Rapture (Elfin Series) (8 page)

A thunder of applause went up as they cheered her and she knew that she was grinning like an idiot, but she didn’t care because she wanted these people to be safe and healthy, just as she wanted the human race
to be safe and healthy. And she realized maybe for the first time just how much she was willing to give up to see those things happen.

“You’re a natural,” Trik told her as he ran a brush through her hair. She closed her eyes and focused on his fingers brushing across her neck as he gathered her blonde locks into his large palm.

“A natural dork?” s
he only half joked.

“We already knew you were a dork
, Cassie. I meant you’re a natural leader. The people soaked you up like you were the last bit of rain they would get for years. You were spellbinding.”

The awe in his voice had Cassie turning to look at him. She saw his silver eyes nearly glowing as he brought her hair to his face and sniffed deeply of her.

She grinned. “That’s sort of creepy.”

“Maybe,” he agreed nonchalantly, “but then you knew when I told you I would stal
k you for the rest of your life that I was creepy. What’s a little hair sniffing compared to that?”

Cassie threw her head back and laughed at his words. What made it funnier was that it was true. He would stalk her even if she said she didn’t want him. She looked at his incredibly handsome face,
his shiny, black as night hair and his silver eyes and thought she’d be crazy to
not
want him. He had a presence about him that drew her like a magnet to metal. He called to her and she longed to be close to him. Okay so maybe she was just as creepy as he was.

“I realized while I was standing there talking that everything I was saying was true.”

“Well, it’s always good to make sure that what you are saying is true,” Trik teased her.

She rolled her eyes. “I just mean I finally
realized how much I want this—how much I want you.”

Trik
’s eyes snapped up and he perked up from his lounging position on the bed. “Finally realized?”

She nodded and then turned so that she was fully facing him
, causing her hair to slip through his fingers and fall away from his hand.

“I’ve known that I wanted you
, Trik, but I didn’t know if I wanted the whole elf-kabob.”

Trik laughed. “Elf-kabob?”

She let out a frustrated sigh. “I’m not saying this right. Okay, basically I guess I realize that I’m needed and I’m where I’m supposed to be.”

“I get what you’re saying
, Love. And I’m glad that you want to be here, that you want me and my elf-kabob.”

Cassie grabbed a pillow and hit him as he laughed. “That’s n
ot what I meant and you know it, Triktapic.”

“It sure sounded to me like you were saying you wanted my ka-bob.” He was laughing so hard now that he no longer tried to block her pillow shots. Instead
, he rolled and grabbed her around the waist and continued to roll until they rolled right off the bed. Cassie squealed until the air was knocked out of her as they hit the floor.

“Umph!” Trik grunted as she landed on top of him.

“Trik!”

“Cassie!” h
e repeated in the same outraged voice. “Why are we hollering out each other’s names if we aren’t in the throes of passion?”

“Ugh!” Cassie groaned.
“You are incorrigible.”

Trik reached up and held her face in both of his hands forcing her to look at him. Her breath caught in her lungs as she saw the raw emotion where only moments ago humor had been.

“So you will stay with me, be my wife, my queen, my Chosen?” he asked her seriously.

Cassie felt as if all the air had been sucked from her lungs
, and the only thing that could put it back was the man before her. His large, warm hands, capable of destroying, held her face gently as he earnestly awaited her answer.

“I will,” she finally told him. Deep inside of her
, she knew that such a proclamation should feel heavy, like maybe the weight of a supernatural race had just been laid across her shoulders. But for some reason, she actually felt lighter. As soon as the words left her mouth and the intent filled her heart, she knew she was fulfilling her destiny, her role in this world, and lucky for her it just happened to be at the side of the sexiest, albeit deadliest, elf assassin ever. But you wouldn’t hear her complaining.

Trik pulled her face down to his and placed a tender kiss on her lips.

“I love you,” he breathed out and the warmth of his breath poured over her face. She wanted to crawl inside that warmth and wrap herself up and then wiggle around in the utter joy of it. “You think the strangest things sometimes,” he whispered to her as he listened to her thoughts.

Cassie rolled her eyes. “I can only imagine what a stroll through your mind would look like.”

“I’m an open book, Baby,” he winked, “at least to you that is. You can take a leisurely stroll through the bowels of my mind anytime you want.”

She laughed.
“I don’t think I want to stroll the
bowels
of anything.” She yawned then and wished not for the first time that she had Trik’s energy level. She could get so much more done if she didn’t have to sleep.

