~
Trik glared at his King. The indignation rolled off of him in waves that were palpable.
“You have never forced a summons on me.” His words were a knife slicing through the anger that radiated from both of them.
Lorsan met his warrior’s fierce stare. “You have never ignored one.”
“I have never had a Chosen before. She is human; she needs protection, especially since she has seen Tamsin and his closest men in their natural form. You know the laws they will hold her to.”
“You are my spy and assassin first, not her Sh'mai,” Lorsan snapped.
Trik shook with rage as his fists opened and closed at his sides.
“Is that how you feel of your Chosen?” He asked. “Does your Kingship come before her?”
“That’s different and you know it.”
“Different how?” Trik challenged.
Lorsan’s hand slashed through the air disregarding Trik’s words. “Ilyrana and I have been united for more than a millennia. She has held my heart far longer than the existence of the humans, let alone you’re little human.”
“And that makes your relationship more important than the one between me and Cassandra?”
“I am in the middle of one of the largest endeavors our kind has ever had in the human realm. An endeavor that will bring the humans to their knees before us. Need I remind you of the part you are to play in this?” Lorsan paced restlessly as he struggled with his next words. “I would hate to have to replace you, Triktapic. You have served me longer than most. But do not make the mistake of believing you are irreplaceable.”
Laughter that would have caused tremors in a lesser man erupted from Trik. “You honestly think that you have someone amongst your warriors that is even comparable to me? Tell me, Liege,” Trik’s words dripped with contempt, “do you honestly believe you have a warrior with a tenth of my ability?”
Lorsan’s eyes glowed as he held the stare of his assassin. Both refused to admit defeat.
“I have always done what you asked. I have served you faithfully, but in this, I will not bend. She is the most important thing. You know as well as I do that I do not deserve her. I am being entrusted with something pure and good. Do you honestly believe that I would walk away from that?”
Lorsan crossed his arms in front of his chest and raised one hand to stroke his chin. His eyes narrowed as he considered Trik’s words. “I admit that I have to wonder why you, of all the dark ones, would be given someone like her. Do you believe that she can honestly care for you? Does she know what you are? What you do?”
Trik growled in frustration. “I have shown her.”
Lorsan’s hand dropped from his face abruptly. “You connected with her?” His eyes widened as he watched Trik nod.
“I won’t keep anything from her.”
“And what if she doesn’t want you? What if she says that she can’t deal with it and won’t accept that this is your life? You will not walk away from who and what you are.”
Trik chuckled darkly. “Only moments ago you were threatening to replace me. So which is it, Dark King? Are you going to keep me and accept my terms for continuing to be your killer, or are you going to toss me out?”
Lorsan slumped down onto his throne chair. He suddenly looked exhausted.
“You are my right arm, Trik. You are correct when you say that I could not replace you, at least not with someone with your talent. But I need to know that you are going to be reliable. I can’t have you distracted. You might get yourself killed.”
“I have never let you down. I’m not going to start now. Please do not ask me to choose between you or her. You know that something in our dark nature seems to call deeper to our Chosen. I will give up everything for her. Even if she denies me, I will spend my existence making sure she is safe.”
“The reason that I summoned you is because I need you to finalize the deal with the humans. Go sign the documents for the land. Then set up a place for us to cross over there so that we can begin taking the soil that will be needed to grow the plants.”
Trik nodded. “I’ll check in with you once it’s ready.”
Lorsan nodded and left the throne room without another word.
Trik looked at the watch he wore that kept human time. He wasn’t sure what time Cassie finished with school for the day, but he imagined that it wasn’t before their lunchtime which for most of them seemed to be around 12:00 p.m. He pictured a window in her school and stepped up to the reflective wall that ran the length of the throne room. He walked through it and emerged on the other side, standing in the school once again. He was facing a long, empty corridor with the lockers that seemed to line every wall in the building. He began to walk, allowing the soul inside him to search out for its other half. It led him further down the hall and around a corner to a single door on the short hallway. She was behind that door. He knew it as sure as he knew his own name. He opened the door, knowing that everyone but Cassie would think the door was opening on its own. As he stepped through it, his eyes immediately found hers. He watched as she jumped to her feet. A grin crept up on his face as he cocked his head to the side waiting to see what she would do next.
