Tamed by the Prince (Elven Lover) (4 page)

W
hen Merlon left
the club a few beers later he was still with Cherry in his thoughts. The need to touch her and to make her his bride became stronger and stronger. It was more than just the desire for physical fulfilment. Even if he were to consider calming his lust with another woman, which he did not, it would give him as little relief as vinegar quenching a thirst. Merlon would never have thought that he would find his bride specifically amongst the humans. It was actually not unusual for an elf to marry a human woman, but, after all, he was the successor to the throne. Nevertheless, he was certain that his people would accept his chosen queen. Of course it was not what was expected of him, but Cherry would bewitch all their hearts. On the other hand he could have no influence over the whole thing anyway.

Cherry was destined to be his bride. If this were not so, then his feelings would not be as strong. He had fallen in love on numerous occasions and he had had still more one-night-stands, but that was nothing compared to his feelings for the little redhead who now determined his every thought. She moved him at a much deeper level. He had always wondered how he would know when the right one entered his life. Now he had his answer. It was simply so obvious. He had seen her and known immediately that she was his soul-mate. There was simply no doubt.

On turning into a side street at the corner of the club Merlon suddenly had an inexplicable sense of impending danger. He growled quietly and every muscle in his body was on the alert. He was aware of an almost unnoticeable metallic smell that made him realise who he was dealing with. He could only hope that there were not too many of them. Suddenly they were there. They surrounded him on all sides. There were five. Merlon swore quietly. He could have taken them on if they had been humans but these were ice-elves. They were damned strong and damned nasty. Their greenish skin made them look ill, yet they were anything but weak. Their fingers ended in sharp claws with which they could tear him to pieces. It would be a miracle if he survived this. They attacked straight away and he did not even have a chance to transform into his elf form to use his full power.

A grim smile appeared on his face. No way was he going to make it easy for these wretches. He would deal with them as well as he could in his human form. Jumping up high, he kicked one of the wretches hard in the chest. The ice-elf fell back into some bins that crashed to the floor. Merlon crouched skilfully and planted a hook into another elf’s liver. This one staggered, but remained standing. With further punches and kicks he kept the ice-elves off his body for a while, but he was gashed many times with their sharp claws until he bled from numerous wounds and he was aware of his strength disappearing. He regretted that he would never hold Cherry in his arms. It was ironic that he had only just met his bride and that he would die before he could make her his. What he would give to have at least spent just one night with her before having to die. But it was not to be.

Merlon staggered then fell to the ground under the weight of two ice-elves. He felt them actually tear the flesh from his bones and blood filled his mouth. The physical pain was unbearable, but the most painful thing was the thought of never being able to tell Cherry what she meant to him. She would never know how close she was to becoming an elf-queen. He croaked her name. Then darkness overcame him.

Cherry sighed as she finished the accounts. Everyone else had gone home an hour before and she had set about doing the monthly accounts. She was doing it early, but somehow she had no desire to go home. It had never really been her home. It was, and remained, Justin’s house. Every detail in the furnishing, from the heavy leather couch to the black bedclothes, was to his taste. She had always hated it and would not carry on living there. She had still not decided where to go. It was all so difficult. For years she had lived under Justin’s thumb. He had dictated her every move. She had not even chosen the colour of her lipstick herself. Cherry felt terribly dependent. She had always dreamt of being free and now she was it almost frightened her.

“You’re a wreck, Cherry Thorne,” she said quietly to herself.

Intense exhaustion suddenly hit her and she yawned. It was time to go. She would fall asleep as soon as her head touched the pillow. The next day she was not working and would think seriously about her future.  She had had enough for today. She could no longer form a clear thought. She stood up wearily and put the documents into the drawer then she grabbed her jacket and her handbag and left the club through the side exit.

