After a few more awkward seconds, Rin nodded his head and sat back in his seat. “Glad to see that you came to your senses. I would have hated to kill someone with so much life ahead of them.”
Tony wasn’t shocked by the warrior’s words. He knew they were true. Rin would have killed him without pause if he had stayed and continued to support Lorsan and his plans, and he would have deserved to die. Hell, he thought, I probably deserve to die anyway.
Cassie followed Trik and Tamsin into the living room where Rin and Tony waited. Most of the destroyed furniture had been put in the garage so that the room looked more like the one she’d grown up with. There were still a few pieces of evidence of the violence that had taken place there―scratches on the wall, a broken railing on the banister of the stairs, and a coffee table with chips taken out of the corners. Cassie tried to look past those things because they only made her think of what her parents had been through.
“Tamsin received a phone call from Cush.” Trik’s voice drew Cassie’s attention and she turned to face him. He hadn’t told her about the call. She hoped that Elora was alright. She, of course, wanted the others to be okay too, but Elora was a part of her like an arm or a leg, and she couldn’t stand the idea of something happening to her especially since her parents had been taken.
“Lorsan knew they were going to be flying; he even knew the flight they were on. Some of his minions sabotaged the plane.”
Cassie sucked in a quick breath.
Trik looked at her and his eyes softened. “It wasn’t while they were on the plane, Beautiful. It was before they had even boarded.”
]’ he felt the rapid beat of her heart begin to slow slightly with relief.
“Lorsan is resourceful. I was not his only spy and apparently he is keeping closer tabs on us than we realized. I know it will take us longer to drive, but I just don’t feel safe taking a plane at this point. There’s no way to defend a plane. At least in a car we are in control and can stop or change directions if we need to.”
“What are Cush and his group doing?” Rin asked.
“They are going to take a cab to a car rental place and drive to Vegas. He had the same idea I did about being in control. He didn’t like the fact that he had no way of knowing if the dark elves watching them would know if they booked a new flight. And he didn’t want to take the risk of finding out.” Trik motioned toward the door that led to the garage. “Cassie’s parents’ SUV is here so that’s what we will take.” He paused and then looked at Rin. “I don’t like the fact that Lorsan has his lackeys keeping an eye on all of us. He probably has someone watching this house. I want you to stay here as sentry. I realize that’s not exactly the most exciting job. But when we get Cassie’s parents back and bring them here, it would give me peace of mind to know that we won’t be walking into a trap set by Lorsan.”
Rin bowed his head. “It is an honor to guard what is important to my queen. I won’t let the enemy take root in her childhood home.”
Trik saw Cassie’s face blush. “You have to remember, love, that Rin is what you would call old school.”
Rin looked up and grinned at Cassie. “I suppose in this day and age I should say something more along the lines of, no problem, I got this.”
Cassie laughed. “That would sound less formal, but honestly it sounds awkward coming from you.”
He nodded. “Then I shall practice your lingo while I stand sentinel. Perhaps, when I see you again I will blow your mind with my mad skills.”
Cassie gave him a thumbs up. “Great. I think.”
Trik chuckled as he turned back to the rest of the group.
“Where exactly are we going?” Tony spoke up.
Trik glanced at Tamsin but Cassie couldn’t read the silent communication that seemed to pass between them. She could only imagine it meant his answer wasn’t going to be an encouraging one.
“As you know,” Trik began as he folded his arms across his chest, “dark elves are drawn to the pleasures in this world, especially the darker ones.”
Cassie shivered at his words.
“There are other places in the United States like Las Vegas. Places where being self-indulgent is not frowned upon, but actually encouraged. Dark elves feed off of the depravity of the humans. Something that might not be widely known among the light elves is that dark elves can even draw certain power from places that are especially corrupt.” He let out a tense breath before he continued. “I have had the misfortune of knowing Tarron a long time and know many of the dark places in this country that he likes to frequent. One of his favorite places, and a place that definitely gives the dark elves more power, is New Orleans.”
Cassie squeezed her eyes closed shaking her head slowly. “I should have seen that one coming,” she mumbled.
“There’s more. There is a certain part of the city that most mortals don’t know about and even fewer can get to. I’m talking about a place that is only findable by people that have already been there. It’s not on a map and can’t be found on those GPS gadgets that humans rely on so much.”
“Voodoo country,” Tony offered.
Trik gave a solemn nod.
“Wait.” Cassie’s brow drew together as she looked from Trik to Tony. “Voodoo? Real Voodoo? Like it’s actually a thing?”
“Voodoo is a religion, an old religion, based in darkness. It is as real as the people who practice and believe it,” Trik answered.
“You think Tarron has taken my parents to this Voodoo part of New Orleans?” she asked her mate.
Trik nodded. “It’s my best educated guess. Dark places draw dark things and Tarron’s soul is about as dark as they come.”
“Great,” Cassie huffed. “And this is the man who has my parents?”
“He won’t hurt them,” Tamsin told her. “They’re his only bargaining chip to get you.”
