by Grey, T. A.
Abby’s wide eyes turned up to his, and then she pushed him off her. Where she got the strength, he had no idea. He couldn’t focus on anything but the pain. Even worse as his back hit the ground the acid was only shoved deeper into his skin.
His rage started to fade. It was too much; he struggled and tried to fight the urge to pass out. Abbigail stood and shot more power out one more time at the demon.
It bellowed and choked as green acidic spittle dripped down its chin and torso, sizzling its own skin. Then it collapsed to the ground with an earth-shattering thump.
The last thing he saw before his shaking body took him under was Abbigail leaning over him, her mouth moving. He tried to focus, tried to hear, but he heard nothing but a high-pitched ringing from faraway in the distance. Just as she leaned over him, his body shut down.
Chapter Sixteen
“Alrik!”
He wouldn’t move. Abby couldn’t stop shaking. His chest rose and fell but was he okay?
The demon was dead, and if it somehow decided to get back up again, she swore she’d summon more power than a god could to destroy it with how pissed off and terrified she was now. Alrik was hurt. Not a paper cut hurt or an ‘ouch I slipped and skinned my knee hurt’. No, she could smell, see, and hear his flesh burning where that green acid touched it.
“What do I do? What do I do?”
She could smell the demon carcass each time the wind blew. Her stomach rolled with nausea at the rancid odor. She needed to get them out of there. They needed to get somewhere safe so she could flip him over and see to his wounds.
Abby stood and looked over Alrik for a moment while chewing furiously on her cuticle. She needed to move him. The demon had to be at least two-hundred pounds though. This wouldn’t be easy, but she had to do it—for him. He saved her life.
Her chest tightened at the thought and she forced it away. She couldn’t think like that, couldn’t let herself think with her made her decision. She needed to check his wounds.
Kneeling beside him, she grabbed his side and pushed. He barely moved.
“Holy hell you’re heavy,” she muttered. Switching tactics, she turned around and used her back and legs to push against him. Finally, she felt him move. After he finally budged just enough, she pushed hard with her legs and got his left side up in the air.
A deep groan sounded from his chest. Abby dug her ankles deep and pushed the last of the way. His heavy body thumped to the ground, this time with his back in the air. A nice row of perspiration had worked up over her forehead. Abby wiped it off with her shoulder then turned to assess the damage.
She sucked in a breath at what she saw. His shirt lay in tatters around his back. His pants had deteriorated where the acid hit him and it seemed that’s where the bulk of it went. Where his pants had covered his thighs and calves were now gaping holes dotted like Swiss cheese.
She pulled back the fabric and gasped. His skin had bubbled up. It was a harsh red and swollen. Her gut told her she had to do something. But what?
“Alrik, you need to wake up.” She hated the sorrow in her own voice, but she couldn’t hide it. The tears were barely at bay as it was.
Taking deep breaths, she looked up at the sky. After a minute, she got her breathing under control, and had stopped sweating. She needed to inspect the wounds even if it grossed her out.
“Time to put your big kid pants on, Abby. You do this kind of stuff for a living, remember?” Yes, but not to people she cared about.
Slightly more relaxed than before, Abby set to work. She lifted Alrik’s shirt up as gently as she could. Apparently, that wasn’t gentle enough because he groaned in his sleep as she did it. “I’m sorry,” Abby kept whispering to him until finally she got the shirt up around the uppermost part of his chest.
Her hand flew to her mouth at what she saw. The vile green acid had mostly hit the lower part of his back. The green goop had burned into his skin making swollen bubbles of flesh stick out from him.
Abby sat back on her heels.
She was useless.
Utterly useless.
She was in a world where different rules applied and in this case, she knew nothing about healing a demon’s acid burns from another, bigger, and crazier demon.
Her instincts wanted her to clean off any excess acid with water. She laughed at that. The lake was at least a mile away. The dead jaheera had crashed between her and the lake, and on top of it all, she had no way of transporting the water. No bucket, no cup, no hose, nothing. She couldn’t do anything but wait for him to wake up because she didn’t want anything more than for him to wake up.
