very fixable. I’m all
over it.”
It
sort of annoyed Cross that his Match would automatically go to Job for
help. But, it wasn’t a huge surprise. Nia wasn’t an idiot. If you were in
trouble, it made a lot more sense to dial up the Elemental’s own Captain
America, rather than ask a man whose weird, wrong, out-of- control powers had
just assaulted
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