by Grey, T. A.
Crossing her arms, she glared at him to hide the hurt burning inside her. Anger was so much easier to deal with because being angry was easy. Being hurt was more intense, because then she’d have to analyze why he’d hurt her feelings and what that meant to her, what he meant to her, and she wasn’t going there.
Nope, not at all.
“We’ll practice new spells and then get moving.”
“I already did. How do you think I managed that?” She nodded to the dead animal. She’d managed to make the small animal’s heart stop beating in an instant. It had been painless and swift for the creature. However, if she tried the spell again it wouldn’t work. Already, she could feel that her power had dwindled from the effort that spell had taken. She would need some time to recharge her batteries, so to speak.
Alrik frowned. Ignoring the way his lips looked would have been the smart thing to do but yeah, right. Impossible. They only reminded her of how he kissed her so hungrily as if he couldn’t get enough of her. Well, apparently that all changed today. He had had quite enough of her. Asshole.
His eyes closed and a shudder wracked over him. “Control your anger, woman. I can feel it.”
Every single time he told her what to do, she wanted to grab fistfuls of her hair and pull as hard as she could. He managed to make her want to act like a child, stomping her feet in the dirt, screaming, and crying her frustrations. She really wanted to do all those things but she couldn’t. Adults had to fight in a big-kid way.
So, she glared at him.
Her fingers bit into her biceps causing little flickers of pain to snap in her brain. She knew she wasn’t really that mad, just fucking hurt. Which, of course, was worse. She hated this. She didn’t want to fight with him after what happened last night. What they’d done hadn’t just been sex and it certainly hadn’t been fucking. They’d been as close as two people could get. They’d shared something special. Oh jeez, she rolled her eyes at her own sappiness. Now she was just being ridiculous.
“And if I don’t?” she taunted. Okay, perhaps taunting was a bit childish.
He stalked towards her like a predator. Her first instinct told her to step back but she kept her ground, her chin tilting up. What would he do to her? It’s not like he’d hurt her.
She wasn’t afraid of him but that didn’t mean he didn’t unnerve the hell out of her. He stopped in front of her but she was ready to hold her own for whatever he dished out—maybe another tongue lashing or maybe he’d resort back to calling her witch. Only this time with a ‘b’ at the front.
However, he didn’t do any of those things. What he did do surprised the hell out of her...and scared her even more.
Strong hands grabbed her shoulders, pulling her roughly towards him, and then he leaned down and spoke in measured, slow tones. But, something was off in his voice. It sounded distorted. All she could think was that it sounded ‘demonic’. Harsh, slightly garbled, and dangerous.
“I am very close to losing myself right now, Abbigail. Control...your...anger.”
Abby’s anger fled in a flash. Something wasn’t right.
In fact, something was very wrong with him right now. His eyes started to glow amber. A dark, icy energy emanated from his body. It reminded her of her own magic but whereas hers was warmth and good, his felt like the cold hand of death. She’d made him this angry? She wanted to ask why, but one look at the toll it was taking on him kept her mouth shut.
Moving slowly, she leaned into him and wrapped her arms around his waist. His body thrummed with cold energy, nearly vibrating her with its crackling power. She rested her cheek against his chest, forcing all the negative energy and thoughts to disappear. Under her ear, she listened to the thundering beat of his heart—it was too loud, too fast.
The temperature dropped. A shiver started in her chest and worked its way to her fingers and toes in a matter of seconds. It truly was the cold of death.
Anger started to stride back up at the thought of this curse on him, but she shoved it back down ruthlessly. He needed her right now. And she could do this, she could bring him back down from whatever precipice he teetered at. She didn’t understand it, didn’t even get it, but she’d help him because she knew if it was her struggling, he’d help her in a heartbeat.
“Let it go, Alrik. Just let go of whatever holds you. Hold me instead.” His heartbeat thudded hard, once, at her words. As if his heart skipped a beat.
