Warrior from the Shadowland by Cassandra Gannon Read Free Book Online Page B

bad that blood wept out from his eyes,
Cross wondered if he’d imagined his Match.  If, at the end of the world, he’d
hallucinated for just a second and convinced himself that the woman had brushed
his mind, just so he wouldn’t die alone.
    Why
the hell would he have a Phase-Match, when Job didn’t?  When barely any
Elementals in the universe had one?  Was he so deluded that he really believed
something like that would happen to him?  So pathetic that he’d cling to any
small glimmer of having someone to love?
    Yes.
    Yes,
he was, it turned out.
    While
the Fall had robbed everyone else, it promised Cross a gift so monumental that
he’d endure anything, believe anything, suffer anything , just for a
chance to receive it.
    So,
after the first year, he began pushing himself further and further.  Until he
could ignore the pain for seconds, then minutes at a time.  Until he could
harness at least some of the incredible power festering inside of him and begin
searching.  Until he nearly killed himself from the strain of it and then
pushed even harder, because he had to go find his Match.  She was
literally more important to him than the remainder of the universe combined. 
In this one thing, he was as steadfast as he imagined Nia, of the Water House
to be when she stood in front of the Council and shouted her opinions.
    He
would find his Match, if it took another apocalypse to do it.
    Cross
had searched for his Match in every realm he could think of.  But, never, ever ,
did it occur to him to go to one of the Council meetings and see Nia for
himself.  It never occurred to him that his Match would be Job’s outspoken
rebel.  It never occurred to him that God or Gaia or destiny or whatever
controlled Phase-Matches would be stupid enough to give him such a treasure. 
He would’ve had enough trouble getting a normal woman to accept him.  Cross had
no idea what to even say to someone like Nia.
    She
was risking her life in the human realm because she wanted to make a
difference, for God sake.  Although he still wasn’t real clear on exactly what
her plan was , it was obvious that Nia cared about things.  Cross
didn’t care about anything except her.  Nia deserved someone better, cleaner,
not so broken.
    She
was his Match, though.  He just looked at her and knew it with everything in
him.
    Cross
wasn’t sure what had happened when the Air House had attacked Nia.  He’d been
in the Shadowland and he’d actually heard her cry out.  Felt her desperation
and fear, just as he had after the Fall when oblivion threatened to swallow
them all.  Somehow, he’d locked on her and just pushed right into the human
realm.
    And
the crippling weight of the Shadows had… helped him.
    Cross
had reached out and the power supported him.  For once, it did exactly what he
wanted.  The Shadows took him right where he needed to go.  To kill the evil
fuckers who’d touched his woman.
    So
here he was, covered in blood, surrounded by Nia’s family, human debris and
dead bodies, with a hurt Phase-Match and no clue what to do next.  Cross had
often plotted how to find his Match and all his life he’d dreamed of actually
having a woman who loved him.  There was a lot of uncharted territory
connecting those two goals that he’d never really considered, though.  Like,
for instance, how not to kill the Wood Phase his Match was obviously so
fond of.
    Because,
honestly, Cross was beginning to lose it.
    It
wasn’t a good idea for a guy who could end the world to lose it.  Cross knew
that.  Plus, it wouldn’t make his Match happy.  But, if Uriel didn’t get his
hands off of Nia, Cross would have to kill him.  His palm tightened around the
handle of the sword in readiness.
    He
felt a pressure building up inside of him, even bigger than the weight of the
Shadows.  Uriel held Nia’s wrist in one hand and was wrapping a bandage around
her upper arm with the other.  It wasn’t sexual.  The Wood Phase was trying to
help her,