Rapture

Prologue

Prologue

"There is only so much darkness the human race can endure. At some point the shadows will wrap around them and suffocate any light that might have given them reason to hope. Without hope they would begin to die as, one by one, their souls reached out and took the darkness.” ~Cush

I never thought I’d die a virgin, Elora said to herself as she stood in the dark, damp dungeon. Then again, I also never thought I’d be stuck in a dungeon with a bunch of elves and my mom. Her eyes wandered over the room, landing briefly on each member of their little rescue party until they landed on him. Ah yes, now if these other five bystanders weren’t in the way, I just might not have to die with said virtue intact. Her stomach growled, drawing her mind from her less than innocent thoughts and she pushed away from the wall.

“Have I mentioned how hungry I am?” Elora asked as she began to pace. Lorsan had thrown them in a cell, after he was done kicking their asses, and there they had been for three days with only the occasional bread and water. The air was thick with humidity and the walls slick with condensation. The tendrils that fell from Elora’s messy bun stuck to her neck as sweat trickled down her back.

“Only sixteen times,” Tamsin answered dryly.

“Well apparently it was sixteen times too few because I still do not see any food,” she retorted.

Their once hopeful mission to rescue Trik and Cassie had not gone exactly as planned. Now here they were—two humans and five elves—battle scarred, ticked off, and hungry awaiting their fate at the hands of a psychotic dark-elf king hell bent on enslaving the human race.

Elora glanced around the dim room, illuminated only by several small windows at the very top of the twenty-foot walls, watching the faces of her comrades. She nearly snorted at herself for thinking of them in such terms. But then, she had been in a battle with them and so what else could they be? Lisa sat with her back against the far wall across from the door. Sidhion, aka Sid as she called him; Rincavornon, aka Rin; and Beleg, aka Bel, all three stood leaning against the wall to the left of the door, their eyes constantly roaming the small room. Tamsin sat a few feet from Lisa with his legs drawn up and his arms lying over his knees. Cush was crouched down on the balls of his feet, arms leaning on his knees. He had been sitting like that for hours, motionless, and Elora marveled at his patience. Her legs were cramping up just looking at him, but he didn’t seem to be bothered. His eyes stared at the iron door, as if willing it to open by the sheer force of his mind. Elora tried her hardest not to stare at him but finally gave up when she realized she just might die any day now, so why not enjoy the view while she could?

Cush felt a shiver of awareness and knew that her eyes were on him. At first, she had been trying to be discreet about it, but now he realized that she wasn’t even trying to hide that she was watching him. It was slightly unnerving, her level of confidence and her unabashed bold behavior—unnerving and sexy as hell. His muscles felt tense as he knelt down, watching the door, waiting for it to open so that he could spring into action. He wasn’t concerned that they were captured; he and his brethren had been captured before. They had been outnumbered in battle many times in the past and yet still they lived. But for some reason, this time he felt different, and he had a feeling that it had something to do with the beautiful, dark, mysterious girl whose eyes were trained on him. He finally turned his head slowly until their eyes met. He expected her to look away, to be embarrassed at being caught, but instead she just returned his stare. He held her gaze and her purple eyes seemed to be searching his, asking a silent question. Maybe it was the same question that he had been asking himself—why was there this pull between them? What was with the magnetic energy that seemed to be drawing him to her? She finally raised a single brow at him, a silent challenge for him to relent. His jaw tightened as he fought the desire to go to her and to make sure she was well. He gave her a slight nod and then turned back to the door. He willed it to open, needing to fight, needing to get rid of the pent-up energy building inside of him, but mostly needing to get as far from Elora as possible.

Elora let out an annoyed sigh and looked away from the warrior who had just blown her off. She didn’t know why she cared, didn’t know why it mattered to her that he avoided her even in the tiny space where they were all stuffed like five toes shoved into a shoe two sizes too small. Her eyes landed on Tamsin who was giving her an odd look. He seemed to have witnessed the little play-by-play between her and Cush and the small smirk on his face told her that he found it amusing.

“What?” she snapped.

He shrugged but didn’t answer.

“So, do we have a plan?” Lisa spoke up.

Tamsin started to answer, but Cush held up his hand to silence him.

They all tensed suddenly. Those sitting stood slowly and those leaning righted themselves and took steps towards the door.

There was a rustling noise just on the other side and then a thud. The door shuddered and then flew open. The group steeled themselves, waiting with baited breath for the enemy to enter.

