The Chilling Change Of Air (Elemental Awakening, Book 3) by Nicola Claire Read Free Book Online

waiting for us, I had the impression they'd been waiting a while. How long had Aktor let me sit there after they'd all disembarked before he spoke?
    A shadow peeled off from the group and walked towards us, becoming recognisable in the dim light the closer he came. The spitting image of his cousin, Nico wore the good looks with a roguish air, rather than a sophisticated one. He ran a hand through his messed up dark hair and smiled down at me.
    Then asked, "Don't I get a hug?"
    I shrugged my shoulders. Nico was the least of my adversaries. He'd opposed our relationship in the beginning, even going so far as to try to hand me over to the Gi when they first came looking. But it had all been for his beloved Pyrkagia . And if I wasn't mistaken he was now an outcast too.
    I was sure Pyrkagia would always hold his heart and allegiance in some form or other, but the man was definitely on the out with the King.
    I opened my arms and he rushed in, lifting me off the tarmac and swinging me around in a bear hug to rival all others. I was breathless and laughing hard enough to almost pee my pants by the time he deposited me on the ground with the confusing and whispered words of, "Watch this."
    Then he kissed me hard. On the lips, in front of everyone, shocking me so much that I just stood there, like the moron I obviously was.
    There was a buzz of noise in the background, then I was wrenched away from hard, hot arms and landed on the hard, cold tarmac at my feet instead.
    And I looked up in time to see Theo beating the crap out of his cousin. Isadora yelling in the background trying to tear them apart. Sonya blinking and ducking behind an amused Aktor who simply watched on without saying a word.
    Finally, when Theo had decided Nico had learned his lesson, or maybe his arms were getting tired from all that swinging and punching, he stood up and took two steps away from his cousin. Then he sucked in air like it was his last chance at survival and began to shake his head.
    "Fuck!" he burst on a desperate exhalation. "I have no idea why I just did that."
    I held my breath, thinking it had to be the Thisavros connection. Thinking maybe this was the turning point and everything would make sense to him again.
    He swung around to face me and pulled at his usually well groomed hair as though losing his mind.
    No. It wasn't making any sense. My breath left me in a defeated rush.
    "Who are you?" he pleaded.
    Nico spat a wad of bloody spit on the tarmac beside him, making Theo and I both look at where he still half lay.
    "She's your life, you fucking idiot," he slurred, flexing his jaw and making it click. I grimaced at the sound of bone re-knitting. "I was hoping to wake you the fuck up."
    "It didn't work," Theo ground out. His eyes came back to my face; I'm not sure what he saw there. I know I was feeling a little lost. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I just don't know you. And I...." Another grip on his hair as though he was being tortured. Or the words were being tortured out of him. "And I need you to stay away," he finished, turning on his heel and marching toward the car.
    Ignoring everyone, he slipped into the front passenger seat, eyes forward, face hard.
    "So, that went well," Nico said climbing to his feet.
    "I did warn you," Isadora snarled.
    "Oh, fuck off, bitch!" Nico spat back, making my eyebrows rise halfway up my forehead.
    "A lot has happened, Miss Eden," Aktor said softly at my side. "Perhaps you and I could go find a late night coffee house and have a wee chat."
    "I'll drive Bitchy, Moody, and Sexy back to the house," Nico offered, receiving a glare from Isadora, nothing from Theo ensconced in the car, and a shy smile from Sonya.
    "Very good," the butler said, waving them all off, and before I knew it, I was standing alone on the tarmac with a man who had already sold me out once and I realised, belatedly, that he was probably about to do it again.
    How could he want me to stick around, if it hurt his master so?
    "All right," I said