Hidden Heart

Book Two of The Hidden Trilogy

Amy Patrick

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©
2015 by Amy Patrick

All rights are reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced in any fashion without the prior written permission of the copyright owner of this book. All trademarks are the property of their respective companies. 

HIDDEN HEART is a work of fiction. Characters, names, places, brands, media, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and should not be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

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              It was her, or at least it might have been her, if she’d cut her hair and gotten major highlights, which she probably had. The girl turned and I saw her face. Another false alarm.

              It was my first big Hollywood party, and I was the lame zebra trying to keep up with the stampeding herd, moving through a sea of designer dresses, and beautiful faces, and crystal champagne flutes. Emmy was here somewhere. She had to be, because if she wasn’t, I’d have no idea where else to look.

              Having already searched the first three floors of the massive, glass-walled modern art museum of a house, I walked out onto the roof deck where the sounds of a slick alternative band filled the moist salty air, pumping up the party guests to an even higher pitch.

Scanning the scene, I finally spotted what I was looking for—not Emmy, but the next best thing. The one person who knew for sure where she was, where she’d been the past few weeks. He was leaning against the balcony railing, his perfect form framed by a backdrop of stars over the Malibu beach, and naturally, surrounded by a crowd of adoring teenage girls and twenty-something women.

              Adrenaline surged through my veins like the surf pounding in the background. Finally, after everything I’d gone through to get here, I was so close to finding her.

Preparing to charge Vallon Foster—huge Elven bodyguards be damned—I planned to demand Emmy’s whereabouts and immediate release. A strong hand gripped my shoulder and slid down to my waist. I was pulled back against the solid warmth of a large male body.

              “Calm down, Ryann,” a smooth familiar voice murmured at my ear. “And let me handle this.”

              With considerable effort, I reeled in my emotions and pasted on a smile. We approached the movie star together, hand in hand.

              “Sweetheart, I’d like you to meet my good friend, Vallon Foster.” The voice of the beautiful guy beside me was comforting, full of loving assurance.

I forced myself to appear something less-than-hostile as Nox introduced me.

              “Vallon, this is Ryann… the newest member of my fan pod.”

One month earlier

Nox walked beside me, keeping up, seemingly oblivious to the fact I was ignoring him. I was embarrassingly winded from my attempt to leave him behind, but naturally, he was unaffected by the brisk pace. I slid a narrowed glance to the side.

              “You really can’t take a hint, can you?”

              Glancing over at me with a half-smile, he said, “No, I understand very well you’d rather be with anyone else on the planet right now. But I’m still not letting you walk home alone.”

              I gestured toward the peaceful woods surrounding us, the sun-dappled leaves, the quiet underbrush, the dusty narrow path leading to Grandma Neena’s log house. “This is ridiculous. I’ve walked alone on my grandma’s land a million times. I think I can manage to make it back to the house in the middle of the day without a chaperone.”

              Nox shook his head. “You don’t know what’s going on back there in Altum. Things are crazy. Besides, I’m only following orders from your
beloved
Lad—my new king.”

              I shot him a dirty look and attempted to walk even faster as if that would make it more difficult for him to keep up. “Just… don’t talk, okay? I don’t want to hear anything you have to say.”

              “Fine.” Nox dropped back a step but stayed at my heels for the remainder of the brittle, silent march.

              Reaching the steps of Grandma Neena’s back porch, I attempted to go inside without another word to Nox. He was in front of me and blocking the door before I could get a foot past the threshold.

              “I’m coming in.” His tone said
deal with it
.

              I laughed in his face. “You most certainly are not. You carried out your orders—now get lost.”

              “Lad said to take care of you.”

              “He
said
to take me home, and now I’m home. Goodbye.”

              His eyes narrowed and a grin sneaked across his face. “Well, if you want to be perfectly technical about it, Ryann, he said ‘take her.’ There could be many interpretations of that particular phrase… if you’d care to start exploring them.”

              My face burned at his raised eyebrow, insinuating tone, and annoying persistence—so familiar—so infuriating. I pushed at his chest, and he stepped back, allowing me into the kitchen.

“Go away, Nox. I don’t need a babysitter, and I really don’t want to spend any more time talking to someone whose native language is lies.” 

Shutting the door, he turned to face me, his dark hair messy and curling where it touched the tops of his ears, his intense hazel eyes imploring me for understanding. I glared back at him. Perhaps deciding not to waste his time arguing with me, he shrugged and simply walked past me into the living room, his large body brushing the front of mine as he passed.

