War of Shadows

Tea for Lauren

Chapter 3

“Stella!”

I’m broken out of my trance by the call of Carter, jogging casually across the street over to get me. It’s weird, how my world can be tilted upside down while everyone else seems completely oblivious to the pain ripping through me.

“Carter,” I call back, my throat constricting with unshed tears.

As Carter nears the vehicle we’re at, Eli whips his head to him and the muscles on his arms tense.

“Stel, the ride is- Are you okay?”

“Who are you,” Eli questions. The tone was calm, but one couldn’t miss the hidden threat behind his words.

Carter shoots Eli a dirty look and reaches past to grab my outstretched hand. Always the protector, always the one to cushion my fall. The tears that threatened to fall are finally creeping down my cheeks as I take his hand and push past Eli. A muscle in his jaw twitches, a mask of indifference falling over his face as he watches me leave with Carter.

I want to turn around. I want to go back and tell him that we’ll figure this out somehow, but a big part of me knows that this is much bigger than the insignificant feelings of a lonely dreamer.

A war.

The word clangs through my head like a pestering echo. A war with the Fae would have colossal effects for both the wares and humans.

Our continent, Treoup, is inhabited by humans and shifters and consists of Elynta, the eastern lands, Ikraim in the west, and Onyadia claiming the southern tip. Elynta, my country, is more friendly to humans than our neighbors. We have been able to coexist successfully, though not every city can coexist peacefully. Some cities are a mix of humans and shifters, some consist of strictly humans or shifters. In Ikraim humans are often considered as pesky little things only to be used to serve the shifters. The humans in those lands live in poverty, and are rarely respected among the shifters. Onyadia is the most dangerous for humans. Many years ago, the humans in Onyadia had been hunted for game and forced to flee the country for sanctuary in Elynta and Ikraim. The g******e in Onyadia took place many years ago, but the stories have been passed down through lullabies and bedtime stories. My mother used to tell me the harrowing tales of the humans that lead each other to safety amongst the slaughter, and I would listen wide-eyed as she re-enacted the heros’ adventures to freedom.

Efreiti is the land of the Fae. They don’t meddle in the affairs of the three countries of Treoupe, and keep to themselves. They occupy the Eastern lands that are separated from Treoupe by the Geyhl sea, who’s legends of beasts and demons lurking in the waters have prevented both humans and shifters from exploring into Efreiti.

The Fae possess the ability to bend the elements to their will, but as far as I know one one element can be wielded by each Fae. The borders to Effeiti are permanently closed to outsiders, and they are known as peaceful people. Until now, I suppose.

What could they gain by starting a war? They have their own lands, they’ve never sought out trade agreements with anyone, and they keep to themselves.

Carter snaps me out of my thoughts as opens the back door of a gold vehicle, and ushers me in before him. The ride back to my house is quiet, the confusion from Carter builds the tension quickly.

It’s not long until the vehicle bumps over the curb of the driveway, and the blue-gray home left to me by my mother reflects the light of the headlights in the dark. Carter flashes the driver a smile and hands him a folded bill for a tip before he comes around the car to walk me to the house.

“Are you gonna tell me what happened?” Carter sighs impatiently. I don’t even know how much I can tell him. Eli didn’t say I couldn’t, necessarily, but did it really have to be said to be implied?

Watered down version it is, then.

I take a second to wrap my head around the key points and what to avoid. “He rejected me because he’s engaged.” I avoid Carter’s eyes and ignore his stiffened posture as I type in the code on my lock and swing the door open.

“It’s about damn time, I’ve been waiting for the tea for like an hour.” Lauren strolls leisurely out of my kitchen and into the entrance hallway with a plate of pizza rolls in her hand, lifting an eyebrow and offering the plate to us. I debate taking one, then decide that after my night, I need the whole plate.

I grab the plate and head to my right, into the living room while I begin to recant the events that unfolded. Carter plops lazily into the worn leather loveseat, and Lauren crawls next to me on the couch to share the pizza rolls.

“So basically,” I start between chewing “this man acts like he’s so enamored with me, but then this other guy came and was like ‘hey stop, this other girl is gonna be pissed’ or something.” Lauren gasps dramatically and sits up, eager to hear more. I glance at Carter, who’s quietly listening with his gaze set on me and a blank expression. I nod enthusiastically to Lauren “I know. That’s when I went to find you guys, but I still wanted to talk to him so he took me to his car.” Carter twitches his eyebrow and scoffs. “Which is really nice, I might add. But then he starts this spiel about how he’s engaged but he can’t end it. Something about his dad.” I wave my hand dismissively and grab another bite. Lauren watches me closely, but she can see right through my flippant tone. She always does. After a moment of silence, her eyes soften as she reaches her small hand up to tuck my fire-tinted hair behind my ear.

