Read The Chilling Change Of Air (Elemental Awakening, Book 3) for Free Online Page B

smile spread my lips as the wind buffeted the plane, when I opened my eyes he was watching me again. A remoteness that didn't belong there mixed with a longing that used to mean something, but now just proved how far we'd pulled apart. Not intentionally. Neither of us would have wanted this. And I was tired, if I was honest, with the interference of everyone else in my life, in our lives.
    We'd battled prejudice and a long history of hatred to get where we were. We'd defied kings and laws, opened our hearts up to ridicule and the doomed prediction of failure. We'd done it all so we could be together.
    And I suddenly realised we had failed. They'd been right. Theo and I weren't meant to be together.
    "Come now, Miss Eden," Aktor said to my side. "It's not that bad."
    I turned to find the old butler sitting beside me, I hadn't even heard him arrive. Athanatos don't age like humans, but we do age. Slowly. So very slowly. So, Theo's father looks older than him and so does Aktor, both near in age to the ancients, the original Ekmetalleftis created by Aetheros . Twenty-five thousand years old Theo had told me Aktor was. So he had wrinkles, and walked with a slight stoop. But I knew him to be as powerful as the man he served. He may not have been a prince born into privilege like Theo. But Aktor had power from age. A vast age.
    Kind hazel eyes stared back at me, hints of amber and jade in the mix. Just like Theo's. All Pyrkagia look alike. Just like all Gi and all Aeras look alike. I was a mix of the two, Gi and Aeras, a bastardised version that was only coincidence.
    "He's confused," Aktor said softly. "You can imagine how difficult this is for him. He can't remember you, but he said when he touched you in the cave he felt things too real to be mere fantasy. I assume he felt his Thisavros ."
    I leaned my head back on the headrest and closed my eyes. I couldn't talk about this. Not with anyone, and especially not with someone I used to consider a good friend, kind and knowledgable, and above reproach.
    I understood what Aktor had done. I even applauded it. Sonya is like a sister to me, he did the right thing bargaining for her life. But here we are, Theo sitting down one end of the cabin whispering to his old flame, Isadora. And here I was, alone and forgotten sitting with the hired help.
    That was a slight exaggeration. Aktor wasn't just the hired help. He was considered family. And let's not forget, he was remembered. I realised a bitterness had taken root inside me that I was futilely fighting, but lacked the strength to win.
    "We also understand how hard this is for you, Miss Eden," the old man went on. "We'll try to make this as painless as it can be, but, my dear, what tries to break us, does make us stronger."
    "Who's we?" I whispered.
    "Isadora, Sonya and myself."
    Isadora. This was exactly what that bitch wanted. It couldn't have gone better for her than if she'd tried.
    "Oh, and Nico is also waiting for us," Aktor advised. "So, come on. He's dying to see you."
    I stood up stiffly, my body beyond weary now.
    "Between you and me," the butler whispered conspiratorially as we made our way down a now deserted cabin aisle, "I think he has a crush on our Sonya."
    I snorted. I was sure it was exactly what the old man had been after.
    "I thought she had a crush on you," I remarked.
    "Therein lies the rub, my dear," Aktor said with no small amount of amusement. "But don't you think I'm a wee bit old for your friend?"
    I really started laughing then, realising I may have harboured deep seated feelings of disappointment in what Aktor had chosen to do, regardless of the necessity of his actions, but I knew he and I would get to the other side, still intact. As for Theo and me, I had no such hopes.
    We were still laughing as we stepped off the bottom stair, walking out onto tarmac at Wellington Airport. A car sat not too far away, so we'd obviously made it to the private hangars off to the side. Everyone was standing beside the vehicle