“It’s our history as well as our future,” Syndra said as she stood up from her place at the table. She looked visibly shaken in a very un-Syndra like way. “And it holds some truths to our magic that those who thirst for power should not ever know.”
Cassie would like to say that Syndra’s words made sense, but if she were honest she’s was just as clueless as she had been before she asked the question. She decided she would just talk with Trik about it later rather than embarrass herself by asking Syndra to elaborate further on a topic that was obviously upsetting her. To Cassie’s surprise, Syndra continued.
“History is knowledge and knowledge is power.” The light-elf queen met Cassie’s gaze and though her hands still shook slightly, her voice was steady. “I’m sure they taught you that in your schooling. We elves have watched nations rise and fall in your world. Leaders come and go and those who have wanted to keep the power for themselves all do the same thing. They restrict the amount of history and knowledge their people can learn. Take away the ability for a people to think for themselves and they are easily held captive by fear and dependence. That is why that book is so important. It is knowledge and in the right hands it is a great tool of learning, but in the wrong hands it could be the end of more than one race.”
The room was silent as Syndra stood staring off into nothing as her words bathed them all in the reality of how bad things had become.
“So what you’re saying is the Rapture that is still in the casinos is the least of our worries?” Cassie asked.
“Bingo,” Syndra answered.
“Have I mentioned that I truly appreciate the traveling method of portals? Because if I have not expressed it I really would like to,” Elora said as she dragged her tired self into her mom’s shop with Cush, Oakley, and her mom in tow.
“You mentioned it once when that guy was sitting in your seat on the plane, and then again when that same guy got up three times to use the bathroom and had to climb over you and Cush, and then I think you brought it up again when he felt the need to tell you both about his bladder issues,” Oakley smirked as he listed her many woes of the trip home.
“Well you and Mom had it easy; you weren’t sitting next to bladder boy, and not only did he have a bladder the size of a pea, his words, but he also spit when he talked. I mean, seriously, who does that?” She groaned.
Oakley laughed. “My favorite part was when he nearly peed on himself when Cush told him to get his hand off your shoulder.”
Elora rolled her eyes. “He was just balancing himself. I swear that boy didn’t have enough brain cells to even think about copping a feel.”
“He knew what he was doing,” Cush grumbled not for the first time.
Lisa turned the lock on the door and made sure the closed sign was still facing out, and then they all made their way back to the storage area that was the designated break room. Elora hopped up onto the counter while the others shuffled boxes and pulled out chairs to sit on. Weariness settled like a cloak over them as they seemed to collectively take a breath for what Elora felt like was the first time in days.
“I still can’t believe you expect me to just go back to school while all of this is going on,” Elora said looking at Lisa.
“Lisa,” Cush’s voice cut through the intense mother-daughter stare. “I know that Elora is your daughter, but I have to express my reservations about her going to school while Lorsan and Tarron are on the loose in the human realm.”
Elora started to say something but the look Cush shot her had her clamping her lips closed. She narrowed her eyes at him which only seemed to amuse him.
“I understand you concern, Cush, but I would really like Elora’s life to continue on as normally as possible while it can,” Lisa told him.
“Normal?” Elora choked out a laugh. “We passed normal a few elf battles back, Lisa. There is no normal anymore.”
“Normal is so overrated.”
Elora’s head snapped to the left at the sound of Cassie’s voice, and when she saw her best friend fully emerge from the large mirror that stood in the corner of the storeroom, she leapt from her perch on the counter without a thought.
“UMPH!” Cassie grunted as Elora wrapped her in a tight hug.
“You have no idea how good it is to see you,” Elora said tightly as her throat threatened to close off under the wave of emotions she felt. She knew she had missed Cassie; she just didn’t realize until that moment that it had been as if she had severed a part of her own body and now finally had it back.
“Oh, I think I have an inkling,” Cassie told her as she patted her back affectionately.
