Текст книги "The Fallen King"

Автор книги: T. A. Grey

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Текущая страница: 7 (всего у книги 17 страниц)

“I’m not sure. I don’t know if they’re still there. They could have moved on long ago.”

“And what is it you hope to get from them if you do find them?” She felt it more then saw it—the tension radiating from him.

“Supplies,” he said shortly.

His odd response didn’t go unnoticed but she didn’t know what to make of it. The man could get tense from the smallest things. Who knew what went on in that mind of his.

“The things I would do for a bar of soap and a change of clothes,” she sighed.

Angry dark eyes cut to hers immediately stamping out her little daydream of getting a sweet smelling bar of soap. “You need only what I get you and nothing else.”

O-kay. Well, it’s gonna be a long day, Abby decided. Mr. Tight-Lipped wasn’t being any fun at all. She had the urge to grab his face and plant a big fat kiss on him just to see what he’d do.

The day trudged on and still they walked. The forest grew denser so that some trees stood only a foot apart from one another and they had to squeeze in between the trunks. After some time, they walked out of the dense forest and into an area where trees grew further and further apart.

The light had just started fading from the sky. Unlike on the earthen-side when the sun went down some light still lingered from the moon, here in the rift, it stayed quite dark. Not completely dark, some hazy pinkish glow still shone from somewhere far in the distance, but it was hardly enough to see where you were walking. Abby hated walking at night.

They walked on until they stepped out of the forest and came into an open vista. They stopped so he could examine the area, and she took the opportunity to catch her breath.

The land looked to go on forever. Yet, unlike on the earthen-realm where light poles and electrical lines staked across the country alongside houses, developments and cities filling in the every inch of land, this was on open unused piece of earth that flowed up and down in rolling hills and rocky crevices. Towards the right a steep hill rose, almost as tall as a mountain but not quite.

“We’ve made it,” he said.

Abby frowned. “This is it? Where are the rogue demons then?” She stepped up beside him so she could read his expression. She’d expected a camp or houses or anything. He didn’t look happy. A frown marred his lips, and his eyes were tense with thought.

“They must have moved.”

For some reason she wanted to comfort him. She shouldn’t. Her future with him wasn’t exactly certain. However, certain things couldn’t be denied. She couldn’t deny that he had the ability to make her heart race or for her breath to catch. She also couldn’t deny that she wanted to know everything about him and how he came to be cursed.

Something was happening between them. Maybe it started with that kiss or maybe it started before that, she couldn’t be sure. They spent so much time together that it was all beginning to blur. Still, once she got powerful enough, she was porting her butt out of here and leaving him in the wind. If he came back after her, she’d be powerful enough to keep him away. Of that, she felt certain. He already said his mother was more powerful than he was and only Abby would be able to kill her, which technically made her more powerful than him too. Just, not yet. She was getting there though. Her powers were growing, becoming easier to reach and use.

“What are we—?”

“Krishnoe!”

He held his hand up at her, stopping her mid-sentence.

A new wave of tension poured over him and she stilled too. She didn’t know what he just said but she got the gist of it. Even without thinking about it, her body tensed, breathing turning quiet as her eyes scanned the distance. Something was very wrong.

Alrik silently lifted his hands and grabbed the handles of his swords. With only a soft hiss of metal on the leather casing, he lifted the swords over his head and freed them.

They had no warning when it came. It all happened at once.

The sound of dozens of feet pounding the earth sent Alrik and her spinning around. From the forest, she spotted a small army of idummi demons sprinting for them. Abby backed up behind Alrik without realizing she’d done so.

“These aren’t the demons you were talking about, right?” She tried to insert some humor into the situation because right now, she had to fight the urge not to run in the other direction. He couldn’t possibly win against so many demons. Before there had only been one and he’d taken care of it quickly. But now there had to be at least twenty headed right towards them.

“No they are not. Stay back!”

That was all he said before he let out a roar that threatened to deafen her and charged into the forest. Abby pressed a fist to her mouth, teeth biting down. The man was a warrior.

He caught up to the first demon heading the pack and slew him to a bloody mess in seconds, but there were too many. The demons narrowed in on him, their line formation closing in, circling him. They jumped at him at once, their heinous cries and squeals piercing her ears.

But, something else caught her attention. That eerie feeling of being watched. Abby froze and slowly looked left. There, three demons had broken off from their friends and slowly came towards her, their knees bent, arms dangling low with sharp curved knives at their belts.