Cassie figured she should believe Tamsin since he seemed to know what he was talking about, but it was hard to think any positive thoughts when her parents were in the clutches of a dark elf that had surrounded himself in a place that would only make him stronger.
Trik took her hand and she hadn’t even realized that he had moved. He tilted her chin up to look at him and, as usual, his beauty took her breath away. “Don’t look so forlorn, my love. Don’t you remember who I am?”
Cassie’s lips twitched with the urge to smile. “Even if I hadn’t, you would still tell me.”
“True enough, but you obviously need a reminder.” He leaned down and pressed his lips to hers before pulling back and whispering against them. “I am Triktapic, King of the Elvin race, most powerful of our kind, blessed by the Forest Lords, and I am mated to the most amazing woman ever created. How can you even begin to doubt that I will defeat Tarron and get your parents back?”
A single brow rose on Cassie’s forehead. “How foolish of me, great King,” she said dryly. “Please forgive my lapse in judgment.”
Trik pressed another quick kiss to her lips and said with a wink, “I’ll think about it, but I have a feeling punishing you would be more fun.”
Cassie let out a groan complete with eye roll as he took her hand and led her toward the garage where the others had already loaded into the SUV.
“I’m so glad that you don’t have any self-confidence issues,” she told him as he pulled her behind him. “It just wouldn’t do to have a King that didn’t see himself as the great leader that he is.”
Trik laughed. “Just admit it, Cassandra. You think my confidence is sexy.”
“Okay, Quiver Boy,” ―she pursed her lips at him― “let’s just see if you follow through with your claims, then we’ll talk about who’s sexy.”
They climbed into the vehicle and as Trik put the car in reverse and flicked his hand using his power, and no doubt to showoff, to raise the garage door, he glanced at her from the corner of his eye. Cassie knew he was about to say something that was going to have her blushing from head to toe.
“You of all people should know t
hat I have absolutely no problem with my follow through.”
Chapter 4
“I see you, child—curious and desperate for truth. Don’t be afraid to walk into the darkness if you want to see beyond the shadows to the spirit world. Where once you were powerless, you will be strong. Where once you were unsure of your destiny, you will be confident. You only need to seek the truth. But remember, child, what claims to be truth may only be a reflection of the things you simply want to be true.” ~Voodoo priestess.
Elora attempted to sleep with her head propped up against the window. The dull noise from the tires on the road steadily lulled her into slumber. Sleep would be a welcome retreat from all the worry that was bouncing around inside her head. In addition to Cassie’s parent’s being missing, now they had dark-elf spies on their ass screwing up their mission to save the world. Didn’t they know it was hard enough to save the world without dark elf spies, especially when the humans they were trying to save didn’t even know they needed saving or want it? It’s like they were attempting to do the largest intervention ever. Betty Ford better get ready for an influx of patients.
She felt a large, warm hand on her thigh and lifted her head to look over at Cush who was driving their getaway vehicle. Okay, so maybe it really wasn’t a getaway vehicle since they didn’t steal it. They actually rented it with Tony’s credit card―all nice and legal like.
“How are you?” Cush’s deep voice caressed her. It wasn’t fair that he could make her want to pant from just a simple touch. She wondered if she held any similar power over him.
“One look from you, Little Raven, that’s all it takes,” she heard him in her thoughts. He had been listening in again. Maybe it should bother her, but honestly she loved the intimacy that it forged between them.
“I’m sort of waiting for the other shoe to drop and crush our Yukon,” she admitted wryly. “We’ve been driving for three hours now and nothing has happened; it makes me wonder what they’re waiting for.”
“Maybe we gave them the slip,” Oakley offered from the backseat.
“Gave them the slip?” Elora scoffed. “What are you, a half dark elf mafia member?”
“Hey, don’t hate just because I know the lingo,” he shot back.
“Oakley, I love you. But you’re a dork,” Elora snickered.
Cush squeezed her leg to get her attention. “Be nice,” he warned, though there was a playful glint in his eyes.
“Give me a break, warrior. You don’t care if I’m nice. You just don’t like my attention on someone else.” Elora shot him a look that said she totally had his number complete with the single brow raise.
“Perhaps,” he admitted as he looked back at the road. “But then I told you from the very beginning that I didn’t share well.” He glanced at her again. “Aren’t human males possessive?”
Lisa and Elora both let out similar snorts of laughter. “Human males might have at one time been possessive, but human women have squashed them like little bugs with a shoe called the feminist movement.”
“And that is?”
Elora remembered that Trik had mentioned that Cush didn’t spend much time in the human world, though he tried to keep up with the times. Maybe the 60’s and 70’s had been decades that he hadn’t bothered to keep track of. “It started out as women desiring the same rights that men had. You know―the right to vote, to run for office, to be leaders, to work and make their own money― that sort of thing. They wanted to be a man’s equal.”
Syndra shook her head interrupting. “Which wasn’t bad, at first. But some people have taken the idea to extremes.”
Cush’s eyes narrowed as he thought about what Elora had said. She could tell that he had an opinion, and she was honestly curious as to what it was.
“What are you thinking, warrior?” she finally asked.
