Cyn shrugged nonchalantly. “I have a friend that is an elf.”

“Can you contact this friend somehow?” Lilly asked.

Cyn shook her head. “Once we enter their realm we still could only find them if they wanted to be found.”

Lilly stood and brushed the dirt off the rear of her pants, straitened her shirt and tightened her pony tail. “Alright then, we don’t have time to sit around and watch the leaves blow.”

Cypher looked over at his mate and his lips tilted up slightly. “Does anybody just sit and watch leaves blow?”

Lilly snorted. “People in little bitty towns in Texas will sit and watch paint dry as long as there is food to eat and company to eat it with, which really if you have company there is always food involved, oh and sweet tea. Never forget the sweet tea, that’s like forgetting to put your pants on in the south.”

Cyn frowned. “And you think we are strange?”

“No, I think you are strange—er, I never said, humans didn’t have our fair share of strangeness.”

Cypher took Lilly’s hand in his and nodded for Cyn to lead the way. “I like your weirdness,” Cypher whispered.

Lilly grinned up at him. “Are you trying to get brownie points?”

Cypher chuckled. “Little one, I don’t need brownie points to get what I want from you.”

Lilly’s heart stopped in her chest at the insinuation in his voice. She didn’t dare look up at him because then he would see the desire in her eyes, and know that he was indeed correct. The man was too yummy for his own good and the only thing he would need with brownies would be to, STOP that thought right there Lilly Pierce she admonished herself, then grinned because in spite of her age, and no matter what she said, she was completely smitten…and with a warlock King no less.

Cyn walked at a brisk pace through the Balkan Mountains. The closest veil into Othea, the realm of the elves, was deep in the Carpathian Mountains along the _______________ _ river.

She didn’t have a clue as to how Thalion would react to them entering his realm, but at this point, there was too much going on to really worry about offending him. Although, she supposed you should always worry about offending people who made weapons that could kill anything. They were going to have to get some modern transportation if they wanted to get there quickly.

“We’re going to have to go into Ruse to get something to drive,” Cyn called over her shoulder.

“Wait,” Lilly said, holding her hand up as she stopped. “You know how to drive?” She looked up at Cypher.

He rolled his eyes in exasperation. “Why, do you think we’ve been living in caves, grunting, and using animal bladders for water containers? We change with the times Lilly, we adapt. If we did not we would never make it in this world.”

Lilly realized that she was making them feel like they weren’t smart enough to learn new things and she felt like an ass. She looked at Cyn andthen Cypher. “I’m sorry. I guess I thought that since you live in the mountains away from civilization that you couldn’t possibly know about technology.”

“We stay hidden, because it would become very suspicious to humans when they began to notice that we do not age.”

“Good point,” Lilly agreed. “Okay Cyn, lead on. Let’s go get some wheels.”

Cyn continued on at a more brisk pace.

Cypher didn’t have any trouble keeping up, whereas Lilly was pumping her legs as quickly as she could without actually running.

“Why do you talk like that?” Cypher asked.

“Like what?” Lilly asked, her words sounding airy from her heavy breathing.

“Wheels?” Cypher’s brow rose.

Lilly laughed and it too sounded winded. “I have a teenage daughter,” she frowned, “well had a teenage daughter. It’s hard, not to pick up on her lingo.”

Cypher thought about that for a moment. “So she talks very differently from you then?”

“It’s like a whole other language,” Lilly told him, shaking her head. After that Lilly fell silent, not because she didn’t have anything to say, but because she barely had enough air in her lungs to keep her feet moving, much less joke around with Cypher.

After what seemed like days of walking at a brutal pace, the trio walked out of the forest and onto a street in a place Lilly assumed must be Ruse. They jogged across an empty street, unnecessarily, as appeared that the road was used very seldom, and then passed behind a cluster of buildings. Cyn led them through an alley in between the buildings and when they stepped out of the alley Lilly’s breath caught at the dichotomy spread before her. Directly in front of her lay, the quaintest village Lilly had ever seen. But, instead of horse drawn carriages, which would have appeared much more natural, there were a smattering of late model vehicles parked here and there along the sides of the street. The earth tone colored buildings were constructed very close together and sported high, pointed roofs. Most were adorned with inviting front porches containing flickering lanterns, which hung on the walls next to the doors. It appeared to be a very old town, and Lilly felt as if she had been thrown back in time. People meandered along the street, stopping to talk to one another or frequent one of the many adorable shops lining the street. Lilly soon realized that each of the shops served an important function; a butcher, a seamstress, a general store. No Old Navy’s here, she thought.

Cypher took her hand and they turned left on the street and began walking. Lilly noticed Cyn peering into each vehicle they passed. They stopped in front of a brown sedan that was pulling up to the curb. Lilly watched as Cyn approached the car as the driver stepped out. Cyn began speaking animatedly to the man and though Lilly could not hear the words, she guessed that Cyn was attempting to talk the man into allowing them to borrow his car.