“This is what they got,” he said, answering Trik’s earlier question.

For several heartbeats nobody moved. They all simply stared at it. Based on the reactions of the elves around her, Cassie guessed this must be a piece of the Book of the Elves.

“Lisa had it in her possession?” Trik finally asked Rin.

“Yes, my liege, and there is something else you need to know.” Rin looked from Trik to Cassie and then back again. He let out a deep breath before he spoke again. “Lisa told her children about their father, but she didn’t tell them how he died.”

“What?” Cassie gasped. “Who was he? How did he die?” Cassie watched a myriad number of emotions cross Trik’s face as he looked at her.

“Lisa was a Chosen,” he finally answered. “She was Chosen to a dark elf named Steal.”

Cassie’s mouth dropped open but no sound came out. She didn’t know what to say. She couldn’t believe that Elora had to go through that without her, had to find out about her dad in front of a Rin and Cush. Oh and poor Oakley, she thought of her best friend’s brother and how he had always felt just a little different, but he kept those feelings to himself. She only knew because he had come home one night a little tipsy and she had been spending the night at Elora’s. She had been up getting a drink when Oakley came in, and he sat at the kitchen table looking so lost. She could tell he needed to talk so she just listened, and they never spoke of it to anyone not even each other.

“Steal defected from Lorsan and stole the book,” Trik continued and motioned towards the book before them. “I, being who I was, was sent after him.”

“Oh no,” Cassie’s hand came up to cover her mouth as she realized what her mate was about to tell her and she didn’t want to hear it. “No, Trik.”

“I’m so sorry, Love; I am.” He came over to her and knelt before her, taking her hands in his. “You need to hear it from me, as does Elora and Oakley. I killed Steal. I was told to get the book and if I couldn’t I was to take his life.”

Cassie’s eyes filled with tears as she felt the pain inside of Trik, the torment that he dealt with regarding the innocent lives that he had taken.

“Elora has no father because of me,” he said as his jaw clenched and he fought back his emotions.

Cassie leaned forward and wrapped her arms around his neck. She placed her mouth next to his ear and whispered, “She will forgive you.”

He shook his head. “She shouldn’t.”

“Maybe, but she will.” Cassie pressed a kiss to his ear and then pulled back. She looked at her humbled king and her heart broke for him. She couldn’t take away the years of darkness; all she could do was help him to see the light that was before him now. She couldn’t fix him, that was something only time could do, but she could cry with him, she could hurt with him, and she could live one day at a time with him until he was healed.

Trik stood and turned to face the group who watched them both intently. “So Lorsan has the Book of the Elves?”

“Lorsan or maybe Tarron,” Tony spoke up for the first time. “It will be worse if it’s Tarron who has it.”

Trik let out a string of curse words that had Cassie’s eyes widening.

“What exactly is in this book that is so valuable?” she asked. “Why is it so dangerous for Lorsan to have it?

“It’s our history as well as our future,” Syndra said as she stood up from her place at the table. She looked visibly shaken in a very un-Syndra like way. “And it holds some truths to our magic that those who thirst for power should not ever know.”

Cassie would like to say that Syndra’s words made sense, but if she were honest she’s was just as clueless as she had been before she asked the question. She decided she would just talk with Trik about it later rather than embarrass herself by asking Syndra to elaborate further on a topic that was obviously upsetting her. To Cassie’s surprise, Syndra continued.

“History is knowledge and knowledge is power.” The light-elf queen met Cassie’s gaze and though her hands still shook slightly, her voice was steady. “I’m sure they taught you that in your schooling. We elves have watched nations rise and fall in your world. Leaders come and go and those who have wanted to keep the power for themselves all do the same thing. They restrict the amount of history and knowledge their people can learn. Take away the ability for a people to think for themselves and they are easily held captive by fear and dependence. That is why that book is so important. It is knowledge and in the right hands it is a great tool of learning, but in the wrong hands it could be the end of more than one race.”

The room was silent as Syndra stood staring off into nothing as her words bathed them all in the reality of how bad things had become.

“So what you’re saying is the Rapture that is still in the casinos is the least of our worries?” Cassie asked.

“Bingo,” Syndra answered.

“Have I mentioned that I truly appreciate the traveling method of portals? Because if I have not expressed it I really would like to,” Elora said as she dragged her tired self into her mom’s shop with Cush, Oakley, and her mom in tow.

“You mentioned it once when that guy was sitting in your seat on the plane, and then again when that same guy got up three times to use the bathroom and had to climb over you and Cush, and then I think you brought it up again when he felt the need to tell you both about his bladder issues,” Oakley smirked as he listed her many woes of the trip home.