He collapsed onto the brown leather couch, his long legs and arms flung out comfortably as if he was used to hanging out here after school every day. The scene was so unlike the first time Lad had come inside my house, the first and only time Lad had ever entered a human’s house.

Was Nox this comfortable everywhere in the human world? His band, The Hidden, played a steady circuit of nightclubs and small concert halls. He ate all of his meals in restaurants or bars. He must have stayed in hotel rooms when they were on the road. We’d gone to school together this past year, but with all of that, did he have any human friends? Or was there only me?

As long as I’d known him, I’d naturally assumed him to
be
human. I didn’t know anything about his Elven life, whether he still even lived in Altum. He’d been there earlier today, but that might have only been because the Assemblage was going on—the gathering drew Elven tribes from across the continent every ten years.

I certainly wasn’t going to engage him in further conversation about it. The only thing I wanted to talk about was his immediate departure.

“Are you moving in? Should I make up a bed for you?”

There was nothing playful in my sarcasm or rude tone, but he grinned at me anyway. “Yes, that would be lovely. And I think I’ll have a snack, too. I’m starved.” He rubbed his flat belly.

I gave him a saccharine smile. “How does a nice big plate of ‘Get out’ sound to you?”

Nox sat forward, resting his elbows on his knees. His deep hazel eyes looked up at me from under black brows. The smile dropped from his face, which suddenly looked tired.

“I told you Ryann—I’m supposed to take care of you. Things at Altum are… not good at the moment. It’s chaos. Everyone’s running around making accusations.” A long pause. “Your name came up more than once.”

Shock pushed all the breath out of my lungs. I dropped back into the chair behind me. “My name?” The words were a whisper. “So then, they’re going to come after me?”

A fierce light came into his eyes, and his hands clasped together in front of him. “They might try. Don’t worry. I’m not going to let anyone get near you. That’s why I went to find you and Lad in your little love nest. I didn’t want the two of you to come strolling back hand-in-hand. Who knows what would have happened to you?”

My palms came to the sides of my face, the gravity of the situation sinking in. “Poor Lad. Poor Mya. What could have happened?” I shivered in spite of the warmth of the room.

Nox shook his head, his shoulders sagging heavily. “I don’t know. I’d just come back to Altum, I saw Lad running—I knew he was going after you—I told him where to find you, and he left. About ten minutes later, all Hell broke loose. Apparently, Ivar’s servant found him in his room. His body was still warm. I didn’t hear what else was said about that part—there was this sudden hurricane of thoughts flying around. Lad told you how we—yeah? Okay, well, all these questions and accusations were coming from every direction. ‘Was it Audun? Lad himself? The human girl? The outcast Neena?’”

I lurched to my feet. “Grandma? Oh my God, Nox. I have to go to her—what if they—”

At the squeak of the back screen door opening, Nox sprang from the couch. Stepping in front of me, he stretched to his full six feet, four inches. He relaxed as Grandma entered the room from the kitchen.

Relief flooded her face as well. “Ryann. Thank God you’re here.”

I ran to my grandma, throwing my arms around her skinny shoulders. “Lad’s father,” I began, but she pulled back, and her face showed she knew already.

“It’s terrible. I can’t even believe it. After all this time… to see him again. And now he’s
gone
.”

“What happened? Were you there? Did someone really kill him? Maybe he had a heart attack or something?”

She shook her head. “No. Elves don’t suffer from human diseases. Something violent must happen to end our lives and our immortality. Someone definitely did it. But they don’t know who yet. I was in my family’s quarters when it happened, but the news travelled quickly.”

“Did you see Lad? Can you take me to him?”

She grabbed my upper arms and looked right into my eyes. “No, sweetheart. You must not go to Altum.
Ever
again. Not unless Lad himself takes you there when this is all over. It’s not safe now.”

“But—”

“I saw him—he told me to tell you to stay away. He’ll come to you as soon as he’s able.”

“When?” My voice sounded panicky.

“He didn’t say. He’s got a lot to deal with, Ryann. Try to understand.”

“I do understand. But it’s so horrible, and he’s hurting. I want to help him.”

“You can—by staying away so he can do what has to be done without worrying about your safety.” She glanced across the room, lifting her chin in Nox’s direction. “What’s he doing here?”

