Yes, she really liked him. She liked a crazy ass demon who wanted her to commit murder. The scenario might sound irrational, but she’d seen too many things since coming to the rift for it not to be true—idummi demons, alien plants, a deadly thunderstorm, and a randy vampire who wanted to take more than a bite out of her.

A shiver raced down her spine. Even through it all, Alrik had proven himself responsible by caring for her, and she hadn’t missed that look in his eyes last night. Did she know what it meant yet, no, but she wasn’t going to stop thinking about it until she figured it out. He’d looked at her like...like he’d finally found something he’d been looking for.

Her heart flip-flopped, pulling tight like too much air filled her chest. She rolled her eyes at her own ridiculousness. What she needed was a good smack upside her head to get her thoughts back in line.

“Don’t go stroking your ego, Abby,” she muttered.

So he wasn’t a “bang” a girl kind of guy, maybe he was that tender with all the women he’d been with.

So maybe what they had wasn’t quite special. Damn but she didn’t believe that. Not after what she’d seen in his eyes, and it hadn’t just been in his eyes but in the way he’d kissed her , touched her, and held her. She’d had casual sex before, but what they’d shared last night didn’t feel like that. He’d touched her as if she mattered.

Whether it was because of the incredible sex or just because she felt spry this morning, she found herself wanting to do something special for him. Those futhorc animals were all over the rift so she headed into the trees keeping her steps soft and quiet as she hunted.

She’d even use her magic to practice on it. Today she wanted to try something more powerful. After the spell she casted on the rogue demons she had a newfound confidence in her abilities. If she could do that then she could take down a little animal for breakfast.

Her new found-again powers worked at a thought and a feeling. If she concentrated hard enough she could slow an animal’s movements, block them with an invisible barrier, or whatever else she could conjure up with her mind. What she couldn’t do was call forth the dead like Alrik did in that castle. There’d been a dark, black energy around him like cigarette smoke. The black bony hands had worked to slow down and take down the demon coming for him, but she couldn’t help but wonder how he became so accustomed to such dark magic.

Light rose sharply in the sky by the time she bagged a futhorc and headed back to the lake. She had a big smile on her face that didn’t seem to want to go anywhere and she embraced it. She hadn’t felt this good since...before Alrik took her and even then her life had been heading towards a boring routine of working five days a week for eight hours or more a day. Not necessarily an ideal way to live, but such was life. The daily grind was a necessary evil. After all, she couldn’t live without making money.

Just as she neared the path that sloped down to the lake, a mighty roar blared. There was no mistaking the voice behind that awful sound. It wasn’t the first time she heard him yell like that. The demon had a yell that could launch an army into war.

 Heart galloping, she sprinted down the slope, fear gripping her. Something was wrong. He needed her. She skidded over the grass and rocks kicking up dirt and sliding across them before coming to a hard stop. It took her a second to comprehend what she saw.

He was fine.

He was dressed. No idummi demons or rogue demons attacked him, no wild storm had been summoned to drown him, and yet he looked beyond pissed off. His teeth flashed in a snarl, his hands were fisted loosely at his sides, and his legs were spread as if he was ready to attack.

“Where the hell have you been?” he growled.

Abby stiffened at his harsh tone, her jaw clenching as anger built inside her. This was what she got? After the fear-gripping moment she just had?

“I woke up before you and thought it’d be nice if I went and got breakfast for once.” She could feel the ugly, bitchy attitude sneaking up inside her and hated it. Things shouldn’t be like this the first morning after sharing something so shattering. A feeling close to grief, heavy and loaded, filled her heart.

“That was stupid. Anything could have happened to you out there and I wouldn’t have been there to stop it!” His sincerity didn’t help her to feel any better.

His reasoning may have been to protect her but that wasn’t how she saw it. She tossed the dead animal at his feet, her appetite gone. “You know what, I’m a grown woman and I happen to be able to survive just a bit on my own. I don’t need you for everything.” Asshole, she added silently. That loaded feeling kept getting heavier and heavier in her chest like a balloon swelling. If it grew any fuller, her heart would start tearing in slow agonizing rips.

 She knew this feeling and she hated it because it meant she wanted to cry, that she’d let him get to her on a deeper level. He was able to hurt her now. Fucking great.

He looked down at the dead futhorc and, if anything, looked more pissed. The muscle over his right eye twitched; a muscle popped in his jaw. What the fuck was wrong with him?

She’d heard of the ‘awkward next day’ after having sex with someone for the first time, but this wasn’t how it usually played out, or so she assumed. She didn’t make a habit of sleeping around, and she really didn’t stay the night with the man if she did. Yeah, talk about awkward. The thought hadn’t even crossed her mind that things might be awkward between her and Alrik, especially not over something so simple. Sure, she didn’t know where they stood, but things didn’t have to be like this.

“I’m very aware that you’re a grown woman, Abbigail.”

The way he said it, reminded her intimately of how he’d felt thrusting inside her last night. A blush colored her cheeks and she could do nothing to hide it.

Crossing her arms, she glared at him to hide the hurt burning inside her. Anger was so much easier to deal with because being angry was easy. Being hurt was more intense, because then she’d have to analyze why he’d hurt her feelings and what that meant to her, what he meant to her, and she wasn’t going there.

Nope, not at all.

“We’ll practice new spells and then get moving.”

“I already did. How do you think I managed that?” She nodded to the dead animal. She’d managed to make the small animal’s heart stop beating in an instant. It had been painless and swift for the creature. However, if she tried the spell again it wouldn’t work. Already, she could feel that her power had dwindled from the effort that spell had taken. She would need some time to recharge her batteries, so to speak.

Alrik frowned. Ignoring the way his lips looked would have been the smart thing to do but yeah, right. Impossible. They only reminded her of how he kissed her so hungrily as if he couldn’t get enough of her. Well, apparently that all changed today. He had had quite enough of her. Asshole.

His eyes closed and a shudder wracked over him. “Control your anger, woman. I can feel it.”

Every single time he told her what to do, she wanted to grab fistfuls of her hair and pull as hard as she could. He managed to make her want to act like a child, stomping her feet in the dirt, screaming, and crying her frustrations. She really wanted to do all those things but she couldn’t. Adults had to fight in a big-kid way.

So, she glared at him.

Her fingers bit into her biceps causing little flickers of pain to snap in her brain. She knew she wasn’t really that mad, just fucking hurt. Which, of course, was worse. She hated this. She didn’t want to fight with him after what happened last night. What they’d done hadn’t just been sex and it certainly hadn’t been fucking. They’d been as close as two people could get. They’d shared something special. Oh jeez, she rolled her eyes at her own sappiness. Now she was just being ridiculous.