“Time for you to get your beauty sleep,” Trik murmured to her as he sat up. Quite a feat since she was sprawled across him. He shifted her in his lap so that he could carry her and stood with no effort at all. She wrapped her arms around his neck and laid her head on his shoulder as he carried her back to the bed.

After he got her situated under the covers, he started to move away from the bed and Cassie’s eyes popped open. “You aren’t going to stay?” she asked, suddenly panicked over the idea of Trik not with her.

His brow furrowed as he looked at her, trying to search for the source of her insecurity. He took in her suddenly alert and nervous state and immediately returned to her side. “You know me better than that love,” he crooned to her as he brushed her hair from her face. “You and I will always share a bed, day or nig
ht.” He grinned wickedly at her. “Now tell me why you freaked at the idea of me leaving you?”

Cassie tried to duck her head but Trik wasn’t having it. He placed a finger under her chin and gently raised it so that she was looking at him. “Talk to me
, Cassie.”

She let out an exaggerated sigh and flung herself back against the headboard. “I don’t know why
, okay?” she nearly whined. “For some reason, every now and then I just have these little, minor moments of irrational clinginess.”

“Irrational clinginess,” he repeated and it sounded so much more ridiculous coming from his mouth.

Cassie frowned at him. “Don’t judge my choice of words, quiver boy,” she growled which only caused Trik to laugh.

“Kitten and her claws,” he chuckled.

“Just promise, you will sleep with me tonight,” she implored him with what she knew was a whine but she just didn’t have the energy to care.

“Oh
, how I have longed to hear you say those words,” Trik groaned as he peeled his shirt over his head.

“Uh, Trik, I was…I meant…
not…,” she stammered as she took in his very chiseled, very muscled, very lick-able physique.

He pulled back the covers and climbed in next to her and wrapped an arm around her waist pulling her down next to him. She was still sputtering when he used his power to put out the lights.

“You’re just too easy, Baby,” he teased her as he tucked her in close to him. “And yes, I do wish that meant being
easy
in multiple ways, not just easy to tease. Now go to sleep. We have a busy life ahead of us, and I don’t need you falling asleep when I save the world.”

She couldn’t stop the school girl giggle that bubbled out of her. He always knew exactly what to say and exactly what to do to put her at ease.
Awesome, freaking elf boyfriend
, she thought to herself with a mental snort.

“Yes
, I am,” he murmured against her neck where he had buried his face.“Now go to sleep. You can think about my awesomeness tomorrow.”

Though she was smiling to herself
, she let out a huff. “Is it me or has the bossiness gotten worse since you got your crown?”

Trik pinched her butt
, drawing a yelp and then giggle from her. “Woman,” Trik growled low, “go to sleep, or I will find a way to exhaust you until you can sleep.”

Cassie stilled instantly.

“That’s what I thought,” Trik rumbled.

Still grinning, she wrapped her arms around the one he had stretched over her stomach and snuggled back into him. His warmth enveloped her in a cocoon of love
, and as his lips pressed against her neck, she felt her heart swell and wondered if Dr. Seuss had it right when The Grinch’s heart grew from love. She felt as if her own heart was going to burst straight out of her chest. As she finally drifted off to sleep, she let go of her worries, let go of her fear, and embraced the hope that had been set before them today in the form of a people willing to forgive their king and fight for a world they didn’t belong to.

“Note to self: Laugh about the idea of a soul mate because really the joke is on you. Meanwhile
, the powers that orchestrated this little fiasco are laughing their asses off while you try to keep from jumping his bones and he tries to keep from killing everything that breathes too closely to you. Ahh, good times.” ~Elora

“We ready to do this?” Elora asked as she poured herself a glass of milk. She rubbed her head absently, trying to push away the dull ache that had taken up residency there.

“Are you alright?” Cush asked her as he watched her from his leaned position against the wall.

Elora glanced over to him, her glass frozen in mid raise to her mouth. “Uh, I suppose so.
I’ve got a little bit of a headache and the world is going to pot because of some liquid poison and a delusional elf king, but otherwise I’m peachy keen.”

Oakley let out a derisive snort as he looked from her to Cush. Elora chose to ignore it, not that it was hard since Cush had suddenly pushed away from the wall and was walking towards her with a frown plastered on his beautiful face.

“You have a headache?” he asked her and the concern that shown in his eyes melted her heart.

Damn hormones
,
she thought, knowing full well it had nothing to do with her hormones, or almost nothing.

“We don’t get headaches,” he told her.

Elora’s head tilted back to look up at him. “Ever?” she asked skeptically.

“Can you ever remember being sick?”

