Текст книги "The Fallen King"

Автор книги: T. A. Grey

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Текущая страница: 13 (всего у книги 17 страниц)

She took a step toward him then caught herself. He’d be fine, she knew that. Besides, she needed to get away from him now, not run over there and try to nurse him back to health.

She just hoped he was hit hard enough to give her some time to run. With her heart breaking, she took off down the length of the fissure.

It took her a moment before she realized it.

That she was a blur of speed.

All that energy inside her still hadn’t burned up. Her high emotions drove the magic in her blood.

The fire was still there, even as she trembled from the power of it, and she ran fast as light away from the one who broke her heart.

She had at least one thing to thank Alrik for ; he had helped to make her stronger. Now she could get away from him.

Chapter Eighteen

Alrik was dreaming, or not really. He drifted between two worlds of consciousness, one he is aware that he was waking up, and the other still lingering in the dream world.

As a young man he used to dream in vibrant colors of scenes that always seemed cut short and never made any real sense. All they served to do was make him feel good or bad when he woke up. In that way, his dreams used to set the tone for the day. But, he hadn’t dreamt in a long time. Not since… His body jerked, fighting the thought but it came anyway, always unrelenting.

The last dream he’d had happened before Arianna’s death—before his brother took back his kingdom.

Then he had dreamed of a fantasy for what happened could never be true. He had looked like his real self, golden-skinned like his brother Telal. They stood next to each other on the dais in the kingdom’s hall. All the haute and prolitare stood in the crowd, most but not all with smiles upon their colored faces.

A somewhat familiar face was there. The succubus woman, Lily Bellum. She meant something special to his brother. That was evident from the way his brother’s eyes watched her with reverence and in the way he kept her hand tucked in his.

As his mind started to drift out of the dream, a different memory took him. The bitter sounds of Telal weeping at her death. Alrik had felt the same way seeing his Arianna die in front of him. He’d been unable to heal her. Except while there’d been two deaths that night his Arianna couldn’t be resuscitated. At least Telal got his woman back.

More strange thoughts came seemingly out of nowhere as his body drifted in the ether of sleep lightweight and floating in air.

Once upon a time, he could heal death from a person’s soul. It would only work on a fresh corpse, but that kind of mighty power ran through his veins. Using that kind of power would zap him, incapacitate him for days maybe even longer, but once in his hands he held the power to heal. No longer did he have that.

It’d died with his heart many years ago.

That didn’t mean he didn’t try when Arianna fell before him, her white gown pooling around her body, and blood spilling from her lips.

He’d leaned over her graceful body and her last words had ringed in his red-hazed, raging mind for a long time to come: “Be good, Alrik”.

He’d gone mad. He’d summoned all the magic inside him to heal her, to bring her back, but nothing happened. Not a lick of warmth had stirred inside him that accompanied a healing spell. Nothing but iciness encased him. Her breath never stuttered once, her heart didn’t beat again, not even a single palpitation.

She was dead, and it was his fault.

Not that he quite saw it that way at the time. At the time, it was Telal who’d killed her, Telal who had stormed into his life only to ruin it again. Only later, after he’d been cast out banished from the kingdom by Telal, did he think. When one had nothing but his own thoughts as he wandered an endless land, his thoughts became him.

Oh, he’d thought over that terrible night again and again and again.

The more he walked the more he realized. His brother might have cast the final blow but if not for all of his own deeds, Arianna would still be alive and breathing.

He didn’t come to such a discovery easily. Oh no, it’d taken months and months of trekking through the rift, searching for his mother, and cutting of idummi heads to realize it.

He got her killed. His actions, his deeds led her to that place to begin with. He was the reason she was dead. And, he was the reason he couldn’t save her.

Yet even that wasn’t the whole story. For it was the curse that bound him to think dark thoughts, to be dark inside that made him unable to heal with spellcasting. His mother’s curse held the real blame. It was her fault ultimately, and he’d see her pay before he died.

His thoughts drifted as his numb body floated between sleep and aware. He drifted below the line of conscious once more allowing thoughts and colored pictures of the past to come over him.

It went back to the dream on the dais where he stood with his brother and his mate.

He was smiling at Telal.