Abby didn’t think—she acted. In a blast of magic, she shot the demons back. They flew into the trees, barreling into them with a hard whack. She didn’t stay to see what happened with them—she ran.

She never ran as hard in her life as she did in that moment. She didn’t know how she knew that the idummi would get up and come right after her, but she did. They were going to kill her. An ear-splitting war cry followed right behind her. She flinched knowing that sound was directed at her and what she’d done.

Pounding feet sounded behind her. Abby strained to make her body move faster. She just had to go faster, that’s all.

Her lungs worked hard to suck in air through the panic. Any strain on her limbs didn’t register as she was in panic mode. She raced flat-out across the plain, swiftly stomping down patches of grass and flowers in her wake. She headed for one of the hills towards the left. Some thought that she could hide there came to mind and she charged forward with her only goal to escape.

The pounding feet closed in on her. The creatures made clicking, gnashing sounds with their teeth. She pushed her last reserves of energy hoping it’d be enough, but a hard body slammed into her. Abby cried out as she went flying hard to the ground, the momentum of her speed banging her head into the ground and making her ribs kiss her spine.

She groaned, unable to move. The thing that tackled her growled and grumbled in a hissing deep voice. It spoke garbled, strange sounding words at her. She was flipped, not gently, onto her back and another painful groan escaped. She had to move. She had to fight back and get away, but her body had given up.

The fall had knocked the wind out of her and sharp pains made each breath she took a chore. Her right knee throbbed with a fiery, burning sensation from the landing. Her bruised sides pulsated in anger at the treatment.

Her eyes flashed open as an idummi climbed over her, one leg on each side of her waist. Its teeth gnashed together in a chomping motion making yellow spittle drop from its mouth. The spittle hung from its thin green lip for a long second. Then it fell from his mouth. The spittle landed on her shirt and started to sizzle, a tendril of grey smoke swirled up. It burned straight through the shirt leaving a black hole. Then it touched her skin. Abby cried out as burning pain engulfed her. She scrambled and wiped with her shirt at the spittle until the pain ebbed.

Breathing hard, she stared up at the demon. It had a nasty sort of smile on its face that only served to bear sharp, pointed teeth.

Only straight meat eaters had such teeth. That thought popped into her head at that exact moment, and it scared the shit out of her. She wasn’t going to become a meal for this thing.

Sucking in a deep breath, she thrust her leg up in a brutal kick catching the demon between its legs. The demon’s hands flew between his legs as its knees buckled. Before it collapsed over her, she scrambled backwards. Now that she wasn’t running, her body started sending warning signals to her brain to let her know her body hurt in a bad way from that fall.

The demon screeched and its yellow, strange red-inflamed eyes narrowed on her. She had a moment to gulp before it launched itself at her landing on top of her. All the air whooshed out of her at its weight. The thing was shorter than she was and bony, yet had a layer of hard muscle over it. It seriously weighed a hell of a lot more than she’d expected. It felt as if a grown, fat man was sitting on her.

The demon’s eyes widened with glee and a black, forked tongue slithered across its lips. It pulled its curved dagger from its belt, pressed its knees into her chest to lock down her squirming body, and lifted the dagger above its head with two hands.

“Kraju d’menuni kash!” it hissed. Then it jerked its arms further back an inch and lurched down with the blade.

Abby screamed and shut her eyes waiting for the knife to plunge into her body. A whizz of air stirred her hair making her flinch. She panted, waiting for the blow, but the demon groaned above her and fell to the side. Abby jerked up, scrambling away.

“Huh,” she grunted.

An arrow was stuck in the demon’s chest where its heart should be. Dark murky blood oozed around the wound. Black feathers were stuck in the end of the arrow. It looked handmade and very real. The demon didn’t move any more.

Abby started to shake. She couldn’t help it. She’d been in several scary situations in her life, especially since meeting Alrik, but this one took the cake. She stood up and her knee gave out. She could already feel it swelling from when she landed, but she locked it and gritted through the pain so she could turn around.

What she saw she could barely comprehend. A group of demons, not idummi, but tall, human-looking demons like Alrik surrounded her. They had various colored skin and hair just like Alrik too. They carried an array of swords, knives, axes, and one in the front held a black bow. He seemed to stand taller than the rest, though that may just be the command that surrounded his presence. He strode towards her. His lips were moving and garbled sounds came out, but she didn’t understand any of them. She recognized the sounds of Demonish being spoken between the men.

