Abby had to look at him. A haunted look shadowed his eyes. “Why would he do that?” she asked gently. She wanted to know it all, everything about him and his people.
“Tobius en Kulev started it. He wanted war with us so he could cage us down here like animals. He used excuses to rally people. He preached how dangerous we were to all…to humans, vampires, and shapeshifters. Finally, he instilled enough fear that though only a few demons had ever hurt anyone in such a way, enough people rallied against us. The shapeshifters stayed out of it and the humans didn’t have the skill required to war with us, so that left the vampires. He created the Atal Warriors—a vampire organization trained to kill us.” He shook his head solemnly. “My father died in the battle. It lasted a long time. We would not give up, but always being besieged such as we were—it was only a matter of time before we fell.
One hundred years we fought but they kept coming. Father fell, Telal betrayed us and went to the surface, and we were left locked inside the rift. The Atal Warriors killed any who dared to leave instantly. That was their new job, you see, to guard the rift from us,” he hissed.
“So all that happened because of your brother?”
He nodded his jaw clenching. “And Tobius’ grudge against us. Rumors spread that his hate for demons came because of a woman. Some woman he loved ran off with a demon.” He shook his head. “Not that I could blame her. A demon would make a much better mate than a vampire.” Suddenly a grin flashed across his face. “No matter, the vampire got what he deserved. I started training a special team of warriors. We planned it carefully. I spent years on the plan. Then one night we set it in motion. My team ported to the earthen-realm, destroyed the Atal Warriors there, and then tracked down Tobius all in a night. They were the best trackers, the best fighters. They slaughtered him and brought me back his head as proof.
I kept the head on a pike out front of the castle for nearly five years after that. It wasn’t just for me but for everyone who remembered his cruelty.” A strange look flickered over his eyes. He held his hand out and stared at it as if seeing something weird. “It was after that I started to change. I never realized it though. I’d look in the mirror and knew my skin had changed, but I never questioned it.” That hand curled into a fist. “Such was the curse that gripped me.”
Still, the thing with his mother rubbed her the wrong way. “But why did your mom curse you? I mean, what could she get out it?”
He was silent for a moment, his head cast down over the futhorc he skinned. She got the impression that he was thinking about it as if he hadn’t yet. “Power.”
“But she was a queen. I assume that means you come from a big fancy castle, get to rule over people, and the usual aristocratic deal, yeah?”
His hands stilled on the animal with knife in hand. “Power over a person is much stronger than ruling a kingdom. It was more than that. She had every bit of control over me, my feelings, even my actions. She would give me this potion. Stupidly, I’d drink the nasty liquid. She said it’d calm me down and it always did, but little did I know that it also kept me ensnared under her toxic spell.” He stabbed the knife into the animal and cut in a jabbing motion as he tore the skin off it.
Abby flinched and looked away. Maybe talking to him while he had a knife in his hand wasn’t such a good idea after all.
“But why did your brother betray you like that?”
Pain flashed in his eyes. He must have loved his brother very much. “Before he ripped the kingdom from my hands and banished me, he told me. I spent so long blaming him that it’s been hard not to even if it was his fault the war started. He claims that Tobius made a pact with him. Telal wanted to start a group of trained warriors to protect our kingdom from idummi and other demonic attacks. They did happen frequently back then. He wanted the vampires and us to form an alliance and work together…or so he told me. However he was blinded by Tobius’ hatred for us and Tobius didn’t waste the opportunity to destroy us.”
Abby froze at the sound of his voice. He sounded so sad talking about it. It broke another piece inside her.
“Keep practicing on the fire.”
Abby faced the makeshift pit again and called for the power inside her. She could feel her magical abilities growing. It was like learning a new instrument. It took time and practice but she was getting better at it. Already she could call the magic forth much quicker and the time between casting a new spell was faster. Soon she’d have enough power to summon a portal to earth.
Oh God. Abby looked over at Alrik. His shoulders were hunched and his eyes downcast in thought. Could she really leave him? He said he couldn’t defeat his mother and she knew him well enough to know he wouldn’t just walk away from this. Obviously, the curse had become his life. He had a dispute to end and there’d be no stopping until he finished it.
The first thought that popped in her mind was no. She couldn’t do it. No way could she leave him down here with rogue demons, idummi creatures, and a queen bitch who wanted to kill him. A wild thought sprung making her stomach flutter. Maybe he could come with her. Maybe she could convince him to let this all go and come home with her.
Her lip curled as logic set in. Just what would he do up there, become a banker? Yeah, right. The man was a king, a fighter, a magician. Not exactly the kind of guy you put behind a desk for eight hours a day. Nothing about Alrik fit in with her normal-day world.
“You’re not focusing.” He came to her and settled behind her on the rock. Warmth and muscle pressed into her back as he surrounded her, wrapping his arms around hers. Strong fingers clasped her wrists, holding them out towards the round circle of twigs. His voice was deep, low, and near her ear. “Feel the fire inside you, deep in your soul. Call on it and shoot it out from your body. Let it warm you, guide you. I know you can do it.”
Abby relaxed against him, trusting him with her weight. His voice, deep and lolling, sucked her into a trance. Everything that was happening went to the back of her mind—the wind blowing, the leaves rustling and swaying in the breeze. Even the light above and sound of lapping water over rocks faded leaving only them. Alrik and her.
At his request power surged up inside her as if obeying a master. Warmth heated her like a blanket. It pressed up from deep in her belly, spread to her chest and out through her arms, and then shot from her fingertips. The invisible force showed no color, no sound, but in her witch’s eye she watched the vibrant billowing reds, oranges, and blues spew from her fingertips. The fiery power arched through the air and reached the fire. One spark flared while another burst. Then in a small explosion, the wood caught flame all at once, crackling and radiating heat.
Abby was slow to come out of the trance she was in. When she did she felt no heat at her back but her smile grew and grew at the sight of the fire.
“I did it! Alrik, I did it!” She jumped and performed a fist pump at her own awesomeness. It almost didn’t seem real. She headed for the fire and felt the real heat of it. She couldn’t stop smiling. She did this. She actually made fire just with her powers.
Then it dawned on her—a strange feeling. It was like one of those times where you realize that something is off belatedly. In this case, Abby turned around slowly.