He needed to be all right. He had to be.
She scrubbed a hand over her face and growled in frustration. Why did things have to be like this? She shouldn’t care for him. However, she did. She should run, right now! Run away and try to go home. As if she even could.
Well you haven’t tried, taunted logic.
Abby flew to a stand, conjured her magic forth and tried to create a portal home. That’s all she had to do—envision her little house she rented that she was so proud of. She could see the little strap of lawn she had out front and could see the front door hanging open like she’d last seen it with Mike standing there. Her body grew warmer and warmer, she could almost feel it happen, but it was as if little shocks exploded from her fingertips but didn’t quite catch like they should.
“See, I can’t do it,” she said, pacing beside Alrik. Even if she wanted to, which admittedly at this very second she didn’t, she couldn’t go home yet. She wasn’t powerful enough. Nevertheless, the sparks from her fingertips, the supreme warmth, told her just how close she was. If she kept growing it could just be a matter of days, maybe a week tops.
Abby looked down at Alrik. His face was turned towards her and his long hair shadowed his cheek.
Could she really leave him? After he saved her life, and after they made love together? Even after knowing she had these...strong feelings for him?
Kneeling down, Abby pushed his hair back from his face. Oh, God, she realized.
She didn’t know.
She just didn’t know if she could do it.
What would happen to him if she did? Would he continue after the queen and get himself killed? Would he come after her and try to steal her away again? She wouldn’t be so easy to grab this time. She’d be prepared for it.
She didn’t have any answers, but she did know that he wouldn’t give up. That was the only thing she knew for certain.
Abby lay down next to Alrik and listened to his steady breathing in and out. She felt exhausted even though she’d only woken up a matter of hours ago.
She laughed. Was it really just this morning that she woke before Alrik?
Her muscles relaxed, thoughts quieted then slowed. The beautiful night sky above was a lovely view to watch. It was so peaceful here. You never heard the rumble of cars, the plowing of heavy machinery, nor had a view filled with paved concrete that covered up the beauty of the earth. None of that was here, and she didn’t miss it. Not one bit.
Alrik jerked beside her. She turned towards him, running her hand softly over his hair, one of the few places she could still touch with him lying in this position.
He mumbled something in his sleep.
She could barely hear the whisper of sound.
“What was that?” Abby whispered, unsure if he could even hear her. His eyes were still closed and sleep still claimed him.
His upper body jolted as if he was being shocked. He cried out; a heavy, grief-stricken sound that tore straight through her and froze her in place.
“Arianna.”
This time she heard it. He’d said a name, a woman’s name. He hadn’t said her name. He’d said someone else’s.
A funny feeling filled her chest right under her sternum. Abby rubbed it. Just who was Arianna? And why did he sound like he was dying when he said her name?
Her stomach moaned with queasiness. Why did she suddenly feel like her h
eart had just been ripped out?
She would just ask him about it when he woke up. She laughed aloud at the thought. Maybe Arianna was his mother’s name or something. A humorless laugh escaped her. No, he wouldn’t have sounded sad talking about his mother like that. Whoever Arianna was, she could hear how much he cared about her.
The pressure in her chest grew nearly unbearable.
She needed a good slap in the face. Who was she kidding beside herself?
Everything would be okay. It was as if even the smaller, smarter part inside of her couldn’t believe that.
But she had to. For her and Alrik’s sake.
* * *
Abby must have fallen asleep. She hadn’t even realized it. It’d just happened. However, she was pretty sure that when she dozed off it wasn’t with a sword pointed to her throat.
Abby’s eyes rounded as she looked down at the razor-sharp blade tucked gently under her chin. Her eyes traced up the long, slightly curved blade to a hand the color of dark cream then up over a ragged, white tunic to a handsome, striking face adorned with golden yellow hair that hung in braids down to his shoulders. It was also a face she recognized.
“Remove your blade!”