His gaze traced up and down her then he glanced back and commanded something to his group. The others vanished in a flash of movement. Then he spoke once more.

Her thighs started trembling, and she flexed her thigh to try to keep her leg from giving out. Hot fire started burning in her muscle. It jerked and she grimaced as her muscle rolled and her knee burned tight. It felt a good two sizes bigger than it should be.

The strange man with the bow said something else to her, his eyes intense. Too bad she didn’t speak Demonish.

With a curse, her knee gave out and she couldn’t keep from crying out. She landed on her side, her hands going to her upper thigh to apply pressure there. It helped to ease the pain some but not by much.

The demon came towards her. He had skin like the pale moon and hair as black as Alrik’s. His eyes were what really caught her attention though, they were green. No, that was too plain sounding. It didn’t do them justice. They were the most beautiful green eyes she’d ever seen. Like the green in a photo of a tree in Hawaii that’d been colored and highlighted by some designer’s hand to enhance it. It was brighter than the brightest grass or leaf even down here in the rift where colors were more vibrant. And, they were on a face that stared down at her with such intensity that it stole her breath away.

The demon stopped before her with his hand held out and whispering foreign words. She felt his magic travel over her body an instant before darkness took her.

Chapter Eleven

“What are you going to do with the woman?”

That same question had been plaguing Aidan since he caught her. He and his men didn’t know what to make of her. She wasn’t demon, nor vampire or shapeshifter, yet she traveled with none other than King Alrik Demuzi. That left them with human.

Just what the king wanted of them, they didn’t know. If the king thought he could garner any kind of support from Aiden and his men then he couldn’t wait to show him just how wrong he was. Few were hated more than the king of the shahoulin—a treacherous, evil bastard that deserved no less than a slow, painful death. Aidan just hoped some good might come out of this chance meeting.

His eyes once again fell to the unconscious woman. She was beautiful, captivating. Then again, he hadn’t laid eyes on a woman in a very long time so maybe his sense of what was attractive or not was tainted. Maybe she actually looked more like a hag. His eyes wouldn’t let him believe it. She looked young, fresh, had a mane of shiny brown hair, and a body perfect for loving.

“That’s a good question, Conrad, and one I don’t have the answer to right now.”

Conrad nodded and his gaze, just like the rest of the men’s, fell to the woman. Aidan had ordered her to be laid upon some bedding near the fireplace until she woke. Her demon companion didn’t have it so nicely. A smile tugged at Aidan’s lips.

“How fares the king?” Aidan asked.

Conrad grinned with pleasure. “He’s below in the dungeon bellowing his brains out to be freed. I don’t think he much takes to captivity.”

Aidan ground his jaw. “Now he has a taste of what he’d bestowed upon us.”

“And it feels good,” Conrad said.

Aidan laughed, his chest feeling lighter. “Yes, yes it does.”

Conrad fell silent for a moment, and then hesitantly said, “You don’t plan to let her go, do you?”

He could almost hear the twinge of hope in his fellow soldier’s voice. “No, certainly not.” He and his men had been without a woman for a very, very long time. He wouldn’t let his fortune idly walk away now. The question then was what to do with her. There was only one of her and twenty-one of them. The men might share for a while but it wouldn’t take long for possessiveness to flare. That, Aidan could do without. The last thing he needed amongst his men was rivalry over a single female. It’d be inevitable if he didn’t plan this carefully. “I’m thinking a challenge.”

Conrad’s grin faltered then transformed into a wide smile. “Excellent idea.”

Aidan nodded. “There will still be some problems. Whomever doesn’t win will feel it surely. This will create tension among us.” Especially since Aidan planned to keep her for himself. He wanted to be the first to feel the naked skin of a woman pressed against him, the first to slide hard between her welcoming thighs. His cock hardened at the thought.

Conrad nodded grimly. “True enough. Mayhap if she’s shared at some point, it could give all the men a chance to relieve themselves.”

In thought, the idea worked out wonderfully. However, in Aidan’s past a woman didn’t exactly like to be shared without her approval. The thought of force did not sit well with Aidan. He knew all about being forced to do things he didn’t like, and he wouldn’t do that to a lovely woman.

“We don’t want to lose her favor, Conrad. We do that and she won’t accept any of us. No, we have to find a way around that.” He knew by looking at her that the thought of taking on more than one man at a time wouldn’t appeal to her. She had an innocent sexual allure to her. He wondered if she even realized it.

