Demons stood in his path. Alrik kept walking straight for her, batting the demons away with sweeping arms if they were bugs. As he neared her, the demons holding her arms at her sides ran. Abby couldn’t fault them for their fear because she spun around and ran.

The queen let her go. Abby figured it was probably a great power trip for her...to know that Alrik would follow her for however long it took until he killed her.

Abby ran hard, from him. As she did, she tried to think. She needed a spell that would negate the one controlling him.

His hard barreling steps boomed after her. Her lungs started burning as she ran up the hard slope. Her legs muscles burned, but she pushed through it. A foot slipped and she dropped to the ground, using her hands to grab chunks of grass and pull herself up.

Her heart raced in overtime. She could hear him just behind her. Something brushed her shoe—a hand? Fear and adrenaline moved her and she grabbed a hunk of grass over the top of the slope and launched herself over the side.

There was no time to waste for Alrik leaped over after her much smoother and faster than she did. Abby raced into the forest.

“Don’t do this!” she called back to him. “You love me! I love you!”

No answer, only hard steps closing in on her. She jumped over fallen logs, raced through muddy grass, and ducked under low hanging branches that swiped across her face as she ran.

It was only a matter of time. She could never out run him. He was too big, too strong.

No sooner than she had that thought did he barrel into her. Surely, this is what it felt like to get hit by a truck, she thought.

Her breath wheezed out of her as her stomach collapsed into her spine as she went slamming to the ground, her head knocking against it so hard it struck twice. Her bones, everything, hurt from the fall. Her lungs seemed to take the brunt of the hit. It didn’t help that he stayed on top of her, his weight keeping her from drawing in a deep breath.

“Alrik, don’t do this,” she begged. Her eyes watered. She didn’t know whether from the pain of landing or the other pain trying to suffocate her.

Suddenly his body was off hers and she sucked in a long, much needed breath. Only he grabbed her by the shoulder and roughly flipped her over to her back.

“Ow!” she moaned as her head once against rocked back. She was going to be bruised black and blue if she made it out of this.

Footsteps sounded nearby. Abby peered behind Alrik to see the queen and her demons coming towards them. Of course she’d want to see him kill her.

Quickly, Abby sought his gaze only to find it bored and glossy as if no one was really there. “Baby, please don’t do this. You have to help me. Please, I love you so much!” Her voice broke, but still she continued.

He sat over her waist, his hands holding her by the shoulders effectively pinning her down. The position was beyond uncomfortable but she managed to wriggle her hands up and touch his waist. For a second she thought she saw a flicker in his dark eyes, but she couldn’t be sure.

“Alrik, listen to me. I can help you honey. Let me help you. Just get off me. I’ll end the curse on you. I swear it.”

“Kill her!” the queen ordered. She was now within twenty feet. The idummi swarmed around them, teeth bared in smiles. They bounced excitedly as they formed a circle around them. They were all ready for a show.

Big hands moved toward her and she acted on instinct. Abby lifted her hands and cast the very first spell he first taught her. Alrik went flying through the air as if jerked by a mighty force. His back slammed into a tree, cracking it down the middle. The tree groaned, shuddered, and then settled once more.

Alrik shook himself then started for her once more.

“Don’t do this,” she pleaded again.

He kept coming. She squared off against him.

“I don’t want to hurt you!”

He stopped walking then charged for her. Abby couldn’t move fast enough, not even to lift her hands use a spell.

Alrik reached her and deftly checked her body into a tree some fifteen feet or more behind her. He did this all with a hand at her throat, using his sheer strength to lift her feet from the ground and slam her spine against the tree. Her spine cracked at the pressure but she could still wriggle her legs so that gave her some relief—for a moment.

His grip on her throat tightened fast and hard. He meant business. He squeezed her throat, cutting off her air supply. Abby’s hands flew to his wrist as she kicked him with every ounce of strength she had. When that didn’t slow him down one bit, she dug her chin down and kept her neck taut—anything to keep her much needed air. Horrible, choking sounds came from her. She sounded...like someone having the life choked from them.

An unusual feeling came over her. Her vision tunneled, blood pounded loudly in her ears until it was all she could hear.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Alrik’s face went in and out of focus like a camera zooming in and out. An intense pressure started filling her neck and eyes as if there was too much blood and it needed to escape.

He was going to kill her.

Abby used one last tactic. She swept her legs up until she could wrap them around his waist. Her gaze stayed as focused as she could on his face so she could watch for any signs of change in his eyes.

Something flickered in his gaze.

Hope sprung.

Her vision began darkening on the corners as a black fog crept in.

“I love you so much. Kiss me one...,”she gasped, “last...time...”

He blinked, his head tilting to the side. Then his grip loosened on her neck, not all the way but just enough for her to suck in a deep, ragged breath and for some of the fog to recede, and the pressure in her head to dissipate. His dark head leaned in and he pressed a chaste, soft kiss to her lips. Her breath caught.

Her eyes closed at the touch. Another part of her heart broke down. A sob escaped. She couldn’t do this. She couldn’t save him.

When he lifted his head, his face swam before hers. In a blink, her tears fell and his face cleared. In his eyes, she saw someone who was alert, fierce, and barely holding on.

His hold on her neck loosened to a feathery touch and then he thrust his hands in her hair. “Port home. Get out of here now!”

Then he pressed a hard kiss to her mouth and spun around. He stood protectively in front of her.

The queen bared her teeth. “Kill her I said!” she demanded.

Alrik’s shoulders shook and he started to turn back around. She could see the battle in his body as he tried to fight the spell controlling.

Abby wanted to obey him, she really did. But, like hell she’d leave the love of her life to die down here alone.

Abby stepped around him, shot her hand out and then the fight really began.

Pandemonium erupted.

Alrik fought the spell controlling him and lurched after the idummi. Horrible screams of death ripped through the air. The stale, bitter scent of blood filled Abby’s nostrils like copper.

Abby had her target—the queen—and didn’t let her out of her sight. Their gazes collided, ice versus fire.

Abby acted first.

Thrusting all of her power into it, she unleashed a fiery spell meant to burn and immobilize the queen simultaneously.

The queen swiped her hands in the air deflecting the spell. Abby tried again moving faster and pushing all of her power into it. The queen dodged it. She tried again and again only to have her spells deflected with ease.

The queen laughed as if this was all a game while sweat poured down Abby’s face.

The idummi were dropping like dead flies around them from Alrik and his bare hands. But, there were still too many of them. Too much happened all at once. She just needed it to slow down for a minute so she could think.