“Well you and Mom had it easy; you weren’t sitting next to bladder boy, and not only did he have a bladder the size of a pea, his words, but he also spit when he talked. I mean, seriously, who does that?” She groaned.

Oakley laughed. “My favorite part was when he nearly peed on himself when Cush told him to get his hand off your shoulder.”

Elora rolled her eyes. “He was just balancing himself. I swear that boy didn’t have enough brain cells to even think about copping a feel.”

“He knew what he was doing,” Cush grumbled not for the first time.

Lisa turned the lock on the door and made sure the closed sign was still facing out, and then they all made their way back to the storage area that was the designated break room. Elora hopped up onto the counter while the others shuffled boxes and pulled out chairs to sit on. Weariness settled like a cloak over them as they seemed to collectively take a breath for what Elora felt like was the first time in days.

“I still can’t believe you expect me to just go back to school while all of this is going on,” Elora said looking at Lisa.

“Lisa,” Cush’s voice cut through the intense mother-daughter stare. “I know that Elora is your daughter, but I have to express my reservations about her going to school while Lorsan and Tarron are on the loose in the human realm.”

Elora started to say something but the look Cush shot her had her clamping her lips closed. She narrowed her eyes at him which only seemed to amuse him.

“I understand you concern, Cush, but I would really like Elora’s life to continue on as normally as possible while it can,” Lisa told him.

“Normal?” Elora choked out a laugh. “We passed normal a few elf battles back, Lisa. There is no normal anymore.”

“Normal is so overrated.”

Elora’s head snapped to the left at the sound of Cassie’s voice, and when she saw her best friend fully emerge from the large mirror that stood in the corner of the storeroom, she leapt from her perch on the counter without a thought.

“UMPH!” Cassie grunted as Elora wrapped her in a tight hug.

“You have no idea how good it is to see you,” Elora said tightly as her throat threatened to close off under the wave of emotions she felt. She knew she had missed Cassie; she just didn’t realize until that moment that it had been as if she had severed a part of her own body and now finally had it back.

“Oh, I think I have an inkling,” Cassie told her as she patted her back affectionately.

When Elora finally released her best friend, she saw that Trik, Syndra, Tamsin, Rin, and Tony had also come through the portal.

“Welcome back, boys,” Elora said to Rin and Tony with a smile. She gave Tamsin and Syndra a nod hello as she stepped back to make room for all of them. She felt largehands on her waist and found herself leaning back against the solid form that was Cush, and as Rin began to speak, Elora found that she was very grateful that he was at her back.

“The book was taken from me.” Rin met Cush’s eyes as he spoke; his jaw still tense with the frustration of losing a battle. “We fought but there were just too many, and I figured out pretty quick that they weren’t really after us. Based on the way they were fighting, they were attempting to distract us.”

“I couldn’t have done any better Rin,” Cush told his comrade, hoping it would help him know that he didn’t hold him responsible. “Do we know if it was Lorsan who got it?”

Rin shook his head. “It could have been Tarron.”

“Isn’t that the same thing?” Elora asked. “Doesn’t Tarron work for Lorsan?”

“Tarron only works for Tarron,” Trik answered. “He is his own breed of evil and if he has found a way to get out from underneath Lorsan’s thumb, then you can bet he will take it.”

“Excellent,” Elora muttered. “Just what the human realm needed, not just one crazy dark elf but two.” She felt Cush squeeze her waist and glanced up at him and wished she hadn’t because then she wouldn’t have seen the concern in his stormy eyes. If Cush was concerned, then it was bad.

“Do you have a plan, my liege?” Cush asked Trik and all heads turned to look at the former assassin.

Trik took a deep breath and looked at Cassie and then at the rest of the group. “I’m going to set down my crown for a short time and pick back up my bow and arrow. And I’m going to do what I do best. I wish I could say that I have this grand scheme to overthrow Lorsan and take out Tarron and save the humans and restore our people. I wish that I knew that I was enough to save us all.” His eyes fell as he felt the weight of what lay before him descend fully on his shoulders. His people were depending on him. These people were looking to him for guidance and leadership and he would not fail them, not again. “We’re going hunting,” he said looking back at Cush.

“I think I speak for us all when I say that we will back you no matter what,” Cush told him and murmured agreements followed his words.

“I finally get to see if you know how to use your bow and arrow. I was beginning to wonder if you just carried your quiver around cause you thought it made you look cool,” Elora said dryly.

“Beautiful, are you just going to let her tease your husband like that?” Trik asked Cassie, but his eyes were on Elora.

Elora’s jaw dropped open at the same time Cassie’s head whipped around to shoot a glare at Trik.

“You’re what?” Elora and Lisa said at the same time.