Conrad sighed and took a seat beside Aidan. “I hadn’t thought of that. What will we do then?”

Aidan thought on it for a long while. His gaze moved from the flames licking at the wood to the prone woman lying in front of the fireplace. “I think we’ll go ahead with the challenge. Whoever wins will keep her but in a few weeks’ time we’ll hold another challenge with the previous winner not participating. This will eventually allow everyone a chance to win her.”

“What if she refuses to accommodate the winner?”

Anger flared in Aidan. “Then we’ll make her.” He wouldn’t physically force her, but there were other ways. An idea struck him—maybe even pleasurable ways. A seduction. The pressure in his groin grew nearly unbearable.

A commotion started around the great hall’s fire jerking Aidan out of his sultry thoughts. He went to his men. They wore expressions ranging from excited to wary. He didn’t blame them. Having a woman here could prove a change for either the better or the worse.

One of his men, Drekk, caught him coming towards and nodded to the woman. “She’s waking, sir.”

A flash of excitement flickered in Aidan. He couldn’t help it; he was just as excited as the rest of them. “Make room,” he ordered. His men parted around the woman and Aidan came through to see her eyelashes fluttering open.

Greed filled him just looking upon her. What he would do to keep her for himself...

The woman sat straight up, her gaze darting around the men hovering around her. She started breathing fast in fear, pushing a pair of gorgeous breasts up tight against the snug, strange shirt she wore.

He stopped in front of her and her gaze flew to his. He watched recognition hit her eyes. Good, she remembered him from before.

“Who are you?”

She spoke strangely and he and his men looked at her in confusion. This wouldn’t do.

Aidan turned to his men. “Get Gabrick here now.”

No sooner than he made the order did Gabrick push his way through the crowd. The older demon had the greatest magical abilities among all of them. It was largely due in part to his abilities that they were able to keep their small castle invisible to the prying eyes of the world. They used to be out in the open, but in the past year idummi attacks had become more frequent. So, they’d pooled their magic and spells together to cast a protective spell over the castle. If all of them left for too long the spell would eventually fade and reveal their home.

“Can you make it so we can understand her and her us, Gabrick?”

The man nodded slowly, his eyes devouring the woman. A spark of possessiveness straightened Aidan’s spine, but he ignored it. It wouldn’t do getting revved up in front of his men over the woman, even though he planned to keep her for himself.

“It sounds like a strange version of the English human’s spoke long ago. Let me see if this works.”

Gabrick opened his palms and spoke a chant in Demonish. The spell weaved words of understanding, learning, and listening around his brain. Warmth surrounded Aidan and his men and then like a switch being thrown, the woman’s words rang clear.

“What the hell is going on here? Who are you? Where’s Alrik?”

All the men paused at the woman’s words. She had a soft, pretty voice. A woman’s voice. He could have groaned at the sound. Something that hadn’t gifted his ears in so long.

Aidan took a step closer and once again captured the woman’s gaze. “You speak to the king by his first name? Just what are you to him?”

The woman froze, her eyes narrowing in suspicion. “Tell me who you are first.”

“Leave us,” Aidan ordered in Demonish. His men did so, but slowly. After they had some space, Aidan knelt down by the woman. “I am Aidan and these are my men. We are outcasts from the shahoulin kingdom.”

“Are you their king?”

“We have no king here.” The very thought made Aidan’s gut clench. Yes, he led his men but he was no king. His word wasn’t law here and they all wanted it that way. The rulers had ruined their lives. They chose a more democratic approach with Aidan acting as a tentative leader. At any time, they could overthrow him if they chose and he’d easily step aside.

“What do you want with me?”

Aidan looked away as an image of her body naked and what it would look like flashed in his mind. “That’s a harder question to answer. Why don’t we start simpler? Why are you with the king?”

She smirked, the corner of her full mouth curving up. The sight transformed her face into something captivating. “He isn’t the king anymore.”

Aidan nearly gave a double take. “What say you?”

She shrugged. “He’s no longer the king. He said we were coming this way to find some rogue demons, I take it that’s you. He said we needed some supplies.”

Aidan stood and stared off into the fire. The king wasn’t the king anymore and he thought to find help from those he’d marked as outcasts after wrongfully imprisoning them?

“He’s mad,” Aidan muttered.

