by Grey, T. A.
Her head rolled to the side but she didn’t remember doing so.
Something was wrong.
It didn’t dawn on her until then.
It really hadn’t. She’d been so overjoyed to see him again—alive and strong.
So what the seer said was true. She would die. She actually was going to die now. Tears filled her eyes and spilled down her temples.
I don’t want to die.
A sob climbed up her throat but she held it back.
Both of his hands covered her cheeks as he kissed her again. “I love you so much,” he said, his eyes closed and his voice breaking.
He repositioned her so she lay in his lap. She sighed. This new position felt nice—much warmer and she got to be closer to him. His hand slid over her wound and she winced. Yeah, it hurt. He pressed hard to it.
“Why did you do it?” he croaked.
She hadn’t been sure the first time she heard it, but yes, they were both crying. Abby tilted her face so she could see his eyes. She had to smile even though she could see his heart breaking in his eyes, could see the tears sliding down his face. She’d done that. She’d inadvertently hurt him when all she wanted to do was save him.
“Because,” she gulped, her air supply growing shorter and the heavy feeling growing in her limbs getting worse, “I love you so much.”
He pressed his forehead against hers. “You shouldn’t have done it. You shouldn’t have.” He kept saying it over and over again.
It was the last thing she ever heard.
Chapter Twenty-three
He felt the life leave her body.
He could actually feel it as if her soul just walked out.
“Abbigail.”
He shook her. Her eyes stared somewhere off the point of his shoulder.
“Sweetheart wake up.” His voice broke. “Wake up, dammit!”
She didn’t blink. Her chest refused to rise and fall again.
No, no, no. This couldn’t be happening again. This couldn’t happen again. NO!
“Somebody help me!” he shouted.
He set her body on the grass. His eyes caught sight of the dead carcass of his mother, and he shoved out his arm to push her away from his beloved.
He covered her wound with his hand and searched his memory for something. This couldn’t be the end. There had to be a way.
Footsteps neared.
It was Aidan and his men. They looked solemn, their eyes heavy with sorrow. “Where’s your healer?” demanded Alrik.
A man came forward to kneel beside her. He checked the wound and pressed his fingers to her neck but said as he’d expected.
“She’s already passed on, my king.”
The last of the words he ignored. He didn’t give a shit if they respected him now. “You have to do something. Anything. Any spell any amount of power, name it and I’ll do it.”
He kept hold of her hand, kept squeezing it, but she wouldn’t squeeze it back. His chest squeezed so hard it was a wonder his heart didn’t start bleeding from the pressure. Tears kept coming. Why did she have to look so pale?
“My king, there is nothing you can do. She has gone from us. Let us bury her.”
“NO!” he shouted. He wouldn’t give up. He would figure out a way. His eyes swept over her face. “Give me a wet rag someone. Now!”
Within a few seconds, a demon pushed one at his face. He grabbed it started cleaning her face. She was so beautiful even in death, but blood marred her skin. He cleaned every spec of dirt and filth from her face and then started on her neck as his mind worked slowly, numbly. He couldn’t contain his flinch at the horrible bruises covering her neck. From him!
Aidan stepped forward as he set to cleaning her hands. Dirt and blood had caked under her nails. That pain in his chest intensified. He’d done this to her. He’d taken her from her home and gotten her killed. And for what? His mother wasn’t worth her life. She wasn’t even worth a single hair off Abbigail’s head.
“What have I done?” he whispered, squeezing her hand. He pressed it to his lips and kissed them as his eyes clamped shut. “Oh God, what have I done?”
Aidan stepped near him but didn’t touch him. A good thing, he didn’t know what he might do if someone laid a hand on him right now. Alrik kissed the palm of her hand and started cleaning the other.
