She felt her arm being pulled and finally tore her gaze from the incredible sight before her. She turned and took off after Cush, pumping her arms in time with her legs. She glanced back quickly to make sure Lisa was with her and, sure enough, her mom was right behind. Though surprising because of the roaring fire, Elora could hear voices traveling over the fields. The sounds only made her want to run faster. They came upon another field and once again Rin and Cush did their flame throwing act and they ran again. Elora was convinced that somehow her body was feeding itself mega doses of adrenaline because she couldn’t believe she was still sprinting. Field after field they burned and then ran until finally they were brought up short by a large building.
“We’re not in Kansas anymore,” she said breathlessly as she hunched over her knees attempting to catch her breath. She looked over at Cush who looked annoyingly un-winded and unruffled. Butthead, she thought as he flashed her a rueful smile.
“Halfway done,” Rin said, just as calm and collected as Cush was.
Elora waved them on. “You guys go on ahead,” she said still attempting to catch her breath. “Really, we’ll be the look out, if we see any dark elves we’ll totally yell for you.”
Cush laughed. “Babe you can’t even talk; how on earth are you going to yell?”
“Technicality,” she wheezed out.
He walked over and took her hand, tugging her behind him. “Let’s go, tough girl,” he teased. “Keep breathing like that and you might just scare away anyone headed our way.”
“Ha, ha,” she retorted. “You are freaking hilarious.”
The others followed behind Cush as he led them to a side door. His head tilted to the side as if he was listening, though Elora couldn’t imagine what he could possibly hear over the blaze they had set and the screaming dark elves out in the fields trying to deal with the chaos. After several minutes, he put his hand on the door handle and pulled it effortlessly open.
“Was that unlocked?” Elora whisper shouted.
“If I tell you no, will you think I’m awesome?” he asked her with a spark of mischief. It was then that Elora realized that he was enjoying himself.
“You like this sort of thing, don’t you?”
He ushered her inside and let Oakley take over holding the door. “It’s what I’m trained to do. So I guess you could say that yes I enjoy doing what I have been trained to do.”
She followed him into a long, clinical looking hallway. Lights lined the ceiling and the florescent bulbs shining on the stark white walls were annoyingly bright. Elora watched Cush as he moved, his body poised and ready to attack. His words echoed in her mind, it’s what I’m trained to do, yes I enjoy doing what I’ve been trained to do. For the first time since he had told her he didn’t want a Chosen, she finally got it. Cush was a warrior. It was who he was and what he did. Not only that, but he truly loved it. And she—well—she was a worry and a distraction. He hadn’t wanted to bring her in with him because he was worried she would get hurt. He probably didn’t even fully realize it, but Cush wouldn’t be able to enjoy himself doing what he loved because he would be too busy worrying about her. As she stared after his incredible form, she couldn’t help but wonder how long it would take until he would begin to resent her. If she was what kept him from doing what he truly enjoyed doing, how long until when he looked at her his light blue eyes no longer held the tenderness she saw in them now.
Cush stopped suddenly and reached for her. Elora had never tried to block her thoughts from him, but she didn’t want him to know how she was feeling in that moment so she pictured the thickest, highest wall imaginable and mentally put it between them. As soon as his fingers intertwined with hers, she knew she had been successful based on the frown he gave her. She returned his look with a shrug.
“We will talk about this once we’re done with this mess,” he told her sternly.
Damn straight we will, she thought to herself safely behind her wall, and between now and then I’ll figure out how to let you go.
Chapter 12
“I’m a selfish human being. I’ve never denied that, nor have I ever attempted to claim otherwise. But now I suddenly find myself wanting to do the right thing and frankly the right thing sucks. No, I take that back, the right thing absolutely blows chunks of the sickest kind, and really all I want to do is stomp my foot and scream that I don’t want to and you can’t make me.” ~Elora
Cush was momentarily shocked as he tugged Elora along behind him, her hand still clutched in his. When he had taken her hand in his, Cush felt his soul reach for her. But to his surprise and frustration, the minute his hand had wrapped around hers, all he got was a stone cold wall of nothingness. He narrowed his eyes as he looked at her. What are you hiding, Little Raven, he asked, even knowing she wouldn’t hear him. All she gave him was a shrug in response to his glare, the little vixen. He didn’t have the time to question her further about it, not when they were in the middle of enemy territory, and that only frustrated him more.
He found a door with a biohazard symbol slapped across the front of it and decided to take his chances. He had hoped that by setting the crops on fire it would draw out most of the dark elves that might be working there, giving them better access to the drugs that had already been created. As he pushed the door open he listened for any movement. He didn’t bother with looking behind, he trusted Rin to handle things on his end.
He caught site of several huge silver vats lining the walls. Cush walked over to the closest and turned a spout located at the bottom of the tank. Dark red liquid began spilling onto the floor.
“Jackpot,” breathed Elora.
Once they were all in the room, Cush motioned for them to back up against the wall where the door was located.
“Why do I have a feeling this is about to get very messy?” Lisa asked.
“That’s why you should always wear black, Lisa,” Elora explained as she pressed her back against the wall. “Nothing stains black.”
“Hey!” A sudden shout grabbed their attention.
Cush whipped around at the deep voice. Immediately he located the owner of the voice and judged his proximity to Elora. A tall dark elf stood just inside the doorway, only a few feet from his Chosen. The dark elf noticed immediately who was easy prey and started for the humans, but Rin and Cush were already moving.