Elora was struck still again as she watched her warrior totally loose his cool. She had to admit it was hot. Cush roared—as in like a lion, a seriously pissed off lion, and slammed his hand into Tarron’s chest. The dark elf stumbled back and Rin obviously took that as his cue because he let out a roar as well and ran full speed ahead. Elora didn’t think; she just ran. Pulling the dagger from her boot and giving her own battle cry, she jumped into the middle of it going after the first dark elf she came to.

He turned just as she reached him and something inside of her said, duck, so she did. He flung out a hand and she felt the pulse of magic, but it missed her as she went below his arm. She turned as she slid and sliced the dagger into the back of his thigh, but the satisfaction at seeing her opponent cry out in pain and stumble was short lived as arms came around to grab her from behind. The arms were like steel bands restricting her movement and then pulling her feet from the ground. She kicked and flailed but whoever had her just continued to carry her.

Her eyes found Cush and she screamed.

“CUSH!”

His head snapped to her at the sound of his name. He started towards her only to be cut off by Tarron. Elora could see the frustration on his face and felt it mirrored in herself. She was not some damsel in distress, dammit. Okay, so current situation aside, she thought to herself, I am not usually a damsel in distress. As she watched her mom and Tony battling another dark elf, and her brother and Rin doing the same, she had another moment. She realized that if she was going to be a part of Cush’s life, a warrior’s woman if you will, then she was going to have to be able to fight. Cush needed to know she could handle herself, and she would, starting with the idiot attempting to carry her off to who knows where.

Elora wiggled her wrists to see how much room she had. She still held the dagger in one hand. She turned her wrist and in a quick motion stabbed her captor in the thigh. He let out a deep cry of pain and his hold on her loosened and she was ready. She turned her head and dropped her shoulder, effectively freeing half of her body. Using speed she didn’t know she had, she wrenched herself down and away from the man. She turned quick, pulling the dagger from his leg, which elicited another shout of pain. She felt a feral grin spread across her lips as she crouched down in an attack position, ready to pounce on the dark elf. She started to move towards him when there was a sudden blast of air from behind her.

“ENOUGH!” She heard Tarron bellow. The dark elf in front of her gave her a frustrated growl before suddenly turning and running faster than she could track his movements. The rest of the dark elves followed suit, sprinting quickly away across the burned crops. None of the light elves or humans gave chase.

Elora turned slowly to see her mom, Oakley, and Tony panting but unharmed. Rin was staring in the direction to which the dark elves had just retreated and Cush was looking at her.

Her eyes narrowed on the beautiful specimen of a male that she had claimed as her own. “Can I say I told you so yet?”

Chapter 17

“Every little girl dreams of being a princess, of meeting her prince, and living in a beautiful castle. And although every little girl dreams of that, they never believe it will actually happen, but it did for me. I have my prince, dark though he may be, and I have my castle. What little girls don’t know is what it takes to keep the prince and the castle once the fairy dust has settled. There is a battle, and if I lose I will lose much more than just a dream. I will lose the man that I love.” ~Cassie

“Have you calmed down?” Trik asked as he came out of the bathroom clad in pajama bottoms made from some material that seemed to move with his body as though it could predict the movement before it happened. Cassie had to fight the desire to stare, to take him in in all his glory. She didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of knowing just how much he affected her.

“No, and I won’t calm down until you relent,” she informed him as she studiously looked at everything in the room but him.

“It’s my job, Cassandra. I am the king. I cannot expect others to do my killing for me. What kind of leader would I be?”

A part of her completely understood what he was saying and even agreed with him. She knew he was just trying to do the honorable thing, the right thing, but that didn’t mean she had to like it.

“What happens when you start enjoying the kill? You told me once that you liked it, Trik.” She finally met his stare and his silver eyes had the same effect as always. Her breath was wrenched from her lungs as she was caught in his web. “Do you remember?” she finished after several heartbeats.

He nodded and took a step towards her but she held up her hand to stop him. “Don’t, Trik. We are going to talk.”

“Can we not talk and touch at the same time?” he asked in a sultry voice that had her blood heating to a level she didn’t think was healthy.

“No,” she said sternly. “I’m not ashamed to admit that your touch does things to my mind that keep me from being able to have a coherent conversation.”

He chuckled. “Well it’s not your mind that I’m trying to do things to.”

“Trik, I’m serious; there is nothing happening between us until we’ve had this out.”

He let out an exasperated sigh and she realized he must have seen that she wasn’t going to give in—not this time. “Fine, you want to talk, let’s talk.”

Cassie watched as he walked away from her across their room. His shoulders grew tense with every step, and for a second she second guessed herself. Maybe she was pushing too hard. Maybe it wasn’t a big deal if he killed a few prisoners. When he turned to face her, it was the king standing before her, not her husband. She could see the anger written across the creases in his brow and the frustration locked in his jaw as his eyes narrowed on her.