“I agree, Tony goes with Rin,” Cush spoke up.

Tony chuckled and shook his head at the warrior. “Aren’t you a little old to be jealous?”

“Hey, shut it,” Elora growled. “It’s sexy when he’s jealous.”

Cush’s lips curled up. “Yeah, Tony,” he emphasized the T sound dramatically, “she thinks it’s sexy when I’m jealous.”

“Good grief,” Oakley huffed, “can we go already? I feel like the dark elves are going to be coming back with reinforcements.”

Cush picked Elora up in his arms and motioned for everyone to follow as they headed back towards the motel running quickly, but not nearly as fast as they had run on the way to rescue Cush.

Elora stood next to her mom and brother as they watched Cush speak to Rin and Tony.

“Keep your weapon at the ready,” Cush told Rin as he stood next to the warrior in front of the mirror. “And go for anything that tries to make a grab for you.”

“This isn’t my first rodeo you know,” Rin said in amusement at Cush’s worry.

“Just be careful,” Cush said without acknowledging his comrade’s use of the human phrase.

Tony stood next to Rin, blade in hand that he had given him. They both looked into the mirror as if they could possibly see what might be lurking in the portal to grab them, but of course all they saw were their reflections.

Rin turned to Tony. “You ready?”

Tony nodded. And then both men stepped into the mirror at the same time. Elora’s eyes widened as she watched first their legs, then their torsos, and finally all of them be swallowed up by the mirror. She waited, standing just as still as the others, to see if it would suddenly spit them back out, but as time passed and nothing happened she realized they weren’t coming back. She couldn’t decide if that was a good thing or bad thing and knew there was no way for them to know until they were all reunited.

“So we’re heading home?” she turned and spoke to her mom.

Lisa nodded. “I don’t know what more we can do, Elora. I mean we stopped the production of Rapture, but I don’t see how we can get it out of the casinos without getting ourselves killed or captured.”

“None of you are going back to Vegas,” Cush spoke up.

“So we’re just going to twiddle our thumbs in Lisa’s shop?” Elora snapped.

“No, you are going to get caught back up on schoolwork,” Lisa told her. “I’m going to have to come up with some reason as to why you’ve missed so much and hopefully they won’t make you repeat the whole semester.”

“I just wanted it noted that I think this idea blows,” Elora told them as she watched Cush dial a number on his phone and then proceed to buy them all airline tickets back to Oklahoma City.

Elora returned her attention to her mom. “I can’t believe you’re worrying about school at a time like this. I mean let’s think about it logically.”

“What’s logical about any of this, Elora?” Lisa interrupted.

“That’s not the point, Lisa. The point is that am I really going to need a high school diploma in elf land?” Elora cocked an eyebrow at her mom. “I mean seriously, Mom. I’m going to be the wife of an elfin warrior. I don’t think he’s too concerned about how much algebra I do or don’t know.”

“We are not going to have this conversation right now when you’re emotional and tired, okay?”

Elora knew her mom wasn’t really asking; she was pretty much telling her to let it go. She decided she would, for now.

“Tickets are booked, I’ve called a taxi to take us to the airport,” Cush told them as he slid his phone into his back pocket. “So now we just wait.”

“Waiting sucks,” Oakley and Elora said at the same time.

Cush looked from one to the other.

“It’s an American thing,” Elora told him. “We don’t do patient.”

Chapter 18

“I wonder if he knows what he is truly capable of. I wonder if he knows that without him they would remain divided. Though I’m immortal, I never imagined that I would live to see the day that Triktapic would reclaim his throne, and now that the day is here I wonder if any of us will live to see peace between a race that has been fighting for far too long.” ~Myrin

Trik heard the knock on their door and wanted to gut the one who would dare to interrupt his time with his new bride. Unfortunately he also knew that just because he had taken his Chosen and bound her to him, the world did not stop turning for them. There was still a war to be fought, prisoners to be dealt with, and a human realm to save. No matter how badly he wanted to pull her into the shelter of his arms and close the rest of the world out, he couldn’t.

“I can get it,” Cassie murmured as she started to get out of the warmth of their bed.

Trik wrapped an arm around her waist like a steel band and pulled her back to his chest. “You are not dressed appropriately to be answering doors, Love.”

Cassie laughed and the sound danced across his skin and deep into his soul filling him with warmth. “I’m not dressed at all.”

“Exactly my point.”

“I was going to put clothes on Trik, geeze,” she hissed at him like an adorable little kitten.

“ENTER,” he bellowed as he made sure the sheets covered all of Cassie. Trik watched as Tamsin entered. Anyone, except maybe Syndra, would have blushed or at least looked somewhat embarrassed to be interrupting him and his Chosen, but not Tamsin. He looked way too pleased with himself.