Seeing that, even in a dream stunned him. It was as if he saw himself from another person’s body. He watched his smiling, golden face with violet eyes and auburn hair shining with the glint of red in the light—colors he hadn’t witnessed on himself in ages—as if he watched a stranger. For that’s what he’d become to himself.

His gaze wandered to the woman standing next to him. She stood with her face hidden in the shadows. Unease flittered through him and he tried tugging on her hand to bring her into the light with him.

Telal made a joke and Alrik laughed. Their voices were muffled, faraway sounding to his dreaming mind. He couldn’t make out the words, but he could feel the emotion of it. His chest warmed and his body felt as if he was floating as the laugh went through him.

His gaze moved back to the woman standing with him covered in shadows. A frown tugged his lips, and he tugged on the small, delicate hand trying to pull her into the light but she resisted. He wanted to see her. Needed to see her face.

No words left her lips but he sensed a hesitation, the “no” on her lips, though she never spoke. She started pulling away from him and sorrow clouded his heart, made him slow to grab for her when she pulled back. Then, she slipped into the shadows and was gone.

That dream had happened within a month of Arianna’s death, and now he’d just had it again.

What did it mean?

Had it hinted at Arianna’s impending death? He didn’t know, but then why was he having the dream now? Did it have anything to do with Arianna at all? Maybe the dream had everything to do with Abbigail? If it did have to do with Arianna then that didn’t make sense. Why did he look like his old self? Maybe the dream had just been a sign that she was the hope he’d been looking for because t she could have found a way to cure his curse. Then they would be standing hand in hand, mated, across from his brother and mate.

Too many questions and not enough answers.

He cursed himself, wishing he’d asked the seer. The seer would have the answer. He needed to know.

Some niggling thought kept coming up. Was it Abbigail and not Arianna pulling away from him this time? Even in sleep, his gut churned at the idea. If so, why would she? The very thought brought a sharp, tight pain into his chest and throat as if he was stuffed to full.

Yet the thought didn’t sit right with him.

Alrik sighed. That dream had happened more than a year ago, before his life was completely ruined. He never had a repeat dream until that one. Why that dream? Why now? Those dreams didn’t bare repeating since he could never forget it.

Damn if the dream didn’t make him feel things he hadn’t in so long. It made him want to share the mirth he’d found so briefly in his dream. He wanted to find it and share it with her. Not Arianna. He could see now that it wasn’t meant to be. Even with her death staining his hands, he could see it. He did love her. He’d loved her for a very long time, but they’d had such a short time to grow together. In fact, Alrik wasn’t so sure they did at all. Maybe if they’d had more time together.

Maybe...

But if he did love her then that couldn’t explain what he felt for Abbigail Krenshaw. For that woman, that human, made him feel things so wildly different, so tremendous that he didn’t know if he could always keep it contained.

Alrik started to rise back to consciousness, his dream and painful thoughts fading. But then, something pulled him back under and he dreamt once more.

This time he dreamt of something new. Something he’d never dreamt of before and it set forth a new drive in his heart.

Abbigail and he were at a strange place where the sky shined so bright he had to squint to see. White soft sand rested beneath their warm bodies, the substance finer than sugar. The heat made him so warm like he could never remember being, almost as if the beautiful light was baking him.

Abbigail looked stunning. Nude, her skin glistened in the bright light with splotches of sand on her legs and arms. She looked up at him with that brilliant smile on her face, and he couldn’t stop smiling back and sharing in the moment with her. He reached over, his hand cupping her cheek as he leaned in to kiss her. In that moment he realized his skin was golden. Her beautiful eyes slowly closed and her lips curled with a smile that parted for him.

But his dream warm fuzzing feeling in his chest ended with a mighty blow.

Alrik came crashing back into reality as a mighty kick landed against his ribs. His eyes shot open, and before he thought twice, magic thrust from his fingertips. With a grunt the perpetrator slammed into a tree sending flakes of woodchips around him.

Alrik stood slowly, cradling his side with one hand. He surveyed the man he had pinned to the tree with invisible binds. Of course, he should have expected it. The vampire would not give up so easily.

“Trying to kill a man when he’s down? I thought you were above such sleazy tactics, Aidan.” Not thinking about why he did it, he released his magical hold on Aidan.

