A cry started from the back of her throat before she could stop it.

Alrik jumped and they flew through the air in a mighty arch. Her stomach bottomed out as if she was flying downhill on a hurtling rollercoaster.

Icy fog covered her. At first she thought it was the temperature of the air just being cold that high up, but he couldn’t jump that high. They hit the ground way too softly with his knees giving in a bit to take the hit.

“You used magic.” That explained the icy feeling. How fitting that hers warmed and his chilled.

Alrik had just taken a step forward when a metallic sound filled the air like someone playing with a knife or...

As soon as the thought struck a blade slid in front of them to block them. The sharp point rested eerily close to their throats. Aidan appeared from behind her. Amazing, she’d never seen or heard him move. He had to be quiet even by demon’s standards.

“Did you really think we’d just let you leave so easily?”

Alrik took a step back and Aidan let his blade fall. Maybe it was her ego talking but she figured he did it for her. He wouldn’t hurt her. She just knew it deep down in her gut just like she knew Alrik would never either.

“Aidan, what do you want from me really? Do you seriously think you can keep me here if I don’t want to be kept? We’re not at your castle now. We’re in the open, and I’m not trapped. It won’t be easy to hold me now.”

Anger flashed over Aidan’s face. Abby flinched at the violent look and struggled until Alrik set her down. He pushed her behind him and she went happily since for the first time she felt real fear of the vampire.

“What do I want? What do we want? How about justice? You took me from my home. I don’t even know who I am!” Aidan screamed. His fangs flashed, gaze turned violent, and cheeks flushed.

Abby’s jaw dropped. Even as she tried to step away from them both, Alrik tagged her hand and held tight. He wouldn’t let her go. What on earth were they talking about? How did he not know who he was, but knew he was taken from his home? Actually, better yet, why would Alrik do this?

Her mind spun with unanswered questions.

Aidan caught Abby’s expression and nodded. “See, this is what he is,” he said. “A monster. How did a vampire come to be here in the rift? Ask. Him.”

Alrik didn’t say anything seemingly content to keep his mouth shut. Well, Abby couldn’t deal with it. She had to know. She needed to know not for Aidan but for herself because, though it pained her to admit it, she cared for him.

But did she care for a monster? Panic and pain threatened to erupt inside her, debilitating her. She stomped it all down because what she didn’t need to do right now was freak out. She needed answers.

“Believe it or not, but I don’t know all matters of your life except that you ended up a prisoner in front of the court where I meted out fair justice,” Alrik said coolly.

Aidan visibly shook with rage, the silver of his blade distorting the reflection of the fire from camp into oblong, menacing shapes. “Fair justice? You call being stolen from my family fair justice?”

“I know nothing of that.”

She could hear the edge of frustration creeping into Alrik’s voice. A part of her was relieved to know that at least he hadn’t done something that awful.

“I know nothing of who I am, and when everyone shunned me, when nobody helped me to explain why I was different or why I needed blood, you and yours left me to fend for myself. And when I did, you sent me to the dungeons to become a work slave.

You are nothing. You are a worthless pile of shit that doesn’t belong on the bottom of this slave’s boot. You were never a king, and never worthy to wear a crown. It was a farce and we all know it. Telal should have been king. He had a good heart. He was meant to rule.”

Apprehension made her twitchy. She didn’t like where this was going.

A steady tremble came from her hand. With a start, she looked down only to realize it wasn’t her trembling, it was Alrik. His entire body was starting to tremble from some untamable emotion he was trying to keep hidden. Yet, he didn’t open his mouth, didn’t defend any of his actions. She wanted to shake him, yell at him, get in his face and make him defend his actions.

Slowly, as if it took all of his control to keep his words clear, Alrik spoke. “Telal made his decision. He betrayed us to Tobius en Kulev. If not for Telal, my father would still be here. I had nothing to do with how you came to be here, vampire.”

Aidan smiled. The look sent a foul shudder down the back of her neck. “I was a young one when I was ripped from my home and taken to your kingdom. Yes, I remember you then. It’s been a long time, hasn’t it?”

Alrik’s head jerked as if dodging some painful thought.

“Do you even remember yourself then? Your skin was still golden much as your brothers, your mothers...your fathers. Such a lie it was. At least one good thing has come about over these long, merciless years. You’re ugliness has finally grown to show the world your true nature.”

Alrik froze. He didn’t flinch or jerk. He didn’t curse or make a move in violence. No, he only froze in a way that scared her more than if he’d done all of those things.

Abby couldn’t stand it. Her patience fled and her temper popped like a balloon filled with too much air.

Abby charged forward, as far as Alrik’s grip let her, and got in Aidan’s pale face. “You don’t even know what the hell you’re talking about. His mother cursed him. It filled him with some kind of rage that turned him into this. She’s been controlling him this entire time.”

Something flickered in Aidan’s eyes—disbelief.

“Yeah, that’s right. Why do you think he’s here and not in his kingdom? Why do you think I’m here—a human witch?” She clenched her jaw and glared, ready to do it all night until she drove her point home.

“Tell me what happened.” He directed his words to Abby but kept his eyes on Alrik. The anger slowly drained from his face.

Abby looked up at Alrik to find a strange, uncertain look in his eyes. He looked as if he didn’t know what to do or say, almost childlike. She squeezed his hand and stepped into him.

“All I know is that he stole me from my home,” she said.

Immediately, Aidan tensed. Before he could do something crazy like attack Alrik or offer to be her hero, she held up her hand.

“He brought me here and told me that a seer said the only way to defeat the queen is by me. A witch.”

“What has happened with the queen?” Aidan tensed, and she could see the dark glint in his eyes. He hated the queen maybe even more than Alrik did. She had to look away. Seeing so much anger and hate was unsettling.

She jabbed Alrik’s side. When he didn’t answer, she prodded him again, much harder. Finally, he shook his head. “I banished her after I discovered her black magic. Not only was she casting on me, one can only guess how often, but she fed me potions. I was completely in her grasp without realizing it.” His eyes got a faraway look in them. “I should have. I was stupid and trusting. I should have known what was happening to me under my own roof.”

“If you banished her then why are you still,” Aidan looked Alrik up and down, “different. Why don’t you look how you used to?”

“That is why I sought out the oldest of all seers. Since I banished her, I got worse. I couldn’t sleep, didn’t want to eat. The seer says she made the curse two-ways. A backup curse she placed on me, essentially, in case I ever did learn of it and try to kill her. It grips me now more than ever.”

Aidan nodded towards Abby. “What does this have to do with her? Why a human? Why a witch?”

“The seer told me that I cannot kill her because the curse will not let me hurt her. He said the only one powerful enough to kill her is a human. A specific human. Abbigail Krenshaw.” He squeezed her hand and she sent him a small reassuring smile.