“Cassie, beautiful Cassie, what are you? How could you possibly see my true form?” He still held her hand in his and with his other hand he ran a finger down her jaw causing her to shiver again. She wanted to take a step back, needed to take a step back, but she couldn’t move.

“How do you know my name?” She asked.

His lips lifted in a crooked smile. “I saw it in your mind.” He said it like it was the most normal thing in the world.

Cassie tried to pull her hand away but he tightened his hold.

“You think you can read my mind?” She asked slowly, as if speaking to a child.

“Not think, know,” his finger was now trailing slowly, so very slowly across her bottom lip. “I know that you think my lips are made for pleasure.”

Cassie felt the blood rush to her face in embarrassment. “Oh,” she squeaked out.

She cleared her throat and tried again. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” It came out more as a question than the firm statement she had been going for.

His finger continued to run gently across her jaw and down her neck to her collarbone.

“I know about the time you fell out of the tree in your front yard and broke your arm because you were trying to rescue the neighbor’s cat. I know that you aren’t sure you even believe in prayer or the One you pray to, but it comforts you. I know that you think that your best friend is prettier than you are and I know that you do not see yourself clearly if you think that.”

Cassie’s breath was coming in short gasps as she listened to this guy she had just met, and didn’t even know his name, tell her things that there was no possible way that he could know. She felt like she was suffocating; she couldn’t get enough air and her sight started to fade.

“Come on beautiful, breathe for me.” His voice sounded far away though she knew he was standing inches from her.

She felt his breath on her face as he spoke. His scent swirled around her and as she breathed in and out, she felt like she might be drunk on the smell. She felt him brushing her hair away from her face and then tilted her chin back to look up at him. She blinked as she looked at his inhumanly handsome face. She saw his features flicker again. For a brief moment , he had long, pitch black hair, pointed ears, and eyes so silver and clear that they shimmered like diamonds . His face shifted slightly. If she thought that he couldn’t be even more beautiful, she was wrong. Then, in the blink of an eye , she was again looking at the man with shorter dark hair, regular ears, and eyes that were a more subdued, yet stunning grey.

“Wwwhat was that?” She stumbled over her words. Finally getting her feet to move she pulled back from him staring up at his widened eyes. When he continued to stare at her instead of answering her , she gathered her thoughts. She turned to look back at the door where she had entered. She could hear the other men out in the hall, speaking in low tones.

“They are going to find me soon. I need to go.” She looked back and nearly jumped when her face almost ran into his chest. She tilted her head to look up into his face.

“Theywon’t look for you in here,” he told her confidently.

“They will eventually. It’s pretty obvious since its right next door to the room they were just in and I hid so quickly,” she reasoned.

His lips formed a wickedly crooked smile. “They won’t find you because I won’t let them.”

“And who are you, exactly?” Cassie raised a single eyebrow in question at him.

He leaned forward until his mouth was mere inches from hers.

“I’m yours,” he whispered.

Cassie snorted out a short, abrupt laugh to cover up the gasp his words caused. “Does that work on all the girls?”

Suddenly his head whipped up as the handle of the door began to jiggle. Cassie’s body tensed as she turned to look at the door, ready to bolt like a frightened animal.

“Cassie, are you in there?” Cassie let out a relieved breath as she heard the voice of her father.

She took a step towards the door but was stopped abruptly when an arm snaked around her waist. She let out a gasp of air as her back came in contact with a very firm chest. She felt his breath on her ear as his lips grazed her skin.

“I will see you again, beautiful.”

She closed her eyes briefly as she tried not to enjoy the sensation of being held so confidently. When he released her she headed quickly for the door and as she unlocked it and began to turn the knob, she felt his breath on her neck again and then a whisper.

“Trik, my name is Trik.”

She turned to look over her shoulder at him but there was no one there.

Chapter 2

“Light elves have one mate—their Chosen. They love that one with totality and unquestioning faithfulness. For all the darkness that lives inside a dark elf, for all the evil that is innately born in them, they too have but one mate. And whatever the reason, the ferocity and intensity they love their Chosen with is neither lessened by their evil, nor sacrificed because of who and what they are.” ~Myrin, Advisor to Lorsan

Trik stood leaning up against a large tree in the deserted park, the lateness of the night having driven the humans to the perceived safety of their homes. He debated whether to go and report back to Lorsan or wait until he had his emotions under better control. He didn’t want to get into what had happened with the beautiful girl, Cassie. He had plucked her name from her mind when he had touched her. As soon as his skin had made contact with hers , it was evident to him that her beauty wasn’t just skin–deep. She was beautiful down to the deepest part of her soul, and that should be enough to make him stay away. But he knew he wouldn’t, especially since she had seen the light elves in their true form. For all the good in the light elves, they still lived according to their laws and a human who had seen them in their true form had forfeited their life—whether it was their fault or not. As soon as she had walked into the room where he had been spying on the light elves and turned to look at him, she owned him. There was no way that he would let Tamsin and his band of goody-two-shoes touch a single hair on her head.