When Elora finally released her best friend, she saw that Trik, Syndra, Tamsin, Rin, and Tony had also come through the portal.
“Welcome back, boys,” Elora said to Rin and Tony with a smile. She gave Tamsin and Syndra a nod hello as she stepped back to make room for all of them. She felt large hands on her waist and found herself leaning back against the solid form that was Cush, and as Rin began to speak, Elora found that she was very grateful that he was at her back.
“The book was taken from me.” Rin met Cush’s eyes as he spoke; his jaw still tense with the frustration of losing a battle. “We fought but there were just too many, and I figured out pretty quick that they weren’t really after us. Based on the way they were fighting, they were attempting to distract us.”
“I couldn’t have done any better Rin,” Cush told his comrade, hoping it would help him know that he didn’t hold him responsible. “Do we know if it was Lorsan who got it?”
Rin shook his head. “It could have been Tarron.”
“Isn’t that the same thing?” Elora asked. “Doesn’t Tarron work for Lorsan?”
“Tarron only works for Tarron,” Trik answered. “He is his own breed of evil and if he has found a way to get out from underneath Lorsan’s thumb, then you can bet he will take it.”
“Excellent,” Elora muttered. “Just what the human realm needed, not just one crazy dark elf but two.” She felt Cush squeeze her waist and glanced up at him and wished she hadn’t because then she wouldn’t have seen the concern in his stormy eyes. If Cush was concerned, then it was bad.
“Do you have a plan, my liege?” Cush asked Trik and all heads turned to look at the former assassin.
Trik took a deep breath and looked at Cassie and then at the rest of the group. “I’m going to set down my crown for a short time and pick back up my bow and arrow. And I’m going to do what I do best. I wish I could say that I have this grand scheme to overthrow Lorsan and take out Tarron and save the humans and restore our people. I wish that I knew that I was enough to save us all.” His eyes fell as he felt the weight of what lay before him descend fully on his shoulders. His people were depending on him. These people were looking to him for guidance and leadership and he would not fail them, not again. “We’re going hunting,” he said looking back at Cush.
“I think I speak for us all when I say that we will back you no matter what,” Cush told him and murmured agreements followed his words.
“I finally get to see if you know how to use your bow and arrow. I was beginning to wonder if you just carried your quiver around cause you thought it made you look cool,” Elora said dryly.
“Beautiful, are you just going to let her tease your husband like that?” Trik asked Cassie, but his eyes were on Elora.
Elora’s jaw dropped open at the same time Cassie’s head whipped around to shoot a glare at Trik.
“You’re what?” Elora and Lisa said at the same time.
Cassie’s face turned a bright shade of red as she looked from Trik to Lisa and finally Elora. “He made me do it.”
Chapter 19
“A parent would say that the only truly unconditional love in this world is the love a parent has for a child. I would have to disagree. I would say that there is one other truly unconditional love and that is the love a child has for a parent. No matter their faults, no matter their mistakes, no one can replace our p
arents. No one can fill that space that is reserved only for them in our hearts, and because of that there is nothing that would keep me from tearing the world apart for mine.” ~Cassie
“I can’t believe you married quiver boy,” Elora told Cassie as they stood waiting on the warriors to decide their next move. Lisa had prepared sandwiches for everyone and once they had all eaten it was decided that some sort of plan had to be hammered out. Elora had suggested they just blow up Las Vegas, and with that comment she and Cassie had been pushed from the little planning circle. She just shrugged and said, “Your loss.”
“I know. I can’t really believe it myself,” Cassie admitted and then it just all came out. She told Elora everything that had happened from the time Elora stepped into the portal up until the moment she walked back into Lisa’s storeroom.
“Wait, what do you mean the Forest Lords could close the portals for good?” Elora interrupted.
“Trik won’t let that happen,” Cassie assured her.
