“A week ago?” Elora asked outraged. “She’s been missing for a freaking week?” Elora shook her head. “I can’t believe we are just now realizing she’s not here. I haven’t been able to make it to see her and she hasn’t returned my text, but I figured she was just pining over him ,” she said pointing at Trik. “The best thing to do when Cassie is in a mood is to just leave her alone. Damn if I’ll ever do the best thing again. If I had just checked on her we would have known sooner. I wouldn’t have let her come here.”

“It’s not your fault, Elora,” Syndra stepped towards her. “We all had been giving her space. She’s been hurting and we all thought it best to let her grieve in her own way. If anyone is at fault it is Tamsin and I. We promised to protect her and we failed.”

Elora’s eyes had begun to tear up and she wiped at them angrily. She hated to show emotion, especially in front of other people. Without another word, Elora turned to leave.

“Where are you going?” Trik asked after her.

“To the coffee shop, I want to know who she met.”

They all followed after Elora and Lisa turned the ‘open’ sign in the window to ‘closed’ and locked the door behind her. They hurried after Elora who was walking at a pace that would rival the speed of an elf.

They arrived at the coffee shop and as they walked in, heads turned and eyes stared. Though the elves had put on their human guises, they were beautiful and their presence commanded the attention of the room.

Elora headed for the counter and saw that one of the girls who Cassie and she saw on a regular basis was working.

“Megan,” she called out to the girl.

Megan smiled and waved. “Hey Elora, how’s it going?”

Elora ignored the question and asked one of her own. “Has Cassie been in recently?

“Uh,” she thought for a second. “Not since you both were here about a week ago, but I haven’t seen her since then,” Megan told her with confusion written across her face. She looked past Elora and saw the elves and her eyes widened.

“Who are the tall, too beautiful for words, people who came in with you?”

Elora rolled her eyes. “Distant relatives,” she said dryly. Trik stepped around Elora blocking her from Megan.

“Did Cassie look alright when she was in here?” He asked the girl.

Megan took a step back as the intensity and power from Trik’s worry and anger reached out to her. Trik tried to leash it and managed to tamp it down slightly.

“She um, she,” Megan stumbled. “She looked fine.”

Trik nodded and turned, walking quickly through the door not bothering to walk around people just heading straight for them and not worrying if they got out of his way, which they did.

The others followed Trik as he headed back for Lisa’s store. He opened the door without Lisa having to unlock it and she decided now wasn’t the time to ask how in the world he managed it. He walked back to the storeroom and began to pace.

“What now?” Elora asked.

Before Trik could respond a body crashed into the wall, having been flung through the mirror and Taegan emerged behind it. He looked over at Trik and smiled.

“He wasn’t too hard to find; he’s been following you.”

Trik moved swiftly as his anger flared. He grabbed the slumped form that was Alok and threw him in a chair. The dark elf was unconscious and Trik slapped him hard across the face immediately bringing him around. Trik’s eyes began to glow intense silver and the glory that was his kingship, his blessing from the Forest Lords began to radiate from him. He wrapped a hand around the elf’s neck and began to squeeze.

“Where is my Chosen?” He growled menacingly.

Lisa gasped. “Trik!” She had never seen someone so angry with a look so cruel on his face. She was sure that he was going to murder the man sitting before him.

Trik’s head whipped around at the call of his name and his eyes narrowed. A soft glow began to hum around him and he took a step towards her.

Trik watched as Syndra placed a hand on Lisa’s shoulder to prevent her from moving any closer to him. He looked around the room at the shocked faces. To his surprise, Elora had sat in a chair; her usually indifferent stare was gone as tears streaked her cheeks. Lisa too had begun to cry as tears streamed down her face and they suddenly both looked exhausted, as if they had gone days without sleep.

His eyes snapped back to Alok.

“Where. Is. She.” Trik’s words were clipped and vibrated with rage.

Alok started to speak but there was a commotion behind Trik. He turned to see one of Tamsin’s light elves step through the mirror, dragging a woman behind him. Trik realized quickly that it was Vashti, Lorsan’s transmuter. He turned back to Tamsin.

“What the hell is going on, Tamsin?”

“Elora, Lisa, I think it would be best if you left the room,” Tamsin told them in a calm voice though his eyes never left Trik.

Elora rolled her eyes. “I’m not going anywhere, not until Cassie is back.”

Tamsin told Vesperr, the elf who had dragged in Vashti, to put her in the chair next to Alok. Trik slapped her across the face just as hard as he had Alok and watched in growing anger as she awoke. He held them in their chairs by his will alone. Their eyes widened as they took in Trik and then they both began to struggle against his hold.

“I’m going to ask one more time. Where is my Chosen?”

At his words of claiming, Elora felt the shock and pain and anger bubble up to the top and she could no longer contain herself. She jumped up and ran towards Trik. Her fist slammed into his chest and she let loose of all of it.