Chapter 5 #4
“He threw me out,” she finally choked. “Trik. He—pushed me out of his study.”
Elora’s jaw dropped. “He what?” She fisted her hands at her side as her jaw clenched.
“That piece of dark elf scum put his dirty, blood covered assassin hands on you and you didn’t cut them off?
” She threw a hand in the air as her body grew more tense.
“I mean, I realize that after all those years of killing he couldn’t be right in the head, but I never thought he’d be crazy enough to touch you in a violent way.
Does he realize how crazy I am? I wasn’t an assassin, but I’m low key totally fine with becoming one.
Cush has taught me a lot of ways to kill a person, I know I could take Trik.
I mean probably, like if I surprised him and he wasn’t expecting it.
I could absolutely slit his man-handling throat. That son of bitch!”
Cassie wrapped her arms around herself. “Calm down, psycho,” she hurried.
“Trik would never put his hands on me in a violent way. He used his magic. He barely even looked at me, Elora. It was more like he was looking through me. The Book, something about that damn Book, he was scared and he just . . . reacted.”
Elora stepped forward, hands fluttering uselessly before she gripped Cassie’s arms. “I don’t care what he used, I will take him out. Are you hurt?”
“No.” Yes. But not the kind Elora could see.
Elora’s features hardened. “He’s pulling that ‘I must protect you from the world and myself’ crap. Except the fool didn’t consider that pushing you away, whether physically or using magic, is hurting you.”
The bond pulsed hard, and punishing. Cassie winced. The pain wasn’t only Trik’s fault. She played a part in creating this tension between them because she wasn’t letting him in either.
Elora reached out and laid a hand on her shoulder. “Cass?”
“It’s the bond,” Cassie whispered. “He’s .
. . hurting. And so am I. But he won’t let me help him.
And that has pissed me off, so I’m shutting him out, too.
He won’t even let me near him.” The pain of being separated from Trik was worse than anything she’d ever experienced.
It was as if the encounter with him had left shrapnel inside of her heart and every movement caused it to tear into the beating muscle.
“I swear,” Elora growled, “the men in this realm are allergic to common sense. And I’m still reserving the right to kick his royal ass for tossing you out. I don’t care if he thought he was protecting you. He and Cush can get a two-for-one special.”
Cassie tried to smile. It trembled. “Cush is still on your shit list?”
Elora’s face twisted. “He still thinks sparring with other males is dangerous, even though said males are terrified of him and wouldn’t so much as break one of my nails.
Every argument with him is like beating a damn dead horse, only this horse won’t stay dead.
He says he’s only trying to keep me safe.
” Her mouth flattened into a line. “He seduces, avoids, and lectures. Not always in that order.”
Cassie nodded. “And you’re furious.”
Elora’s face practically transformed as her lips thinned and her eyes narrowed. “I’m incandescent with rage.” Elora had always been the calm one in their duo. Apparently, being bonded to a possessive, male elf had caused some serious changes in her personality.
Cassie huffed a laugh that felt like cracking glass. “So we’re both a mess.”
“It seems to be a new state of being,” Elora said. Then her eyes sharpened. “There’s something more going on, Cass. What your Chosen did is completely out of character for him, at least in regards to you. How you’re acting, like a kicked puppy, no offense—”
Cassie rolled her eyes. “Offense totally taken.”
Elora didn’t miss a beat, just kept right on talking.
“It’s not like you to back down. My Cassie would have kicked Trik in the balls by now.
Whatever is going on, I feel like it’s affecting everything.
Me, Cush, you, Trik, the realm. Everything.
And don’t try to tell me it’s only because Trik is pushing you away.
I’m not buying it. There’s something more. ”
Cassie nodded. Her friend knew her well.
She was foolish to think she could hide anything from Elora.
But, she could start with the easy stuff first. “I heard . . .” She swallowed.
“Myrin said something. I’ve never heard of it before, or read about it in any of the texts I’ve found in the castle.
He called it the Chamber of Light and Dark. ”
Elora snorted, though it lacked humor. “It sounds like a book that’s going to have a boy from London flitting about trying to save everyone from some evil force that is constantly coming back in various forms.”
