Elfin (8 page)

“I’m
Syndra,” the purple haired woman said in a voice that sounded more suited for a little pixie than for a tall she-elf.

“I’m, I…
” Cassie tried to speak but her words eluded her.

“You’re screwed
, love. That’s what you are,” Syndra said, shaking her head sympathetically.

“
Syndra!” Lisa’s said exasperatedly.

“What?”
Syndra shrugged, “I’m just reiterating what we all see before us. The girl is a mess.”

“What’s wrong with me?” Cassie
asked, finally putting a sentence together.

Syndra
stepped down from her perch and walked over to Cassie. She knelt down so that they were eye level and tilted her head to the side. Her eyes traced over Cassie’s face.

“He doesn’t deserve you. I can see already you have a pure heart.”
Syndra shook her head and let out a frustrated breath. “You’re Triktapic’s Chosen.”

“Yeah, already got that part.”
Cassie rolled her eyes, thankful to not be curling in on herself at the sound of his name.

“Yes, well he obviously did a piss-poor job of explaining all
that it entails to be a Chosen,” Syndra snorted. “But then he is a dark elf so what did we expect, honesty? Like that’s going to happen.”

“
Syndra,” Lisa raised a single eyebrow at the elf.

“Right, sorry. Okay so you’re his Chosen and at some point in the time you’ve spent with him
, your souls connected. Essentially , they became one. Each link is different and the intensity with which they bind is individualistic, but I would say if you are having this kind of reaction to being physically separated then you and Trik must have one hell of a connection.”

“But why?
Why does it hurt just because we are apart?” Cassie whispered through a wave of pain.

“It hurts because you are separated against your
soul’s desire. You are going against nature.”

“I asked him to leave,” Cassie told her.

“But you didn’t really want him to leave. If you and Trik had kissed and said goodnight, mutually agreeing to separate with no ill will between you and knowing that you would be back together in a short while, then you would not be in any pain. But you want him here with you. Your soul is calling out to its mate. Trik didn’t want to leave. He desires more than anything to be here by his Chosen’s side but you made him leave. You ignored what your soul was telling you; you ignored the call of his soul and so you went against nature. Now you are suffering the effects.”

Cassie groaned as another wave of pain wracked
her body. “Well that just sucks,” she gasped. Elora tried to hold her but Cassie cried out.

“Anyone else’s touch will be painful. Her soul wants only one being’s touch.”
Syndra leaned closer to Cassie. “You need to call to him. Say his name; he will come immediately , and the pain will be over.”

Cassie shook her head.
“He kills people. He’s tortured innocent people. He told me he was evil.”

Syndra
nodded. “Yes, those things are all true—very, very true. But what else is true is that you hold the other part of his soul and you are good and pure, which means that there must be something in Trik worth saving.”

“He didn’t
act like he wanted to be saved,” Cassie coughed as she attempted to take a deeper breath.

“He doesn’t know that he needs to b
e saved, but the time will come when he is going to need you. You, Cassie Tate, are his Chosen for a reason. Trik has walked alone for over a thousand years, separated from all because of the job he does for the Dark Elf King, separated from the light elves because of what he is. Destiny has made you his Chosen. You are his and he is yours. Nothing and no one in this realm or the Elfin realm can change that. You can fight it, or you can embrace it. You can doom him to a continued existence alone, or you can bring light to his dark life.”

Cassie’s eyes narrowed at
Syndra. “Who are you?”

Syndra
smiled slyly. “I’ve known Lisa and Elora for the span of their lives and neither has ever really seen me. What do you see Cassie, Chosen of Triktapic?”

The short purple
of Syndra’s hair faded to dazzling white as it grew, falling past her shoulders to her waist. The green in her eyes flared to life and her pale skin began to glow. Cassie watched as Syndra tucked her long hair behind her ear and that’s when Cassie noticed the ear was indeed pointed. She noticed too that a long white robe tied around the waist had replaced the jeans and white shirt she wore. She felt power emanating from the she-elf, a power that kept her on her knees.

“You’re
old and powerful,” Cassie muttered.

Syndra
smiled and bowed. “I am Syndra, Queen of the Light Elves, Chosen of Tamsin, the Light Elf King.”

“Well what do ya know,” Elora said dryly.

Lisa’s jaw had dropped open and her eyes were wide with childlike wonder.

Cassie looked from Lisa to Elora and then back to
Syndra. The question must have been written on her face.

“N
o, they do not see what you see,” Syndra answered the unasked question.

“You see her in her true form?” Lisa asked Cassie.

Cassie nodded.

“She can see me because she is a Chosen,”
Syndra explained. “Tamsin had told me that a human had seen us in our true form. He has given orders to hunt you. Now that I know you are a Chosen and that is why you were able to see them that night, he will retract the orders on your life.”

“So you all were really going to kill me?
Even though you are supposed to be the good guys?” Cassie asked as another jolt of pain erupted. She gasped and tried to steady her breathing.

“We have laws, just as you do. We must protect ourselves. But times have changed in the human realm, and maybe it’s time for us to change as well. I will tell you , though , people who have lived for centuries and millennia don’t typically take change very well.” Syndra watched her closely as Cassie tried to hold herself together.

“You must call him
, Cassie. This won’t get any better.” Syndra told her.

“How did you know?”

“Word travels fast when one of the strongest elves out of dark or light, looks like he has been beaten within an inch of his life. Trik showed up in Sanctuary. I’ll let him explain what that is, and word of his appearance spread like wild fire.”