“True enough.”

Aidan felt a smile cover his lips. Not only was she beautiful but humorous and wise as well. She’d make a fine companion for him and his men.

“Your name, woman.”

She bit her lip as if unsure whether to tell or not. Eventually she sighed in defeat. “Abbigail.”

He rolled the name around in his mouth. He liked the rounded sound of it, feminine. It fit her. “Abbigail, it is a pleasure to meet you. I am Aidan.” Aidan and Abbigail. The sounds rang well together.

He held his hand out to her and she hesitantly gave it to him. Her hand was soft compared to his own and much smaller. He hadn’t held a woman’s hand in so long he’d forgotten what it felt like, the slight weight and the soft texture. He ran his thumb over it and pressed a kiss to her fingers. Her eyes flashed with surprise while something dark and hungry stirred inside him. He’d wanted to wait until he announced the challenge, but now he knew he couldn’t wait. He needed her for himself, needed to see her flashing blue eyes at him, smiling up at him as he thrust between her soft thighs.

Turning his back to her, he faced his men. In Demonish he spoke. “We will have a challenge for her.”

The men tensed. Hesitance, eagerness, and hope flashed among their faces.

“The winner will keep her but will not force her into any deeds she doesn’t wish to do. After three weeks, we will have another challenge. The previous winner will not be allowed to participate so that everyone will eventually have a chance to win. Every three weeks we will hold the challenge again.”

Aidan studied his men finding half of them approving, almost eager, and the others angrier at his command.

“What’s a challenge?” came a soft voice from behind him.

Aidan froze. He turned back to her but words clogged his throat. He didn’t know what to say. He tried to recall his previous interactions with women and the only thing he could think was that she wouldn’t welcome this.

“What’s going on here?” she asked again, her voice getting hard.

Aidan ground his jaw. To hell with it. She was here and she’d have to deal with the consequences. “We are keeping you. The winner of the challenge will win you, Abbigail.”

She gasped and started backing up, her gaze darting amongst the men as if they might jump at her at any moment. “No, you can’t do that.”

“Yes, I can. I’m sorry but we have been too long without a woman. We will not let this chance slip by us.”

“But, but I’ll tell you anything you need to know.”

He didn’t say it aloud, but he thought it. You’ll tell us everything you know anyway, Abbigail. “And what do you know, Abbigail?”

She hesitated and he could see her mind working as she thought about it. She crossed her arms across her chest. She had no idea, but half the men in the room groaned as the action pushed her breasts more fully into view.

“Take me to see Alrik first.”

Aidan stalked to her. She didn’t back down but she looked behind her as if she wanted to. He didn’t stop until they nearly touched. “Why would you want to see him?” Anger and jealousy burned inside him.

“I-I need to talk to him,” she stuttered.

“About what, Abbigail?”

She started breathing faster. It was torture seeing those breasts rise and fall. If he but leaned down he could pull a breast into his mouth. His mouth watered at the idea. So entranced was he that he missed part of what she said.

“...see if he’s okay.”

Aidan stared her in the eyes as he contemplated it. Then he nodded. “Come with me.”

His men stared at him as if he had lost his mind as he led Abbigail away. He only gave them a swift shake of his head. He had his ulterior motives.

* * *

Abby followed the big warrior with silvery skin and dark hair. He looked similar to the demons yet somehow different. He reminded her of a vampire. Tall, elegant in nature, but with a warlike ferocity hidden underneath a layer of control, such characteristics were typical amongst vampires. He didn’t have the bulk to his body as the others had and was slightly taller, though he was just as gorgeous to look at. Maybe even better. However, that didn’t make him trustworthy. She had Alrik as proof of that.

Aidan led her down a stone stairwell. It rounded in a tight circle. The air became heavier and torches held by sconces on the wall lit the way down a long hallway at the end of the stairs. It was cold down here and one look at the metal bars lining either side of the hall and she knew it was a dungeon. Yet as she scanned the cages, she saw they were all empty. It was too early to tell if this bode well for her or not. Maybe they wouldn’t imprison her. They could do far worse to her than lock her in a cage, she reminded herself.

At the end of the hall stood a heavy looking wooden door with a rounded metal hatch. She knew who was behind that even before Aidan opened the door.

“Abbigail! Where is she!” came a roar.

