Rapture (Elfin Series) (3 page)

Cassie looked over to Lisa.
Do you know where that is?”

“Might be with Oakley, or it might be at the store,” Lisa told her.

Cassie nodded her agreement.

“Either place is safe
, Cassie,” Lisa assured her. “You need to go with Trik. I can take care of Elora.”

“You wi
ll be a target,” Cassie argued. “You can’t just go off by yourselves.”

“I’ll get her and then come back to the light
-elf castle, piece of cake,” Lisa assured her. Cassie didn’t look convinced.

“I will accompany them,” Cush said, “if that is alright with the K
ing.” He turned to look at Trik, waiting for his response.

Trik nodded
and then motioned towards the light elf on his left, “Rincavornon, you will go with Nedhudir and keep Lisa and Elora safe.”

Lisa
stepped up to the edge of the hole and looked down into the darkness. She decided the best place to start would be with Oakley.

“Be careful.
” Cassie grabbed her in a quick hug.

Lisa patted her back.
“We’ll be fine.”

“We really should be on our way now,” Flora interrupted.

Cush stepped up beside Lisa and motioned for Rin to do the same on her other side. They both placed large hands on each of her elbows. “We step together and you think of where we need to go.”

She nodded at him and without a glance back
, Lisa stepped off into the void with the two light elves beside her.

“Your turn,” Flora told Cassie with a small smile.

Trik grabbed her hand to keep her from stepping closer to the edge of the hole. He gave Flora a look that had her taking a step back and then turned to the rest of the group. “We go to Tamsin's castle, the throne room.” Then he stepped off into the portal pulling Cassie with him.

Melda, the she elf Cassie knew as Flora, watched as the last of the light elves crossed through the portal. She counted to twenty just as Lorsan had told her, to ensure everyone was all the way through and then held her hand out over the portal. At her whispered words she watched as the hole shrunk in on itself until it was completely gone. Melda smiled to herself as she dusted her hands off. “Get silly human girl to trust you. Check.” She made the motion of checking off a list in the air. “Convince silly humans and elves to go through a portal. Check. Close off all portals so that there is no way to return to human realm or for elves to return to the elfin realm.” She paused and grinned. “Check, check.”

Elora blinked several times as her eyes attempted to adjust to the bright light around her
. She had expected to fall a few feet, hit the hard ground, and have her teeth jarred out of her head. But instead, it was as if she had just walked through an open door. One minute she was in the crumbling tunnel of Lorsan’s castle and the next she was, well…
Where am I exactly
, she thought to herself.

She brushed her messy black
mane of hair away from her face and took a look around. The air was cold and crisp as it burned her lungs. She judged that it must be winter wherever she was because all of the well-manicured lawns lining the streets contained dry dead grass. She was standing on a sidewalk with the street on one side of her and an apartment complex on the other. She glanced down the sidewalk to see if there was a street sign but only saw a stop sign. Just as she turned back towards the apartments, the door directly across from where she stood opened and out walked a tall, gangly guy in loose skater style jeans, a black t-shirt, and Vans. Elora’s eyes widened and a grin spread across her face.

“What are you doing here
, Baby Sis?” Oakley asked.

Elora ran straight for him and had to bite the inside of her lip to keep from squealing like a girl. It w
as so freaking good to see him and to hear his voice, and then she was in his arms as she threw herself at him.

“Umph!” h
e grunted as she buried her face in his chest. “Hey, hey,” he said as he patted her back. She refused to cry, hell she didn’t even know why she felt the need to cry, but she wasn’t about to give in to it.

“What’s going on
, Elora?” he asked her as he gently pushed her back so he could look at her face. She knew from the way his forehead wrinkled in concentration that he was trying to see past the front she was so desperately trying to keep in place. But what could she tell him?
Hey big brother, long time no see, and since you asked, I was just rescued from the dungeon of a dark elf by a she dark elf who we thought was a bad guy, but maybe isn’t a bad guy and oh, by the way, mom is still there.
For some reason she just didn’t feel that would go over too well. So she lied.

“Nothing, I j
ust decided I needed to see you.” She smiled up at him and tried to appear innocent, which for her was not easy because she usually wasn’t. He glanced down at her appearance and she knew the dust covered, disheveled look wasn’t doing anything to help her farce and she knew her next question was only going to make things worse. “What month is it?”

“It’s January, the fourth to be exact. How did you get here?” h
e asked suspiciously as he looked around for her car. He would ask the most obvious question first. It was a valid one, of course, since he lived two hours away from Oklahoma City.

“I took the bus,” she lied again.
January, bloody hell how long had they been in fairy land,
she thought to herself, but tried not to let that thought show on her face.

