The Fallen King: The Bellum Sisters 4 (paranormal erotic romance) (32 page)

“Why don’t you bow for me?” she
suggested. Her red colored lips twitched.

She didn’t control him now so he
stood as tall as his great height let him. “Never.”

The
idummi
chattered and
laughed around him as if he’d said something funny. She would have to make him
bow before he did so of his own free will.

“What if I said I’d spare her
life if you bowed?”

Alrik tensed. Something had changed.
She wasn’t taunting him, she was being serious. A cold knot of fear lodged in
his gut, spreading out to wrap his heart in an icy fist.

Alrik bent one knee and placed it
on the wet soggy ground, then the other. With fists clenched at his sides, he
glared up at his mother.

“I bow.”

The look in her eye became almost
insane. Her eyes widened pupils dilating. “You care for this human. How odd
indeed and what a sneer to poor, poor Arianna.”

“How do you know about that?” He
managed to keep his voice calm even as he wanted to scream and rage against
her. She died after he banished Salindra.

“I know everything, son.”

“You don’t know everything.” Now
he laughed. He knew something great and powerful that she didn’t. He had the
most powerful witch at his disposal.

For a moment, unease flickered in
her eye and then it vanished. “Hmm, we’ll get to that later. Bring her
forward.”

The
idummi
jumped and squawked
in their excitement. Alrik looked over his shoulder and felt his heart stop
beating. Two
idumm
i had Abbigail by her arms. Her eyes were locked on
him. He could see the fear in her eyes. But, she kept her cool and walked
rigidly along. One way or another, really bad things were going to happen this
night.

If only he’d had more time. One
sweet night with her was not enough. He needed years, maybe longer to learn
everything about her, to touch and taste every inch of her body. He just needed
time
with her.

“Alrik, I’m sorry. They surprised
me. They jumped me while I was sleeping.”

“Krishnoe!
” commanded his mother.

Abby’s lips snapped shut but not
on their own. His mother wielded magic to do all of her biddings. God, what he
would do to see that power stripped from her.

His mother strode toward him and
placed her hand upon his shoulder. He tried to lift a hand to snap her wrist in
half but her icy magic once again engulfed him. Even as he tried to turn his
head to sink his teeth into her hand, she controlled that too.

“See the fallen king bowing
before me like a coward. Is this the kind of man that makes your human blood
hot?”

Alrik stiffened even as he waited
to hear her answer. That’s right, even now he was unsure of what she thought of
him. She’d said the words but they were still so fresh and new in his head.
She
said she loved me.
He was acting like a coward. He’d already willingly
bowed to Salindra.

“He is not a coward, but you are,”
his Abbigail said.

Sharp fingernails the color of
bright red blood cut into his shoulder. “What say you, human?”

Alrik might have grinned if he
didn’t know better. However, he did know better and his mother could kill
Abbigail.

But Abbigail could kill her?

Alrik had no idea what chain of
events was about to happen next, but nothing prepared him for what his mother
had planned.

Chapter Twenty-one

Abby lifted her chin. “I said
you’re a coward. Why else did you need to possess Alrik to get him here, and
why else did you send a horde of demons to get me, a mere human, when you could
have done it yourself? You’re scared. You’re afraid of us.”

Abby didn’t know how to get them
out of this but she’d do whatever it took. She’d save Alrik if it was the last
thing she did.

Maybe if they’d acted sooner
they’d be sleeping comfortably in her bed in her little rented house right now,
and not in the grasp of an evil demon with tremendous powers and a horde of
idummi
following her. But, they couldn’t go back. She couldn’t change what had already
happened. All she could do now was try to keep them both safe.

As she met Alrik’s stricken eyes
it only solidified her conviction. She would die for him.

Abby shifted her stance and
spread her legs shoulder-width apart keeping her hands open at her sides. She
was ready. Magic stirred inside her as she called it forth. It was subtle like
a warm blanket settling over her and gradually warming her.

“Release him and let us both
leave here and no one will get hurt,” she said calmly.

The queen—an elegant and
fantastical looking woman with gorgeous golden skin, a mane of hair worthy of a
shampoo commercial, and violet eyes so piercing they might be beautiful if
madness didn’t linger there. The queen’s jaw fell open at Abby’s order, then it
snapped shut so hard and fast she could hear the clink of teeth.

“How dare you, you loathsome
little human? You are
nothing
!” The woman’s hands shook as she clasped
them together and took a loud seething breath. “You are nothing compared to me.
To even dare so…you will pay.”

That didn’t sound good. Abby’s
stomach clenched. She wasn’t worried about herself. It was Alrik.

“Bring me my potion!” the queen
screamed, her voice shrill. Her eyes glowed with uncontained madness. Even her
movements weren’t graceful as if she was becoming unhinged.

An
idummi
stepped forward,
his ugly face smiling to reveal sharp pointed teeth yellowed from neglect. He
held a tall glass in his hand. It reminded her of a vase that one might put a
single flower within. Inside the container was a vile looking substance. It
looked murky brown like thick muddy water, but that wasn’t what made her run
for Alrik. What made her run for him was the look in the queen’s eyes and the aura
of magic surrounding the potion. Something evil had been put into that potion.

She’d nearly made it to him. The
muscles in his neck and back strained as he fought invisible bonds holding him
down.

The queen smirked and gave Abby a
look that clearly said:
I know something you don’t.

“Alrik!” Abby shouted.

There was no time to decide what
kind of magic to use, to know which spell might be best. She just went for it.
With a slash of her hand, she cut his invisible bonds. He tore free and lunged
for his mother.

