Cherish

High school fucking sucks.

I slam my locker shut with a loud bang and take a deep breath, trying to calm myself down.

"You okay?" Zoe asks softly from beside me.

"Yeah, just idiots talking out of their fucking ass," I grumble. "I'm just thankful today's done and over with."

"Don't let them get to you," Zoe says with a reassuring smile.

"Yeah, they're all assholes anyways," Lucy says with a shrug. Her eyes narrow on someone behind me, and she scowls. "What the hell do you want, asshole?"

I don't even need to turn around to know who she's talking to. I just wish he'd leave me alone.

"I want to talk to Cherish," Adam says.

I roll my eyes and turn around to face him. "This feels a little bit like déjà vu. Go away, Adam. I'm too pissed off to deal with your mood swings today." I push him back and move to walk around him, thankfully moving quick enough that he can't make another grab for me like he did at prom.

"Come on, Cherish. I just want to talk. Your friends can stay if you really want them to."

"Not interested," I wave a hand dismissively and keep walking with Lucy and Zoe following me out to their cars that are parked near mine.

"Does he seriously think it'll be that easy?" Lucy hisses. "He fucking hurt you, and he thinks that any of us would just let it go?"

"I don't get it either," I admit.

"So, do you think it's him that's been spreading those rumors?"

I grind my teeth so hard it hurts. "I don't fucking care who's spreading them. Honestly, I don't really think people think that it's true. They're just hoping to have something to talk about, and as long as it's not them they're happy."

"It could be Adam spreading that rumor. I mean, he was the one who freaked out at prom about you fucking Andrei, Xander, and Kade," Zoe says. "Either that or he was bitching about it to someone else, and they went to spread it around. I don't know."

"Yeah, well I wouldn't have a problem with the damn rumor if it were actually true. Hell as long as any rumor is true, I don't give a shit. What I give a shit about is the fact that they're wrong. I'm not fucking any of them, let alone all of them."

"We know, Cher," Zoe assures me, rubbing a hand on my shoulder, easing my tension a little.

I shake my head. "Whatever. I'll see you guys later." I wave goodbye to my friends and get in my car. Instead of going straight home, I go to the address Kade gave me yesterday.

I grab my bag from my car and go to the door. After knocking, I wait for the noise of someone moving behind the door and take a deep breath to steady myself.

The door opens, and Xander smiles at me. "Hey," he says simply.

"Hey, uh, can I come in?" I ask, suddenly nervous.

He opens the door wide and steps back, so I can enter.

"Are the others here?"

He tilts his head toward the same room we were in yesterday. "They're in there, waiting."

I pause. "Waiting?"

Xander grins. "We kind of figured you'd come back."

I narrow my eyes, not at all liking that they were expecting me to come back. "Why?"

He smirks. "Princess, I highly doubt you would have left here and not said anything to your mom or dad about what we said." He starts walking, and I follow him until I see Kade sitting on the couch and Andrei at the window, staring at something outside.

Kade flashes me a smile when he sees me, but Andrei doesn't show any reaction to my presence.

"I take it your mom talked to you?" Kade asked softly.

"If you mean the fact that neither of my parents are who I thought they were, you're right about that," I admit.

Kade and Xander exchange shocked looks. "Wait, what?" Kade asks.

"My mom isn't my biological mom. She's my biological mom's twin sister."

"Shit," Xander says, running a hand through his hair. "What happened to your biological mom?"

"She died, not long after my first birthday, apparently." It still doesn't feel real. I haven't even grieved because I don't really know how to grieve for someone that I don't really know, even though she's my mom. "My mom’s sister and husband took me in, and my mom told them to not tell me about them not being my biological parents until I heard from someone that my supposed dad would send for me."

I look at each of the guys, noting that Andrei's now facing me, watching me curiously.

"My mom said she left a letter, explaining you guys would be taking me away. Is that why you're here? To make me leave?" I ask softly, begging internally for it to be a lie.

Andrei nods. "That is the plan. We were actually sent to find you, first. No one knew what you'd look like since the last time your father saw you, you were an infant. Until you're willing to come with us back home, we're here as your guards."

"Guards?" I ask. "But, aren't you guys teenagers?"

Xander and Kade laugh while Andrei's lips quirk up a little. "We're quite a bit older than teenagers, Cherish."

I narrow my eyes at him. "Okay? How old are you guys then?"

Kade smiles. "I'm the youngest, I'm a hundred and thirty four."

My eyes bulge as I stare at him. The fuck? "That makes you the youngest?" He nods. "How old are you guys, then?" I ask, looking from Xander to Andrei.

"Andrei's the oldest at five hundred," Xander explains. "I'm a hundred and eighty."

I close my eyes to process that. Opening them I give them a shit-eating grin. "So, you're all old geezers. Got it."

