Page 4 of The Dark Elf's Secret Twins

“Don’t do that again.” I scoff, rolling my eyes.

“What, is that like your catchphrase for the night?” I retort, turning back toward the bar. Lykan snarls, stepping forward to grab my arm and turn me back toward him. I should be furious that he has the gall to put a hand on me, and a part of me is, but a much larger part can’t help but marvel at the way those warm, rough palms skate across my bare skin. Heat curls from where he touches me, and it’s an effort to keep the annoyance clear on my face.

“I mean it,” Lykan says lowly.

“Oh, I’m sure you do,” I reply, tugging my arm out of his grip a tad reluctantly. “What is it that has your panties in a twist this time? Is it that you think I goaded that drunk bastard from earlier into manhandling me? Or is it that I bruised your ego when I refused to comply with another one of your insipid demands?”

Fury, pure and simple, clouds Lykan’s features. The eyes of every staff member within earshot are on us, but I can’t find it in me to care.

“How about I make some demands of my own for a change? I demand that you leave me alone. I demand that you stop undressing me with your eyes. I demand that you stop trying to bully my staff. I demand–”

“You’d better watch that mouth of yours,” Lykan growls.

“Or what?” I snap back. Lykan’s eyes drop to my lips, and the raging, heated anger I was feeling moments ago drops lower in my body– much lower. I hardly stop myself from leaping on him, moisture pooling between my legs at the blatant desire in his eyes.

Without another word, Lykan turns on his heel and storms away from me for the second time tonight, leaving me wanting. I ball my hands into fists at my sides, warring between wanting to scream at his back and chase him down and demand him to kiss me.

Fuck, what iswrongwith me?

I whirl back to the bar, finishing my task as quickly as possible before going to collect my things from the service hallway. The staff stays out of my way, knowing better than to incite my rage when I just had another face-off with Lykan. Even as I storm home, I can’t get Lykan out of my head.

One thing becomes abundantly clear: I need to get away from that male before I do something I regret.

3

LYKAN

What am I doing?

I’m not going to letCyrachase me out of the theater, especially not with so many watchful eyes on me.

I pull up short of the exit, letting out a frustrated growl as I turn back around. I am supposed to be the last to leave, as the lead on guard duty. Regardless of how badly I want to get away from that fucking woman.

The last of the staff is bustling about, eager to get out and go home for the evening. The guards avoid my eyes as they stand dutifully where I left them, a few shifting awkwardly on their feet as I approach.

If it were any other night, I’d probably tear into them for allowing such weakness to slip into their body language, but tonight, I can’t be bothered.

“You’re dismissed,” I growl. The group disperses quickly, a few of them lingering only to try and chat with a couple of the girls. That’s another thing I’d usually call them on– no good ever comes of them fraternizing with human women– but all I want right now is to get out of this godsdamned theater. Everywhere I look, I expect to see Cyra, and my nerves can’t handle anymore of that tonight.

Instead, I grab the meager bag of belongings I bring every day to the theater from the service hallway and wait impatiently by the exit for the last of the staff to finish up their duties. The bartender from earlier this evening wilts as she slips past me and out onto the streets, her steps a little more hurried than necessary.

I won’t forget whose side she chose in that altercation– but that’s an issue for a different night.

The lights within the theater are dimmed, the doors are locked up, and I’m on my way back to my estate. It’s strange, thinking the wordsmy estate. It isn’t truly mine– I didn’t earn it.

Maybe if things were different, I would have earned it somehow. I would’ve risen even higher through the ranks of the miou, found honor and glory in my position, and landed myself an estate anywhere in the world I wanted. Maybe I would’ve traveled to Kaynvu, and carved out a place for myself in one of the sister cities.

But of course, that didn’t happen. Not after the ambush.

My hands ball into fists at my sides, and I try to shake those thoughts out of my head. The estate doesn’t feel like home, not really. Everything about the lavish, too-big manor feels like a reminder of my failures. I’d rather have a loft in the city, or even sleep in the barracks, but my family won’t hear a word of it.

Seems like everything tonight is destined to remind me of my ineptitudes.

I decide to walk the streets of Vhoig for a minute, just in an effort to clear my thoughts and avoid returning to the gaudy estate my parents have given me. No matter how many turns I seem to make, though, I always end up back near the theater. It feels as though I’ve been wandering for hours, but a quick glance at the sky tells me that the theater has only been locked up for all of ten minutes. My mind just won’t seem to slow.

Sighing, I turn on my heel, resigned to heading back toward Hightown and my estate when a snatch of conversation echoes through the quiet night, drawing me out of my reverie.

No, not conversation– arguing.

---