Free Magic of the Wood House (The Elemental Phases Book 6) by Cassandra Gannon Page B

a second to process it.  This was the only place she could be sure was private, though.  Fire Phases were
notorious snoops.  Her family had most of the fortress under various forms of
video and audio surveillance so they could spy on each other.
    Teja
shut the door behind her.  “You sound surprised.  What kind of room did you
expect me to have?”
    “Well,
no offense, but the rest of your house looks like a set from Robin Hood
Meets Dracula .  So, this is a welcomed departure.”  He headed over to look
out the picture window as if he was determined to focus at anything but her. 
Little squares of red stained glass boarded the edges, with the Greek symbol
for Fire in their center.  Sullivan stared out over the smoldering landscape
for a beat and then grunted.  “As long as you don’t look outside, anyway. 
Seriously, what do you do when those volcanoes erupt?”
    “Stop
them, obviously.”
    Sullivan
looked at her sharply, like he thought that was a joke.  Teja couldn’t imagine
why.  Surely, he didn’t think they’d let lava cover the entire the kingdom.  It
would be a mess.
    Sullivan
shook his head and moved to investigate the rest of the room.  Stopping by her
dresser, he picked up a framed daguerreotype of Pele and Djinn smiling proudly
at a baby.  Teja had the fleeting thought that if a live rattlesnake had been
in front of him Sullivan would have picked it up, too.  Anything to keep from
looking at her.
    “That
photo was taken when Missy was born.”  Teja volunteered, although she wasn’t
sure why.  “She’s their daughter.”  Teja didn’t bother to point out the hundred
and fifty year old photographic medium or the Little Women style
hoopskirt Pele wore.  Sullivan had to have noticed.
    He
set the frame aside without saying anything and picked up another one.
    Oberon
at Disney World.
    Teja’s
lips pressed together.  Her grandfather was standing in front of Cinderella’s
Castle, a smirk on his face and Mickey Mouse ears on his head.  He had one arm
around slung around a cast member dressed like Elsa from Frozen , while
giving a peace sign with the other hand.  Oberon always celebrated his birthday
at the Magic Kingdom.  He’d been banned from at least half the rides and kicked
out of every hotel on property for his wild partying.
    Oberon
loved Disney.
    Sullivan
held up the picture.  “Boyfriend?”
    “Grandfather.”
    Sullivan
tilted the frame around so it faced him again and eyed the photo skeptically. 
Elementals didn’t age at a human rate.  Oberon had been nine hundred and forty when
he died, but he’d still looked like a human in his thirties.  A handsome human
with black hair, thick eyebrows, and a devil may care twinkle in his dark eyes.
    “Grandfather?” 
Sullivan snorted.  “Sure he is.”
    Teja
could freeze out a lot, but Oberon was one topic that she could never fully
ignore.  “That’s my grandfather, Oberon, of the Fire House.”  She stated in a
flat tone.  “He’s dead, now.”
    Sullivan
glanced at her.  Whatever he saw on her face must have convinced him that she
was telling the truth, because he nodded.  “I’m sorry.”  He sounded sincere. 
“How did it happen?”
    She let out a
long, shuddering breath and searched for words that would convey only a
sanitized portion of the awful truth.  Teja didn’t want Sullivan to hear about
this.  It seemed… unclean and he was such an innocent man.  “There was a
disease called the Fall.  It was like the human plague.  Two years ago, it
killed countless Elementals.”
    Sullivan’s
jaw dropped.  “A plague?  Ty mention something about a sickness once, but…
Jesus, are you okay?”
    “I was
immune.  Everyone who’s left was immune.  But, most weren’t.”
    Sullivan
studied her for a long moment.  “What caused the Fall?  Rats?”
    “Rats?”
    “Yeah, in the
Middle Ages the plague was because fleas bit rats and then bit people.”
    Lord, humans
were nutty.  “No, Parald, of