“None of us have any spells to fix her. There are no herbs to push away death. Very few have such a white power to bring back the dead,” Aidan said. He was speaking slowly. He’d cared for his Abbigail even in the short amount of time he’d spent with her. Alrik couldn’t even blame him; she had that effect on people. He’d learned that first hand. “I’ve known very few who had that power... One is dead at my feet.” He kicked the dead queen. “The other is alive before me.”
Alrik nearly stopped breathing.
“But I can’t heal anymore. The curse took that away from me before.” Besides, he’d never actually done it. He knew it could be done in his bloodline. He knew his brother could do it, had even seen him do it. His mother and even seen his father had the healing powers in their blood. But the curse had taken his white magic from him. “Look at me. I can’t. Don’t you think I’d save her if I could?”
A small smile lifted the corner of Aidan’s mouth. “I think you need to look at yourself one last time. You might just be surprised.”
A low tremble started in his gut then worked its way out. He knew what his words meant, but could it really be possible?
“Bring him a mirror,” said Aidan.
The men talked amongst themselves and realized they didn’t have one. So, someone brought forth his double-bladed axe. The steel was sharp and the fire reflected off it.
“Are you ready?” the demon asked.
No, he wasn’t. He couldn’t nod, couldn’t even shake his head. He just sat there holding Abbigail’s steadily cooling hand.
The demon shrugged then lifted his axe to face Alrik.
Alrik looked at his oblong reflection marked with specs of drying blood and at a face he hadn’t seen in a thousand years.
Gold skin covered his face and neck. Bright violet eyes stared back at him as if he was looking into the face of a stranger. Brown hair with a good dose of red fell around his face in a wild array.
He kept hold of her hand but used his free on to touch his cheeks as if to make sure the reflection he saw matched up with him.
“It’s real,” he breathed.
“Yes, it is. You are cured,” Aidan said.
He looked away. He was cured, but what for? What did it matter now? He’d lost the love of his life. He had no one to share this with. A hollow shell sat inside him as if he’d been carved out into a shell. He was nothing without her.
“Just because I look as I did before doesn’t mean I’ll have the powers as I did before.”
Before...before he’d changed. When his powers hadn’t been of rage and ice but of good things too.
“True,” Aidan agreed. “But you could still try.”
Yes, yes he would. Of course he would because if she died then he’d die with her.
Alrik tried to remember how to call forth healing magic.
He set his hands over her chest and closed his eyes.
He thought of closing her wound, of seeing her eyes blink, and hearing her heart beat. He let the thoughts course through him like blood until it was all he thought or felt. His hands started to warm and he focused harder and put all of his energy into it.
Hope sprung. He could do this.
Breathing ragged, sweat poured from his brow and still nothing happened. He sat back and wiped the sweat away. The demons and vampire watched him with a various mixture of grimaces on their faces.
“What?” Alrik asked at their strange looks.
Aidan looked uncomfortable. “It’s been nearly half an hour and nothing’s happened, Alrik. Why don’t we just bury her and let us mourn?”
Thirty minutes? Impossible. It hadn’t felt that long at all. Yet his muscles
felt strained and tired in a way they hadn’t before.
His gaze swept over Abbigail’s cooling body and something fierce and raw came over him—a steely resolve.
“No, I’m going to do this. I can do this.” Alrik leaned back over her as he placed his hands on her chest. He winced as he spotted the deep bruising on her neck. Disgust filled him. He didn’t deserve her, but if she forgave him after he brought her back, then he’d grovel to her for the rest of his life.
Closing his eyes, he concentrated. He focused on the healing powers that existed in his blood. He called it forth as if beckoning a small hurt animal. His skin warmed. His mind rested in a place where time didn’t exist. All that existed, all that mattered was Abbigail’s bloody wound beneath his hands.
The heat grew. His muscles flexed and twitched as he physically forced the healing magic up and out of him. Ragged breaths tore from his burning throat. His arms shook as if he was holding up a building to keep it from collapsing. Even his head felt about to burst as if too much air filled it.
I’ll bring her back. I’ll bring her back, he chanted.