“Why did you come?”

Syndra smiled and Cassie could see the genuine concern in her eyes.

“Honestly, I was curious. I sought Trik out and all it took was a light brush against his arm as I walked by to get the information I needed. Normally he would have never allowed such contact, but he’s even worse off than you are.”

“So you can do the whole touch thing and read minds too?” Cassie asked.

Syndra
began to answer, but stopped herself. She turned to look at Lisa.

“You know that nothing said here can leave this room right?”

Lisa nodded. “Of course. I would never share what you say, nor would Elora.”

Elora nodded her agreement
when the Light Elf Queen turned to look at her. Seemingly satisfied with Lisa’s answer, she continued.

“Typically it is something
that only occurs between two Chosen, but sometimes we elves gain special gifts as we age. One of my abilities is the power to see into the mind of someone with which I come into physical contact.

The room was quiet after
Syndra’s response. Lisa continued to stare at the she-elf whom she had called friend for so long, amazed that she was a Queen and Lisa had never known.

Elora watched her best friend struggle to breathe through the pain that she was enduring. Sometimes she didn’t understand why Cassie was so stubborn.

“Just say his name already,” she whispered fiercely. “There’s no reason for you to go through this.”

Cassie shook her head.
“My mom will be home any minute; he can’t be here.”

Syndra
waved off Cassie’s worry. “He can veil himself from humans. You don’t need to worry about that. What you need to worry about is your mother seeing you like this. She’s going to hall your pathetic looking self to see one of those healers you humans use.”

“A doctor,” Lisa offered up.
She narrowed her eyes at Syndra. “You sure don’t sound like a Queen most of the time.”

Syndra
laughed. “I’ve had a lot of practice blending in, primarily from hanging out with you and Elora.”

“Oh
yes, the purple hair totally blends,” Elora rolled her eyes.

Syndra
smiled at her. “It’s less disturbing than the pointy ears I assure you.”

Cassie listened to the women around her talk but they were beginning to sound far away, like they were speaking through a tunnel.
It was after she nearly passed out that she gave in.

“Trik,” she whispered.

She had barely spoken his name when she heard gasps around her and felt strong arms picking her up.

“Leave us.
” Trik’s voice was tight and anger and pain radiated through his words.

“
We will talk soon, Triktapic.” Syndra narrowed her eyes at the dark elf assassin.

Trik ignored her and the other two humans in the room. He held Cassie tight against his chest as he sat on her bed.
He felt the pain subsiding from him and could finally breathe again. He rubbed his face into her hair literally breathing her in.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, his lips brushing against her ear. “I’m so sorry. I should have warned you that this m ight happen. I shouldn’t have left.”

“I asked you to,” Cassie’s voice wavered
,
but continued to grow stronger as her pain too began to fade. Her face was buried in his chest and once again she felt something inside her reaching for him.

“Do
you feel that?” She whispered.

Trik
placed a finger under her chin, lifting it so that he could look into her eyes.

“
What you feel is our souls reaching for each other.”

“I don’t understand;
how can I feel it? It shouldn’t be possible.”

“Maybe not, but it is. I won’t ever let you go
, Cassie. I won’t ever let you endure such pain again.”

“I’m scared
, Trik.” Cassie held his gaze as she spoke. She needed him to understand what she was feeling.

“I see inside you
,
A'maelamin.
I feel your fear,” Trik told her as he brushed her hair back from her face. “I’m afraid as well.”

Ca
ssie’s eyes widened in surprise. “You? What could you possibly be afraid of?”

Trik leaned forward and pressed his forehead to hers. He closed his eyes. Suddenly images flooded Cassie’s mind and emotions pulsed through her like a wild storm. Her breath caught as she realized Trik was sharing his mind with her. Once she realized what was happening, she began to pay closer attention. Her arms wrapped around him and she pressed herself closer as she watched the most dangerous assassin of his kind reveal his deepest fears.

What she saw broke
her heart. He was afraid that she couldn’t love him knowing what and who he was. He was afraid of losing her and the joy she had brought him, joy that he never imagined could exist. She felt rage unfurl as he pictured her with another guy, felt the pain that quickly followed on the heels of that rage. She saw his existence and the emptiness of it through his eyes and it broke her heart. He also showed her the darkest part of himself. She could tell he didn’t want to, but he refused to be less than honest with her. Cassie felt a tear slide down her cheek as she saw the hopelessness in him because he would not stop being what he was, couldn’t stop. He was a dark elf; he was an assassin, and that would never change.

Cassie pulled her forehead from his
, breaking the connection. She kept her eyes closed as she tried to process all that he had shown her and allowed her to feel. It was so overwhelming, so intimate and all consuming.

“Cassie,” he
r name on his lips was a plea.

She let out a deep breath and opened her eyes. He sat before her in
his natural form. She hadn’t even paid attention to the fact that he had looked human when he first arrived.

“One day at a
time, Trik,” she told him softly. “I can only do this one day at a time right now. I don’t understand it, but I know that the thought of you leaving and never seeing you again is unacceptable.”

Trik moved so quickly
that she didn’t have a chance. His lips were pressed firmly against hers. She felt the desperation in the kiss and it hurt to know that she had made him feel that way.

He p
ulled back just enough to speak. “No A'maelamin, do not blame yourself. You have handled this better than I could have ever dreamed.