Rapture

by Quinn Loftis

  “You want me to sleep after you just showed me…,” she was cut off by his lips pressing to hers. She started to respond, but then quickly pulled back. “Um, okay, no kissing until after we’ve slept.”

  “Now you’re feeling just a taste of the need I feel for you.” He tucked her close against him and kissed her forehead.

  Cassie snuggled into him and relished the safety she felt in his arms. “I love you, Trik,” she whispered.

  “Oh, Baby,” he crooned to her, causing her to smile, “I love you too.”

  She pressed her face to his chest and absorbed his heat, breathed in his scent, and began to drift off to sleep.

  “What about that book you have, Lisa?” Elora asked as they all sat gathered in their living room, a room that normally appeared to be average to large in size but that had now been dwarfed because of the two tall warriors which occupied it.

  Lisa’s eyes shot over to Elora and then quickly back to Cush and Rin. “Um,” she began.

  “Mom?” Elora prompted.

  “Yes, well you see that book…it well…,” Lisa stumbled over her words as she twisted her hands in her lap nervously.

  “Mom, what’s wrong?” Oakley finally asked. “What book is Elora talking about?”

  “Okay, based on your shady behavior,” Elora interrupted, “I’m going to guess that you think tweedledee and tweedledumb over here are going to hog tie you or something when they find out about your book. I assure you they are not.” She turned and looked at Cush and Rin. “Are you, boys?” She nearly laughed when Rin gave a quick shake of his head as if he were scared of her, a little human. Cush shook his head, albeit, with less enthusiasm. “See? So, Lisa, tell me why that book freaks you out so much and this time tell me the truth.”

  Lisa let out a resigned sigh and sat back into the chair. She crossed her legs and chewed on her bottom lip for several seconds before she began to speak. “That book, as I told you before, is the Book of the Elves.” She paused and looked over at the two warriors. Sure enough, their eyes were as wide as dinner plates. She nodded at them in acknowledgement. “My mate gave it to me to hide.” There were several moments of silence before Elora finally spoke up.

  “Whoa, whoa, wait a second,” she said as she waved her hands at her mom. “I’m sorry but I could have sworn that you just said that your mate, not husband, but mate.”

  Lisa gave Elora one of her looks and Elora held her hands up in surrender. “Okay, okay. I’ll shut up until you’re done, but I want it noted that I’m not happy.”

  Oakley rolled his eyes. “When did she become such a drama queen?”

  Lisa chuckled. “Since the world went to hell in a hand basket, a new side of your sister has emerged. I kind of like it; she’s all spunky. It’s cute.”

  “I’m sitting right here.” Elora pointed to herself. “I can totally hear you.”

  “As I was saying,” Lisa continued, “my mate gave it to me to hide from Lorsan, and then he was killed. Oakley, Elora, your father was a dark elf. There I said it. No more hiding.”

  “Bloody hell, did not see that coming,” Elora muttered as she stared wide–eyed at her mom.

  “Me either,” Oakley agreed, dumbfounded.

  “After he died, it was safer that I sever ties with that world and so I raised you in the human realm, although Syndra and I kept in contact. She and I became allies and she helped shield the magic of the book to keep it hidden.”

  “Um, putting aside for a second that you are claiming that my father is an…elf,” Oakley interrupted. “What’s in the book that is so dangerous?” Oakley asked.

  “Prophecies and history,” Cush replied solemnly. All their heads swung around to look at him. “Past and future—all contained in one book. What could be more dangerous? The one who holds the book holds the fate of the elves in his hands?”

  “I can’t read most of it,” Lisa admitted. “It’s in your language. But my mate told me that it was imperative that Lorsan never get his hands on it. So we kept it hidden together for centuries, and then I continued to keep it hidden once he was gone.”

  There was silence and then Oakley nearly yelled. “Centuries?”

  Lisa nodded her head slowly and then looked over at Elora who’d become quiet.

  “Oh, don’t mind me,” Elora told her when she noticed Lisa looking at her. “I’m still stuck on ‘your dad was a dark elf.’ So just, um…,” she flicked her hand at them, “just carry on.”

