“So what I hear you saying is that you saw some incredibly handsome men with pointy ears, shiny hair , and freaky eyes in one of the conference rooms of your dad’s building?” She summarized and Cassie let out a breath of relief as she heard the belief in her friend’s voice.

“Yes,” she answered simply.

“Then you ran into another incredibly handsome guy who seemed to flicker between two different appearances?”

“Exactly,” she answered again.

“Well, I have two theories,” she paused in thought. “We could be dealing with one of two different beings—Elves or Fae.”

Cassie choked as she swallowed. “You’re telling me that you really believe that there are things out there other than humans?”

“Definitely,” she answered matter of fact like. “Do you have another explanation?”

“Halloween costumes,” Cassie answered lamely.

Elora snorted. “You believe that about as much as you believe in Santa Clause.”

“But you would have me believe that there are two other species besides ours that exist?”

“Yes. Can you honestly tell me that you think, in this whole wide world, we are the only beings besides the animals?”

“How could they have kept themselves a secret for so long?” Cassie challenged.

“Oh come on Cass, just because we haven’t seen them doesn’t mean that others have not. Let’s just go with this theory for now. I will do some research and ask Lisa. Now, you said this Trik character said that he would see you again and that he was yours ?”

Cassie nodded absently, only to realize that her friend could not see her through the phone.

“Yes,” she answered.

“That means you need to keep your eyes open. If you see him again, ask him what he is.”

“Just like that? Isn’t that kind of rude?” Cassie huffed.

“How else are you going to find out if he isn’t human?”

“Fine,” Cassie said dryly. “I’ll ask the incredibly hot weirdo just exactly what he is. That should go over real well.”

“Good. We aren’t going to figure out anything more tonight so try and get some sleep.” Elora told her before she abruptly hung up.

This was another of the quirks that Elora constantly exhibited; she didn’t believe in goodbyes, so she simply did not say them.

“Yeah, fat chance on the whole sleep thing,” Cassie told her empty room.

She lay back on her bed, not bothering to get under the blanket. She closed her eyes and Trik’s face appeared despite her attempt to push him from her thoughts. Deciding that it was useless to try to prevent it, she decided to enjoy the view.

Chapter 3

“The old adage, if you can’t beat them, join them , to me is just away of saying that you’re weak. My motto is, if you can’t beat them then you aren’t fighting dirty enough .” ~Trik

Trik played poker well into the early morning hours. After he had taken enough of the humans’ money, he looked at his friend and made a motion with his head to leave the table. Now they sat in a quiet bar enjoying the only time that the city was somewhat subdued. Tony sat across from him looking like a model from a GQ magazine in his custom suit. His blonde hair was fixed in a messy style, which probably only took running gel slicked fingers through it a couple of times. He was tall, though not as tall as Trik, and it was obvious that he worked out. He had a strong jaw line and his nose was slightly crooked from being broken two too many times. Fighting had been his thing in high school; not street fighting, but organized fighting for money. He had been good, undefeated for the four years that he had fought. He was young to be the manager of a Casino, especially one as large as the Iniquity. Tony had turned twenty-one only a few months ago and his father, who had worked for the dark elves for the past thirty years, had been only too happy to pass the title, and the stress that went with it, to his only son.

“So are you going to tell me what brought you to my lovely city?” Tony asked as he lifted his glass to his lips , taking a sip of Cognac, the gold liquid glistening in the glass as the lights hit it.

Trik smiled. “A woman.”

Tony chuckled. “Isn’t it always. Some hot little elf number trying to tie you down?”

“If only it were something so simple.” Trik ran his fingers through his dark hair. He was still in his human guise. Though he had known Tony since he was fifteen, when Trik had seen one of his fights, he had still never shown Tony his true form, for doing so would be the equivalent of signing his death warrant. Tony’s father, who also knew the true identity of Trik and the other elves with which he did business, had also never seen any of them in their natural forms.

Tony sat up and leaned his forearms on the table. “Whoa, you’re really rattled. I don’t think I have ever seen you look so, so ….” He struggled to find the right word, “human.” He finally settled on the only word that would really describe his friend’s frustrated look and agitated movements, all of which were very un-elf like. “Come on Trik, spill it. I can tell that you need to talk about it and you obviously don’t feel like you can talk to any of your people or you wouldn’t be here.”

Trik let out an exasperated breath. “She’s human.”

“Damn,” Tony muttered as he sat back in his chair, taking another sip of his drink.

“That’s only part of it,” Trik told him with a sardonic laugh. “I’m pretty sure she’s my Chosen.”