Alrik started to rise back to consciousness, his dream and painful thoughts fading. But then, something pulled him back under and he dreamt once more.

This time he dreamt of something new. Something he’d never dreamt of before and it set forth a new drive in his heart.

Abbigail and he were at a strange place where the sky shined so bright he had to squint to see. White soft sand rested beneath their warm bodies, the substance finer than sugar. The heat made him so warm like he could never remember being, almost as if the beautiful light was baking him.

Abbigail looked stunning. Nude, her skin glistened in the bright light with splotches of sand on her legs and arms. She looked up at him with that brilliant smile on her face, and he couldn’t stop smiling back and sharing in the moment with her. He reached over, his hand cupping her cheek as he leaned in to kiss her. In that moment he realized his skin was golden. Her beautiful eyes slowly closed and her lips curled with a smile that parted for him.

But his dream warm fuzzing feeling in his chest ended with a mighty blow.

Alrik came crashing back into reality as a mighty kick landed against his ribs. His eyes shot open, and before he thought twice, magic thrust from his fingertips. With a grunt the perpetrator slammed into a tree sending flakes of woodchips around him.

Alrik stood slowly, cradling his side with one hand. He surveyed the man he had pinned to the tree with invisible binds. Of course, he should have expected it. The vampire would not give up so easily.

“Trying to kill a man when he’s down? I thought you were above such sleazy tactics, Aidan.” Not thinking about why he did it, he released his magical hold on Aidan.

The vampire smiled, a flash of fang showed and then disappeared. “Just giving you a good old wake up call, king. Your woman has fled. I would have sought her out...but she made her choice. It isn’t me she wants. Apparently it isn’t you either.”

Alrik saw Aidan’s sickeningly happy smile and wanted to run his fist through it.

Memories surged back at once. Fucking hell.

Alrik jerked his gaze in the direction from where it all happened, where Abbigail had unleashed such power that it’d stunned him with its strength. She’d tossed him and the vampire as if they were mere pebbles not large, fully-grown supernatural men. And she’d done it over a long distance.

So, what the seer said was true. She really was powerful. For the first time he really believed she could do this. He’d seen her perform magic at the castle, then with the jaheera, and now this. In such a short time together, that only meant she was growing stronger and recovering faster. Soon, she’d be able to cast powerful magic more than once a day and not be spent.

She must be spent, exhausted and hungry now. That kind of spell casting came at a price. He knew, he’d casted his share of magic before. A physical need in his gut screamed at him to go after her, to feed her and take care of her. He would just have to convince her to stay with him. No, no.

He didn’t know how much she’d realized, but she definitely had learned of his lie. Once again, it was all his fault. He hadn’t been able to hide his eyes from her. She was too smart to miss the overpowering guilt he’d felt.

“Where did she go?”

“My men said she ran east along the fissure then disappeared. They tried to track her but couldn’t. She might have used a spell to cloak herself. Or maybe she ported home.”

Alrik froze. An overpowering sensation swept through him. The feeling that he had no control over this situation, over her, and was helpless to everything.

Dread grabbed him by the heart.

Home? She could make a portal and go home? A foul roiling emotion filled his stomach like a lead ball. His fists clenched into hard hammers ready to pound.

“She wouldn’t leave.”

“If she could do what we’ve seen her do, then I think she has enough power to go home and make sure you never touch her again. But, hey, that’s just my opinion.”

Suddenly Aidan found his neck in Alrik’s hand and his head slammed into tree bark.

“Watch what you say to me,” Alrik growled.

He had to go after her. He had to find her. He would because nothing would stop him. After he found her, they’d talk and then...everything would be okay. He’d explain…

Betrayal burned hot inside him like fire.

How could she just leave him? After he took her body…after she kissed him and looked up at him with soft, innocent eyes.

His hands shook with the need to release the high emotions riding inside him.

He needed to get her back. It was a physical ache burning inside him, a panicked throb that wouldn’t ease until he had her safe in his arms. When he got her there, he was going to do more than hold on to her.

“Go, I’m done here with you. I must say I think I can move on now. Now that I’ve seen how far you’ve fallen,” Aidan said, despite the fact that his throat was being squeezed with an iron fist. He sounded as if this wasn’t concerning in the least.

Alrik tried to ignore the vampire’s taunting words. He released his grip then stalked away, heading west. If it took every last one of his days to find her, he’d use them all for her.

“Who would have thought you could love after all?”

Alrik didn’t stumble, but inside he did. His heart skipped a beat, his mind spun circles in his head. He didn’t turn back around. “I don’t love her.” He said it as if to prove to himself he could. Yet, his voice wasn’t strong with the words, his soul not in them.

“Then why are you putting her in danger? She may be powerful, but the queen could just as easily kill her before she could cast any magic. Surely, you know this! That you are putting her life at risk!”

Alrik was far enough away that the vampire’s shouts faded with an echo.

He had to ignore them. He had to because he needed her. Whether she was willing to help or not.

Things had changed. This was more than just a quest to kill his mother and remove the curse. Something had happened between them. Why else did he have this physical need in his gut pulling him towards her and needing to find her? To keep her for himself, always.

There was only one answer to the question to why he had this need.

Surprisingly, he knew the answer and it didn’t scare him. Not in the least.

It might have in the past, but now he saw a spark of light at the end of the tunnel. That light was made from Abbigail Krenshaw. Now he felt up to the challenge; proud and ready to be the man he knew he could be.

A bit of warmth flared in his chest as if he stood near a fire. It ebbed and waved as he stalked the night, tracking her.

He loved her.

This changed everything.

She didn’t want to cry.

Liar!

Abby sighed and poked her finger into the dirt moving it around.

Okay, she did.

Maybe.

Just a little.

She wasn’t a crier, not really. Sure, she cried when she got that letter from her father, but she wasn’t really a crier. She definitely wasn’t a loud crier either. She didn’t sob or boohoo around. Not that there was anything wrong with that, but she could never let herself do that. It was too embarrassing.

The worse was when she would watch a drama movie with Jenna where the climax comes and a loved one or a dog—the dogs are the worst—dies. Jenna, always the stalwart, watches without expression while Abby cornered in her chair trying to hide her face from the burning tears in her eyes.

Hell, she felt embarrassed crying even when she was alone in her house. It didn’t matter how silly it was, she still felt that way.

She’d walked the whole day. Pain kept her moving like a zombie across unknown environments. A part of her expected to be jumped by idummi demons or maybe a wild plant monster or something, but nope. None of that happened. A whole day passed. She knew that because she’d left Alrik at night and that strange light, similar to the sun but not nearly as bright, came up and then went down again.