Shit. She also recognized that voice.
Blondie stepped back, sheathing his sword with practiced ease allowing Abby to sit up. What she saw made her stomach sink.
“Fuck.”
The rogues had followed them. With a quick look, she made sure Alrik was fine. He was still out like a light but his chest moved steadily up and down.
Leaning down, she kept her eyes on the one man who watched her with unnerving intensity, and spoke into Alrik’s ear. “We have company, babe,” she whispered. Whether he could hear her somewhere in there or not she didn’t know but tried anyway. “Aidan and his men are here. If you want to wake up, now would be the time to do it.”
He didn’t move. Not even a sigh or nod of his head. At least that was better than hearing the mysterious name Arianna. Whoever she was. She hated how petty she was being, but she wanted to know every little detail about this person, their life, and why Alrik said her name with so much...pain. A pulse of pain swept through her. Why did he affect her so much? Why did she even care? She shouldn’t.
Putting on a tight smile Abby stood. She needed to be on even ground with Aidan, the vampire leader of the rogue demons. Gosh, wasn’t that a heck of a title?
“Aidan,” she said with a nod.
Aidan arched a black eyebrow and looked behind him at the rotting carcass of the jaheera demon. “My, haven’t we been busy?”
“Nah, happens all the time.” She grinned at her own joke and crossed her arms to try to look more intimidating. She felt anything but confident right now. What she actually felt was raw, hurt... a bit like crying.
He’d brought all of his men. There were at least twenty of them. Some wandered around the demon carcass, others sat by a fire eating great hunks of meat, and a few watched her, Alrik, and Aidan with curious glances. Great, she needed this complication like a hole in the head.
After the fight with the jaheera there was no way she could conjure up the kind of barrier spell she’d done in Aidan’s castle if they needed to escape. No way. And even if she could, how was she supposed to move Alrik? The man slept like the dead. She couldn’t lift him, couldn’t drag him...and couldn’t leave him. She was royally screwed if they tried to steal her or hurt them, she added. Yes, that’d be equally as bad if not worse. All she could do was hope they stayed on their best behavior and left them in peace.
Aidan didn’t smile back at her. He strode forward, his brow creasing with worry. When he neared, he spoke in a low voice. “What happened here, Abbigail?”
Abby fought not to lose her nonchalant attitude, but it finally won out and she dropped it, settling with crossing her arms instead. “We were attacked. We took it down. Simple, I guess.” It didn’t feel simple, though. Not in the least.
Aidan looked back at the demon. His mouth floundered open and closed as if trying to find the right words and then he laughed humorlessly. “Maybe you don’t understand or maybe it is I who doesn’t understand, but that is a jaheera demon. I personally have never seen one until now, but several of the men have. They say it has been ages since these demons came onto this rift.” He caught her gaze and leaned in, crossing into her private space. “They say these creatures are caged by magic in the nether-rift. So, tell me, Abbigail, human witch, just what is it doing here and why is it after you?”
Abby didn’t like where this was going. On the sly, she prodded Alrik with her foot but he didn’t stir. He needed to be answering these questions not her.
“Um, well, it’s not after me. It’s after him so you’ll just have to wait until he wakes up to get your answer.” She lifted her chin to finalize her words.
One black eyebrow rose at her. She glared at it. “Abbigail, you are lying.”
“No, I’m not.”
Now his other eyebrow rose to match, turning his expression into one of unbelievability.
“Abbigail, when you lie your voice goes higher, you speak faster, and you swallow hard.”
Abby snorted. “That’s not true.” But, a blush started coloring her cheeks. With humiliation, she realized she did just speak fast and her voice sounded like a little girls.
How did he know this about her? She didn’t even know him.
Blondie, who hovered near the demon carcass nodded, then called out, “It’s true! You do!”
Abby set her lethal glare on him too. How could he hear from that far away?
Suddenly all the demons around them nodded at her, and then resumed what they were doing.