Cherry had gone just a few steps when she saw a person lying at the end of the alleyway.  It was probably another drunkard who had not made it home. She was about to turn and go home in the opposite direction, but something stopped her. She froze and stared at the person. It was dark in the alley but the rays from a distant lamp cast a weak light onto the body and something was not right with what she saw.

Cherry frowned. It had been dry for days. How come the man was lying in a puddle? And why was the light from the lamp casting a reddish shimmer on the water? The hair on the back of Cherry’s neck stood up as an awful thought formed in her mind. That was not a puddle of water. It was blood!

“Shit!”

She approached with trembling knees and her heartbeat sped up as she recognised the person lying in the pool of blood. It was him. Her heart screamed in horror. No! It could not be true! Not him! She ran the last few metres and fell onto her knees beside him.

“On no! Oh no!” she sobbed in panic.

He looked awful. Blood everywhere. Flesh hanging in tatters from his body. No person could have done this. He must have been the victim of one or probably several of those awful fighting dogs. Tears ran down her face and fell onto him as she bent over him.

A croaking sound entered her ears. It was very weak. But she was certain that she had not imagined it. He was alive! But for how long? Could a person survive such horrible injuries? There could hardly be a drop of blood left in his body going by the huge pool of blood that he was lying in. 

‘Oh my God!’

“My …” he suddenly whispered weakly, and she cried out quietly in shock.

“What? What do you want to say? I … I’ll call an ambulance. Hold on in there.”

“No … my mobile … take …”

“Where? In your jacket?”

He nodded weakly and she looked in horror at his upper body, covered in blood. She had never been good with blood and he had a lot everywhere. She summoned up all her courage and put her hand into his tattered jacket. She found his mobile in the inside pocket.

“Call …”

“Who? Who should I call?” she cried in panic.

“Anyone!” he croaked.

“OK! I … I’ll do that. I don’t know why you don’t want an ambulance, but OK. I’ll …”

He grabbed her wrist and she screamed again.

“Do … it!”

“Alright! I’m doing it. OK? I just mean … damn it!”

She tried to unlock the key lock with the same combination as on her phone and it worked. Then she opened the contacts book and the first name was Aerios.
‘
What!’
Who had a name like that, for goodness’ sake?

“Aerios? Should I …?”

“Do it!”

She pressed the call button and waited, her heart pounding, for someone to answer.

“What’s up, Merlon?” answered a sleepy voice. You’d better have a good reason for …”

“Hello?” Cherry interrupted his babble. Her heart was thumping and she felt horribly as if she was about to be sick.

“Who are you? How have you got Merlon’s mobile?” growled the man at the end of the line.

“I’m Cherry. I’ve found this man, Merlon, he’s lying here and …”

‘Shit! This can’t be happening. This must be a nightmare!’

“What’s wrong with him?”

“He’s bleeding everywhere and … he looks awful. I wanted to call an ambulance but …”

“
No ambulance
! I’ll be right there. Where are you now? I’m not getting a signal from him, probably because he’s too weak. Tell me where you are!”

“Do you know the B57?”

“Yes!”

“In the side street.”

“OK. I’m coming!”

Barely a moment later a man appeared as if from nowhere and a shocked scream stuck in Cherry’s throat. He bent straight down to the injured man and lifted him into his arms.

“We have to get him away from here. Where do you live?”

“Too far away! We’ll take him inside! Into the B57!”

“It’s already closed and I don’t want any witnesses!”

“I’ve got a key. I’m the boss!”

“OK! Let’s go!” agreed Aerios and she rushed ahead of him to the side entrance. With trembling fingers she opened the door and let Aerios in. She locked the door and turned to him.

“Along here!”

Cherry led him into one of the club rooms that was not used much.

“Lie him down here!”

Aerios put Merlon’s body down on the table top and Merlon groaned quietly, but again seemed to have lost consciousness.

“What are we going to do now? He’s lost too much blood. Without a doctor …”

“No doctor! I need help. I’m fetching a friend. Wait here and do nothing. I’ll be back straight away. It’ll only take a few minutes.”