The vampire smiled, a flash of fang showed and then disappeared. “Just giving you a good old wake up call, king. Your woman has fled. I would have sought her out...but she made her choice. It isn’t me she wants. Apparently it isn’t you either.”

Alrik saw Aidan’s sickeningly happy smile and wanted to run his fist through it.

Memories surged back at once. Fucking hell.

Alrik jerked his gaze in the direction from where it all happened, where Abbigail had unleashed such power that it’d stunned him with its strength. She’d tossed him and the vampire as if they were mere pebbles not large, fully-grown supernatural men. And she’d done it over a long distance.

So, what the seer said was true. She really was powerful. For the first time he really believed she could do this. He’d seen her perform magic at the castle, then with the jaheera, and now this. In such a short time together, that only meant she was growing stronger and recovering faster. Soon, she’d be able to cast powerful magic more than once a day and not be spent.

She must be spent, exhausted and hungry now. That kind of spell casting came at a price. He knew, he’d casted his share of magic before. A physical need in his gut screamed at him to go after her, to feed her and take care of her. He would just have to convince her to stay with him. No, no.

He didn’t know how much she’d realized, but she definitely had learned of his lie. Once again, it was all his fault. He hadn’t been able to hide his eyes from her. She was too smart to miss the overpowering guilt he’d felt.

“Where did she go?”

“My men said she ran east along the fissure then disappeared. They tried to track her but couldn’t. She might have used a spell to cloak herself. Or maybe she ported home.”

Alrik froze. An overpowering sensation swept through him. The feeling that he had no control over this situation, over her, and was helpless to everything.

Dread grabbed him by the heart.

Home? She could make a portal and go home? A foul roiling emotion filled his stomach like a lead ball. His fists clenched into hard hammers ready to pound.

“She wouldn’t leave.”

“If she could do what we’ve seen her do, then I think she has enough power to go home and make sure you never touch her again. But, hey, that’s just my opinion.”

Suddenly Aidan found his neck in Alrik’s hand and his head slammed into tree bark.

“Watch what you say to me,” Alrik growled.

He had to go after her. He had to find her. He would because nothing would stop him. After he found her, they’d talk and then...everything would be okay. He’d explain…

Betrayal burned hot inside him like fire.

How could she just leave him? After he took her body…after she kissed him and looked up at him with soft, innocent eyes.

His hands shook with the need to release the high emotions riding inside him.

He needed to get her back. It was a physical ache burning inside him, a panicked throb that wouldn’t ease until he had her safe in his arms. When he got her there, he was going to do more than hold on to her.

“Go, I’m done here with you. I must say I think I can move on now. Now that I’ve seen how far you’ve fallen,” Aidan said, despite the fact that his throat was being squeezed with an iron fist. He sounded as if this wasn’t concerning in the least.

Alrik tried to ignore the vampire’s taunting words. He released his grip then stalked away, heading west. If it took every last one of his days to find her, he’d use them all for her.

“Who would have thought you could love after all?”

Alrik didn’t stumble, but inside he did. His heart skipped a beat, his mind spun circles in his head. He didn’t turn back around. “I don’t love her.” He said it as if to prove to himself he could. Yet, his voice wasn’t strong with the words, his soul not in them.

“Then why are you putting her in danger? She may be powerful, but the queen could just as easily kill her before she could cast any magic. Surely, you know this! That you are putting her life at risk!”

Alrik was far enough away that the vampire’s shouts faded with an echo.

He had to ignore them. He had to because he needed her. Whether she was willing to help or not.

Things had changed. This was more than just a quest to kill his mother and remove the curse. Something had happened between them. Why else did he have this physical need in his gut pulling him towards her and needing to find her? To keep her for himself, always.

There was only one answer to the question to why he had this need.

Surprisingly, he knew the answer and it didn’t scare him. Not in the least.

It might have in the past, but now he saw a spark of light at the end of the tunnel. That light was made from Abbigail Krenshaw. Now he felt up to the challenge; proud and ready to be the man he knew he could be.

A bit of warmth flared in his chest as if he stood near a fire. It ebbed and waved as he stalked the night, tracking her.

He loved her.

This changed everything.

Chapter Nineteen

She didn’t want to cry.

Liar!

Abby sighed and poked her finger into the dirt moving it around.

Okay, she did.

Maybe.

Just a little.