  “Um, sis, I think you need to get your head in the game because our mother just told us she has been keeping the book safe for centuries, as in plural.”

  “It’s only been two and a half centuries, Oakley, don’t you go getting dramatic on me too,” Lisa told him with a sigh.

  “You’re over 200 years old?” Cush asked her.

  She nodded.

  “But how? You live in the human realm and your mate is dead.”

  “There are ways,” Lisa told him noncommittally. She looked back at Elora then and her features softened. “Are you alright?”

  “I just wish you had told me,” Elora said quietly. “Wait, so all that time that you acted like you hadn’t seen Syndra in her true form was a lie? Everything you said you didn’t know was just a lie? Wow, that’s just…I mean…I totally get that it was your secret to keep and that you have your reasons, and I’m not going to have some big meltdown or cry fest over this revelation because, drama or not, I don’t do cry fests.”

  “Do you breathe?” Rin laughed, “Because you nearly started turning blue in the face on that little tirade.”

  Elora narrowed her eyes at him. “Watch it quiver carrier, you have to sleep sometime.”

  “I wanted to tell you,” Lisa interjected, “really I did, and there were so many times that I spoke with Syndra about it, and then when Cassie wound up being Trik’s Chosen, I nearly just spilled it all.”

  “Why didn’t you?” Oakley asked.

  “Fear, shame, and any other reason a parent can come up with for not telling their children the truth,” she answered sheepishly. “I just wanted you guys to have a normal life. I wanted you to grow up and get married and not worry about whether your love was going to be killed by a dark-elf king. A fat lot of good that did me, huh?” She smiled at both her kids and was relieved to see that there was no judgment in their eyes.

  “So I’m assuming that Lorsan killed our father? That he didn’t leave us when we were babies?” Elora asked.

  “Yes, but you should know that your father’s name wasn’t Ben Thomas.

  Lisa smiled and her eyes seemed to glaze over as her mind went back to another place in time. “His name was Steal.”

  Elora covered her mouth as she laughed. “Your man stole the elf book and his name was Steal?” She looked over at Rin and Cush as she shook her head. “What is with you people and your messed up names?”

  A single brow on Cush’s face rose and his lips quirked as he looked at her. “You people?” he asked. “Don’t you mean our people?”

  “Dude, I might be half elf, but my name doesn’t mean butt pillow.”

  “Ouch,” Oakley laughed. “Is that why she calls you Cush?”

  Cush didn’t answer; he just continued to hold Elora’s stare.

  “Okay you two, the sexual tension in this room is enough to strangle an elephant. How about we don’t make direct eye contact,” Lisa told them and though it was obvious she was teasing, it was also equally obvious that there was a tiny drop of seriousness in her admonishment.

  Elora finally broke eye contact with Cush and rubbed her hand across her face. Her mind felt like mush, her body ached, and though she wanted to know everything and anything there was to know about her dad, she also just wanted a shower and a bed. Now to figure out which of those wants was the greatest?

  “Okay,” she said looking at Cush, “so you could probably read what’s in this elf book right?”

  Cush nodded.

  “And it might shed some light on how to open up the portals
?”

  Cush shrugged, “I honestly do not know, but I suppose it could be a possibility.”

  “Well then, I say tomorrow we get this book and let you and Rin have a crack at it.”

  Oakley nodded. “I agree. We need to start somewhere and what better place than our history?”

  Lisa smiled at her son and then looked over at Elora who was also looking at her brother. “We?” she asked him.

  Oakley frowned. “Don’t think for a second that I’m letting you two do this alone.”

  “They won’t be alone,” Cush spoke up.

  Oakley rolled his eyes. “Dude, don’t even get me started on the other reasons I’m staying around, which has everything to do with you not knowing if you want my sister but knowing you can’t live without her. Sword, quiver, arrows, or whatever…if you hurt my sister, I will take you out.”

  Elora tried not to laugh, but seeing her computer nerd brother tell an elfin warrior that he was going to take him out was nearly too much.

