“Double damn,” Tony added.

“Oh, and one more thing…she’s in high school.”

Tony choked on the sip that he had been taking when Trik had shared that last bit.

“Please tell me she’s legal,” he said as he slung the spilled liquor from his hand.

“I have no idea of her age.”

“How did you meet her?” Tony asked.

Trik let out another chuckle that made Tony’s skin crawl at the menace behind it.

“Those damn light elves. She saw them in their true form and she was running from them.”

“I thought you said that there was only one more thing back at the whole high school issue,” Tony said sarcastically.

“I lied,” Trik growled. “Her father works for one of the light elves’ conglomerates. They will have no trouble finding her.”

“So why aren’t you with her?”

“Tamsin won’t act until he has spoken with his counsel. That should buy me at least a night to decide my next move.”

“Have you decided?” Tony asked.

“If she is my Chosen, then I have no choice but to protect her.”

“How do you know if she is? I’m assuming there isn’t a big arrow that points to her, flashing Chosen over her head.”

“She saw through my guise. She saw my true form. In all my centuries in this realm, no human, as in none, zip, zilch, nada, has ever been able to do such a thing.” Trik explained.

“Wait, so has there ever been a human Chosen before?” Tony asked with a thoughtful frown.

“I know of only one other but it was with a light elf and it was a long time ago.”

“What do you mean was?”

“If the human goes to our realm then they will not age, they will stay forever young. She wanted to stay in the human realm and so he stayed with her. He aged with her and died with her.”

“Man, that’s depressing,” Tony said, shaking his head.

Trik laughed. “Some would say it was romantic.”

“Romance is a lie that gives people an excuse to act like fools and later blame it on the one whom they had bestowed their supposed love upon,” Tony sneered.

Trik clucked his tongue at his friend. “My, my, Tony. If I didn’t know better I would say that you are a lover scorned.”

“Or perhaps I am the fool,” Tony told him, his good humor returning. “That’s a discussion for another time, or never. You need to go talk to someone you trust who can tell you if it’s possible this child is your Chosen.”

Trik groaned. “Please do not call her a child, that’s just sick. She looks like a grown woman I assure you. There was nothing childlike about her.”

“Please man that means nothing. I work in the casino business. I see fifteen year old girls come through here all the time and until they open their mouths and speak you would swear that they were over twenty-one.”

“I will find out her age before I pursue this further. You’re making me feel like a dirty old man,” Trik frowned.

Tony laughed. “Well the old part is correct and I’ve seen the way women watch you as you walk by, so I would take the bet of you being quite dirty as well.”

Trik waved his friend off as he stood to go. “You humans know nothing of pursuing a woman and making her feel like she is the only one who could ever captivate your attention.”

Tony lifted his glass in a toast. “Please, by all means, teach me oh wise one. How I long to captivate the beautiful females of this great city.”

Trik laughed. “Sorry my friend but you are hopeless. Not even my expertise would work for you.”

Tony slapped his hand on his chest. “Ouch, that was harsh Trik.”

“The truth hurts. Isn’t that what you humans say?” Trik started out of the bar as he called over his shoulder. “I’m borrowing the mirror in your suite.”

“Have at it. Oh, and take your girl a balloon and teddy bear, I hear those are things that kids like.” Tony chuckled and ducked when the coaster he knew would be coming at his head sailed passed him.

~

Trik entered Sanctuary through the back door. In the bowels of the large manor that the Dark Elf King and his mate occupied, was what humans might call a club though his kind called it a refuge. It was a place for the dark elves to gather. Food, drink, and other pleasures flowed through the room. Music, seductive to the senses ran across his skin. He cast a shield over himself to keep the hypnotizing notes from drawing him in. He was looking for someone and didn’t have time to stay and play. Several of the females vied for his attention but he declined with a smile and kept walking. At the very back of the room in a dark corner he found the man he was looking for.

“Trik, to what do I owe this honor?” Myrin, the wisest of the dark elf elders, asked him.

“I need to speak with you in private,” Trik told him, making sure to keep his tone respectful, while trying to impress upon Myrin the urgency of the situation.

Myrin must have seen the earnestness in Trik’s eyes because he stood without a word and motioned for him to follow.

He followed the elder out of Sanctuary and down a dark corridor. Finally reaching a door, Myrin pushed it open and stepped back for Trik to enter. Trik, being the suspicious assassin that he was, didn’t move. He would never allow a powerful being such as the elder at his back. Myrin rolled his eyes and stepped into the room first.

“What is so urgent that you would pass up the company of the lovely she-elves that so eagerly offer their company?” Myrin asked as he lowered himself onto a very worn overstuffed chair. Trik chose to remain standing.