His concern turned to annoyance as he stood up to his full six foot one height and crossed his arms in front of him. “What the hell is going on
, Elora? You show up on my sidewalk in front of my apartment, where you have never been, I might add. You look like you’ve been in a freaking explosion or fire, and your covered in ash and crap.” He took a step towards her and reached for her arm. “And shit, you’re shaking like a junky. Now tell me what is going on.” He gave her arm a little shake—not enough to hurt her but enough to get her attention. “Does this have anything to do with those elves? I’ve told mom before I didn’t like her doing business with them?”

“I will advise you one time to remove your hand from the female.” A deep voice came from behind Elora. Oakley’s eyes widened as he looked past his sister to see two large guys and, his head tilted to the side, his mom.

“Mom?” his voice was hoarse.

“Hi, Baby.
” Lisa smiled wide. “Um, you might want to go ahead and let your sister go.” Lisa made a nodding motion towards the tall guy on her left. “Cush seems to think you are hurting her.”

“Cush?” Oakley
asked as he looked from his mom to the guy she had indicated. He still hadn’t let Elora’s arm go, shocked as he was.

Cush’s eyes narrowed as he watched the
male's hand tighten imperceptibly on Elora’s arm. He had tried to be nice, but still the male had not released her, granted he did seem a bit dazed. He walked slowly towards them and said, “Let her go.” The boy finally let go of her arm and Cush felt something inside him ease just a bit.

“Elora,” h
er name came out softer than he intended, more like a caress, “are you all right?” She didn’t respond. In fact she hadn’t moved since he, her mother, and Rin had appeared from the portal. He stepped around, effectively pushing the boy away and knelt down so that he could look into her face. Her eyes were squeezed closed and her lips were moving swiftly. He leaned closer to try and hear what she was mumbling and nearly laughed when he finally deciphered it.

Over and over Elora muttered
, “Goth girls don’t cry, goth girls don’t cry.”

“I thought it was
big
girls don’t cry?” he whispered close to her ear so that only she could hear him. She froze. Her eyes snapped open and her mumbling ceased instantly. Her eyes met his and he waited for her to say something, all the while fighting the natural desire to wrap his arms around her and pull her close to the shelter of his body. When she finally did speak, it only confirmed what he already knew.

Elora stared at Cush and realized that she was seeing him in his elfin form in the human realm. “Why aren’t you using your glamour?” she asked. Her heart skipped at the flash of possessiveness she saw in his eyes.

“I am using it,” he told her.

“Then why am I seeing you in your elfin form?” His jaw tensed and she could tell that he did not want to answer her.

“That’s a discussion best saved for a more private setting.” He stood and took a step back from her and that tiny bit of space between them felt like the Grand Canyon.
Elora mentally shook herself and drew her shoulders back. She took a deep breath and let it out slow and then turned to face the others.

“Would someone please tell me what’s going on?” Oakley asked. “Because it looks to me like my mom and two
strange men just appeared out of thin air on my sidewalk.”

Elora crossed her arms in front of her and cocked her hip out to the side
as she looked up at her brother. “You want the full story or the Cliff Notes?”

“Elora
, you can’t just tell him everything,” Cush said.

A single brow rose on her forehead as she met Cush’s eyes. “
He’s my brother, Cush. He already knows about the elves; it’s just all the other crap he doesn’t know about, so cliff notes to begin,” she said and as she continued to speak her eyes never left Cush’s. “Cassie met a hot guy who wound up being a dark-elf assassin. The dark-elf king has an evil plot to get humans addicted to a drug produced from a plant from their realm, so they will spend more money in his casinos. Cassie was captured, we went to rescue her, and then we got captured. We were rescued; now we’re here. I assume Cassie and her man are going to go back to the light-elf castle,” she paused as if thinking and then let out a dry, humorless laugh. “Oh, and apparently, I’m Cush’s Chosen.”

“I know the importance of learning from the past.
I must look back to move forward. I must remember my past if I am to avoid repeating mistakes. But as I look back, I am reminded of my past transgressions. I am brought face to face with the ugliness that has been my life, and I find that I am broken all over again.” ~Triktapic

Syndra felt the shift in the air just as Trik and Cassie appeared in front of her and just after them
, Tamsin, Beleg and Sidhion. She waited to see if more would be appearing in the same fashion and when no one did she frowned.

“Where
are Elora and Lisa?” she asked Tamsin. “Nedhudir and Rincavornon?”

“You’re not the least bit bothered that we just appeared out of thin air?” Cassie asked.