She wasn’t a crier, not really. Sure, she cried when she got that letter from her father, but she wasn’t really a crier. She definitely wasn’t a loud crier either. She didn’t sob or boohoo around. Not that there was anything wrong with that, but she could never let herself do that. It was too embarrassing.

The worse was when she would watch a drama movie with Jenna where the climax comes and a loved one or a dog—the dogs are the worst—dies. Jenna, always the stalwart, watches without expression while Abby cornered in her chair trying to hide her face from the burning tears in her eyes.

Hell, she felt embarrassed crying even when she was alone in her house. It didn’t matter how silly it was, she still felt that way.

She’d walked the whole day. Pain kept her moving like a zombie across unknown environments. A part of her expected to be jumped by idummi demons or maybe a wild plant monster or something, but nope. None of that happened. A whole day passed. She knew that because she’d left Alrik at night and that strange light, similar to the sun but not nearly as bright, came up and then went down again.

Everything hurt, even her eyes felt dry as a desert as if she’d been staring straight into a light bulb without blinking.

She only stopped because one of her legs had given out. Her knee bowed out and sent her crumpling the grassy ground. So she just stayed that way, cheeks in the grass, finger swirling in the dirt.

He would come after her.

How far away was he? God, she hated that she wanted to know but she did, badly. She didn’t want to know out of fear of being caught but at the hope that she might see him.

Pathetic.

She’d been running on anger and high emotions. After the rogue demons started to follow her, she remembered to cloak herself. Surprisingly, it’d worked. Not even seconds after they started off in the wrong directions, talking amongst themselves and trying to figure what had happened to her. It was eerie watching as they started to run in the wrong direction, talking amongst themselves, and trying to figure out what had happened to her.

Abby had learned that little spell from her mom.

Back when she used to practice magic, her mom used to tell her stories. One story was about a witch who could cloak herself completely, turn herself invisible with only a thought and a burst of magic. A witch could even lose her scent, but that required a potion with special herbs that Abby would likely not find in the rift.

So, instead she’d cloaked her body. Did demons have a powerful sense of smell? Probably not, or at least, she hoped not. She was relying on the fact that aside from Alrik’s incredible strength, which was far greater than a human’s and his ability to wield magic, that he didn’t have the nose of a hound. Still she couldn’t be sure so she had just kept walking. After a while, even her stomach stopped its annoying growling.

Damn she was tired. Each time her eyelids drooped it became harder and harder to pull them back up. However, sleep never came. She tried to no avail. Something was wrong with her.

Yeah, it’s called paranoia!

True enough. She was paranoid because she really didn’t want to get caught. Not by Alrik, the vampire, or the demons. She just wanted to be left alone with no more thoughts and worries. She wanted to go home and get back to her job, if she still had one. She wanted to look up her half-sisters, the Bellums, and see if a friendship could be found there. Heck, she even wanted to tell her mom she was sorry and that she understood why she’d done what she did.

Abby curled up along a tree. While walking, she’d tried to find a hiding place but she’d found nothing but long rolling hills and mountains in the distance. There’d been nothing, nada. Of course that’d be her luck. She just knew that if Alrik had been with her he’d probably have found some secret cave that was perfectly safe and much warmer than out here in the open.

Whatever, this spot on the ground was just as good as any. Maybe if she just slept for a little while she’d feel better, the tightness in her throat and chest would ease.

The real question was: could she keep up the cloaking spell while sleeping? She had no clue, but she was about to find out.

Abby’s eyes drifted closed.

Her thoughts refused to slow. Her mind didn’t want to stop thinking about Alrik. Her heart wanted to keep reminding her of how badly it hurt.

Well I don’t want to think about it, she wanted to scream.

Tears pooled in her eyes. She didn’t want to think about how much it hurt to leave or how much it hurt to know he’d been hiding something huge from her. She sniffled and wiped the tears off her face.

As she did, a strange feeling came over her. One of those little sensations you got at the back of your neck when you were being watched. Her eyes popped opened, straining in the darkness as she kept her body still. Something was here. From her view, she saw nothing but more grass at the level of her head with great mighty trees flowering pretty red and pink flowers from above. She hadn’t even lit a fire so she had no light.