  “Okay, Oakley, that’s enough.” Elora stood up and walked over to him and gave him a hug. “Thank you,” she whispered.

  “I really will kill him if he hurts you,” he whispered back.

  Elora pulled back and looked up into his sober eyes. “I believe you,” she told him finally and then turned and headed towards her room. “Night,” she called out over her shoulder without bothering to look back. She was drained. Her head hurt; her emotions were raw and she felt like every nerve in her body had been exposed to the elements, and she was ready to be alone.

  She took a quick shower, brushed her teeth, put on her favorite black tank top and gray sweats, and climbed into her bed. Just as she was drifting off to sleep, she heard a soft knock on her door. She knew it was one of two people. It was either her mom coming to check on her, in which case she didn’t feel like doing the whole mom–daughter I love you scene, or it was Cush. And she didn’t have a clue what he wanted and, at the moment, she was so tired that she didn’t really care. So she ignored the knocking and let herself drift off to sleep.

  Cush stood listening to her breath on the other side of her closed door. He could tell that she wasn’t quite asleep yet, which meant that she had chosen to ignore his knock. This both irritated and amused him. He didn’t know why he had sought her out. Maybe it was to make sure she was okay after learning that her father was a dark elf and that her mother had lied to her her entire life. Those seemed like pretty big pieces of information for a person to learn, and a part of him worried that she was in her room alone dealing with this new information without any support. He didn’t want a Chosen—but she was his, and he hated the idea of her hurting, and he wanted to be the one to comfort her.

  “Get a grip, man,” he growled at himself as he finally walked away from her door, accepting that she wasn’t going to answer. He went back to the room that Lisa had given him and Rin to share and found that his comrade was already snoring softly, sound asleep, which was well and good since he wasn’t in the mood to hear his little remarks about how he couldn’t get around fate. Rin had already shared his two cents with him about how Elora was his Chosen and he should be embracing it, not fighting it. When Cush didn’t respond to that, Rin dove right into the do you know how many warriors would take your place argument, which had made Cush want to kill something.

  Yes, he was well aware of how many men would be happy to find their Chosen and even more ecstatic to see that it was Elora—

  beautiful, exotic, sexy, Elora. He huffed as he undressed and climbed into the bed that was entirely too small. But then he had volunteered to come on this little mission so he couldn’t very well complain. He closed his eyes and immediately her face popped into his mind. His eyes snapped back open and he stared up at the white ceiling. He didn’t know how long he lay there fighting his instincts, his need to go to her, before he finally drifted off into a fitful sleep.

  Lisa sat on the edge of her bed. Her heart was heavier than it had been in a very long time. Talking about Steal had dredged up old pains and finally telling Oakley and Elora about their father had worn her out. Most days she tried to forget, but then most days she failed miserably because you don’t forget your Sh’mai. In fact, most don’t even go on once they lose their mate. But she had Oakley and Elora to take care of after Steal died. She didn’t have the luxury of curling up in a ball and turning her back on the world. She had to keep living. She had to live and give their children lives that would make the sacrifice he made worth it.

  She hadn’t told them everything. She had nearly bit through her tongue as she waited for them to ask her how he had died, but somehow that question had not popped up―yet. She knew it would be coming and she dreaded having to answer it, dreaded seeing the hurt in Elora’s eyes. How do you tell your daughter that her best friend’s mate killed her dad?

  Chapter 5

  “It would be nice to be able to set ourselves apart from the human race, to be able to say that we are superior in some way no matter how great or small. But the truth is, we are more alike than many of my kind would want to admit. We love, we hate, we fight, we fall apart, and we try to get back up again. I can only hope that as we move forward to a new time in our history, we will prove to be as willing to change as I’ve witnessed the humans to be. I can only hope that we will not fall victim to pride and greed.” ~Syndra

  “Is that everyone?” Trik asked.

  “Yes, the entire light-elf kingdom. We’ve assembled everyone in the main courtyard,” Tamsin told him as they stood staring out into crowd from the second story window.