“That’s called Harry Potter, probably fiction, but now that I’m married to what I thought was a mythical creature, who knows? But, that has nothing to do with this. The Chamber of Light and Dark is where shadow elves come from,” Cassie said softly.
“Yeah, because ‘shadow elves’ doesn’t scream middle age fiction fantasy at all,” Elora interrupted.
Cassie gave her a look, until Elora said. “Sorry, continue.”
She explained to Elora what she’d heard before Trik had freaked out and magically thrown her out on her ass. “According to Myrin, it’s been asleep with the shadow elves trapped inside, and now, it’s waking. The magic leaking into the realm is from there.”
Elora stared at her, chewing on her bottom lip, and shifting from one foot to the other as she seemed to consider all that Cassie had said. Then she let out a deep breath. “You’re sure there’s no ‘boy who lived’ amongst these so-called shadow elves?”
Cassie shook her head. “Sometimes, I completely understand why Cush might want to tie you up and use you for target practice.” She pinched the bridge of her nose and tried to regather her thoughts.
“Trik sent Tamsin, Syndra and Oakley out into the forest because the trees have been whispering. What if it’s this Chamber that they’re talking about? ”
“Who’s talking about it?” Elora asked. “The trees? Tamsin and Syndra or Trik?”
“Yes,” Cassie deadpanned.
“Cool, cool,” Elora gave her a thumbs up. “Just wanted to make sure we were on the same supernatural crazy train, complete with whispering trees, shadow elves, sentient chambers, and possibly a British boy who lived.”
“What is with you and the Harry Potter references?” Cassie snapped before she could stop herself.
“What?” Elora shrugged. “I read when I’m pissed off at Cush, and I’ve been pissed off a lot. It’s a good series.”
“Fair,” Cassie grumbled. “But can you set your obsession with it aside for a second and consider the fact that the former light elf king and queen, and your brother, are out there right now with said whispering trees and a sentient chamber waking up with most likely an army of pissed off shadow elves ready to break free.”
“My brother?” Elora asked, her eyes widening. “Since when did he become the tree whisperer? He’s been training to be a warrior.”
“Belig has been helping him learn to listen to the world around him,” Cassie explained. “Being a fae warrior isn’t just about swinging a sword.”
Elora shook her head. “You just had to go with ‘swinging a sword?’ You couldn’t say bludgeoning bad guys?”
“Glad to see the tension between you and Cush hasn’t killed your sense of humor,” Cassie said dryly. “ The point is, they’re still out there.” Cassie’s stomach twisted. “No one’s heard from them since yesterday.”
Elora looked toward the forest that shadowed the palace grounds, jaw tightening. “I can’t just do nothing while Oakley is out there. Warrior or not, I still have more power than he does. Cush will lose his mind if I go out there.”
Cassie gave a brittle smile. “Trik will do worse.”
Elora turned back to her, eyes bright with the fierce loyalty that had held them together since childhood. “Worth it.”
“Agreed. And when have we ever waited for permission?” Cassie whispered.
Elora snorted. “Never once.”
Cassie wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.
Damn pregnancy emotions, she mentally huffed as she looked at her friend feeling a tad guilty that she hadn’t told her yet.
Pushing that worry aside for the moment she took a deep breath and said, “We can do this. We’ve faced some pretty crappy situations since meeting our Chosen. ”
“We have. And you’re my ride or die,” Elora said, bumping her shoulder lightly against Cassie’s. “Preferably ride.”
Cassie took a shaky breath. “I need something to do. A way to help. If I stay here and feel him hurting and keep doing nothing, I’ll lose my mind.”
Elora nodded. “Then we go. We find Oakley, Syndra, and Tamsin. We find this Chamber, and we figure out what the hell is happening before the men in our lives implode, or find us and forget they’d rather make love than war.”
Cassie’s pulse steadied for the first time all day. Purpose slid into the hollowness like sunlight cracking through storm clouds.
“Let’s pack,” she said.
Elora’s answering grin was sharp. “I’ll meet you at the edge of the gardens in ten.”
As Elora sprinted off toward her rooms, Cassie placed a trembling hand over her heart.
The bond pulsed again—pained, longing, furious.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered to the mate who wasn’t listening. “But I can’t stay and break with you.”
She turned toward the forest.
“And I won’t let this realm break, either.”