She held her breath, closed her eyes and simply held him. Puffy white clouds formed at her mouth as she breathed. Time passed slowly. She couldn’t begin to know just how much, minutes maybe. An eternity.
What felt hours passed and then an arm came around her, she could feel it trembling and she hoped it wasn’t from the effort it took not to hurt her. Happiness burst inside her. She wanted to cheer for him. She didn’t know what was in this haunted demon’s mind, but after seeing him like this she’d find out.
His chest stopped pumping so hard, his heartbeat slowed to a normal dum, dum, dum. When his other arm wrapped around her waist, she sighed and pressed a kiss over his heart.
The cold started to recede. Her shivering died down, but her nose still felt cold and it surely looked bright red about now.
Still hesitant, she slowly looked up. His eyes would show her what she needed to know. That would be the final tell. But when she looked up, his eyes were pressed closed, a look of intense pain on his face.
“Alrik...what’s wrong?” she asked in her softest voice.
The muscles along his forehead and mouth twitched and jerked as if they were being zapped with electrical impulses.
“Look at me, baby,” she coaxed.
She clenched her fingers in his shirt. She wanted to cry. Just seeing the agony written all over his face made her hurt inside. He was grappling with something but she didn’t know what. It was all inside him with that black, evil energy clouding around him like noxious gas. She wanted to wipe it all away with a snap of her fingers.
His throat bobbed as he swallowed then slowly he opened his eyes. The all black recesses looked darker. How there were different shades of black she wasn’t sure, but his eyes hadn’t been that black before. A shiver passed over her.
“Alrik, honey?”
As if finally hearing her voice, his head slowly turned down to her. The tarry ink of his eyes looked like a river of oil, no whites, no distinguishing pupil, just darkness. He blinked once, twice, again. Before her very eyes, she watched the darkness fade—not completely—but enough to transform the black color back to what she was used to—something close to a deep shade of blue or the darkest form of gray.
Her stupid heart raced and she recognized the awful feeling inside her for what it was—fear. For the first time since being kidnapped by him, Abby saw the control the curse could have over him. In this instance, he’d been able to control it. What would happen if he didn’t?
Reaching up, she cupped his cheek. A wet tear escaped her eye and she quickly stood on tiptoe to press a kiss to his lips so he wouldn’t see it. Gasping, she jerked back from him.
His skin felt like ice.
A sob threatened to break from her throat but she held it back. What in the world was going on with him?
Gradually, slowly, he cocked his head, arms tightening around her, and his head dipped catching her lips. Warmth grew between them like the heat of the sun touching snow.
He reached, cupped her bottom in one big hand, and lifted her up against him with a growl. A surprised moan bubbled out of her. At this level their hips aligned and she could feel his cock, hard and ready pressing into her. The swift mood change had her struggling to keep up but she went with the flow, taking his kiss and giving it back.
His tongue dipped inside her mouth then retreated slowly, tasting her. As if some thread snapped, he dropped her to her feet in the next second and stormed away from her. He snatched his swords off the ground and slid them into the holster on his back. The man couldn’t even dress without keeping those sheathes on.
His eyes didn’t meet hers. “Let’s practice. I want you to try making fire now.” His voice sounded normal and not like the distorted demonic tone from before.
Abby was frozen in place, confused. So was this how they were going to play? Just act like nothing completely freaking bizarre had just happened? She didn’t think so.
“Wait, wait, wait, don’t you think you could explain what the heck just happened here?”
He started gathering up sticks and breaking them into pieces for a fire.
He didn’t look at her, and didn’t say a word
“You know, I don’t really take silent treatment so well.”
Alrik tossed some dried leaves on top of the pile of sticks and glared at her. “What do you care what happens to me?”
Her heart softened, eyes rounded. “I do care.” The admission felt like something so much more powerful that what she’d actually said.
He shook his head. “I told you already. It’s the curse.”