“Annoying me.”

“Protecting her.” Nox and I spoke at the same time, our words overlapping.

Grandma Neena wrapped her thin arm around my shoulder and nodded to Nox. “Thank you, son, but you can go now.” As he began to protest, she continued. “We’ll be fine. I don’t think anyone will come, but I’ll be aware of it if they do. You go on home.”

I echoed her instructions but with considerably more enthusiasm. “Go, Nox. I don’t need you.” 

He grimaced and didn’t move, only stood completely still for a few moments with his hands clenching and unclenching, his lips pressed together, staring at me. Finally he went to the door and opened it, but he didn’t step outside. He turned back, and our eyes met.

Later.

I heard the word in my mind as clearly as if he’d said it aloud. Then he walked out the door, slamming it behind him.

Grandma and I looked at each other. “That was your friend Nox? The boy you’ve been spending time with? When you spoke of him, I had no idea he was Elven.”

“You and me both,” I grumbled.

“What happened between you two?” she asked.

“Nothing. Nox walked me home, and I tried to get him to leave, but he was being stubborn about it. He says I’m under suspicion in Altum for Ivar’s murder. And you might be, too. Is it true?”

She nodded with a grim expression before turning to go into the kitchen. Opening the refrigerator and pulling out the tea pitcher, she gestured for me to sit at the old farm table. “I’m afraid it is. Not about me—I was in my family’s quarters with them, so I have an alibi. But about you—yes. That’s why you mustn’t try to go back there. Promise me you won’t. Even if… even if he never comes to you. Even if you never see him again. I’m not even sure if it’s safe for us to stay here.”

“No.” I practically shouted the word. More quietly, I said, “I’m not going anywhere. And he
will
come. We’re together now. We
have
to be together.”

Grandma dropped the plastic tumbler she’d taken from a cabinet and whirled around. Her face was white. “You didn’t bond with him, did you?”

Heat flooded my cheeks and ears as my gaze dropped to the scarred wooden tabletop. “No. We didn’t. But we’re in love. We’re together now. And Ivar said—”

Standing right in front of me now, Grandma Neena said, “Ivar is dead, sweetheart. Everything is different now—for my people—certainly for Lad, and most likely for you, too. I’m sorry to say it, but I don’t want you to be surprised.”

“Surprised?”

“If Lad… ends things between you.”

I jumped up from my chair, heart hammering at the suggestion. “No. That will never happen.” Her answering look of sympathy drove me from the room.

In my own room behind closed doors, I paced and worried until I thought I might go crazy. I left the curtains wide open and obsessively checked the darkening window every few minutes for fireflies or any other sign of Lad’s arrival. Climbing into bed, I opened a favorite book to occupy my mind until he came to me, as I knew he would.
He will. He has to.

After reading the same paragraph four times in a row, I finally gave up on the book and turned on the television. A re-run of a popular crime drama was on, and though I’d never been a huge fan, I recognized the actors. For the first time, I studied them—their idealized faces, their long muscular limbs in perfect proportion to their remarkable height. It was so obvious to me now the majority of the people on the screen were not human, but Elven.

Ignorant that Elves even existed, I’d never realized before how many actors, and musicians, and athletes, and even political leaders displayed the unnaturally perfect physical attributes of Elves.

And the glamour they all possessed—the glamour Dark Elves freely used on humans—well, it was no wonder celebrity worship was overtaking society, dominating social media and newscasts, and even the conversations of my closest friends.

Which brought me to Emmy. Unless I found a way to stop her, in a few weeks she’d be leaving to join Vallon Foster’s fan pod in Los Angeles. One more reason I needed to see Lad again as soon as possible.

Though he was a Light Elf, he certainly knew more about Dark Elves than I did. Together we’d find a way to protect Emmy. Together we’d deal with his family’s tragedy.

Together. We have to be together.

When midnight came and Lad still hadn’t come, I finally turned off my lamp and went to pull the curtains. I startled as my eye caught a flash of movement high in a tree at the edge of the yard. My heart leapt. Lad. He’s here.

Then I heard his voice. Not Lad’s. Nox’s.

Sleep. You’re safe. 

Nox was concealed just inside the tree line, watching over the house.

That didn’t make me feel safe. It made me uncomfortable. I didn’t need him, and I didn’t want him.

I wasn’t sure if my own fledgling Elven communication skills were up to the task, but I sent him a return message.

Not with you.