His blood started to boil. So much heat filled him he swore he breathed steam.
Then a blinding light covered him like rays of sunlight on bare skin. It was so hot it hurt him from its burn but he gritted his teeth and pushed through it.
I will bring her back. I will bring her back!
The light shifted its beacon to shine on Abbigail. In his magical eye, he could see the beautiful white light encase her body. At the center of her chest where his hands were he saw a glowing orange light emit from his hands as if they were on fire.
That light swirled around his hands slowly at first, then moving faster and faster. Alrik shook above her like a weak little flower in a mighty storm. His muscles convulsed with pain. Burning agony filled him in every inch of his body. He just wanted it to end or for it to kill him. Anything for it to be over. He’d never felt anything so intense before.
Just as he was considering letting go, of quitting, the spiraling orange glow shot inside of Abbigail’s body.
His heart surged as if unchained from a heavy weight.
Her chest lurched up as if she’d been shocked by a great power. Then it snapped up again. And again.
A long ragged hiss of air sounded. He could almost see through her body to where her lungs expanded with air and then released it. His ears picked up on the most glorious sound of all.
Bum bum. Bum bum.
The beat grew faster and faster and then steadied out to a lovely cadence.
Her back arched deeply as her arms jerked and twitched.
“Huuuuuuungh!” she gasped as her lungs filled with air.
“Yes, my love. Come back to me please,” he begged raggedly.
Finally, she blinked. The blinding light started to fade as did the orange glow from his hands. Her chest rose and fell.
His arms still shook. He was terrified to lift his hands. What if it all stopped? What if when he took his hands away and she went back to that dead, spiritless woman she had been?
Her head moved and her gaze met his. Real shining eyes not glassy ones from death. His breath caught in his burning throat.
He let his hands move up to cup her face. Life didn’t leave her. She was really alive, breathing, and gazing up at him softly.
Her eyes searched over his face. A small smile turned up the corners of her lips.
“You’re beautiful,” she said. Her voice sounded torn and ragged.
It was the loveliest thing he’d ever heard. Something he thought he’d never hear again.
“I love you, Abbigail Krenshaw. I won’t let you go that easily.” He kissed her, this time feeling her kiss him back. Another dark chain released from around his heart, freeing him.
Pulling back from the kiss, he pressed his forehead to hers. “You are mine now. There is no going back.”
She tugged on a lock of his hair weakly and whispered, “As if I’d want to. Now why don’t you take me home?”
Gently he lifted her into his arms. When he turned he stopped because all the demons stared at him with wonder in their eyes. Even Aidan’s eyes held respect in them.
Slowly the vampire knelt on one knee and the others follow suit.
“Hail the fallen king!” Aidan said, his voice commanding.
His men followed suit. “All hail the fallen king!”
Alrik stood straighter. Another strange feeling came over him. One he hadn’t felt in a long time—respect. Respect that he’d earned. As any true king would, he held his chin up high and nodded once in thanks.
The demons grinned up at him, even Aidan smiled though his was somewhat sadder.
Abbigail curled an arm around his shoulders and waved back to the group. “Bye everyone.”
Alrik used the last of his strength and magic and ported them home.
Chapter Twenty-four
A few days later
Abby fidgeted like a kid who’d just stolen a cookie behind his mom’s back. It was the nerves, they were driving her straight up the wall. But, what could she do about it? Nothing, she just had to deal. Ha, yeah. Deal. Today was only one of the biggest days of her life. She was being mated to Alrik by his brother Telal and she was meeting her half-sisters Chloe, Willow, and Lily for the first time.
They were all going to be there. Of course her mom would be there too. She’d already talked with her. Sure it’d taken a lot of explaining as to where she was, what all had happened, and why she was getting married. Yeah, that’d been a long story.
Abby started to breathe hard.
“Slow down. Just breathe in and out,” she told herself.