“Uh Cas, hate to break it to you, but I don’t think the Forest Lords take orders from QB. Just a guess based on the whole ‘hey if you don’t want to be king we’ll make you a dark-elf assassin instead and wipe your memory’ event,” she shrugged. “Just saying.”
Cassie pinched the bridge of her nose as she thought about Elora’s words and knew her friend was right. “We have to get my parents,” she suddenly said as she stood and turned to Trik. “Trik, we have to get my parents and take them to the light-elf castle. I don’t want to take the risk of being separated from them.”
Trik walked over to her and looked down into her eyes. Cassie held his stare, employing him to understand how important this was to her. “Please, Trik,” she whispered.
“Okay,” he nodded. “Okay, we’ll get your parents and then we go after Lorsan and Tarron.”
His hands shook as he held the book reverently, as a parent would hold a child. He stared down at the torn cover. The power emanating from the book pulsing into his hands caused him to shutter. He had it. After all this time, it was finally in his possession, and now he had the power to put the humans in their place. He set the book down and turned to look at his two prisoners. He had restored their memories. So now they stared back at him full of fear and grief and he wanted to spit at their weakness. Love, of any kind—whether for a lover or a child, was weakness. He had learned that the hard way all because of a human.
“Your daughter isn’t the first in your bloodline to be a Chosen, did you know that?” Tarron asked the human woman. “There was one before her, long ago, who was also a Chosen.” His mind wondered back to a time before technology had taken over the human realm, when things were simpler. The dark elves were often in the human realm during that time, pushing behind the scenes to lift the ban on prohibition, and that’s how he had met her, his Lucy. She was leaving the general store and she had stopped him in his tracks.
“We don’t know what you’re talking about,” the human woman’s voice broke through his thoughts, pushing away the memory of his Chosen’s face.
His eyes narrowed as he looked at her and even three generations later he could still see his love’s features in the face of the woman before him. He didn’t think she was nearly as pretty as Lucy, but there were similarities.
“Don’t worry,” he purred as he reached out and traced a finger down her cheek. “You will.”
“Get your hands off her!” The human male growled.
Tarron backhanded the man, effectively shutting him up, but now the woman was crying. “Don’t you humans ever shut up?” he snarled as he turned away from the pair. He walked back over to where the book lay. “So many choices to make,” he murmured to himself ignoring the whimpering behind him. “So many choices.”
“It’s too quiet,” Cassie said as she pushed the front door of her house open. Trik grabbed her arm and tugged her behind him, earning him an eye roll.
“Cassie, how many times do I have to remind you that the blonde always dies first in the movies?” Elora whispered as they followed Trik and Tamsin into the house with Lisa, Syndra and Oakley behind them and Cush, Rin, and Tony pulling up the rear.
“This isn’t a movie, Elora,” Cassie retorted.
“True, but most movies are based off some smidgen of truth.”
“And this smidgen just happens to be the blonde always dying first?” She looked back at her best friend.
Elora smiled. “Totally, because you know if it comes down to you or me, I’m throwing your ass under the bus.”
Cassie laughed but her laughter was brought up short as they entered the living room and her eyes landed on the chaos and destruction. She felt her heart pounding in her chest as she saw the chairs toppled over, the broken coffee table, and glasses lying on the floor. Her eyes moved swiftly over the room and then without thought she was running.
“MOM, DAD!” she yelled as she ran, not paying attention to the foot steps behind her or the sound of Trik telling her to stop. She hit the stairs and took them two at a time pushing doors open as she reached the hallway until she came to their room. She ran into their room first, then to the bathroom, and then to the closets, but they were all just as empty as the rest of the house. She walked out of her dad’s closet, her shoulders hunched forward in defeat, and she felt the first tear fall. She felt hands on her shoulders and she looked up into the silver eyes of Trik and his handsome face blurred as the rest of the tears began to fall.
“Shh, Love.” He pulled her into the shelter of his arms. “We’ll find them,” he promised. “We’ll get them back.”
