Elora’s head tilted back to look up at him. “Ever?” she asked skeptically.
“Can you ever remember being sick?”
Elora thought for a moment and then thought some more. Her eyes widened as she realized the answer to his question. “How have I never noticed that?” She looked over to Lisa who was sitting on the counter, looking more like a teen than a mom. “Am I that dense?”
Lisa laughed. “No, Elora, you just didn’t think about it because it wasn’t something we ever brought up. No one was ever sick in our house.”
“But Cassie’s been sick before,” she argued.
Cush took a step closer to her, obviously not liking the fact that she wasn’t giving him her full attention. “The point is that you shouldn’t have a headache.”
“Point or not, the fact is…,” she snapped, “is that I have a headache. So instead of standing there glaring at me for having something that I can’t control, how about you get me a Tylenol, Motrin or a hammer.”
He tilted his head at her.
“Don’t do it,” Oakley muttered.
“Why would you need a hammer?” Cush asked ignoring her brother who was now shaking his head.
Elora grinned at him and cocked a hip out to the side as she crossed her arms in front of her. “Because then I could hit you with it and your head would hurt too.”
Cush’s lips tightened. “And what would that accomplish? You’d still have a headache.”
“Misery loves company, Elf Boy.” She winked at him and then gulped down her milk. Leaving him in his stunned silence she walked around him and smiled at her brother who was chuckling under his breath. “Alright people, let’s get this show on the road. We have a book to translate, portals to open, and lives to save. No time for dilly dallying.”
“Who is she and where did my sister go?” Oakley asked Lisa.
Lisa smiled. “She’s still her, but now she has that,” she pointed at Cush who was staring after Elora, “to contend with, and it’s bringing out her spunky side.”
“You say spunky, I say horny, but who am I to mince words?” Oakley joked.
Cush glanced at him from the corner of his eye.
Oakley shrugged. “Just calling it like I see it. You might want to make sure to lock your bedroom door at night or you might find yourself being mauled by a half elf.”
“She just said she wanted to hit me with a hammer,” Cush pointed out dryly.
“To Elora, that’s foreplay,” Oakley retorted just as dryly. Rin who had been quietly listening to everything spewed orange juice everywhere at Oakley’s declaration.
Lisa laughed as she tossed him a wet sponge. “He’s just kidding, Cush,” she paused and then looked back at Oakley, “sort of.”
Cush shook his head and muttered under his breath as he turned and followed after Elora. “Let’s go get this book and do what needs to be done,” he nearly growled.
Lisa smacked Oakley’s arm as they followed behind Cush. “She’s going to kill you when she finds out you said that.”
Oakley smiled, not the least bit remorseful. “Naw, she’ll give me her evil stink eye and I might need to hide my toothbrush for a while, but in private she’ll wish she could have seen Cush’s face when I told him.”
Rin chuckled. “I need to come to the human realm more often; you guys are extremely entertaining.”
“You might be disappointed in other humans,” Lisa told him as they climbed into the van. “They aren’t all as amusing as Elora and her hammer.”
“What about my hammer?” Elora piped up at the mention of her name.
“You’re not getting a damn hammer,” Cush growled.
Elora turned to look at Oakley and Rin as they both let out rumbles of laughter and Lisa grinned at her. Elora looked over at an obviously irritated Cush and then back to her mom.
“I don’t get it,” she finally said.
Cush looked at her and she saw something in his eyes that stirred up the ever present butterflies. She swallowed hard and tried to keep from fanning herself as desire poured off of him in waves threatening to drown her.
“There’s nothing to get; just know that you aren’t getting a hammer,” he spoke slowly and his deep voice vibrated in his chest.
“He’s afraid you’ll try to bang him with it,” Oakley blurted out.
Elora slapped a hand over her mouth to keep from laughing but she couldn’t stop her shoulders from shaking. She looked up at Oakley who was driving and trying to explain to a confused Rin why his statement was so outrageous. She saw the moment Rin got it, like a light bulb being switched on his face lit up and laughter rolled out of him like red carpet at the Oscars. She lost it then.