“Tsk, tsk.” Syndra waved her off, “I’m more concerned that not
all
of you appeared out of thin air.”

“Elora took a detour to the human realm,” Tamsin told her as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close.  Syndra allowed herself a moment to take comfort in his presence
and to assure herself that he was safe.

“I thought I made it clear when I agreed to this whole queen thing that you were not to get yoursel
f thrown in a dungeon by a dark-elf king,” she teased him.

“Forgive me
, my queen,” he told her with a slight smile as he took her face in his hands and held her still as he kissed her. When he pulled back they were both breathing heavily. “I won’t let it happen again.” Tamsin stepped away and gave her some space.

Syndra fanned herself as she tried to regain her
bearings and Cassie caught her eye. She was smiling and blushing and damned if the human girl's blush didn’t make her own face bloom bright red.

“Explain the El
ora remark, please,” Syndra said needing to focus on something other than the very public display Tamsin had just put on for all to see.

Cassie felt Trik's warm hand on the small of her back just before she felt his warm breath on her ear. “Interested in seeing if we can outdo the light-elf king and queen on PDA?”

She turned her head s
o that she could look up at him. His silver eyes danced with mischief as he stared down at her and she wondered if there would ever be a time that she wasn’t taken breathless by his beauty. “I can imagine that you are rarely outdone,” she quipped, “so I don’t feel the need to attempt it.”

“I’ll leave you be for now
, Cassie love, but later, you’re all mine.” His voice was smooth as velvet and laced with seduction, causing a shiver to run down her spine. She didn’t respond to his warning because she knew if she opened her mouth, she would just beg him to follow through with his threat, and oh, how dignifying that would look.

Tamsin was
telling Syndra what had taken place at the Lorsan’s castle. He had just began telling her about the portal escape when Cassie tuned back in.

“So Lisa went through the portal to follow Elora, only she didn’t know where Elora had gone?” Syndra asked.

“There are pretty much only two places that Elora would have gone. So it was a fifty-fifty shot of ending up in the right place,” Cassie pointed out.

Syndra snorted.
“Fifty-fifty under these circumstances begins to look a lot like screwed regardless.”

“So what do we do now?” Cassie asked.

“We wait for Cush to bring them back,” Trik spoke up.

Cass
ie shook her head. “Sorry, Babe, but I have to go home.”

“Not happening,
” Trik said matter-of-fact like. “It’s not safe.”

“My paren
ts are going to be flipping out.” She glanced at Syndra. “You were working some mojo on them while I was at your castle, right?”

Syndra nodded.
“I used a little magic on them to keep them from thinking you were missing. It was suggestive magic, so whenever they thought of you the magic made them think they had actually seen you recently.” And you’ve been gone for a couple months. It’s January in the human realm.”

“Holy crap two months, do you think the spell is still working?”

“Should be—my magic is good as long as I’m alive. But it is still a good idea for you to actually see them. It will reinforce the magic when you aren’t there.”

“I’m going to tell them ever
ything.” Cassie met Trik’s eyes. “I don’t want to spend my life trying to hide this from them. If I’m going to be with you…,”

“IF?” Trik nearly growled.
“There is no
if
Cassie. You’re mine, period. If you want to tell your parents we will tell them. I will tell them everything and that you belong with me.”

Cassie smiled.
“Tell me how you really feel.”

A sultry smirk danced across
Trik's face. “I’d rather show you.”

Syndra groaned, “Get a room.” S
he snapped her fingers at Trik cutting off his reply. “After you save the world.”

Cassie laughed.

“I don’t think he can wait that long,” Tamsin joked.

Cassie's
laugh turned into a choked cough at Tamsin’s words. She glanced at Trik and saw the desire in his eyes and felt her face heat up. She shook her head at him. “We have to go to the human realm and talk to my parents,” she told him pointedly, “no time for messing around.”

“Baby
, there is always time for messing around,” Trik purred.

“On that I have to agree with the assassin,” Syndra said with a wink.

Trik stared at Cassie thoughtfully. He knew Cassie was right, but he hated the idea of her in danger, and at the moment he felt that anyplace
not
the light-elf castle was a danger to Cassie.

“Okay,” he finally said, “w
e’ll go back to your parents, but,” he held up a finger, “only to tell them the truth and then we’re coming right back here. We have battle plans to make.”

Cassie smiled at him
and wrapped her arms around him. “Thank you,” she whispered.

Trik kissed her lips softly.
“I love you.”

She smiled.
“I love you.”

“Now that
I think I’m going to vomit, can we go?” Syndra asked as she took Tamsin’s hand and headed towards the mirror walls.

Tamsin looked at his warriors.
“You all stay here in case the others return.”

