Page 12 of The Dark Elf's Secret Son

“So, when do you think you’ll take me up on the offer,” Thenzi asks, taking a long sip.

“Of playing with you? Nah, I’m a solo musician.” I shake my head, not confessing there is only one person I play with. “Keep dreamin’ if you think I’m going to give up my prime dinner spot to play with you in the early afternoon.”

“Oh come on,” Thenzi whines. “At least let me play with you once or twice in your dinnertime slot then!”

“Nope,” I say, popping the ‘p.’ “Stick to your own timeslot. Leave mine alone. I’m not having you slither in acting all innocent when your real goal is to steal it right out from under me.”

Telnis laughs at us. “You’ve got to admit, Tenz, Ris worked hard to get that dinnertime

slot.”

“I paid my dues.” I pat him on the shoulder. “You’ll get there eventually.”

As I’m chatting, I notice Sienna finish her drink before heading out. Good. It’s still not too late and she’ll make it home before the night fully comes to life.

Now that I don’t have any motivation to stay behind, I knock back the last of my glass. “Alright.” I nod at the bartender, knowing that Telnis will mark these down to come out of my pay. “I’m out. Got to get my beauty sleep, fellas.”

“Oh, please.” Thenzi rolls his eyes. “Like we need more of a competition. You’re good lookingandtalented. How do some dark elves have all the luck?”

“Just blessed, I guess.” I shrug one shoulder and head for the front of the theater.

As I slip out into the night air, I spot Sienna already on the path to her home – in the opposite direction of mine. I watch her, trying to convince myself that I shouldn’t follow her when my entire body is screaming for her.

I have to start walking before I do something stupid. Putting distance between us is the only way I can manage to screw my head on right.

She’s just...so amazing. I don’t know how I can keep myself from holding back with her. I want more than we have. I want to be with her, I want to spend the nights with her and work with her, and maybe one day...I’d like to play just for her.

Shit. I’m in deep, deeper than I should have ever allowed, and the worst part is I don’t even care. I am content in being so entranced by this woman that I can’t be bothered to try and squash my feelings.

“But it’s pathetic,” I murmur as I kick a rock.

Not pathetic because she’s human. No, I’d never think that.

Pathetic because I know that Sienna would never want me that way, and yet, I’ve given her my heart to hold and shatter over and over.

I had been falling for her since we met, but it wasn’t until we slept together that I realized how royally fucked I am. Because I couldn’t get enough of her, and that night she made me promise that this situation is just a physical thing between us.

So I know she’s not interested in me, nor is she interested in more between us. I can’t be with her like that. All I can do is pray to the gods that I can keep the arrangement we have.

It’s all I can do to make it to my townhouse on the opposite side of the city center from her. It’s another reason I can’t drink too much at the theater or I think my alcohol-addled brain would wander the human’s lowtowns, shouting for her.

I’ve barely got enough control over myself sober. I don’t dare risk unleashing my deepest desires because I know where that will leave me. Without Sienna.

And I’d give anything to make sure that never happens.

* * *

I stroll into the theater,already feeling lighter. I’m always too antsy when it comes ro my time away from Sienna.

“I had this great…” I step into the dressing room to find it empty, my epiphany falling flat in the quiet air. “Idea.”

She’s usually here by now, and in all my time of knowing Sienna, she’s never late. A knot forms in my stomach, and I double back to the bar. She might be elsewhere in the building, but he would have seen her come in.

“Hey, Telnis, have you seen Sienna?” I ask, trying to sound casual. “She’s supposed to be helping me get ready.”

“Nah, haven’t seen her.” He turns from me without a hint of interest, and I try to contain the panic that surges through me.

One of the waitresses pass by me, and I spin around, chasing after her. But when I ask her if she’s seen Sienna, she tells me, “Nope, she’s not been in today,” she says. “I’m not sure why.”

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