Cush stood in Lisa’s office watching as she climbed up on a counter and reached deep into the recesses of a cabinet. She pulled a thick book from the cabinet and then turned and knelt down holding it out to him. As he reached for it her eyes caught his. “He will kill for this book,” she warned him.
Cush took the book from her. “Then let’s make sure he doesn’t find out we have it,” he responded firmly.
She hopped off the counter and then motioned for him to have a seat at her desk. Once settled, he opened the book and the pages crackled with age. The words on the pages jumped out at him immediately as the language of his people whispered in his mind. This book was full of magic and power. He could feel it in his fingers. As he flipped the pages, sharp tingles reverberated up into his hand and wrist.
“This is old magic,” he said softly and his deep voice seemed to bounce off the walls of the quiet room. “Ancient magic.” His eyes caught on a sentence and he flipped back to the page that had drawn his attention. He pulled the book closer and began to read.
“The Forest Lords set forth three portals that did not require a reflection in order to be traveled through. These are known as the master portals and control every portal between the elfin realm and the human realm. When one of these portals is closed, then they all close.”
“Not to point out the obvious,” Oakley spoke up from his perch on the end of the desk, “but we sort of figured that part out. Is there anything that tells how to open them?”
Cush’s lips tightened as he glanced over at Oakley. “Patience.”
“Not my thing,” Oakley retorted.
Elora stepped forward and pushed her brother off the edge of the desk and away from the glowering elf. “That’s enough,” she told them both. “Oakley, quit trying to irritate Cush. And Cush, quit looking at my brother like you’re going to sew his lips shut.”
“Not a bad idea,” Cush told her with a nonchalant shrug.
Elora honed in on him with her purple gaze. “Neither is world peace, but it ain’t happening so don’t get your hopes up.” She pointed back at the book as if to say get on with it.
Cush fought back the smile that wanted to spread across his face at her surly banter because he didn’t want to find her attractive, or cute, or sexy, and yet as she glared at him in all her dark glory, that’s exactly what he felt. He looked back down at the pages before him, shaking off the thoughts of what he didn’t want, but did want, but didn’t know what to do about, and focused on the words before him.
He read in silence, flipping page after page, feeling the magic intensify at times only to then abate. Every now and then he would see someone shift out of the corner of his eye but no one ever interrupted him as he read. His eyes moved quickly and his mind translated the language as he searched for anything that would help them with any part of their dilemma. Then he found something.
“Bingo,” he muttered.
“Bingo? What’s Bingo?” Elora perked up at the sound of Cush’s voice after what felt like hours of silence. She looked at him expectantly.
He cleared his throat before he began to read aloud again.
“If a master portal is closed, the only way for the portals to be opened again is by a blood offering from the one who closed them.”
Elora scoffed. “Of course they ca
n only be opened by some psycho elf in another realm, because why on earth would we want this to be doable. Where would the fun in that be?”
Cush ignored her mini-rant and continued to scan the page. “Loophole.” He grinned up at her but quickly looked away when he saw the way her lips parted and her eyes widened at his grin. “It says the portals can also be opened by the willing sacrifice of a servant.”
“You mean one of the dark elves would have to sacrifice themselves?” Elora asked.
“It just says a willing sacrifice. It doesn’t say it has to be their life,” Cush points out.
“Well that’s a little more doable,” she said as she pulled her long, dark hair up into a ponytail securing it with a rubber band from her wrist. She lowered her arms and propped her hands on her waist and chewed on her bottom lip as she thought. “Now we just need to find a sacrificial lamb amongst the dark elves in the human realm.” She looked at her mom and then to Cush and smiled. “You know what this means?”
“Uh, what?” Oakley asked blankly.
“Vegas baby!” she whooped.
“What’s in Las Vegas?”
“From what Cassie told me, it’s the dark-elf capital of the world.”
“And do you really believe you can get a dark elf to willingly give a sacrifice to open the portals?” he countered.
Elora shrugged. “Everyone has a price.”