Elora thought for a moment and then thought some more. Her eyes widened as she realized the answer to his question. “How have I never noticed that?” She looked over to Lisa who was sitting on the counter, looking more like a teen than a mom. “Am I that dense?”

Lisa laughed.
“No, Elora, you just didn’t think about it because it wasn’t something we ever brought up. No one was ever sick in our house.”

“But Cassie’s been sick before,” she argued.

Cush took a step closer to her, obviously not liking the fact that she wasn’t giving him her full attention. “The point is that you shouldn’t have a headache.”

“Point or not, the fact
is…
,” she snapped, “is that I have a headache. So instead of standing there glaring at me for having something that I can’t control, how about you get me a Tylenol, Motrin or a hammer.”

He tilted his head at her.

“Don’t do it,” Oakley muttered.

“Why would you need a hammer?” Cush asked ignoring her brother who was now shaking his head.

Elora grinned at him and cocked a hip out to the side as she crossed her arms in front of her. “Because then I could hit you with it and your head would hurt too.”

Cush’s lips tightened. “And what would that accomplish? You’d still have a headache.”

“Misery loves company, Elf Boy.” She winked at him and then gulped down her milk. Leaving him in his stunned silence she walked around him and smiled at her brother who was chuckling under his breath. “Alright people, let’s get this show on the road. We have a book to translate, portals to open, and lives to save. No time for dilly dallying.”

“Who is she and where did my sister go?” Oakley asked Lisa.

Lisa smiled. “She’s still her, but now she has that,” she pointed at Cush who was staring after Elora, “to contend with, and it’s bringing out her spunky side.”

“You say spunky, I say horny
, but who am I to mince words?” Oakley joked.

Cush glanced at him from the corner of his eye.

Oakley shrugged. “Just calling it like I see it. You might want to make sure to lock your bedroom door at night or you might find yourself being mauled by a half elf.”

“She just said she wanted to hit me with a hammer,” Cush pointed out dryly.

“To Elora, that’s foreplay,” Oakley retorted just as dryly. Rin who had been quietly listening to everything spewed orange juice everywhere at Oakley’s declaration.

Lisa laughed as she tossed him a wet sponge. “He’s just kidding
, Cush,” she paused and then looked back at Oakley, “sort of.”

Cush shook his head and muttered under his breath as he turned and followed after Elora. “Let’s go get this book and do what needs to be done,” he nearly growled.

Lisa smacked Oakley’s arm as they followed behind Cush. “She’s going to kill you when she finds out you said that.”

Oakley smiled, not the least bit remorseful. “Naw, she’ll give me her evil stink eye and I might need to hide my toothbrush for a while, but in private she’ll wish she could have seen Cush’s face when I told him.”

Rin chuckled.
“I need to come to the human realm more often; you guys are extremely entertaining.”

“You might be disappointed in other humans,” Lisa told hi
m as they climbed into the van. “They aren’t all as amusing as Elora and her hammer.”

“What about my hammer?” Elora piped up at the mention of her name.

“You’re not getting a damn hammer,” Cush growled.

Elora turned to look at Oakley and Rin as they both let out rumbles of laughter and Lisa grinned at her. Elora looked over at an obviously irritated Cush and then back to her mom.

“I don’t get it,” she finally said.

Cush looked at her and she saw something in his eyes that stirred up the ever present butterflies. She swallowed hard and tried to keep from fanning herself as desire poured off of him in waves threatening to drown her.

“There’s nothing to get;
just know that you aren’t getting a hammer,” he spoke slowly and his deep voice vibrated in his chest.

“He’s afraid you’ll try to bang him with it,” Oakley blurted out.

Elora slapped a hand over her mouth to keep from laughing but she couldn’t stop her shoulders from shaking. She looked up at Oakley who was driving and trying to explain to a confused Rin why his statement was so outrageous. She saw the moment Rin got it, like a light bulb being switched on his face lit up and laughter rolled out of him like red carpet at the Oscars. She lost it then.

Cush stood in Lisa’s office watching as she climbed up on a counter and reached deep into the recesses of a cabinet. She pulled a thick book from the cabinet and then turned and knelt down holding
it out to him. As he reached for it her eyes caught his. “He will kill for this book,” she warned him.

Cush took the book from her. “Then let’s make sure he doesn’t find out we have it,” he responded firmly.

She hopped off the counter and then motioned for him to have a seat at her desk. Once settled, he opened the book and the pages crackled with age. The words on the pages jumped out at him immediately as the language of his people whispered in his mind. This book was full of magic and power. He could feel it in his fingers. As he flipped the pages, sharp tingles reverberated up into his hand and wrist.