Abby panicked, fear guiding her
actions. She wanted to scream at him to run away with her. They could only make
an escape together. It didn’t help that his precious swords were back at camp
lying next to where he’d been sleeping. What could he do without his weapons?

“Abbigail get out of here!” he
bellowed and charged through a path of
idumm
i standing between him and
his mother.

The
idummi
didn’t draw
blades but attempted to tackle his midriff and slam him to the ground. Abby ran
after him. No way could she leave him.

“Not without you!” she called
back.

Alrik’s icy magic shot out from
his hands. Demons went slamming back as if a tidal force threw them.

Idummi
surrounded Abby. She let out a
sound unlike she’d ever made before. Her knees bent and her body tensed for
battle. The roar she let out was one made from many waging war in the history
of the world. Hers mixed alongside Alrik’s and together they fought their opponents.
They sought blood on their hands. They fought for justice and love.

Abby cast spells as if she’d been
doing it her whole life. Demons went soaring through the air. Four swarmed her
from her left and she turned to them letting out a fiery spell that encased the
demons in searing hot flames. Their chaotic screams were barely heard over the rumble
of adrenaline in her ears.

She’d turned into a violent
creature that reacted to the threat and took action without any thought or remorse.
She would protect herself and she would save Alrik’s life—she loved him more
than anything.

More demons lunged at her from
behind as they tried to grab her. She barely ducked away from one when another
grabbed her. The green creatures were strong for something so boney and
withered looking. It easily pinned her arms at her sides effectively keeping
her from throwing out spells.

Abby fought to catch her breath.
A demon on either side of her kept her in their clutches. Their claws nearly cut
into her. Their grip was so tight she could feel her skin pinching and blood
bursting to the surface. Nothing they could do would make her flinch. She
stayed strong and didn’t show any pain. No weakness.

Alrik was slammed to the ground
by demons. He landed hard, his head cracking against the ground. Demons
surrounded him turning him onto his back. They grabbed his arms and legs and
spread them out from his body in an “x” position.

“What are you doing?”

The queen still had that smirk on
her face. Abby wanted to beat it off of her. Not a trace of fear could be seen
in her eyes.

That nagging feeling came back in
full force. The queen had something up her sleeve and it had to be an ace.

Dead carcasses littered the
ground. Abby had only done some of that damage. She eyed the dead demons and
could have laughed at how many more Alrik had managed to take out in that same
amount of time. Her chest puffed up with pride. Her man was a warrior.

The demons hauled her forward.
They stopped just as she reached Alrik’s feet, literally.

“Hey honey,” she said softly to
him.

Apparently now was not a good
time for sweetness for his glare nearly singed the hairs off her head. “You
should have listened to me.” Anger laced his words and burned bright in his
eyes.

She suddenly started blinking
fast to keep any possible extra moisture at bay. “Yes, well, I won’t leave you.
I told you that.”

His chest strained against the
arms holding him, but his eyes held hers and in them she saw a cold, dead fear.

He’d already marked her for as
good as dead in his eyes. That hurt like a punch to the solar plexus.

Well, damn him and his mother.
She would show them both. She’d find a way, somehow, to save him and she
wouldn’t die in the process. Abby felt something chilling, and altogether
calculating, slither over her skin. A strange acceptance settled inside her.
She’d already killed
idummi
. She’d killed an animal to eat. She’d
created flames at the flick of her fingertips and had stopped nearly two dozen
of Aidan’s men from coming after her with a single spell.

Abby stood tall and let her power
radiate around her in a golden halo from her body. Only those with magical
powers could see the “magic” in others. So as Abby finally stood accepting her
fate, whatever it might be, Alrik and his mother gazed upon her with wonder.

She was a witch. She was
powerful. And she was ready to defend her mate.

Abby’s gaze slowly reached the
queen’s. She had the satisfaction of watching the queen do a double take.

“Quite the little warrior, aren’t
you? Humans always were so…barbaric.”

Abby smiled and took her words as
the compliment they were. Her people,
humans
, had fought long and hard
for everything they ever wanted or needed. They fought and killed for food,
they worked through blood and sweat to build homes and cities. In times of trouble,
they had the capability to come together through differences and hardships.
They were fighters. They were barbaric. Right now Abby could feel her ancestors
grinning through her smile with pride.

The queen snapped. “Hold his
mouth open!”

Alrik’s eyes flared wide with
panic. While she thought he’d been fighting his captors before, now he really
did. He tossed each of the demons holding his arms off as if they were
children, but even more came at him piling on top of his body. Abby struggled against
the hands holding her.

The demon carrying the tall glass
with that murky substance inside knelt beside Alrik.

“Don’t do it!” Abby shouted.

She fought hard against the
demons. Their tight grips tore through her skin. Another grabbed her waist as
she fought; her feet slid kicking up dirt as she struggled. Whatever was in the
glass was a vile, evil spell. She could feel its dark energy like a pit from
hell. And they were going to pour it down his throat.

She tried to think quickly. What
did she do? Did she fight demons holding her and use even more magic? Magic
that she needed to defeat his mother?

It didn’t matter what she did.

“Don’t drink it!” Abby shouted.

“Like he has a choice,” his
mother sneered.

Two demons crawled next to Alrik.
Their knobby, long fingers curled into his mouth. Abby gagged at the sight.

“Don’t touch him,” she said her
voice much softer now, weaker. They were going to lose this one. She could
already feel it. Still she fought against the hands holding her no matter how
useless. The second she got her arms free she’d kill them all. They’d regret
touching him this way.