That was the thing in this rift. No sun, and no moon. So when the daylight came out it wasn’t nearly as bright as it should be and when it got dark it got really dark. No luminous moon lit the way for her. Her human eyes could only adjust so much and still they left her squinting hard into the night.

Nothing strange stood waiting for her. That left only one other option, which was the worse one.

Moving with agility that surged from a rush of adrenaline, Abby spun around and let a spell fly from her fingertips. The spell was weak, a cloud of fog at best.

Alrik stood there.

Her breath caught, lodged in her throat with so much emotion: happiness, anger, pain. Her chest squeezed tight like being wrapped in a painful bear hug.

With a flick of his wrist, he deflected her spell as if shooing away a fly. She must be weaker than she’d imagined if he could deflect her spell so easily.

Abby gazed up at him. She’d been away from him for little over a day and yet he looked taller than she remembered.

That’s only because you’re sitting on the ground below him, idiot.

Not true, she corrected. He also looked even stronger and more gorgeous than she remembered. His eyes looked brighter and not as dark as they’d been. They were inky black recesses that she could lose herself in but somehow they were lighter than before. How did he do that? How did his eyes change colors like that or was it just a trick of light? Maybe his dark black eyes had never changed at all.

“You thought to leave me?” he asked.

Anguish coated his words and the sound took her back. Out of all things she might have expected if he caught her, the sound of pain wasn’t one. That sound grabbed her by the heart and squeezed until she gasped. God, she did love him.

So stupid, Abby.

Abbigail pushed herself to her knees then slowly stood. There, she felt more in control and more on level with him even though he still stood more than a foot and a half taller than she did.

“Yes.” She had to swallow over the knot in her voice because it took her two tries to speak, and even then her voice came out throaty.

“Tell me why.”

Her eyes traced to the grass. That was easier to look at.

She countered with her own question. “Who is Arianna?”

She watched him from the corner of her eyes and saw his eyes flare with surprise.

“How do you know that name?” he demanded.

Abby met his gaze as her own anger rose. How dare he take that tone with her. After she saved his butt nearly twice if you included the jaheera attack and she was.

He came towards her. Each step sent her heart beat pounding faster and faster. He kept coming until he grabbed her by the shoulders. “How do you know that name? Answer me!”

She looked up into his eyes. What she saw there broke down her anger. He looked panicked, uncertain. God, she hated seeing that look on his face. She wanted to help him, to make him feel better, and to maybe even make him happy. She didn’t want things to be like this.

“You said her name in your sleep,” Abby said, pain masking her voice. “Why don’t you tell me who she is and then maybe you can explain why she sounds so important to you?”

Let it be his sister’s name.

He released his grip on her and started building a fire.

Just like that. Back to work, and back to ignoring her questions.

“Alrik, I swear that if you don’t start really answering my questions, I’m leaving.”

His jaw clenched, and he slammed the wood in his arms down to the ground. She jumped at the violent action. “You threaten me now?” he growled.

“I don’t see it that way, but I guess...in a way, yes, I am.”

He shook his head in disbelief. With a rushed spell and a flick of his fingers, a spark caught and the wood started burning.

She almost thanked him for giving her heat and light. She could see his dark face so much better now.

He took a seat by the fire, set his swords on either side of him within easy reach, and then he pulled something out of his pocket and tossed it to her. She caught it without thinking and instantly groaned at what she saw. A hunk of meat. She tore into it with relish.

How did he do that?

Here she’d been contemplating, no, planning to leave him and he managed to stride back into her life and dominate it. He’d manage to give her heat, light, and food within five minutes. Damn, she didn’t know if she loved or hated him right now.

“I was going to mate with her.”

And…. just like that she felt like she’d been socked in the gut with a massive fist. Her stomach churned, threatening to spew up the little bite of food she’d taken. “What’s mating?” She had a pretty clear idea from the word, but she had to be sure.

“I was going to bond myself to her. I had her previous engagement annulled so I could have her.”

“What happened?” To her, she left off the question. Something had happened, something bad, she could feel it in the waves of tension surrounding him.

He let out a hallow laugh. “She died. What do you think happened? She died trying to save me. That damn woman!” He scrubbed a hand across his face, then threaded his fingers through his hair tugging on the hard locks.

She winced, half-expecting to see the strands snap under his harsh grip.

