Trik leaned down and kissed her hair, and she felt it all the way to her toes.

“You always have a retort.”

“Not always,” she said pushing away from him. She watched as he raised an eyebrow at her.

She realized that she had just proven him right by once again taking the bait he had so temptingly dangled before her.

“So, what are we doing today?” Trik pushed himself up and leaned back against her bed.

Cassie shrugged. “What do you want to do?”

Suddenly his face lit up like a child on Christmas morning seeing the presents piled under the tree.

“To show you my realm.”

Cassie froze. “I’ve been in your room.”

He nodded. “Yes, but I want to show you the beauty and glory of the Elven realm.”

He looked so excited. Cassie had never seen him with such boyish enthusiasm. She didn’t want to squelch it or hurt his feelings. “Okay,” she finally said.

He leaned forward and took her face in both of his hands and pressed his lips to hers. He pulled back much too soon and jumped up out of the bed. “I’ll be back for you in an hour. Be ready.”

She watched as he disappeared through her mirror.

“Well okay then,” she muttered to herself as she climbed out of bed.

She grabbed her phone and checked her texts. Elora had texted her five times while she had been in her coma like sleep.

She dialed Elora’s number listening to the rings as she waited.

“So did you dump quiver boy?” Elora said with no preamble.

Cassie laughed. “No. We talked and he finally relented. He’s going to tell Lorsan that he will no longer be his assassin or spy.”

Elora was quiet.

“You there?” Cassie asked.

“Yeah. Do you really believe it will be that easy, that Lorsan will just let his most powerful weapon go?”

“What choice does he have? By the way everyone makes it sound, Trik could wipe the floor with him.”

“Lorsan is a Royal. They have all kinds of sneaky tricks up their sleeves.”

Cassie’s eyes narrowed at Elora’s words.

“How do you suddenly know so much about the Royal Elves?”

“I found a book. It contains the entire history of the elves. Not only does it detail their history, but it also discusses their bloodlines, listing the strengths and weaknesses of each one. I didn’t get very far in it before Lisa took it from me. This book in the wrong hands could destroy them.”

“How on earth did your mother end up with it? Surely she didn’t buy it on eBay like she does a lot of her stuff.” Cassie was deep in thought. She realized just how dangerous it was for Lisa to have something so important to the elves.

“She says Syndra gave it to her, but I’m not buying it,” Elora grumbled.

Cassie agreed. Syndra didn’t seem the type to leave something so detrimental to their race in the hands of a single mother who owned a new age shop. But then again, maybe Syndra thought nobody would ever think to look there.

“I need a favor,” Cassie started.

“Let me guess. It has something to do with a mysterious figure that is tall, dark, and pointy eared?” Elora said dryly.

Cassie rolled her eyes though Elora couldn’t see her.

“He wants to take me to his realm.”

“Hmm, so what I hear you saying is a that dark elf assassin, who is helping his Dark Elf King make a drug that will make all the humans that take it become pleasure seeking morons wants to take you, by yourself, to the world where all that is going down?”

Cassie nodded her head slowly then remembered that Elora couldn’t see her so she added, “Uh-yeah.”

She heard Elora let out a sigh. “I swear Cassie, I can’t decide if you have a unique sense of adventure or are just looking for the most original way to get yourself killed.”

“So can you cover for me? If you will come pick me up I can tell my mom that we are going to hang out and then you can drop me off somewhere Trik can meet us.”

“Fine, but if you get yourself killed I reserve the right to flush your ashes down the toilet while I sing the theme from Titanic.”

“Elora you don’t sing.”

“Not the point.”

“So, you in?”

“Fine. What time is QB going to be ready?” Elora asked.

“He said in an hour or so,” Cassie pulled the phone away and looked at the time then returned the phone to her ear. “We’ve got about thirty-five minutes until he’s back.”

“Okay, I’ll be there in twenty.”

Cassie grabbed her clothes and headed for the bathroom. She showered in record time and then blow-dried her hair until it was just a tad damp. She pulled it back into a messy bun, looked herself over and decided that that was as good as it was going to get.

Downstairs, Cassie found her mom pouring a cup of coffee. Her dad was sitting at the dining room table, trying to make a spot for his plate amongst her mom’s mess of papers.

“Hey mom, dad,” Cassie headed for the fridge and pulled out the milk. She grabbed a bowl from the cabinet and placed it on the counter. She turned to get the Lucky Charms cereal from the pantry but her mom already had it in her hand. Cassie took it and smiled at her.

“Sleep alright?” Sylvia asked.

“Yep. Hey Elora called and she wants to hang out. Is that alright?”

Sylvia lifted the cup of coffee as she answered. “That’s fine.” She took a sip and then pinned Cassie with the stare. “So when are we going to get to meet Trik again?”