“Are you guys just going to stand there while we rescue you or are you going to give us a hand with the dozens of dark elves that are sure to be headed our way?” Trik stepped into the cell covered in weapons from head to toe, looking every bit the assassin his reputation claimed him to be.

“Took you long enough,” Tamsin growled, but it was followed by a smile.

“Yes well, from what we understood you guys were to be the rescuers, not the resucees. So quit your bellyaching and let’s go,” Cassie answered as she stepped around Trik.

Elora grinned and walked over to her best friend. “I’m so not happy with you,” she told her.

“I love you too.” Cassie smiled and pulled her into a hug.

Lisa pushed past the elves in her way and wrapped Cassie in a hug as soon as Elora released her.

“I’m so glad you are alright,” she whispered.

Cassie nodded. “Me too.”

“Alright beautiful,” Trik spoke up. “We need to get going before Lorsan realizes what’s going on.”

Cassie nodded and took Trik’s outstretched hand.

Elora watched as Cush, Sid, Rin, and Bel—she had given them nicknames because their names were just too freaking much—all stepped in front of Trik and walked out into the hall. Apparently, they would be going first. She glanced back at Tamsin.

“Shouldn’t the all-powerful Trik be going first?” she asked.

“We will protect the king at all cost,” he told her.

She rolled her eyes. “Dumbest thing I’ve ever heard,” she grumbled under her breath.

“All the elves will be fine, Elora,” Tamsin told her, implication thick in his tone as he nudged her forward to follow the others.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

He chuckled behind her. “Just keep telling yourself that if you must.”

Elora glanced around her mother’s shoulder as she made her way into the dim hallway. She caught sight of Cush and felt herself breathe a tad easier.

Holy crap, she thought to herself. I have a crush on an elf. That’s not something a girl admits to everyday. She didn’t know when it had happened, but she knew that it was not good, not good at all.

Lorsan paced his study as he waited for Melda, the she elf that had at one time been in charge of Cassie’s care, to arrive. He knew that she had grown fond of the human and had even helped Trik get her back. She would be punished for that. He smiled to himself, and what better way to punish her than to have her betray her new friend, he thought smugly.

He heard a knock at the door and readied himself for the performance he was about to give.

“Enter,” he called so she would hear him through the thick door.

Melda walked in with her head down and he could see the slight tremble of her hands as she clasped them in front of her. It was obvious that she thought he was going to punish her. He tried not to chuckle at her pathetic demeanor. After all, he knew it was really an act. Anyone bold enough to defy him and assist his enemy was not really so docile.

“Melda,” he purred her name. Her head snapped up and her eyes widened, obviously surprised at the sound of his voice, “I’ve been watching you.”

“My liege,” she said with a convincing amount of apprehension.

“You did a good job taking care of Cassandra, and even though I am disappointed that you let her get away, I find myself fascinated with your tenacity and willfulness.”

Her eyes grew even wider.

Lorsan stalked towards her, slowly looking her over, his interest as plain-as-day on his face. She wasn’t an ugly she-elf, but he had a Chosen with incomparable beauty. So convincing Melda of his interest in order to get the compliance he wanted might be tricky. But he was sure he was up to the task. What woman wouldn’t want to be with a king?

“I find myself in need of a distraction during these trying times, with war knocking on my door and my Chosen constantly nagging me about this and that. I need a woman who will just listen to me and meet certain needs. You see a man of my status has needs, Melda, and well a woman like you…,” he motioned to her feminine form with desire dancing in his eyes, “could definitely meet those needs.”

She swallowed and he could see it was with great difficulty. Her hands we now clasped so tight that her knuckles had gone white and her eyes were the size of saucers.

“Now, what I think is important for you to know is that there is a war coming, and there will be many deaths, but those who are closest to me, those,” he paused dramatically, “who help me, will have the full weight of my protection. Who knows what kind of horrible death Triktapic has planned for the dark elves? Even though you helped him, you are still a dark elf, my dear, and will be subject to his wrath if he should make it this far.” He could tell that she was really beginning to think about what he was saying, beginning to understand that he could keep her alive. If Lorsan knew anything about his dark elves it was that above all else, survival was their instinct. They would do what they had to to survive.

“What would you have me do, my king?” she finally asked after several minutes of silence.

He smiled as he stepped up in front of her and ran a thumb across her lips. “I’m glad you’re seeing things my way.”