“I can understand them wanting to be able to have the same station in life as a man and be their equal in that manner simply because they are the same species. I guess because I’m not human, maybe it’s different for me. There is no way I would ever consider Elora, my Chosen, as my equal.”
Elora’s jaw dropped and a hundred words that weren’t so nice formed on her tongue.
“Let him finish,” Syndra said before Elora could verbally vomit on him.
“She isn’t my equal because she makes me better―a better man, a better warrior. What man can boast about the ability to bring life into the world? What man can continue to love, setting aside all other negative feelings? What man can say that he understands a compassion that puts all others before himself? Elora, a woman, can bear my children, she can love me even if she loses all respect for me, and she will show compassion even to those that I would deem unworthy. She can do these things only because she is a woman and it is how she was created. The mere sight of her makes my day better and brighter. Even when she’s driving me crazy, she’s still the first thing I want to see in the morning and the last thing I want to see at night. How can someone who does those things be my equal? She is so much more than me and I esteem her as much as I love her. Does that mean she’s faultless?”
“Yes,” Elora piped in just as Cush said, “No.”
He shot her a quick smile before continuing, “No, she isn’t perfect, but she’s perfect for me. And don’t get me started on the female form,” he chuckled. “They definitely have the market when it comes to beauty in the physical sense.” Cush glanced at Elora, his eyes running over her so intensely that she could practically feel it. “In fact, I would say a woman’s body is reason enough to revere them.”
“Whoa, hey, mother in the vehicle,” Lisa called out. “You cannot say woman’s body while looking at my daughter like she’s the last beef jerky stick in any realm. It’s forbidden. So stop. Like, now.”
Elora rolled her eyes but the heat on her skin didn’t leave even after Cush was no longer admiring her physical form. The vehicle was silent. Cush’s impassioned words seemed to have rendered everyone speechless. Elora had to admit that everything he had said had taken her by surprise. She knew he cared for her, but to hear it in the way he described it was just . . . wow. She was also pretty sure he’d won some brownie points with Lisa, despite his comments about the female body and his devouring gaze. She was still looking at him, though he was once again paying attention to the road. Elora couldn’t take her eyes off of him. He felt all of those things for her. The thought hit her like a gale force wind and knocked the breath right out of her. She bit her bottom lip to hold in the gasp as she truly began to understand exactly what Cush had said. He hadn’t been talking about women in general, he had been talking about her, describing the way he saw her, and the way he felt for her. She wanted to say something to him, to respond to his admission, but not there with all the extra ears in the car. What she had to say would be for his ears only.
Darkness began to cloak the night sky like a blanket being laid across the earth, tucking her in for a much needed sleep. The last sign Elora noticed had welcomed them into the great state of Colorado. They had driven up into Kansas and then over from there, and when she’d asked Cush why he wasn’t taking the route on the GPS, he’d told her that it would be better to lead the dark elves on a little chase. She didn’t figure that chase would last very long judging by the moaning and groaning that had begun and Oakley’s constant ‘are we there yet’ questions.
Just when she was sure she was going to have to beg Cush to call it a night, he pulled into the entrance of a motel. It wasn’t anything fancy, but neither was it one of those places where bodies were hidden in one room while a one night stand took place in the room next door.
Twenty minutes later they were all dragging themselves up the stairs that lead to the two rooms Cush had acquired. Elora’s steps were heavy; her shoes felt like they’d been filled with concrete as she trudged up the last few steps finally reaching the landing. Two steps to the right and they were standing in front of rooms 24 A and 24 B, apparently a connecting suite.
“Gi
rls in A and boys in B,” Syndra announced as the doors were unlocked and pushed open. The stale scent of cleaner and mothballs hit their faces. There were lights already on and as Elora stepped into the room she eyed the bed longingly. But she knew it would be at least a few minutes before she would get to crawl into the undoubtedly scratchy sheets. Her thoughts were confirmed when the door on the right hand wall, that obviously lead to the boy’s room, opened and in stepped Cush.
“Let’s take fifteen minutes and go over tomorrow’s plans before we call it a night,” he told them as Oakley stepped in behind him.
Elora took the corner of one of the beds and Lisa sat next to her. Syndra draped herself, as only a queen could, across the other bed and propped up on one elbow as she waited for Cush to continue. Oakley took the one and only chair leaving Cush to lean against the wall, not that he would have sat down even if another seat would have been available.
“We will make it to the city tomorrow,” Cush began. “Once there, Syndra is going to use a little influence to help keep prying eyes from noticing us, and we are going to see if we can sniff out Lorsan. I don’t think he will be hard to find. I have a feeling that now that Tony has left Iniquity Lorsan has probably taken up overseeing the casino and the distribution of Rapture.”
“What are we going to do when we find him? Declare a citizen’s arrest?” Elora asked.
Cush gave her a look that clearly told her he though she was absurd. She shrugged. It was a valid question.
“We just need to get the lay of the land, so to speak,” he answered her and then turned his attention back to the entire group. “We need to get an idea of how many elves he has at his immediate disposal. We also need to see if we can get an idea on just how extensive the Rapture situation is.”