“I told you,” Aidan said, a smile to his voice. “Now, tell me the truth.”
“Well, it wasn’t necessarily a lie. I mean it wasn’t after me, per se. It was after him.” She poked Alrik’s hip with her foot, this time a bit harder. He still didn’t come jolting awake like she’d hoped.
Aidan nodded grimly at Alrik. “He was touched by the beast’s acid spray. His skin is infected. It’ll leave a nasty scar.” He said it so casually as if he just relayed his favorite kind of food, or, blood, rather.
Abby frowned, her teeth worrying her bottom lip. “I don’t know what to do. Can you help me?”
He looked completely taken aback by her question. His eyes rounded, brows flew up, and then he caught himself and resumed his stoic expression.
“Help you? In return for what?” His gaze darkened and the look he gave her was so raw, earthly, and male that she could hardly suppress a shiver. The look reminded her of their intimate moment with his warm mouth on her neck. Damn. Just thinking about it made her blush, not from pleasure, but with guilt. She felt like a teenager again not wanting her mother, or in this case, Alrik, to learn what she’d done.
“I’ll hook you up on a date with my best friend.”
He blinked, shook his head, half-laughing, and cocked his head at her. “What?”
“My friend. She has a thing for vampires, I swear.” Okay, that was an exaggeration. She tolerated them well enough as a shapeshifter. “She’s beautiful, fit, and happy.” Okay, that was pushing it. She was strong-willed, perky, and very determined. She was beautiful, though. That wasn’t a lie. “She’s a lot of fun too!” That also wasn’t a lie, though it might depend on one’s version of ‘fun.’ Jenna preferred extreme everything. The shapeshifter thrived on chaos and in creating chaos. That was her ‘fun’.
Aidan slowly shook his head. “You are confusing me now. Let’s get back to the topic at hand. What will you give me in return for healing him? It must be a great gift for I hate this man. We all loathe him and the rest of his kind. To do this for you, to stop the infection, I’d need a great boon.”
“Your kind? But, you’re all demons. Well, I mean, you’re not but, yeeeah.”
His mouth twitched. “His kind is haute. Aristocrats, the high-blooded royalty, who sit upon their dais and cast judgment on all others. That’
s who he is. What he is. And that’s what we hate.” He stepped closer a dark look glowing in his eyes. “Now, tell me. What will you give me if I let my men heal him?”
Damn. Abby looked around as if she might happen upon some extravagant gift she could give him, like a diamond ring maybe or a beautiful woman willing to be bitten. That didn’t happen. Finally, she shrugged and went for honesty.
“Listen, I don’t have anything to give you, but if you’re ever up on earth and I’m there, give me a call. I’ll hook you up with my beautiful friend Jenna. That’s all I can offer you.” She knew she was playing dangerously but she had to. It didn’t make her feel good to have to blow him off, he seemed like a nice...vampire guy and all, but she had Alrik. Well, and that whole situation was a mess of a disaster as it stood.
His mouth twitched with anger. He glanced at Alrik and scowled. “It’s him, isn’t it? You love him?”
Her reaction was instantaneous. “Whoa, whoa, whoa! Love is a big word.” Abby threw her hands up and took a step back. Fear clutched her stomach with an icy grasp. Why did she feel so panicked at the mention of love? “I care...a bit about him. That’s it.”
He shook his head and then stalked away from her. She had the sense she’d hurt him. “You’re lying to yourself,” he called back to her.
Abby took a seat next to Alrik and cupped his dark hand between hers. She hadn’t been lying. She didn’t love him, but that didn’t mean she didn’t care a bit.
Just a bit.
The man kidnapped her after all. That surely took a few points off anything she might feel for him.
“Will you help him or not? He saved my life.” She called out to him, letting him know with her desperation that the power rested in his hands to help her, gift or no gift.
Aidan stopped walking. Slowly he turned around and watched her, his jaw working. She could see the thoughts running through his eyes: anger, disappointment, and frustration. She could only hope that whatever decision he made bode well for her.
