Read Online Magic of the Wood House (The Elemental Phases Book 6) by Cassandra Gannon - Free Book Online Page A

baby!  An infant.  Nice, Tej.  You know
that makes you --like-- ten times older than him, right?”
    Teja
flashed her a glare.
    Alder
pinched the bridge of his nose.  “Humans have different lifespans, Mom.  Until
he Phazes with his Match and his life expectancy stretches to meet hers,
Sullivan will stay with the human chronology.  They only live to be --like--
two hundred or something.  That’s why it’s good that he has Teja, now.”
    “Well,
it’s impossible.”  Djinn made a “case closed” gesture with his hands.  “We
should just forget about this kid and send him packing.  There can be no
Phase-Match until Sullivan is at least ninety-three.  That’s the Council’s
law.”
    Sullivan
didn’t understand most of that jabbering, but the idea that he’d live to see
ninety-three stuck him as darkly funny.  Shit.  That would be just his luck.
    “Since
when do you care about Council law?”  Teja snapped at her cousin.
    Djinn
piously pursed his lips.  “I didn’t Phaze with Pele until she was of age.  I
would never dream of taking advantage of my Match’s innocence.”
    Pele
shot him a sideways look.  “You were only ninety-one when we Phazed, D.”
    “Nobody
could prove that at the trial!”  He shot back.  “And ninety-one sure isn’t
thirty-goddamn-five.  All I’m saying is that Teja should give up on Sullivan
and save us all the trouble.  You think Job will let her molest that boy?”
    “You
think Job can tell me what I can do with my own Match?”  Teja retorted.
    Sullivan
was compiling his own “Weirdo-to-English” dictionary and he was fairly certain
“Match” was like their word for boyfriend/girlfriend.  He looked over at Teja
in surprise.  “Hang on, what’s this really about?”
    She
rubbed at her forehead.  “It’s about what I’m supposed to do with you.”
    “You’re
supposed to take me home.”
    “Not
until you give us the box.”  Djinn insisted.
    Pele
nodded.  “Just give us the box, before you get hurt, boy.”
    Sullivan
ground his teeth together.  “What box?!   You people keep saying that,
but I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
    Djinn
sighed like Sullivan was being deliberately obtuse.  “Tej?  You see?  You see why you should throw him back and keep looking for a betterMatch? 
A bunch of Banished Phases turned up in the Cloudland.  Some --like-- awesomely
badass ones, who aren’t children, or Wood Phases, or humans.  Why don’t you try
Phazing with one of them? ”
    Teja
slanted her cousin another patented scowl and headed over to stand against the
wall, again.
    Sullivan’s
eyes narrowed at Djinn.  Piecing that together, it seemed like that bastard was
encouraging Teja to have sex with some other guy.  Oh hell no.  His
instincts snarled at the very idea.
    “I
think you should shut up, now.”  Sullivan said quietly, spacing the words for
emphasis.
    Djinn
glanced at him appraisingly
    Sullivan
held his gaze.  “Don’t push me.”  He warned.  “I’ve been exuding holiday
cheer so far, but this isn’t the day to get on my bad side.”
    Djinn’s
mouth curved.  “Well shit.  There is some of Parson in you, isn’t
there?”
    “The
box is one of the Tablets of Fate.”  Alder interjected, trying to defuse the
tension.  He pulled his attention away from making a perfectly symmetrical “C”
on the plastic screen of his Etch-A-Sketch.  “You shouldn’t be playing around
with those Tablets, Sully.  Let the grown-ups handle them.”
    Sullivan
somehow resisted the urge to break the stupid toy over his head.
    “The
rumor going around is that you have the Happiness Tablet.”  Alder continued. 
“We need you to give it to us, before more assassins come after you.  For real,
there are a lot of bad guys who will do bad things to get that box.”
    Sullivan
was still drawing a blank, but the others were all watching him expectantly. 
“I’m not happy.”  He said without even thinking about it.  “If I