“I can’t say that I think that’s a good idea, but OK! I’ll wait!”

Aerios nodded and disappeared before her eyes.

The fact that this man appeared before her from nowhere, and then disappeared again, was more than a little disconcerting, but Cherry was going to wait till later to think about that. Right now Merlon was her biggest concern. He looked awful and every part of her begged her to call an ambulance. Even though she could not imagine that they could save him. He definitely had no chance without medical help. How did this Aerios think he was going to help him? It was impossible. On the other hand it was also impossible to appear out of nowhere or dissolve into thin air.

‘Damn it! Where is the man now?’

Before Cherry had completed this thought Aerios suddenly appeared with another man. Cherry only vaguely registered that Aerios’ blond hair was now considerably longer than before. The other man’s red hair was also long. They both looked more like characters from a fantasy comic. They even had … long pointed ears.

‘OK! Don’t worry about it! Whatever these men are, think about it later, Cherry!’

“I don’t know how you guys do that, but I hope your powers can also do something about this,” she said more calmly than she really felt.

“
Damn it!
” swore the man that Aerios had brought back with him.

“She’s OK,” said Aerios. “She found him when he was still conscious. Merlon asked her to call me. He was so weak that he had no telepathic powers left to call me himself.”

“I still think it’s better if she goes,” the other man said decisively.

“
I’m staying!
” said Cherry in a voice that allowed for no contradiction.

Just let them try to take her away from Merlon’s side! She had found him, in front of her club, and for some reason she felt responsible for him. She would not move from his side!

“This could take hours, or longer,” Aerios interjected.

“And the longer we carry on talking, the weaker he’ll get. So get on with whatever you can do!”

The two men exchanged a glance and sighed.

“Right, to work then!” said the red-haired man at last, and they stood at the table, one to the right and one to the left of Merlon’s shoulders. Whilst Aerios held Merlon’s head, the other man laid his hands on Merlon’s chest.

“Don’t be shocked,” the red-haired man said to Cherry. “We first have to transform him back into his true form. The human body is too weak.”

Cherry nodded weakly. She felt sick. She had found a man in the alley outside her club, half dead and totally ripped to pieces by goodness knows what; another man had appeared out of nowhere and then disappeared before her eyes; he had then brought another man out of nowhere and they both looked as if they were not from this world. What could make her day any worse? She took a deep breath and looked at the red-haired man.

 “I had realised that you guys aren’t human. Will … will I … be really shocked by his appearance?”

“He’s not a monster, if that’s what you mean. Ready?” The last question was aimed at both Cherry and Aerios.

Cherry nodded.

“If you are,” answered Aerios.

The two men were clearly making their energy flow into Merlon’s body until his body glowed in a weak bluish colour, and then the transformation took place. Merlon was now lying naked on the table and, apart from his facial features, he looked completely different. His skin was shimmering in a bluish colour and he had long pointed ears. But she was most shocked by his impressive sex!

“Heavens!” cried Cherry.

 Aerios grinned.

“It means that only the right one survives being entered by an elf.”

Cherry blushed. And the two guardians laughed quietly.

“Per… perhaps you guys should get on with it now,” said Cherry, avoiding eye contact with the men.

The men focussed on their work again. Now and then they spoke to one another quietly but most of the time they worked in silence. Cherry could hardly detect any change in Merlon’s condition. The wounds had indeed stopped bleeding and Merlon’s breathing appeared to be stronger and more regular. The men’s powers did seem to be having an effect and for the first time since Cherry had found Merlon bleeding in the alley she regained a little hope that he might live. Her thoughts swam with the things that she had seen and experienced during the last few hours. Up to now she had never believed in the supernatural. She had once been to a magic show and knew that all she had seen there was tricks, even if she could not see how the magician did it. But she knew that she was not seeing that sort of trick here. What she had seen was real and that meant that the supernatural did exist.

‘Elves!’