Cassie buried her face in his broad, firm chest and gave into the fear that was every child’s nightmare, losing their parents. She didn’t know if they were alive or hurt. She didn’t know if she could have prevented this had she told them the truth about Trik. She didn’t know how to get them back, or if she ever would. In that moment she didn’t know much of anything other than the pain that engulfed her.
“You don’t have to know, Cassandra,” Trik told her as he held her tight. “I know and I will take care of you.”
Elora stood in Cassie’s room holding the note she had found lying on her bed next to a picture of Cassie. Her hand shook as she read it for the third time, and she fought back the bile that rose in her throat.
“What is it, Little Raven?”
Cush’s deep voice grounded her and she swallowed before answering, making sure she didn’t vomit.
“It’s a note from Tarron.” His name was like acid on her tongue, and she wished he stood before her now so she could gouge out his eyes with a spoon—blame it on her dark side. “He has Cassie’s parents.”
“What?” Cush gently took the note from her and for some illogical reason she giggled when he cursed. Okay, so maybe the stress was getting to her and she was finally cracking.
“Liege!” Cush’s voice carried through the house that now felt like a tomb. “You need to see this.”
They all gathered back in the living room. Oakley and Tony had taken it upon themselves to pick up the mess, righting the chairs and sweeping up the glass.
“Thank you,” Cassie told them both through sniffles and both men blushed, simply nodding their reply. Trik pulled Cassie to him as he turned to address the group.
“Tarron has taken Cassie’s parents,” he told them.
“Why?” Lisa asked, her eyes wide with fear.
“Apparently he has history with Cassie’s bloodline,” Trik explained and then read the note out loud for everyone. “Dearest Cassandra, I thought I had lost my Chosen long ago, but it seems fate has seen fit to bring her back to me in the same bloodline in the elegant form of you. You see, your great-grandmother, Lucy, was my Chosen. I lost her only to now have her returned to me. Your parents will remain with me until you take their place, then I will return them to their home. I have much to do before we can be together, but be patient, Cassandra, I’m coming for you soon. Yours, Tarron.”
“Has he lost his damn mind?” Elora gr
owled.
“Close,” Tamsin answered. “He lost his Chosen, which can drive the surviving mate mad. I had forgotten that about Tarron’s history. His Chosen was human and she chose to live in the human realm and age and die, but Tarron didn’t want to die. Above all he has always craved power and so he didn’t die with her as he should have. He left her in the human realm to live her own life, and as his actions have proven, he has been driven mad because of his loss, because of the choices he made.”
“What are we going to do?” Cassie asked as she looked up at Trik as tears continued to stain her flushed cheeks.
He gently wiped away her tears as he held her face in his hands. He leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to her lips and then whispered, “I’m going to do whatever it takes to get your parents back safe, and you’re going to trust me to do that. There’s a reason I’m the greatest spy and assassin in the history of time, Cassie, because I’m good at what I do.”
She pressed her forehead to his and nodded her head. She couldn’t speak because she just would have begged him to save her parents. She would have pleaded for him to fix everything, to take all the bad and broken things in her life and make them right. She knew he would die trying, so she wouldn’t ask that of him because she couldn’t lose him too.
“This is not how I expected this day to end,” Elora told Cush as he held her in his arms on the couch in Cassie’s living room. Cassie hadn’t been ready to leave her house so they had agreed to stay the night, to grieve and rest, and then regroup in the morning.
“She’s strong,” Cush said and she felt his lips brush against her head as he spoke. “She’ll make it through this, no matter the outcome. She’s a survivor.”
“Oh, believe me; I know that better than anyone. Cassie may seem all gentle and meek but she’s tough as nails. That doesn’t mean that it doesn’t hurt, and I hate that she has to go through this all because that idiot didn’t stay with his Chosen. Would,” she paused briefly before she finished her question, “would you stay with me if I chose the human realm?”