“So, are we going to dance or what?” she asked with bravado that she didn’t really feel. Just as the one she had kicked made a move towards her, the doors behind her flew open, and Trik and all his power came storming in. His arm stretched out and the two dark elves were flung back against the wall. Their legs dangled uselessly several feet from the floor as they were held in place by the sheer will of her mate. Trik walked straight to her and looked her over. He must have seen something he didn’t like because his eyes began to swirl and glow silver.
“Are you alright?” he asked her gently as he cupped her face.
She nodded. “I was using what you taught me,” she told him proudly.
His lips turned up in a slight smile. “My fierce beautiful queen.”
“Don’t you forget it,” she teased him back. She reached up on her tippy toes and pressed a kiss to his lips. “I’m fine,” she whispered against them. “They didn’t hurt me.”
Trik’s forehead pressed to hers and she could tell that he was barely holding it together.
“Why did he send you,” he finally asked as he turned to face the two dark elves. They stared back at him blankly as if he had spoken a foreign language. “Agog,” Trik said the elf’s name with a familiar purr. “I believe you have been on a few missions with me. You know what I’m capable of.”
“You’re a light elf now,” Agog interrupted him.
A slow smile spread across Trik’s face and it sent chills down Cassie’s arms and not the good kind.
“When it comes to my Chosen, there is nothing that I am not capable of. So if you think for a minute that I won’t utilize all of my skills, vast as they are, in order to protect her, then you are so very, very mistaken.”
Cassie turned to see Tamsin and Syndra both enter the room. Syndra hurried over to her. “Are you alright?” Cassie was slightly surprised when the light-elf queen hugged her.
“Yeah, I’m good. They didn’t get a chance to hurt me,” she told her honestly.
“What are you going to do with them, Trik?” Tamsin asked him.
Trik stared up at the men and with a flick of his wrist they crumpled to the ground. They weren’t dead. Cassie could still see their chests moving up and down as they breathed, but they were definitely unconscious. “Lock them up. I’ll question them after I’ve had a chance to make sure my Chosen is alright.”
Cassie started to speak up but the look Trik gave her had her snapping her mouth closed. Trik took her hand and led her to the bathroom. He shut the door behind them and turned the lock on the door, effectively shutting out the others.
“Trik.”
“Shh.” He wrapped his arms around her and pressed his lips to hers. It started out sweet and gentle but then something changed, and suddenly he had her pushed up against the wall with his hands in her hair tilting her head back to deepen the kiss. She could hear his thoughts loud and clear in that moment. He was terrified of losing her again. He was terrified of what Lorsan would do to her if he got her. She ran her hands over his face as she returned his kiss and gradually he softened until he finally pulled back. He panted as he tried to catch his breath and she was glad she wasn’t the only one that sounded as though she’d been running a marathon.
“They could have taken you,” he whispered against her lips. He may have stopped kissing her, but he wasn’t moving away from her. His hands ran up and down her arms and back and then gripped her hips. “They could have,” he didn’t finish the sentence; the horror of it was shining in his eyes.
“But they didn’t,” she pointed out, “and I was fighting back and doing a pretty darn good job. They were expecting a helpless girl, but you have taught me that I don’t have to be helpless. You’ve taught me to defend myself.”
Trik shook his head. “A female, a human female against dark-elf males doesn’t have a chance, Cassie. They could have killed you. The fact that you are alive means that Lorsan doesn’t want you dead.”
“Well thank goodness for small mercies,” she said as she blew out a weary breath. “Now why exactly are we in the bathroom?”
Trik shook his head as he looked briefly away from her. “I needed you to myself for a few moments,” he sighed then added. “I needed to calm down so that I didn’t kill those two men.”
Cassie’s eyes widened at his confession. “You aren’t going to kill them?” She was more surprised by the idea that he would let them live, not that he wanted to kill them.
“I didn’t say that. But for now I need them alive. Lorsan has a plan and they probably know at least a little about what it is. Once they give me all that they can, then I’ll decide their fate.”
“You know you don’t have to kill them,” she told him carefully, fully aware of how touchy he was when it came to her safety. “They can’t harm me, not anymore.”
Trik’s eyes met hers and she felt the intensity of his stare to her soul. It was as if he were stripping her bare, revealing every layer, shining light on every dark place. “It’s not about what they can or can’t do anymore, love. Some dark elves only understand one thing, and that is life and death. They only value one thing and that is themselves. To ensure that others do not come after you, I have to make an example of them. The dark elves have to know that I will not tolerate threats, and I will protect you at all cost.”
“And what about mercy? Don’t kings grant mercy?” she challenged. “Weren’t you granted mercy?”
“When it comes to your safety, your life, I have no mercy in me.”
Elora wiped drool from her bottom lip as she pushed away from the passenger side window where she had fallen asleep. She noticed the night was beginning to fade as it gave way to morning and the sky began to have a pinkish hue as the sun started to rise. As she stretched her arms above her head, she heard a throat being cleared. Her head turned slowly and she saw Cush’s light blue eyes raking over her.
“Sleep well?” his deep voice rumbled across the vehicle, causing warmth to spread inside of her.
“You totally just saw the drool didn’t you?” she asked, more annoyed than embarrassed.
“Could be worse,” he told her.
She snorted. “True, I could have farted,” her head snapped up. “Holy crap, tell me I didn’t fart,” she said desperately.