It must have been the amused look and mischievous gleam in his eyes that snapped her back to the here and now. She looked around the room and saw that her classmates were staring at her. She blushed as she sat back down, but her eyes drifted once again to where he stood. Trik glided smoothly through the aisle, making his way towards her. One of the guys was staring at her attempting to get her attention. Trik felt an unfamiliar feeling rush through him, though he knew what it was—jealousy. He instantly loathed the boy looking at his Chosen. As he walked past, Trik swiped his hand across the boy’s desk, knocking his things into the floor. Cassie ducked her head to cover her embarrassment. Trik smirked as he watched him skitter to gather his now scattered possessions.
Cassie looked up at Trik as he reached her desk. He knelt down in front of her so that she didn’t look like she was staring up into empty air to her classmates. Once he was at eye level, he reached up and grazed her cheek with his fingertips. She fought the desire to close her eyes and lean into his touch.
“You left,” she whispered.
Trik nodded and his eyes pleaded for her understanding. “I didn’t have a choice.”
She figured that he must have seen the confusion on her face when he let out a frustrated sigh. Cassie didn’t feel like it was directed at her, but rather his situation. Cassie turned from him and raised her hand. Mr. Singleton motioned for her to speak.
“I need to step out for a moment.”
Cassie was glad that it was a male teacher that she was dealing with because they were more inclined to let the female students leave the class without an explanation, always fearful that they would unwittingly expose a ‘female issue’ to the rest of the class.
“That’s fine,” he told her.
Trik backed up so that she could stand and then followed her out of the room. Cassie stopped abruptly when Todd put his foot in the aisle to keep her from passing. She looked down at him as her eyebrows rose in question. He discretely handed her a folded piece of paper, a faint smile on his lips, but said nothing. When he moved his leg, Cassie continued forward, confused by his action and beginning to feel the stares of her fellow classmates. She turned back to look at him when she heard him curse and saw that once again his things were scattered on the floor. She glanced up at Trik who shrugged, acting like he had nothing to do with the mess. She shook her head with a small chuckle as she pushed the door of the classroom open.
“Okay,” Cassie started before he could speak. “What were the little stunts with Todd about?”
Trik sneered. “If you are speaking of the boy who was drooling over you, then I was simply distracting him from staring at what is mine.”
Cassie crossed her arms over her chest and glared at Trik. “Yours?”
Trik nodded. “Of course. I told you already. You are
mine and I am yours. Would you be okay with a female eyeing me?”
She huffed and dropped her arms. “Fine, point taken.”
“What do you mean you didn’t have a choice,” she finally asked as they began to walk again and rounded a corner where some water fountains were tucked away from view.
“When my King calls to me I can only resist for so long before he forces my presence.”
“Does he do this often?”
“No,” Trik shook his head. “In fact he’s never done it before.”
“So why now?” Cassie asked.
“I’ve never ignored his summons before.” Trik’s hair flowed like water, tracking his movements as he paced. Cassie wanted to reach out and touch the dark strands, but refrained.
“What was so important that he had to talk with you?”
Trik stopped and his eyes met hers. He stepped up and cupped her face in his hands. He was so close that she could feel his breath on her face. His scent surrounded her and she fought the urge to seek refuge in his arms. “It’s best if you didn’t know.”
Cassie’s lips tensed in a straight line as she tried to step away from him, but he refused to release her.
He shook his head. “I told you I would never let you go.”
“Even if I want you to?” She asked quietly.
“You don’t want me to,” he told her with complete confidence.
“Is it going to harm people? What does your King want to do? Are you going to have to kill someone?” Cassie’s eyes implored him to say no; she needed him to say no.
He dropped his hands to her waist and pulled her closer to him. He saw her needs in his mind as he touched her, needs that he didn’t know if he could meet.
“Please don’t ask this of me Cassie. You know what I am.”
Cassie glared at him. She would not let him off that easily.
“I know that you have a choice. Regardless of what you were born into, you have a choice.”
“It’s not that simple,” he pleaded.
“We are the ones who complicate things, Trik. You either choose what’s right or what’s wrong. What is not simple about that?”
