Free Queen of the Magnetland (The Elemental Phases Book 5) by Cassandra Gannon Page A

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.”

Chapter Three
     
    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