do?” Viscious asked. His eyes were full of bright orange flames lined in blue. A sure sign he was pissed. Tucker might be lucky enough to make it out un-singed.
“I want to right my wrong,” Tucker answered. He forced his voice to remain steady. The last thing he wanted Viscious to see in him was weakness. If the king detected even a minute amount, he would pounce and exploit it until Tucker felt about an inch tall.
“She is already with her soul bonded. Short of a miracle, there is nothing you can do to right it.”
“Forgive my impertinence, my lord,” Tucker said, nearly gagging on the words, “my lord.” He hated addressing Viscious with such respect, especially after the king had chewed him up one side and down the other. “But there is a way we could ensure that Tara would switch sides.”
Viscious stared at him for several minutes before finally saying, “Go on.”
“Her soul bonded needs to die. Once he’s gone, her soul will be incomplete again and easily swayed.”
“And how exactly do you propose killing the male of a soul-bonded couple?” he asked, narrowing his eyes on Tucker. “Perhaps you are unaware of the fact that they are much more powerful than normal, non-soul bound elementalists.”
“I am aware,” Tucker bit out through clenched teeth. “But they are not invincible. With enough dark elementals, they could be overwhelmed. Especially if her mate was distracted with trying to keep her safe while he attempted to fight off so many opponents.”
Viscious stood and walked around his desk. He paced slowly, his hands steepled against his chin.
Tucker wanted to tell him to hurry the hell up and make a decision, considering he’d heard there were light elementals all over the freaking world attempting to keep things running as the temperature rapidly dropped.
No one knew why the seasons were suddenly jacked up, at least no humans did. Tucker had been watching the news, but the scientists studying the phenomenon were all baffled.
Of course Tucker knew it had something to do with the elementals. Duh. But he wasn’t privy to the inside knowledge of the royals, so, he honestly knew little more than the humans.
Finally the dark fire king stopped pacing and looked at Tucker. “Let’s say I allow this plan of yours. How are you going to find them?” he asked.
Tucker tried not to smirk. It annoyed him that Viscious considered him an idiot. And he knew this because the king had called him one, among other things, when Tucker had failed in keeping Tara out of her soul bonded’s grasp. “As it so happens,” he began, “there has been talk of a battle between several light elementalists and some mountain trolls in Michigan. Apparently, there was a soul-bonded couple there that wielded the power of earth.”
“How do you know this?” Viscious asked.
“Dark elementals are worse than teenagers about gossip, and word travels fast through them,” Tucker answered. “I was working with two other acolytes yesterday and heard about it.”
Something that looked like interest suddenly flared in the king’s eyes. “I will allow you to pursue this endeavor until it appears it is not going to end in our favor.”
Tucker forced himself not to do something stupid like gloat, but on the inside, he was practically jumping for joy at the chance to get Tara back. He wouldn’t admit it to another being on earth, but he’d become obsessed with her. She fascinated him, and over the years, he had come to realize he wanted her for himself. He would move every obstacle out of his way to make that happen.
“I suggest you travel to the location of the battle. There was a reason the elementalists were that far north. There's no doubt it has something to do with the dropping temperatures,” Viscious said.
“Do you know anything about that?” Tucker asked before he could censor himself.
Viscious's eyes snapped to him. “Maybe I do, maybe I don’t. That’s none of your concern, boy. Never question me.”
Tucker held up his hands and took a step back. “I meant no disrespect,” he said quickly. He really wasn’t in the mood to get burned.
“You are dismissed,” Viscious said with a wave of his hand.
Tucker turned and left without another word. He let out a quick breath once the door to the dark fire king’s office was closed. He really hadn’t expected anything to come of his inquiry, except maybe some berating and possibly some bodily harm.
His day was suddenly looking up, and with any luck, he would