Andrei scowls, but his eyes are glinting with amusement. Xander and Kade both chuckle.

"Technically, I guess so," Xander says.

"How do you guys look so young?"

"With our species the aging process slows around twenty. It takes dozens of centuries to age enough that we look like old geezers, as you so delicately put it," Andrei says.

"Species," I mutter. "Right. My mom said something about elves, but I was honestly hoping she was joking."

Xander smirks, and the air glimmers around him for a second before revealing his pointed ears. "Sorry, Princess, she's right."

I gape at him, not really knowing what to say to that. Kade and Andrei also drop whatever was hiding their pointed ears, because they no longer look like normal human ears. "How?"

"Glamour," Kade explains. "Elves have their own special kind of magic. Those of us who are old enough can cast spells without needing to speak the words aloud."

"Like what?" I ask, curious.

"We could call on the king, so she at least knows what he looks like and maybe talk to him?" Kade suggests, though the suggestion comes out as a question. Andrei nods.

"Shiloi neko salu Maja." Andrei waves his hand toward the mirror hanging on the wall.

Kade stands up from the couch a mere moment before the glass ripples and an older man is there, looking at the men who now have their heads inclined respectfully.

"Any news?" he asks, his voice deep and gruff, and it sounds impatient.

"You could say that," Xander says, lifting his head and gesturing for me to join them. I move to stand next to him, despite my nerves. My curiosity always wins out over nerves. It's kind of annoying if I'm honest. "My King," Xander begins, "as you already know, we've found your daughter."

The man in the mirror looks at me, and he doesn't move his intense gaze away from me. "My Cherish," he whispers. "You look like a smaller version of your mother."

I wave lamely. "Uh, hi?" I glance at the guys, wondering if they had told him my name.

He laughs for a moment before turning his attention to the men around me. "Was there a reason for the call?"

"The Princess was curious about casting spells using our language," Xander explains. "We chose this as an example."

"Uh, yeah, could you not call me that?" I ask, flinching slightly. It kind of made everything a bit more real.

The King laughs. "You'll get used to it, my dear. I take it this means you'll be joining me soon?"

I speak up before the others have a chance to. "I don't want to leave my family."

Andrei curses under his breath when the king's gaze falls on me, studying me intently. "How is your mother?" he asks.

"If you're referring to my birth mother, my mom told me she died around my first birthday." I tilt my head when I see the pain those words bring to his eyes. "You didn't know?"

He shakes his head sadly. "I did not. Your mother took you from here the moment we got wind that there'd be a war. She wanted you to stay safe. Unfortunately, our kingdom is still at war, so I was unable to have her bring you back here."

"Why now?" I ask.

"Before you left, I placed a spell over you to hide your abilities so that you'd be able to blend easier in the human world. Approaching your eighteenth birthday, the spell has started to wear off and thin, leaving you vulnerable to attack should our enemies find you. From what my guards have told me, you've already encountered some of their magic."

"What do you mean?"

"You didn't explain it to her?" he asks the guys surrounding me.

Andrei scowls and explains, "She kind of left in a huff before we could fully explain what was going on yesterday."

The king raises a brow. "Really?" He shakes his head. "You should explain it to her." He turns his attention back to me. "In any case, until you have full access to your powers you're vulnerable, especially when you have no clue how to use them. Until you return here and I release the spell, you will be on the edge of having that power and being powerless. That is not acceptable. The sooner you come to us, the sooner we can fix that. Perhaps, you could stay with us for a short while, then join your human family after?"

I bite my lip, debating. "I want to talk to my mom about it." His face falls slightly, making me feel bad. "I'm not saying no, but maybe we can figure out when I can come? I graduate this year. I really don’t want to miss that."

He nods. "I understand. If you ever wish to contact me, have one of the guards call, and I'll hopefully have enough time for us to chat for a while." His eyes flick to something off to the side, and he sighs. "I have to go. Thank you, boys, for calling me, so I could talk to my daughter. Cherish, I look forward to hearing from you soon."

The mirror ripples again, and in the next second, I'm looking at my own reflection.

Andrei turns to face me. "You do know that if it becomes too hard to protect you here we'll have no choice but take you to our home, right?"

I raise a brow at his tone. "Hmm."

"What is 'hmm'?" he asks.

"You're not going to be ordering me to go anywhere. I'll agree to go if it ever gets that bad, but I doubt it will. I will not be leaving my family before I'm ready to if I can help it."

"Lusi disa," he snarls, clearly unhappy with my answer.

"Bless you?"

Kade laughs, while Xander coughs to cover his. "He was calling you a stubborn princess."

I give Andrei a sweet smile. "The sooner you realize you can't out-stubborn me, the better we'll all be."

He narrows his eyes at me a second before rolling them and strolling out of the room.

"He okay?" I ask.

Xander chuckles. "He's fine. He's just in a mood today. We'll explain some other time."