36. Cadmus the Earth Lord

Two days later, Seattle

Standing in the middle of our living room, Aerolus shook my arm and winked, surprising me with such open amusement. The Wind Mage wasn't known for having such a cheery disposition.

He smiled. "I look forward to your return as well, brother. Alandra sends her best."

I nodded, still stunned that somber Aerolus had not only found but fully accepted his affai. I watched him shake Jonas' hand. He thanked him before teleporting back home, back to his love and his future that I knew would include at least one daughter.

By the Light, when would life make sense anymore? Darius and Marcus had fallen hard, but I expected as much from those thick-skulled control freaks. I'd thought Aerolus would stay the course. Live a bachelor's life devoted to the study of magic while protecting the kingdom.

Now, knowing he could have returned home at any time since we'd left Tanselm, I was doubly shocked that Aerolus had accepted an affai when he didn't really need one.

I stared at the disappearing gate, missing my family. Missing my home. Missing… no. Not her.

"Are you done daydreaming or what?" Jonas asked in a bored voice.

I glared at the Djinn, wishing I'd left his ass long ago. Jonas was harder to shake than a tick, and his ability to read me so easily grated.

"What do you want now, Jonas?"

"It's time to go. You can't afford to stay here any longer, and you know it. Too many Dark Lords and Netharat out there know where you live."

I knew that. But damn, this had been my home for a year, a place apart from Tanselm where my brothers and I had argued, laughed, and shared as only quadruplets could. Everything had changed. Our dynamic would never be the same again.

Now they had women in their lives. Interests that would interfere with our brotherly bond.

I felt sorry for myself and knew the feeling to be an unworthy one. At least I had the warmth of joy inside me, sensing my brothers' happiness at being home with their affai.

I'd never realized how much pleasure could be found in true love. Loving one's parents and siblings was quite different from loving a woman.

My brothers treasured every second with their mates.

"Last but not least, eh, Earth Lord?" Jonas smirked.

I sighed. "Shut up, Djinn. Are we going back to Ellie's or not?" I tried to act disinterested, keeping my tone casual. But my body tensed at thoughts of the tempting female.

Lust I understood. I was an Earth Lord, after all. My passions had always run deep. But this obsession I felt for Ellie, for a Djinn, eroded what little sense of self I had left.

Jonas frowned. "You can forget about Ellie. Her part in this is finished. Truth be told, she only came on to you the way she did to help her father."

What did that mean?

"Take my hand and we'll teleport to Foreia. It's been a while since I've been home, and there's something there you need to see if you're ever to defeat the Dark Lords."

I nodded, glad to finally have something to do other than remain locked up with a babysitter. But thoughts of Ellie refused to leave my mind even as we entered the cold Between.

She'd come on to me to help her father? Not likely. She'd been too eager for my touch. No Djinn female writhed and begged and spread herself for a man at her father's request. And especially not for a Light Bringer.

Having learned more of the Djinn culture than I'd ever wanted to these past few weeks, I knew there was no way in hell Ellie's father wanted or even knew what his precious daughter had done with a Storm Lord.

A silent shimmer later and I landed in Foreia. So different, yet so beautiful. Foreia was covered by an alien shadow with lavender clouds, an ocean of dark blue grass and giant, red-leafed trees. The foreign landscape intrigued me, as did the sense the land tried to touch me. It licked at my energy with an eager need to know me.

Jonas watched me. "Don't worry, the pain will pass."

"It doesn't hurt." I kneeled and reached beyond the grass into golden soil, pleased when it responded to my touch by offering more.

The earth called to me, and flowers and sprouts erupted all around me while the rocks below shuddered, wishing to taste my energy.

Jonas gaped as I laughed, joy at once again finding myself refreshed.

Unbidden came the image of Ellie, of her blue eyes twinkling with delight behind the bar, of her golden hair shimmering like spun silk under me as I took her hard and deep, her magic as strong as any the earth could give.

I gripped the dirt between my fingers and rubbed it into my palms, renewed and redirected.

I had much to learn here, much to understand about a land I once thought to be evil, about a people that had the same foibles and riches as the Light Bringers but lived life in Darkness rather than Light.

A sudden memory hit me, of Ellie parking her car in her driveway in the early light of dawn one day. The sunlight washed over her, illuminating her with a white flame as if she were in truth instead of just caught by a piercing ray.

She'd smiled when she'd seen me watching her and had eagerly joined me in bed later, loving me with her body and her magic — the very soul she tried to hide behind a human-seeming while laboring in a magicless world.

Ellie thought her part in Tanselm's war was finished, did she? I stood and dusted my hands on my jeans, determined on a new course of action.

Ellie might not know it, but she was far from finished with Tanselm's Earth Lord. I would do everything in my considerably charmed nature to unlock her mysteries until memories of her plagued me no more.

I chuckled at the thought, aware of Jonas' wary look. "Okay, Jonas. Introduce me to the Dark side of life. It's time I see whatever you think will help us defeat the Dark Lords."

Jonas shook his head, clearly not ready to trust me.

No matter. It was only a matter of time before — "Holy shit."

I stared at the figure who suddenly appeared, waiting for me, now surrounded by a dozen Djinn warriors.

I'd been betrayed. "I saw you die." I turned to Jonas for validation, but Jonas said nothing, standing with his arms crossed.

"Fine, be a dick." Frustrated at Jonas, at Ellie, and the sorry hope I'd had for something I could never quite grasp, I clenched my hands tight.

My death would crush my family. I only prayed it wouldn't kill Tanselm's bright future.

"Kill me if you want. But I'm taking as many of you to the Next with me as I possibly can." Golden soil groaned beneath us, shocks of energy fisting around my hands as I demanded Foreia's aid. Tree roots erupted, and thorned vines shot out of the grass in front of me while the ground quaked.

The figure in the middle of the Djinn warriors stepped closer.

"Well?" I challenged.

And had my answer.

A smile slow in coming.

* * *

I hope you enjoyed Aerolus and Alandra's story. They are perfect for each other! But Cadmus has a ways to go to persuade his affai to forgive and accept him. Check out his story in STORM LORDS: AFTERSHOCKS.