“He’s a damn fool,” she says softly. “Nothing he does from here on will make him worthy of a woman like you, and he’ll see that soon enough.”

The guilt of hiding the details pulls at the strings of my heart, but there’s nothing I can do. I simply take what’s happened and lock it up; it’s done and it’s over with. I’ll get over it.

***********************************

The next two days passed in a blur. I’d be lying if I said that something didn’t change the day I met Eli, though I can’t quite put a finger on it. I just felt….something. Going to work seemed more mechanical, it was hard to focus and my mind kept drifting to Eli- drifting to the war.

What would the Fae gain from possessing more land? From what it sounds like, they don’t reproduce like humans and shifters do. If they were after minerals or supplies, we could easily open a trade route instead of slaughtering armies. If they needed workers, I can’t imagine that plenty of people wouldn’t be curious about working in uncharted territory.. It just doesn’t make sense to me how we can go so long with minimal contact, and all of a sudden they want to start a war with us. I’ve narrowed it to three distinct possibilities:

The fae have come up with a greater agenda to use our land or our people for.

Some event must have stirred them from their blissful disregard for us, and now they’re fighting back, or

Eli lied about the war altogether.

I walk out of a local coffee shop, an iced latte tucked under my elbow and a bagged panini pinched between my fingers, the heat and aroma making my stomach growl. The midday sun beats angrily on my face. This morning, after throwing on a bulky sweater and baggy mom-jeans, I threw my auburn hair into a clip and swiped some mascara on to accentuate my sea foam doe eyes. The summer always flecked a dusting of small freckles across my tanned nose, and I preferred not to cover them with makeup.

“I would have guessed you’d be more of a Starbucks kind of girl”

I would have kept walking, wouldn’t have even reacted, had it not been that voice. That nearly growling voice that had been tormenting my thoughts for the past two days, that voice that sends a sensual shiver down my spine.

I spin and lock eyes with Eli, and the world around me drowns into muffled background noise. Seeing him here, tall and demanding attention, brought back those little butterflies that I hadn’t felt since that night at The Yellow Viper.

The night he rejected me.

That thought forces my eyes into slits and starts a boil in my blood. I had locked up the feelings I had that night, sure. But the crumbles of anger held strong. Perhaps from a self-preservation reflex, perhaps as an avoidant mechanism, but strong nonetheless. I turn right back around and walk across the street to my red SUV parked on the curb.

“Stel.” I jump at the proximity of him.

I think he did enough talking the other night. I don’t want to talk.

“What do you want?” I hiss at him. Harsh black patterns and swirls trail up his left arm, and disappear into the sleeve of his t-shirt stretched taut over his muscled chest. Eli opens his mouth but I flick my hand up. “Actually, I don’t care.” A lie. “You rejected me, I don’t even know you, and I don’t care to know you.” With that, I dramatically motion for him to walk away which earns me a twitch in his eyebrow. Eli leans on my car and crosses his arms, the body language looks casual and non threatening as he bores into me with his sharp gaze.

“First of all, I didn’t reject you.” His eyes flash, but before I can decipher what it means it’s gone. “Second of all, my wolf doesn’t want to reject you.” His gaze quickly sweeps down my body and back up, and I ignore the flush that creeps up my neck. His eyes soften as he continues. “I’m sorry, Stella. I know I hurt you the other night, I didn’t know what to do. I still don’t. I was hoping you would help me figure it out.” I can tell he’s unaccustomed to the words ‘help me’ by the way he awkwardly grazes over it.

If we accept the bond, lives could be jeopardized. Elynta will be forced to pull out of the alliance, and Ikraim wouldn’t think twice about leaving us defenseless while they pull their own people to safety away from the Fae armies.

“Were you telling the truth about the war?” I ask bluntly.

“Yes”

“What about Onyadia”

“They would surrender to whatever offer the Fae made them. They’d rather lie in submission than fight.”

I harden my resolve and lock away my feelings.

“With the blessing of the Goddess, I reject-“

Eli shoots out his hand to cover my mouth firmly, but not painfully.

“Stop. Stel please,” he breathes. “Give me two hours. Two hours and you can decide what to do.”

Maybe it was because of that kernel of hope that still lived in my heart, and maybe it was the touch of selfishness I harbor, but hold his gaze of molten gold and I nod.