Elfin (18 page)

“She is not a light elf; she does not belong to your court.”

“That may be, but she is an innocent. She has been thrust into a world and battle that is not her own and to which she has no defenses. We will not allow her to suffer because of the ill will between the light and dark elves. If you will not protect her from our race, then we will. Besides,” Syndra smiled, “I like her.”

Cassie smiled back, surprised by the admission.

“You will not take her from me,” Trik repeated for the third time.

“So you
have said,” Syndra gestured. “Do not put me in a position to have to.”

Just then the door to the store
room opened and Lisa froze, her jaw dropping.

“Oh,” she said surprised.
“I didn’t realize there was um,” she didn’t know quite what to say.

“The Elfin
mafia hanging out in your store room?” Elora filled in.

“Something
like that,” Lisa said as the door closed behind her. “Is everything alright, Syndra?”

Syndra smiled at Lisa. She looked like she was there for a friendly visit
, not the intense meeting they had been having.

“Everything is fine
, Lisa,” Syndra assured her. “We were just on our way out.”

Cassie stepped towards Syndra but didn’t make it far before Trik wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her back towards his chest. Cassie didn’t bother to acknowledge the possessive gesture.

“Um, I have a question,” she told the Light Elf Queen.

Syndra motioned for her to continue.

“Is Elora on your hit list since she has seen you and Trik in your true form?”

Lisa’s eyes widen
ed at that question.

Syndra shook her head.
“We have made an exception for Lisa and her daughter. Things are changing. You are going to need your friends to support you, Cassie, and I will not take from you what you are going to so desperately need very soon.”

C
assie stared at Syndra in shock. She felt a tightening in her chest and a feeling of inevitably set in. Syndra’s words were not an exaggeration. She was not trying to induce unfounded fear. Cassie could see in her eyes the knowledge that haunted the Queen.

Tamsin took his Chosen’s hand and together they walked to a large mirror that stood in the far back corner. Cassie had never noticed it before, but it now made sense as to why Lisa had it there.

“We will see you soon, Trik,” Syndra announced just before they stepped into the mirror.

“So, what’s it going to be lover boy?” Elora’s arms were folded across her chest and her foot tapped impatiently. Her eyes were narrowed at Trik.

Cassie pulled out of
Trik’s hold and he reluctantly let her go. She turned to look up at him. She saw so many emotions warring in his eyes and her heart ached for him. He reached for her hand and pulled it to his chest laying it over his heart.

“I need to speak with you,” h
is voice was soft but Cassie still heard the edge of his anger that lurked beneath the surface. He looked over to Elora then.

“Elora can you please take Cassie home?”

Elora cocked her head to the side. “Is that what you want Cass?” She asked ignoring Trik.

With her hand on his chest
, Cassie could see into Trik’s mind, confirming that he needed to speak with her privately and that it was important.

“Yeah, we obviously have some things to discuss.”

“Fine, let’s go,” she motioned towards the door.

“I will meet you there,” Trik told Cassie as he tucked her hair behind her ear. He leaned down and gently, though possessively, kissed her.
Cassie felt light headed as he pulled back. She felt the warmth of his lips all the way to her toes and thought disappointedly that it was entirely too short of a kiss. Her hand still lay against his chest and he chuckled at her thoughts.

“Later,” he whispered in her ear as he walked past her and dropped her hand at the last possible moment. He looked back and his silver eyes met hers. For a moment she wanted to run to him, wrap her arms around him and tell him it would be okay. But she couldn’t. She couldn’t because she didn’t know if it was going to be okay.

~

They pulled into Cassie’s driveway and just sat in silence. Cassie made no move to get out of the car. She just needed a moment. She needed to gather her thoughts and prepare herself to be alone with Trik. He was just too much at times. His confident, devil may care attitude was alluring, and the way he looked at her was disarming.

“How’s your brother Elora?” Cassie’s voice shook
, though her question was simple and totally unrelated to the mess she was in.

Elora sh
ook her head with a small laugh. “He’s good. He’s actually enjoying the whole college experience.”

C
assie nodded with a small smile. “That’s good.” She paused. “How do you think you did on the English paper?”

Elora tilted her head at her friend and empathy filled her purple contact colored eyes. “You’re stalling.”

“Pretty much.”

“You don’t have to go up there.”

“Yes, yes I do.” Cassie grabbed the door handle and pushed the door open.

“Cassie.
” The worry in Elora’s voice made Cassie pause as she placed both feet on the pavement. She looked back over her shoulder.

“They will protect you, Syndra and Tamsin. You will be safe.”

Cassie’s face softened as she let out a weary sigh. “Yeah, but who will protect Trik?” She climbed out of the car and shut the door behind her. Taking a page from Elora’s book she didn’t say goodbye, but simply headed for the front door of her house.

“Mom, I’m home,” Cassie announced.

“Okay, I’m in the dining room.”

Cassie found her mom sitting at their dining room table, stacks of paper surrounded her. She had a pencil tucked behind her ear and her shoulder length hair had been pulled up haphazardly in a ponytail. Her mom was a lawyer and a good one. She practiced family law and she worked nonstop for her clients, oftentimes it seemed she was more a therapist than a lawyer.

“I’m going to head up to my room to work on some homework,” Cassie told her mom as way of an excuse for her to spend a Saturday in her room.

Her mom nodded at her, waving her understanding, never taking her eyes from her work.