Abby sat down on a boulder sticking out the ground near the water. “I’ll try to start a fire and you are going to tell me all about it.” She made sure her voice left no room for argument. Besides, she knew something was off. They’d fought before but he hadn’t nearly hulked out like that. Well, maybe hulking out wasn’t quite the best term for it. He hadn’t been close to smashing the ground with his fists so much as...using dark magic. A nasty shudder passed over her.
Concentrating hard, she stared at the twigs and broken branches willing fire to spark and engulf it. Her temperature warmed almost as if she was already sitting near the warm flames.
“My mother cursed me with rage to control me. I never saw it, never felt the change overcome me. I’d actually,” he paused and rubbed a hand over the back his neck, “embraced it. It felt amazing to have that kind of power.”
Inside she stiffened her breath catching.
“Why would she do that?” she asked softly. Maybe it helped that she wasn’t looking straight at him and focused on her task of creating fire, but she wanted to jump up and down cheering because he was opening up to her.
“I don’t know exactly. She hated me, maybe. She was always a bitter, unhappy woman. After my father died, I became king since Telal abandoned us to live above the rift.” He made a derisive snort that told her just how he felt about his brother.
A burning sensation tingled along her fingertips like holding your hand too close to fire. Her breaths came faster and she reached closer to the wood imagining and feeling all the power inside her thrust up and out to the wood, burning it.
A spark caught—just a small explosion like a firework popping. Abby let out a happy squeal at her little victory while Alrik simply nodded once at her.
“Keep trying.”
Well, she supposed it was better than “that’s not good enough.”
She tried again.
“So you don’t get along with your brother I take it?” She remembered Telal from news reports. Governments across the world bought his weapons. He made things from knives to automatic rifles. Of course, his golden skin and blue hair made him stick out just a little in the human world.
He made a strangled sound, almost like a laugh and choke mixing. “No! He betrayed us to the vampires, to that bastard Tobius en Kulev. They brought war on us and shut us inside this rift like a bunch of caged animals. He had to create an entire army to do it. They called themselves the Atal Warriors. It took nearly a hundred years for them to break us, but they finally did. Nothing’s been the same since... Telal should have been king. He is the eldest. It was his duty.” His lip curled with disgust. “But he betrayed us to Tobius, and let his own people get slaughtered.”
Abby had to look at him. A haunted look shadowed his eyes. “Why would he do that?” she asked gently. She wanted to know it all, everything about him and his people.
“Tobius en Kulev started it. He wanted war with us so he could cage us down here like animals. He used excuses to rally people. He preached how dangerous we were to all…to humans, vampires, and shapeshifters. Finally, he instilled enough fear that though only a few demons had ever hurt anyone in such a way, enough people rallied against us. The shapeshifters stayed out of it and the humans didn’t have the skill required to war with us, so that left the vampires. He created the Atal Warriors—a vampire organization trained to kill us.” He shook his head solemnly. “My father died in the battle. It lasted a long time. We would not give up, but always being besieged such as we were—it was only a matter of time before we fell.
One hundred years we fought but they kept coming. Father fell, Telal betrayed us and went to the surface, and we were left locked inside the rift. The Atal Warriors killed any who dared to leave instantly. That was their new job, you see, to guard the rift from us,” he hissed.
“So all that happened because of your brother?”
He nodded his jaw clenching. “And Tobius’ grudge against us. Rumors spread that his hate for demons came because of a woman. Some woman he loved ran off with a demon.” He shook his head. “Not that I could blame her. A demon would make a much better mate than a vampire.” Suddenly a grin flashed across his face. “No matter, the vampire got what he deserved. I started training a special team of warriors. We planned it carefully. I spent years on the plan. Then one night we set it in motion. My team ported to the earthen-realm, destroyed the Atal Warriors there, and then tracked down Tobius all in a night. They were the best trackers, the best fighters. They slaughtered him and brought me back his head as proof.
I kept the head on a pike out front of the castle for nearly five years after that. It wasn’t just for me but for everyone who remembered his cruelty.” A strange look flickered over his eyes. He held his hand out and stared at it as if seeing something weird. “It was after that I started to change. I never realized it though. I’d look in the mirror and knew my skin had changed, but I never questioned it.” That hand curled into a fist. “Such was the curse that gripped me.”