Elora tapped her chin with her finger as she stared into her closet. She had already packed all the mundane items needed for traveling but she knew she needed something with a little swagger; they were going to Sin City after all. Her mind drifted to Cassie and she felt a twist of regret in her gut that her best friend wouldn’t be with her to see the bright lights of Vegas in all their blaring glory.
“What’s your price, Little Raven?” A deep voice rumbled from her doorway startling her from her thoughts.
She turned slowly, giving herself time to compose herself, to see Cush standing in all his Elfin warrior glory. His hair was pulled back and in its long braid down his back, and the band that he wore around his head should have looked feminine, but instead it made him appear regal without diminishing any of his masculinity. His green vest molded to his chest. Brown pants outlined powerful legs and the boots were like icing on the cake—dude was hot. She would love to say that her breath didn’t catch, or that her heart didn’t do some ridiculous girly flip, or that the damn butterflies weren’t doing the tango in her stomach again, but the fact of the matter was that she was over the freaking moon for the guy. And there he was, standing there, staring at her with those eyes and that mouth and, get a grip, she growled to herself.
“What do you mean?” she asked cautiously.
He took a step inside and let his eyes wander over the room. She knew that her room didn’t exactly resemble that of a typical teenage girl. It was dark and edgy, just like her. Where some girls might have One Direction, gag me, she thought, hanging on their walls, she had Bram Stoker’s Dracula. And where some girls might have cozy flannel sheets, she had black satin.
His eyes finally made their way back to her and she was still drinking in the tall glass of elf chardonnay.
“Show me what the humans see,” she said suddenly very curious as to what his human guise was. He tilted his head to the side, obviously surprised by her request, but then suddenly standing before her was a guy who appeared to be around twenty with short blond hair and light blue eyes, which weren’t glowing as they had previously been. His clothes altered just a tad, the vest becoming a shirt and the boots no longer laced over the outside of the pants. Then the image was gone.
Her first thought was she liked the short hair but then another thought occurred to her as his elfin form reemerged. “Why was Syndra able to keep her form hidden from me if I’m half elf?”
“Syndra is royalty,” he told her simply as if that answered all her questions.
“Must be nice,” Elora mumbled as she continued to stare at the masculine perfection that was so out of place in her room.
“You never answered me,” she told him. “What did you mean ‘what’s my price?’”
Cush stared at her and she began to wonder if he was going to answer. When he finally did, it was not what she expected.
“I never thought I’d find you,” he said through gritted teeth and she could tell he was holding back emotion that threatened to boil over. “I thought I could be happy without you, that my life had plenty of meaning and purpose without you. But now I….” He shook his head in frustration and pinched the bridge of his nose.
Elora crossed her arms in front of her and looked at him with a single brow raised. “But now you see how freaking amazing I am and you just can’t see yourself without me?” she asked sarcastically, wishing that she didn’t really want him to feel that exact way.
“You’re my Chosen, Elora.” Cush’s voice was so low that she had to strain just to hear him. His body was rigid with control as he stood proud before her in her bedroom. “Of all the places you could be, you’re here—best friend to the Chosen of the king.” He let out a huff of laughter that sounded anything but humored. “A Chosen.” He took two quick steps and was suddenly standing right in front of her. His eyes glowed as they bore into hers and her breath caught at the unbridled passion she saw there and she wondered how they didn’t both go up in flames. “My Chosen, right here in front of me. A Chosen I can’t have,” he murmured as he reached out and caressed her cheek. Elora tried not to press into his hand but the temptation was too great, like a moth seeking out the warmth of the flame she gave in and leaned into him. For a moment, she felt his heat, felt the comfort that would come from him, felt his soul reaching for hers and then it was gone. He backed away, moving so fast she nearly fell forward where his hand had been only seconds ago.
She closed her eyes and attempted to shake off the haze of desire. “So what are you telling me? First, you ask me what my price is and now you’re saying you can’t have me?” Elora asked as she opened her eyes and narrowed them dangerously at the light elf. She was trying to reconcile the seemingly angry elf with the flirty one who had walked into her bedroom moments ago. It was like he couldn’t decide from one second to the next what he wanted.