“I have responsibilities that I can’t turn from. My loyalty is to my King and my race,” Trik’s voice was growing into a frustrated growl.
Cassie pushed away from him. His hands dropped to his sides.
“You just met me,” she told him. “I don’t expect you to suddenly switch your loyalty to me, Trik. I still don’t understand all that is going on between us, but I know that I care for you. I care about what happens to you and I’m telling you that if you continue down the dark road you have been on for so long, it’s going to destroy you. You may be a dark elf, you may be an assassin, but you aren’t evil.”
Trik snorted, “Please, Arwenamin. Don’t romanticize me. Whatever good was in me, if ever there was any, was snuffed out long ago.”
“I don’t believe that.” Her hands fisted at her sides and she challenged him with her stare. “If that were true, then I would feel nothing for you.”
“If what you say is true, if there is any light left in me, then how come I am willing to steal you away against your will?” He watched the shock and then fear flash across her face.
“That’s who I am, Cassie. Something pure and good has landed in my lap, my Chosen. I never thought I would ever find you, but now that I have nothing will take you from me, not even your desire to leave me.”
“I never said that I didn’t want to be with you,” she said quickly.
“I see the disgust in your eyes when you talk of what I am,” he spat at her.
“Not disgust at you, Trik. Disgust at what you have had to do? Yes. Whether you admit it or not, the things you have had to do have left holes in you. It’s eating away at you. I’m disgusted at the King who would care so little for you and allow you, even order you, to do such things.”
“YOU AREN’T LISTENING!” Trik yelled, causing Cassie to jump.
“I have enjoyed it, Cassandra! I like the kill. I like proving myself better than my adversary. It is in my nature to destroy things.” He turned from her, trying to gather his composure, not wanting to scare her any further. “I should let you go. I should leave and never look back. I will wind up destroying you.” His words were a whisper on the air, but Cassie heard them and felt the pain of them in her chest.
Cassie started to speak but he cut her off. “I have some things to take care of. I just came back to make sure you were alright. I need you to be okay with me going or else you will be in pain.”
“Are you coming back?” She asked him, trying to cover up the desperation she was feeling.
Trik closed the space between them and grabbed her face, pulling her to his own. He kissed her firmly, possessively. Cassie opened her mouth and let him deepen the kiss. His tongue brushed against hers and she felt her knees weaken. Trik wrapped an arm around her waist, supporting her as he continued to kiss her. Cassie once again felt the pull that was becoming all too familiar. She heard Trik groan into her mouth and suddenly felt cold metal behind her. Trik had pushed her back against the lockers and she hadn’t even realized they had been moving.
Trik had never felt anything better than his Chosen’s lips against his own. He nipped at her bottom lip playfully and pulled back from her mouth only to continue nipping and kissing her across her jaw and down her neck. He heard a gasp from her and felt her breath quicken against his cheek. He needed to stop, but he didn’t. He kissed her lower and when his teeth grazed her collarbone; her passionate whimper finally had him pulling back. When a woman makes a sound like that a man can do one of two things; push forward knowing she was beyond the point of saying no, or be a gentleman and step back. Trik had never been a gentleman, but then Cassie brought all sorts of things out of him that he never knew himself to be capable of.
He lifted his head to look at her face. Her lips were swollen and red, glistening from his kiss. Her eyes were half closed, clouded with pleasure and her chest rose and fell quickly as she tried to regulate her breathing. She was breathtaking, Trik thought to himself. Her lips rose into a sultry smile and Trik quickly pushed away from her. He needed some space between them before he threw her on the floor and…
“You look like you’re ready to ravish me,” Cassie interrupted his thoughts seeming to pluck the very idea from his mind.
“Don’t tempt me,” he told her with a wicked gleam in his eyes.
“You never answered my questions,” she responded.
“Didn’t I?” Trik didn’t try to hide the smugness on his face.
“You were just as lost as I was, Trik.”
“I do not deny it beautiful, which is why I need to go. You test my resolve, Cassandra. I will be back. I will always come back for you.” As he started to walk away from her he turned back, continuing to walk backwards. “Oh and if that boy touches you, I’ll rip off his arms.”
Cassie’s mouth dropped open, but he was out of sight before she could respond.