Still, the thing with his mother rubbed her the wrong way. “But why did your mom curse you? I mean, what could she get out it?”
He was silent for a moment, his head cast down over the futhorc he skinned. She got the impression that he was thinking about it as if he hadn’t yet. “Power.”
“But she was a queen. I assume that means you come from a big fancy castle, get to rule over people, and the usual aristocratic deal, yeah?”
His hands stilled on the animal with knife in hand. “Power over a person is much stronger than ruling a kingdom. It was more than that. She had every bit of control over me, my feelings, even my actions. She would give me this potion. Stupidly, I’d drink the nasty liquid. She said it’d calm me down and it always did, but little did I know that it also kept me ensnared under her toxic spell.” He stabbed the knife into the animal and cut in a jabbing motion as he tore the skin off it.
Abby flinched and looked away. Maybe talking to him while he had a knife in his hand wasn’t such a good idea after all.
“But why did your brother betray you like that?”
Pain flashed in his eyes. He must have loved his brother very much. “Before he ripped the kingdom from my hands and banished me, he told me. I spent so long blaming him that it’s been hard not to even if it was his fault the war started. He claims that Tobius made a pact with him. Telal wanted to start a group of trained warriors to protect our kingdom from idummi and other demonic attacks. They did happen frequently back then. He wanted the vampires and us to form an alliance and work together…or so he told me. However he was blinded by Tobius’ hatred for us and Tobius didn’t waste the opportunity to destroy us.”
Abby froze at the sound of his voice. He sounded so sad talking about it. It broke another piece inside her.
“Keep practicing on the fire.”
Abby faced the makeshift pit again and called for the power inside her. She could feel her magical abilities growing. It was like learning a new instrument. It took time and practice but
she was getting better at it. Already she could call the magic forth much quicker and the time between casting a new spell was faster. Soon she’d have enough power to summon a portal to earth.
Oh God. Abby looked over at Alrik. His shoulders were hunched and his eyes downcast in thought. Could she really leave him? He said he couldn’t defeat his mother and she knew him well enough to know he wouldn’t just walk away from this. Obviously, the curse had become his life. He had a dispute to end and there’d be no stopping until he finished it.
The first thought that popped in her mind was no. She couldn’t do it. No way could she leave him down here with rogue demons, idummi creatures, and a queen bitch who wanted to kill him. A wild thought sprung making her stomach flutter. Maybe he could come with her. Maybe she could convince him to let this all go and come home with her.
Her lip curled as logic set in. Just what would he do up there, become a banker? Yeah, right. The man was a king, a fighter, a magician. Not exactly the kind of guy you put behind a desk for eight hours a day. Nothing about Alrik fit in with her normal-day world.
“You’re not focusing.” He came to her and settled behind her on the rock. Warmth and muscle pressed into her back as he surrounded her, wrapping his arms around hers. Strong fingers clasped her wrists, holding them out towards the round circle of twigs. His voice was deep, low, and near her ear. “Feel the fire inside you, deep in your soul. Call on it and shoot it out from your body. Let it warm you, guide you. I know you can do it.”
Abby relaxed against him, trusting him with her weight. His voice, deep and lolling, sucked her into a trance. Everything that was happening went to the back of her mind—the wind blowing, the leaves rustling and swaying in the breeze. Even the light above and sound of lapping water over rocks faded leaving only them. Alrik and her.
At his request power surged up inside her as if obeying a master. Warmth heated her like a blanket. It pressed up from deep in her belly, spread to her chest and out through her arms, and then shot from her fingertips. The invisible force showed no color, no sound, but in her witch’s eye she watched the vibrant billowing reds, oranges, and blues spew from her fingertips. The fiery power arched through the air and reached the fire. One spark flared while another burst. Then in a small explosion, the wood caught flame all at once, crackling and radiating heat.