Cush pulled his shoulders back and rose to his full six foot four inches as he stared down at her. “I’m telling you that it doesn’t matter. Life goes on. I’m a warrior, my job is to protect the king, protect my people. You’re a human girl, your job is to do…,” he looked her up and down as he searched for the words, “whatever it is human girls do,” he finished.
“Lame,” Elora called out dryly as she leaned back against her wall. She felt vulnerable under his intense, angry stare but she tried to seem unaffected.
Cush growled at her.
“Did you just growl at me?” Elora laughed. “Man, I don’t know if that makes you sexy or just psychotic.”
“You don’t understand,” he snapped, ignoring her question. “I’ve never wanted this.” He motioned between them almost violently.
“Damn man, tell me how you really feel,” Elora snarled back as the hurt from his words pierced her heart. That very hurt just pricked her temper and she felt the rage rising as she looked at the too handsome for his own good light elf. “Who the hell do you think you are?” Cush’s head snapped up at the sharp tone in her voice. “I didn’t ask to be your Chosen either! I didn’t ask to feel this way about you. I didn’t ask to feel empty when you leave the room. I didn’t ask to feel the breath be ripped from my chest when you look at me. I didn’t invite the freaking fluttering butterflies with their flapping and swooning into my stomach, and I didn’t ask to want you with an intensity that—frankly—can’t be healthy. So you can take your little temper tantrum and shove it up your ass, Cush. BECAUSE I DIDN’T WANT THIS EITHER!” She took a deep breath, attempting to calm herself. “You come waltzing up in my room with your sexy smirk and your deep, delicious voice asking your intriguing questions, and then you go and throw a hissy fi
t because you can’t have your cake and eat it too. If you want me to sympathize with you, then you have come crying to the wrong chick because I don’t sympathize with lazy, or selfish, or I’m too important for everyone else type peeps. Geeze, Cush, you’re like, what, a few centuries old, and suddenly life throws you a curve ball and socks you in the nuts and you are rolling around like a freaking girl because it’s interrupted your game? Get over yourself already! If you don’t want this,” she motioned between them, “then make like a rubber ball and bounce your elfin butt out of my house. But don’t come in here and chew me out because things haven’t turned out for you the way you want them to.” So much for calming down, she thought to herself as her shoulders heaved with each breath as she glared at the object of her wrath.
Cush watched as his Chosen paced the room like a caged tiger. Her long black ponytail lashed around her like an angry whip and her breathing was shallow and fast. She was beautiful and he wanted her. A lot of what she said was true but not all of it. He wasn’t upset that he’d found her, taken off guard, definitely, but he wasn’t disappointed. And as he stared at the passionate, selfless woman before him, he realized that he was a fool. The Forest Lords had created Chosens for the elves for a reason and it was becoming obvious that one of the reasons was to show them their own weaknesses and then to give them the strength to move past those weaknesses. Yes, he wanted her and he was done fighting it.
It took two large strides and he had his arm wrapped around her waist. He wrapped his other hand around the back of her neck, holding her still as his lips took hers. Everything wrong suddenly disappeared and all Cush could see was her, his Little Raven. For one heartbeat she pushed against him, but when she gasped at the contact of his lips, he took advantage of her open mouth and invaded. Her taste flooded his senses and suddenly his whole world was Elora. She tasted of the sweetest honey. Her tongue danced with his, boldly pushing back. Her lips were soft and firm at the same time and he swore they were branding him as hers. He pushed her back until she was pressed against the wall. Her body pressed closed to his and the warmth of her filled every empty place in him. He released her waist and wrapped both arms around her, pulling her tighter against him. She moaned and Cush pressed impossibly closer. He wanted to give her all of him, wanted to feel her soul, but he held himself back. He didn’t let their souls meet, not yet, not until she understood. He felt her small hands on his face and he pulled back to look down at her. Her lips were swollen and glistened with the moisture from their kiss, her eyes were heavy with unreserved passion, and her breathing was just as heavy as his own.