  Trik’s eyes scanned over the faces and he prayed silently that he didn’t recognize anyone, because if he did, then that more than likely meant he had killed someone related to them.

  “It’s a good turn out,” Tamsin said no doubt trying to sound optimistic.

  Trik nodded but didn’t remark.

  “Quit your fretting, Triktapic,” Syndra said as she walked briskly into the room. “You are the rightful king, and they will either accept it or not.”

  Trik wanted to growl but he just gritted his teeth instead. “I don’t know why all of you insist on thinking that I’m somehow frightened of these people. I’m still Triktapic, dark-elf assassin. I may not be quite as vicious as I once was, but I didn’t just suddenly become a pansy overnight.”

  Cassie, who had come in just behind Syndra, slipped her arms around his waist and laid her head against his chest. Without thought his arms encircled her and pulled her closer against him.

  “I think that’s how you should start your speech,” Cassie teased.

  “What? With, ‘hey just so you know, I’m not suddenly a pansy?’”

  She laughed and he soaked up the sweet sound, knowing that times for laughter would be few and far between in the coming days.

  “You have to admit that it’s catchy.”

  Trik pulled back so that he could look down at her face. Her beauty, so much more than skin deep, left him breathless. As her eyes danced with mischief and her lips twitched with barely contained humor, he was momentarily speechless. She tilted her head to the side in question.

  “You’re breathtaking,” he explained. “All you have to do is stand there and breathe and the earth beneath my feet moves.” He watched as heat flared up her cheeks and they darkened to a deep red. He trailed a finger across her flushed cheek and grinned at her. “I love you,” he told her simply.

  Her breath caught as she looked up at him, and he knew she could see just how much he meant those words, just how desperately he felt them.

  “I know,” she answered, “and I love you.”

  Trik leaned down and pressed his lips to hers. He didn’t allow himself to linger because Cassie was a temptation that he did not resist well. When he broke the kiss he took her hand in his but took a step back putting some space between their bodies. He looked over at Tamsin who was studiously staring out into the crowd, his own Chosen by his side.

  Trik took a deep breath and let
it out before he spoke. “Let’s do this.” He turned and headed for the door, towing Cassie alongside him. The time for thinking and worrying had past and now he knew it was time to take action. Regardless of the outcome, regardless of the coming reactions from his fellow elves, it was time for his people to be reintroduced to their king.

  Cassie’s stomach danced to the tune of a thousand butterfly wings as they stepped out into the courtyard. Even though she stood at Trik’s side, she still felt vulnerable and exposed. She wasn’t afraid for her own safety. No, she feared for Trik’s, and she knew that if he was listening to her thoughts he would be picking up on that fear loud and clear. She followed closely behind him as he climbed the steps of a pedestal that would allow him to see out over the loud gathering and allow them to see him.

  “Stop your fretting, Love. You can handle this.” She heard Trik’s voice in her mind and the warmth of that closeness was enough to settle her nerves. Whatever they would face, it would be side by side, together. They were no longer alone; Trik was no longer alone.

  “Never again, Cassie,” he confirmed her thoughts and she looked up at him and smiled. He turned to face the crowd and she felt him pull a measure of power into his body. As she had seen him do before, he released the glory that was his kingship and took on all of the power bestowed upon him by the Forest Lords. He seemed to grow in size and he radiated light and warmth. The murmuring that had been rippling across the crowd suddenly stopped. Cassie swore that the utter silence was so complete that everyone assembled could hear her heart beating in her chest.

  “Behold,” a deep booming voice rang out from beside Cassie. She hadn’t realized that Tamsin and Syndra had joined them. “The Forest Lords have seen fit to reappoint the rightful king over all the Elven race. He once commanded your loyalty. And we rebelled, thus driving him to his own rebellion. At that time, the Forest Lords stripped him of his royalty and exiled him. He was to remain exiled until such a time that he found the other half of his soul, his Chosen, the one being who could draw him back to the light. Such a time has come.” Tamsin paused. Cassie thought it must be for emphasis and it was working because they were riveted. She was riveted.