“This is old magic,” he said softly and his deep voice seemed to bounce off the walls of the quiet room. “Ancient magic.” His eyes caught on a sentence and he flipped back to the page that had drawn his attention. He pulled the book closer and began to read.

“
The Forest Lords set forth three portals that did not require a reflection in order to be traveled through. These are known as the master portals and control every portal between the elfin realm and the human realm. When one of these portals is closed, then they all close.”

“Not to point out the obvious,” Oakley spoke up from his perch on the end of the desk, “but we sort of figured that part out. Is there anything that tells how to open them?”

Cush’s lips tightened as he glanced over at Oakley. “Patience.”

“Not my thing,” Oakley retorted.

Elora stepped forward and pushed her brother off the edge of the desk and away from the glowering elf. “That’s enough,” she told them both. “Oakley, quit trying to irritate Cush. And Cush, quit looking at my brother like you’re going to sew his lips shut.”

“Not a bad idea,” Cush told her with a nonchalant shrug.

Elora honed in on him with her purple gaze. “Neither is world peace, but it ain’t happening so don’t get your hopes up.” She pointed back at the book as if to say get on with it.

Cush fought back the smile that wanted to spread across his face at her surly banter because he didn’t want to find her attractive, or cute, or sexy
, and yet as she glared at him in all her dark glory, that’s exactly what he felt. He looked back down at the pages before him, shaking off the thoughts of what he didn’t want, but did want, but didn’t know what to do about, and focused on the words before him.

He read in silence, flipping page after page
, feeling the magic intensify at times only to then abate. Every now and then he would see someone shift out of the corner of his eye but no one ever interrupted him as he read. His eyes moved quickly and his mind translated the language as he searched for anything that would help them with any part of their dilemma. Then he found something.

“Bingo,” he muttered.

“Bingo? What’s Bingo?” Elora perked up at the sound of Cush’s voice after what felt like hours of silence. She looked at him expectantly.

He cleared his throat before he began to read aloud again.

“If a master portal is closed, the only way for the portals to be opened again is by a blood offering from the one who closed them.”

Elora scoffed.
“Of course they can only be opened by some psycho elf in another realm, because why on earth would we want this to be doable. Where would the fun in that be?”

Cush ignored her mini-rant and contin
ued to scan the page. “Loophole.” He grinned up at her but quickly looked away when he saw the way her lips parted and her eyes widened at his grin. “It says the portals can also be opened by the willing sacrifice of a servant.”

“You mean one of the dark elves would have to sacrifice themselves?” Elora asked.

“It just says a willing sacrifice. It doesn’t say it has to be their life,” Cush points out.

“Well that’s a
little
more doable,” she said as she pulled her long, dark hair up into a ponytail securing it with a rubber band from her wrist. She lowered her arms and propped her hands on her waist and chewed on her bottom lip as she thought. “Now we just need to find a sacrificial lamb amongst the dark elves in the human realm.” She looked at her mom and then to Cush and smiled. “You know what this means?”

“Uh, what?” Oakley asked blankly.

“Vegas baby!” she whooped.

“What’s in Las Vegas?”

“From what Cassie told me, it’s the dark-elf capital of the world.”

“And do you really believe you can get a dark elf to willingly give a s
acrifice to open the portals?” he countered.

Elora shrugged.
“Everyone has a price.”

Elora tapped her chin with her finger as she stared into her closet. She had already packed all the mundane items needed for traveling but she knew she needed something with a litt
le swagger; they were going to Sin City after all. Her mind drifted to Cassie and she felt a twist of regret in her gut that her best friend wouldn’t be with her to see the bright lights of Vegas in all their blaring glory.

“What’s
your
price, Little Raven?” A deep voice rumbled from her doorway startling her from her thoughts.

She turned slowly, giving herself time to compose herself, to see Cush standing in all his Elfin warrior glory. His hair was pulled back and in its long braid down his back
, and the band that he wore around his head should have looked feminine, but instead it made him appear regal without diminishing any of his masculinity. His green vest molded to his chest. Brown pants outlined powerful legs and the boots were like icing on the cake—dude was hot. She would love to say that her breath didn’t catch, or that her heart didn’t do some ridiculous girly flip, or that the damn butterflies weren’t doing the tango in her stomach again, but the fact of the matter was that she was over the freaking moon for the guy. And there he was, standing there, staring at her with those eyes and that mouth and,
get a grip,
she growled to herself.