Chapte r 8

“Once an
elf has found his Chosen, the union must be bound in blood by the King. Once the binding has been completed, the elf’s loyalty and devotion will always be to his Chosen first and foremost. This is to preserve the future of our race. The ambition of Kings could keep their warriors allegiance to the point of failing to protect, cherish, and love their Chosen as the Forest Lords originally intended. The unions of our race must not be taken lightly, for it is by strong unions that we flourish as a people. It is by the example of the devotion in our unions that our offspring learn integrity and commitment. Woe be it to us if we should ever forget that. ~ Myrin, advisor to Lorsan.

Cassie opened her bedroom door and stopped at the sight of Trik, in all his
Elven glory, lying on her bed. He was so graceful and masculine at the same time. His hands were tucked behind his head, his legs were crossed at the ankle and stretched out in front of him as he reclined on her pillows. His head turned and their eyes met. Her breath caught at the devotion she saw blazing from them; devotion that was aimed at her.

“Come here,” he told her as he sat up, his movements so fluid
that it was mesmerizing to watch. And mesmerized, she was.

“Cassandra,” his firm voice shook her out of her
stupor.

She walked towards him slowly, not out of fear but out
of a strong need to just look at him, to not blink for fear that he wasn’t real and when she opened her eyes he’d be gone.

He sat on the edge of her bed and when she reached him she was once again struck by his confidence and passion. He reached up and his hand traced her neck until it was under her hair and holding her possessively. His other hand gripped her hip and pulled her closer. They were eye level with one another because he was seated and that meant their mouths were in perfect position for doing what Trik was pulling her in for. His lips connected with hers and she was lost. The world faded away. Syndra and her ominous words, Tamsin and his implori ng about the Forest Lords, the Dark Elf King and his evil plan, it was all gone in the wake of Trik’s incredible mouth. Cassie was no longer tentative in her kissing with Trik and so there was no hesitation when he encouraged her to open her mouth. Their tongues danced to an intimate rhythm and Cassie could feel it pulsing in her chest. And as before , she could feel deep inside, her soul reaching for his. Trik pulled her closer and she knew that he felt it too because the intensity wrenched up another notch. He groaned into her mouth and it brought a gasp from Cassie’s lungs. Her hands lifted of their own accord and she ran her fingers through his long, dark hair. Trik pulled back from her lips and began to kiss her jaw line, down to her ear, behind her ear and down her neck. Cassie’s head fell back and she heard Trik chuckle. She felt his tongue swirl against her skin and the desire that ran through her body was so intense it jerked her up.

Trik felt her body stiffen and let her take a step back from him.

They both stared at the other, their breathing fast and uneven.
Trik’s eyes glowed and Cassie watched as his hands flexed open and closed as if he were fighting to keep from touching her. She knew the feeling. She wanted nothing more than to run back to his arms, but they had to stop. She refused to toss aside her morals because she couldn’t control herself, no matter how amazing Trik felt.

“Are you alright?” He asked her softly.

Cassie nodded. “What about you?”

Trik chuckled
. “I’ll be okay, beautiful. You are a temptation like I have never known. Everything inside me screams, she’s yours, take her, bring her into your world, bind her to you . It’s ingrained into my DNA, it’s written on my soul. You are a part of me and I long to be complete, I long to complete you. Physical intimacy is incredibly intense.”

“Ya think?” Cassie snorted.

“I will never try and push you Cassie. We will wait until we do your human ritual, and until we are bound before the King.”

Cassie’s brow furrowed. “Uh, what do you mean bound?”

“Please tell me you don’t have some kinky ritual where they tie us together naked under the moonlight.”

Trik laughed. “As intriguing
as that sounds, no. That is not what being bound means. In order for the binding of our souls to be complete we must go before the King and he will perform the binding ceremony. It is something the Forest Lords implemented, a sacrifice of blood in order for our souls to join. Once we consummate our union it will be done. You will be bound to me for eternity and me to you.”

Cassie
stared at Trik, unsure of how to respond.

“Cassie?” Trik leaned forward and tugged her by the hand. He pulled her down onto the bed to sit next him. “Talk to me , A'maelamin.”

“I’m not really sure what to say. That seems, so, permanent.”

“Is your marriage not permanent? Are you not bound to that man for life?”

Cassie snorted.
“Hardly. Not very many people stay married for life. We aren’t bound soul to soul. It’s a choice.”

“You have a choice Cassie. I won’t force you to bind to me.”

Cassie looked up at him. “What happened to,
I will never let you go, you are stuck with me blah, blah, blah?”

Trik grinned.
“Oh you are stuck with me. Even if you don’t choose me, I’m not going anywhere. I will be your constant shadow.”

Cassie rolled her eyes. “So
my options are possessive dark elf mate, or freaky stalker dude?”

“That about sums it up,” Trik confirmed.

Cassie smacked his chest playfully.

Trik took her hand in his and pulled it to his lips. He kissed her palm and looked into her eyes.

“We need to talk,” he murmured against her skin, all playfulness gone.

Cassie nodded and let out a deep breath. “I know.”

She turned, pulling one leg up on the bed while the other dangled off the side so that she could look at him. “You said you wouldn’t keep secrets from me.”

Trik nodded his head once.

“What is your King planning, Trik?”

Trik let go of her hand and stood up.
She watched his graceful movements as he paced her room. She waited patiently.

“The d
ark elves own more than half of the Casinos in your country, and many throughout the world.”

Cassie’s mouth dropped open.
“More than half?” She asked.

Trik nodded.
“We use the income from the casinos to finance our lavish lifestyles in this realm.”

“
Meanwhile, the light elves own almost all of the U.S. energy companies. Oil, natural gas, wind, nuclear, they own it all. They use these companies to help keep your earth safe and clean. The dark elves are more about pleasure, gratification, and anything that pertains to self.”