“You loved her,” Abby said over the tight grip on her heart. Each word hurt to say. It hurt even more to think about. “She must have loved you to do what she did.”

His eyes met hers and an odd look rolled over them. A flicker of doubt maybe? “I don’t know if she did or not. She must have cared enough or she wouldn’t have jumped in front of me to take the spell that would have killed me.”

He didn’t even sound certain. Abby’s eyebrows flew up. “Who was casting the spell to try to kill you?” she asked gently.

“My brother.”

“Oh,” she said quickly, not knowing quite what to say to that.

He waved his hand at her shaking his head. “I don’t blame him now. I did. I did for a long time especially after he dethroned me from the crown and banished me from my homeland. No, it was only once I was out in the endless wastes of this forsaken place that I was left to my thoughts. Maybe I did too much thinking, but it wasn’t his fault.

I would have done the same thing in his place. Arianna was the only loose end. She should have been up above in her room. Stupid woman...what was she thinking? I couldn’t even save her,” his voice drifted off becoming soft and hoarse. “I should have but I couldn’t.” He sounded so lost she wanted to do or say anything to get that ragged look out of his voice.

“There’s nothing you could have done, I’m sure.”

Distaste twisted his lips into snarl. Suddenly he slammed his feet to the ground and stood in a rush, his hands balled tight at his sides. “I could have saved her! I could have fixed her!” His shout probably could have been heard halfway across the rift.

Abby swallowed hard. “How?” She kept her voice gentle and soft as if she was talking to a hurt animal.

He held his hand out in front of him watching it. Turning it over, he gazed at his palm with an eerie look in his eyes. A wild, crazed look came over him.

“The blood, the royal blood in my veins touches my magic. It heals.” Slowly, he kept turning his hand over and over, over and over.

She could feel the chill of his magic emanating from his hand. “How can you heal?” Healing magic was a tremendous and rare gift, or at least among witches it was. It usually required a variety of tools at the witch’s side: herbs, healing potions, and spells. Of course, what did she know? She stopped practicing a long time ago and both she and her mother considered themselves ‘grey’ witches—that left them somewhere in the middle on the magic scale.

Abby thought back, but couldn’t remember ever meeting a ‘white witch’. They must be rare. But in Alrik’s case he was demon. She’d already learned that the magic differences between humans and demons were great. Even some of the rogue demons, well, all of them had magic powers. However, Aidan the vampire did not.

“How does your healing work?”

He laughed as if she said something funny.

That’s it. She’d had enough of his moping. Abby stood and waited until his eyes met hers, then slowly walked up to him. He eyed her warily. With a quick move, she sat in front of him, right on his thighs with her back to his chest. He tensed beneath her, but as she leaned into his strong chest his body slowly relaxed. She could feel the tension leaving him.

“Spread your legs,” she whispered. Heat flared inside her at her own daring.

But, he did. He spread his muscled, hard thighs letting her fit between his legs. Strong arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her further into his strong, warm chest. A soft sigh escaped her.

“You shouldn’t have left me,” he said in her ear. His voice was deep, husky. A shiver raced down her body.

“Why? It’s not like you didn’t find me anyway.”

His cheek pressed up against hers, warming her cold one, and creating an ache inside her. An ache to turn her head so their lips would line up and he’d be kissing her. Her heartbeat picked up, rapping faster against her ribs. She was suddenly rather warm in his arms.

“You can’t ever leave me, Abbigail.”

The sincerity in his voice made her heart skip a beat. “What?”

He tightened his arms around her as if to prove a point. “The seer should have told me. I had no idea it’d be like this.” His arms tightened more, nearly cutting off her air. “Do you know how hard it’s been watching you crawl into a space inside me that even Arianna never touched?”

Her breath hitched. “What?” Her vocabulary had apparently diminished down to one word questions.

“I-I can’t go through with it. I can’t do it. I can’t risk it.” He sounded as if talking to himself.

“Alrik, what are you talking about?”

He shook his head, knocking hers in the process. “I can’t do it. I can’t put you in danger. If I did it, again...I could never live. Never, ever.” He was whispering now, his voice hoarse.

Abby spun around in his arms, plastering her chest to his, her hands in his hair, bringing their lips close. She stared into his eyes. The raw pain she saw made her heart ache.