It didn’t help. She sat on her old bed, and put her face between her knees.
Maybe meeting her family so soon wasn’t such a good idea after all. And where was Alrik? He was supposed to be back already. He had to go back to his old castle to make “arrangements” for the ceremony. Now that the curse had been broken, he and his brother seemed to be making amends.
Everything would be fine. She had healed up well, and Alrik had healed up gorgeously. The man had been sexy before but now she’d have to beat women away.
Suddenly the energy changed in the room as if all the atoms came together in one spot then exploded. Alrik stood in her living room looking wonderful and alive. She still had a difficult time adjusting to the golden skin, auburn hair, and violet eyes but she had no complaints. He looked so...angelic now. Okay, maybe that was exaggerating it a bit. He looked like a rugged good demon now and not one bent on world domination.
His eyes caught hers and she raced down the hallway and jumped into his arms. He caught her easily.
His mouth narrowed in and landed on hers. The kiss quickly swept her up. It was eager, wet, and a bit heady. She wrapped her arms around him and kissed him back with just as much energy. It felt like they hadn’t been together in forever even though he’d left a few hours.
They’d both been recovering their energy for the better part of a week and neither had been able to be physically intimate, but now her blood spiked with arousal.
Apparently so did his because his tongue parted her lips with a sexy sweep and then dipped inside to lick her up. A ragged moan left her at the touch, and her hips rocked in response. He tasted delicious and felt so warm in her arms.
Yes, her body told her.
Strong hands walked down her spine to cup her ass. He held her like that with his hands kneading her through her jersey skirt as he walked with her. She didn’t care where he took her. She trusted him.
“I want you,” she whispered against his lips.
He tore his mouth away, his hot gaze colliding with hers. “We’re supposed to meet them for the ceremony in less than an hour.” He sounded pissed as if he wished he had hours with her instead. She had to agree.
Still…
She pressed her breasts against his chest. “An hour is more than enough time for us to both come...”
His h
ands clenched on her ass. She loved that little things she did could get some sort of a reaction out of him. His lungs expanded hard as he sucked in a sharp breath and then his mouth slammed down to hers.
Oh, yeeees!
Then they were walking backwards. Abby tightened her legs around his hips until her core lined up perfectly with the hard ridge tenting his pants. She rubbed herself against him and moaned. He rubbed her just right.
“Fuck,” he cursed.
Her back hit the wall in the hallway as if he couldn’t possibly make it all the way into the bedroom.
Hot lips and wet tongue kissed a path down her neck. An erotic shiver coursed through her body, pulling her nipples into hard points, making her sex dampen.
“I swear you wear these clothes just to torment me.” He tugged the strap of her spaghetti strap tank to the side then kissed over her shoulder, across her collarbone and worked his way down to her breast.
“It’s just a tank and skirt,” she panted. Where they were going to celebrate, it was supposed to be warm.
His hands slid under her skirt. His touch burned the back of her thighs as his fingers curled around her. With a hard tug, he spread her legs even further then thrust his hips up into her, rocking his hard cock against her. The jersey cotton of the skirt and her scrap of satin panties did absolutely nothing to stop her from feeling every hard inch of him and she thanked God for small wonders.
“Hold on to me,” he ordered.
She obeyed in an instant, ready to do anything so long as he continued to touch her. Her body was his to command, and he did so expertly.
Abby crossed her arms over his shoulders and held tight as he pushed her harder into the wall and braced her there so his hands could run free. He touched her everywhere. Long, strong fingers plumped and squeezed her ass, then ran a smoothing caress up her spine then back down. He ran circles over her hips, squeezed the curve of her waist where it met her hip. He touched her everywhere but where she wanted him.
Her mouth found his neck and sucked his warm skin into her mouth. “Alrik, hurry.” She arched her hips against him purposely sliding along his cock. Blazing need burned inside of her. She needed to be filled by him to feel him filling her in only ways he could.
