Chapter 86

I put on the last pair and I suddenly felt something cold and clammy on my waist. I turned around quickly but saw no one. My heart was racing, I thought I'd smelled an Elf.

I reached for my chain, it was still there. I sighed in relief and turned back to face the mirror. I looked up and in the reflection I saw an Elf. He was the white eyed Elf that I'd met. I broke out in a cold sweat and my heart began beating erratically.

{The chain only protects you from our magic, not our touch.} He began to put his hands on my waist again.

"Charm." I tried to yell but he squeezed my stomach and I couldn't breathe.

{Ah, ah, ah. No yelling, just our minds.}

I tried to sense a channel from him, he was speaking in my mind but I couldn't sense him.

So I just trusted my instincts and spoke into the unknown, {What do you want?}

{A trade. You give me something I want, I'll give you something you want.}

I looked at his hands on my waist, {Oh, no. Nothing like that.} he said and patted my shoulder.

My skin crawled at how disgusting his touch was.

{There's a girl I believe Thresh is interested in, but to have her I need you to give me your chain.} he pointed his finger at my neck.

{No. And I know of no girl whom he is interested in.} I said defiantly.

{Hmm, what a pity.} He said.

He grabbed my hand and kissed it, {The name's El-kor, and it's been a pleasure doing business with you.}

Then he disappeared.

The sound from outside the change room filtered back in, people chatting, clothes racks, the door chimes.

I rubbed my hand trying to get the feel of his kiss off.

I took my lingerie off and put my clothes back on then exited the now frightening room.

"We both think that this would be a great addition to your outfit." My mom dwindled off, "Are you okay?" She asked concerned.

I guess maybe I looked a little shell shocked, I swallowed, "Yeah, yeah."

She handed the item back to Charm and brought me to one of the chairs in the waiting room.

"Is it about the wedding night? You know, we've never really talked about it. You always said that you would wait until when you were getting married, but I'm here if you have any questions. I know that you're not new to sex but, feel free to ask." She patted my hand.

I scrunched my forehead in confusion, "Me and Raph haven't," I glanced down, "You know. Just because we live together doesn't mean we're sleeping together." I said. I mean we were sleeping together but we still weren't doing anything.

"Oh." My mom's eyebrows shot up in surprise, "To be honest, that's a bit of a relief." She said.

I smiled at my mom.

"So, do you have any questions?" She asked.

I bit my lip. Yes, I did, I had a few but I didn't know how to say them out loud.

"Well, I've read a lot of your romance novels so I know the basics of what to expect… but what do I do?" I asked.

"Well, the most important thing is to relax. And no matter what, you should never, ever feel scared or frightened. You should feel safe and intimate. I've told you how me and your dad would take baths together all the time before we had kids, you could try that. Every couple will eventually figure it out themselves." She pulled me in for a side hug, "And whatever happens, just know that I love you."

"Are you saying if I get pregnant, because I'm on the pill."

"Well, that's good." She said still hugging me.

I laughed and rolled my eyes then hugged her back.

We left the store with a few other garments. The piece of clothing that they'd picked out for me was a white dressing gown with lace on the sleeves.

We went to a few stores and bought some more clothes with the other girls.

At one point I was finally alone in an aisle with Charm. I tapped her shoulder and she looked at me, "I…," I took a deep breath, "I saw an Elf."

Her eyes widened and her breathing became heavy, "Did he have blo-"

I shook my head, "No, he had black hair and… white eyes."

She let out a breath in relief, then looked at me with concern in her green eyes, "Are you alright?"

I opened my mouth to speak, the truth is I wasn't okay, I was terrified. These Elves kept appearing out of nowhere and I could do nothing to stop it, the chain didn't even stop it.

"Did the chain work?" She asked nodding her chin in the direction of the necklace.

"Well, no. He could still touch me and- and find me." I whispered the last words in a shrill voice.

Charm shook her head a small smile on her lips, "It can't stop them from doing that, enchanting something like that would drain too much power, but could you smell him and were you ill?"

I thought back to the encounter, I had caught a faint whiff but other than that I hadn't smelt a thing and I had also not felt ill.

"No," I said slowly, "I hadn't."

Charm smiled gently, "Then it worked." She grabbed both my hands in both of hers, "That's one of their sick abilities, their magic can confuse and disorient the mind. I'm glad it worked." Her eyes looked sad and distant.

What had that blonde Elf done to her?

~~~~~~~~

We met back up with Raph and his crew at the airport.

Each of the girls hugged me and I hugged my mom back with equal warmth.

"It's definitely not the same without you back home. Bradley says that he misses your cooking and painting, and your singing." My mom said and I could see that her eyes were shining with tears. I was surprised, my mom was not a very emotional person.

"It sure is quieter though." Ulyssa muttered next to my mom.

We both sent her a look that said, 'Really?'

"Thank you, ladies for coming out." Raph's voice said behind me. He rested his chin on my left shoulder, "Did you find what you wanted?" He asked looking into my eyes as I turned my head to see him.

"Yes I did, and more." I said, "What about you? Did you get what I told you to get?"

"Yes, I did. And…" He took his head off of my shoulder, the corners of my lips fell. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a few scraps of fabric, "The tailor had these samples and I thought you would like them."

"Yes, I would." I said enthusiastically.

There were four in all: a dark black, a lighter, softer black, a cream white and a velvety black. Each of them had words written with a sharpie; outer jacket and trousers on the dark one, inner jacket and collar on the softer one, turn down shirt on the cream and bow tie on the velvet.

I beamed up at him and gave him a quick kiss, "They're perfect."