She’d recognize that voice anywhere. It made her heart jump and her feet walk faster. She reached the door before the man Aidan did. He eyed her strangely as if trying to figure her out. Well, she had news for him; she didn’t trust him either. Maybe this was just the break she’d been looking for. She’d just have to wait and see. But first, she had to see him to make sure that he was alive and well. It felt like a driving need inside her to make sure with her own eyes that he wasn’t injured.

“I’ll kill you all!” His voice rang down the corridor.

Aidan stopped by the door and waited until she met his eyes to speak. “Just what is he to you?”

Her throat closed up. What was he? Friend, not so much. Lover, nope. Enemy, that was closer.

“He-he’s just a friend okay. Let me see him, please.” She hated to beg but she’d do it if she had to.

Watching her closely, Aidan grabbed the latch and pulled the door open. Abby all but ran inside. Her stomach dropped at what she saw.

An even larger cage stood in this room as if that was its sole purpose. Alrik clung to the metal bars of the cage. Heavy metal shackles bound his wrists and ankles to a large metal loop on the wall behind him giving him only so much space to walk. Blood smudged the metal from where they’d dug into his wrists.

Abby couldn’t hide her reaction, she ran to him. Her hands closed around his on the bars and for some reason tears welled in her eyes. “Alrik.”

She closed her eyes to hide her growing weakness for him and listened to the sound of his heavy breathing.

“What have they done to you?” he said. Anger, no, fury laced his words. He was seething. The look in his eyes was something she’d never seen before. He was not in control. He had gone past that point and had snapped. The look made her shiver and sent a bolt of fear into her belly even though she knew he wouldn’t hurt her.

Abby looked up at his gorgeous face. Blood covered his lips making them bulge, and his left eye was so swollen the skin around it had turned a dark purple. “Did they beat you?” She couldn’t keep the sound of hysteria out of her voice.

A tic pulsed at the line of his bearded jaw. “I’m fine. What have they done to you?”

“Well, nothing really. Alrik, they said something about a challenge and I don’t know what they’re talking about.”

She felt his hands curl tighter around the bars beneath her hands. His gaze darkened with fury and he pinned that lethal look at Aidan. “She is mine.”

“That remains to be seen.”

Abby turned sideways so she could watch them both.

“She’s here with me right now. That shows you everything you need to know.”

Aidan shrugged. “Shows she has a kind heart, that is all. The men will appreciate that all the more.”

“Alrik, what’s a challenge?” What do I do? she wanted to say.

Alrik pulled himself into the bars with a bicep curl then his dark gaze locked on hers. “They will fight over you. Whoever wins gets to keep you, use you however they want. They will take your body, Abbigail. These men are savages.”

“Not without your wish, I assure you,” Aidan added hastily.

Abby’s head started spinning. “What? Use me?” She knew what he meant but still trying to believe that it was happening to her was an entirely different thing.

“Yes, Abby. Use you as a man does a woman. Let me out of here, Aidan, or I swear—”

“You swear what? You’ll break through the bars? I doubt it. They’ve held stronger men than you.” Aidan stalked like a predator to the cage. “Let me ask you, king, how does it feel to be on the other side of the bars?”

Alrik roared. Abby barely had time to move to the side before he lashed through the cage, his arms swiping hard for Aidan. Aidan ducked easily to the side, a satisfied smile on his lips. The chains didn’t let him reach far but if Aidan hadn’t moved he would have caught him.

“It doesn’t feel good, does it?” taunted Aidan.

Suddenly, Aidan grabbed her arm and started pulling her away. She fought it, digging her feet in. Spinning back around she grabbed onto the bars one last time. She met Alrik’s worried gaze. “What do I do?”

“I will kill them all.”

The way he said it, with such a dead finality, sent a chill down her spine. He meant it. He would find a way to get out of there and he would kill every last one of them.

“I don’t want you to kill anyone.” His gaze flickered with surprise then he stared off beyond her shoulder at Aidan. “If anyone touches her, I’ll slaughter every one of you. There will be no mercy.” He didn’t say it in a threatening way but in a casual ‘this is how it’s going to be’ way. That made it scarier.

Aidan didn’t give him a chance to say anything else; he latched onto her waist and pulled her kicking and screaming from the room. She screamed loud enough for the whole castle to hear, but no matter how loud or how hard she kicked, he didn’t let her go. She stared into Alrik’s eyes as the door slammed shut, blocking him out. She’d never felt this raw feeling before, like she was being peeled away from something so necessary to her.