Beleg bowed his head.
“Yes, My Lord.”

Cassie followed Trik to the mirrors, each taking their respective places next to Tamsin and Syndra. They all took a step at the same time to go through the mirrors and they were all pushed back with a force so strong that they each landed on their butts.

“
Dammit!” Trik yelled.

“What does that mean?” Cassie asked as she stood and dusted off her clothes.

“It means you’re not going back to Kansas, Dorothy,” Syndra said as she glared at the mirrored wall as if it had just royally insulted her.

“And if we can’t get through to the human realm, that means
Elora and the others are…”

“
Screwed,” Syndra finished for her.

The ground beneath them began to tremble
, and Cassie had to brace herself to keep from falling over. She looked over at Trik and her mouth dropped open. He was hallowed in light and his long dark hair whipped around him as if it had a life of its own. His jaw was clenched tight and his face was the picture of barely contained rage.

“Trik,” Cassie said his name softly as she moved towards him. She approached him like she would any predator, though she knew he would never hurt her. At least not on purpose.

“I’m stuck here while Lorsan’s elves produce Rapture in the human realm and sell it to people in the casinos,” he growled. “What am I supposed to do from here?!”

“What
about Sanctuary?” Syndra asked. “Do you think the portals there are working?”

Trik shook his head.
“The portal we just traveled through to get here was a master portal, which means if someone closed it then they closed them all.”

“Not to sound like a broken record, but what do we do now?” Cassie looked at each of the royal elves before her and felt her chest tighten as she realized just how upset they all were by this new revelation.

“We’re going to have to go on the offensive,” Trik said decidedly. He began to pace around the throne room as he spoke. “Lorsan has forced my hand in this. I can’t wait for his next move.” He paused and looked over at Tamsin. “We’re going to have to assemble the light elves and let them know that such a time has come that the Forest Lords have reinstated their king.”

Tamsin nodded. “They will welcome you
, Triktapic.”

“Not all
of them. I have wronged many in your court. I have hurt many. I don’t imagine that they will accept me with open arms. In fact, I bet I will have a few attempts before the week is over.”

“What kind of attempts?” Cassie asked
, not liking the sound of what Trik was saying.

“The assassination kind,” Trik told her calmly as if he wasn’t discussing someone trying to kill him.

She frowned. “You really think people will try to kill you?”

“No.
”

Cassie let out a breath, relieved.

“I know they will,” he finished.

Her eyes widened and she swore her heart skipped a beat at the mere thought of
Trik's life ending, of not having him here with her. She walked over to him and looked up at him. She knew her eyes were moist with unshed tears but she couldn’t help it—even the idea of a life without Trik was enough to break her heart.

“No one is going to kill you,” she told him firmly.

Trik's lips twitched. Clearly he was amused at her statement. “Are you going to protect me?”

Cassie snorted.
“I don’t even like to kill flies. No, I’ll sic Elora on them.”

Trik cringed.
“Nothing is worth that, not even an attempt on my life.”

Cassie grinned.
“Exactly, so no more talk of you dying.”

“Agreed,” Tamsin piped in. “Now back to things that we can actually control. Sid,” he looked over at the warrior who stood quietly waiting, “sorry, but it’s just easier than saying your whole name.”

“It’s fine
, liege,” Sid told him stiffly.

“I need you and Beleg to send out messengers to the realm for a gathering here tomorrow at the mid-day meal.” Sid bowed and turned swiftly
, walking from the room. Tamsin looked back at Trik. “We will have the gathering tomorrow. We tell them of your return; then what?”

Trik rubbed his chin and his eyes narrowed as he thought. “I will give the warriors a choice to fight for me or stay behind.”

“No!” Cassie said suddenly as she slammed her fist into her hand. Trik’s eyes widened in surprise as he looked at his Chosen. She stood with her back straight and chin held high as she stared him down. “You are the Elf King, Triktapic. Yes, you made your mistakes, but you will not spend your rule tiptoeing around the light elves because they are pissed at you. You will tell them the facts and you will remind them that when you divide a people, problems like Lorsan are what you end up with. And then you will tell them their calling—to fight for themselves and for their king.”

Trik stared at her
, momentarily speechless by his Chosen, and then a huge smile broke across his face. “You are going to be a magnificent queen,” he told her.

“Thank you,” she smiled up at him. She saw the familiar gleam in
Trik's eyes before he spoke and her stomach flipped and her jaw dropped open at his next words.

“You are going to be an equally magnificent lover
, and I feel the need to point out that I am being very good right now. Because really all I want to do is drag you to a private room and have my wicked way with you.”