The Fallen King: The Bellum Sisters 4 (paranormal erotic romance) (23 page)

“The
jaheera
is conjuring
up magic.” It split the field completely in half, blocking their only real
exist.

“Is the fissure real?”

Alrik couldn’t be sure. “It could
be an illusion or it could be very real.” He glanced back behind them and saw
that at the very least they had put some distance between them and the demon.
Alrik grabbed her hand again and headed for the crack.

The first thing he noticed was
the grisly smell…like rotting flesh that had been sitting in stagnant water. A
gag rolled up in his throat that he barely managed to control. Abbigail wasn’t
so lucky. She turned around and her body wretched up the contents of her
stomach. Her hand squeezed his hard and he returned the gesture to offer his
support.

He was close enough now to see
that the crack was real. Either that or a really good illusion. Still, he had
to be sure. Quickly picking up a small rock, he threw it. If it was an illusion
it might stop in midair as if hitting a wall or it might land on top of the
black crack as if it was a solid surface. If it were real, it would fall into
the crack.

He slung the rock and watched it.
Abby stood up, wiping her mouth on the sleeve of her shoulder. His poor woman
looked pale and perspiration covered her forehead. God damn, he needed to get
her out of here.

He was so busy watching her that
he didn’t see what happened to the rock. Abby squeezed his hand, her expression
turning into one of panic.

“It’s real. It went into the
chasm!”

Thundering steps boomed closer.
“Come on!” Alrik grabbed her hand and started to run, but Abby didn’t move with
him.

She stood there, shaking her
head.

“Don’t give up on me. We can beat
this!”

She laughed and looked at the
miles of expanse the crack had sundered, then back at the giant beast barreling
towards them. “There’s nowhere for us to go. We have to do something.”

Alrik twitched. He didn’t like
this. He didn’t have any time to think! “Fine, you start running east. I’ll
hold the demon at bay.”

She cocked her head, fear
gripping her beautiful eyes. He hated the look. Nothing would make him happier
than to wipe it away forever. “What do you mean? We can’t separate now. We’re
stronger together.”

With a flourishing move, he
pulled his swords out from his sheath and twirled them once. “I’m going to kill
it.”

“But you’re the size of a small
bush compared to that thing! You can’t just expect to stab it and beat it.”

Alrik shook inside. He could feel
his temperature drop as anger rose.
No, not now.

His eyes squeezed shut. He tried
sucking in quick breaths but it was useless. She was royally pissing me off. Not
with her life on the line.

His eyes shot open and when he
leveled his gaze on hers, she took a fearful step back. “Your eyes are doing
that thing again...”

“For once you are going to do
what I tell you to do. Run east. Find a place to hide and stay there. I’ll come
for you.” His voice was a distorted growl. It wasn’t just anger coursing
through him but fear, fear for her life.

“And if you don’t?” she asked
softly.

His hands tightened over the
sword handles. The icy anger felt so good that he shivered, embracing it even
as he knew what it’d do to him. “I said I’ll come for you,” he said clear and
hard. She flinched at his tone, a flash of pain swept over her eyes. He hated
it. He hated that he caused her to hurt, yet that hate only morphed inside him
like shapeshifting animal, turning into vile, ugly anger. “Get out of here
now.” His arms shook with the need to lash out and hit something, to feel the
spray of blood on his face, and the crushing of bones beneath his fists.

He didn’t know if he could
control himself or if he could keep himself from lashing out at her if she said
or did the wrong thing in those tense moments. Not now, not when the rage
gripped him in its bitter hold. He didn’t know what he’d do if he hurt her. Not
when he was so close to finally getting what he wanted.

“Go now!” he yelled.

She jumped at his yell, swallowed
hard, and then took off running along the heading east. Alrik whipped the
blades in his hands, loosening his wrists as he squared off against the demon.
He had an advantage now—a boiling mass of rage itching to be let out. And, he
couldn’t wait to feel the rush.

Alrik let out a battle cry worthy
of waking the gods. The demon slowed its thundering steps at the sound as if
nervous for the first time. Then he charged forward, blades pointed behind him,
ready to whip, slash, gouge, and cut.

The demon stopped at once, its
great head turning east to track Abbigail. Alrik saw black. She was his and nothing
would touch her. His vision shifted, distorted, and then changed so he only saw
in blacks and greys. Around the demon became a foggy grey color like a stormy
day while the demon stood out in stark, oily black.

Yes
, his rage screamed inside him.
Yes
!
Kill, hurt, maim!

With his rage out and free, his
heart pounded violently. His mind was freer than it’d ever been. No thoughts of
consequences, logic, or worry bothered him. All he needed, all he wanted, was
to shed blood. He took the curse his mother had placed on him and embraced it
with open arms.

Swirling smoke billowed out from
the demon as if a fire surrounded it. Alrik knew what it was—a spell being
cast. He could see it through the curse’s eye. Before it could finish the
spell, Alrik sprinted past the demon’s leg, slashing with both blades.

In a quick burst he chanted,
“Kahlab’du
shtow zhenyul garrab’deen fuh!”

His spell created more smoke but
only grey smoke compared to the demon’s black. The demon’s spell stopped as Alrik’s
spell blocked the demons from finishing.

Blood surged through Alrik’s
veins. The rush was better than the best sex, the best
anything
in the
world. He sidestepped then jumped and rolled out of the way as the demon lifted
one mighty foot and stomped it into the ground leaving a large cavernous dip
where his foot hit. The slam on the ground jerked Alrik from his feet sending
him tumbling to the ground before he could get in an attack.

But he leapt back up, then raced
along the demon’s other ankle, at the back of it he slashed his swords in a
non-stop X pattern, crisscrossing and cutting skin into little chunks that plopped
to the ground. Dark green blood, black and inky in his vision dripped to the
ground with a sizzling hiss.

The demon let out a horrendous
cry as its leg gave out. It went crashing down to one knee. Then its great arms
swung around and around, trying desperately to catch Alrik. Alrik ran and
ducked, rolling under the sweeping appendages but he couldn’t escape them all and
one slammed into him like battering ram. His swords fell from his hands as he
went soaring through the air.

He landed hard on his back to the
sound of cracking bones in his shoulder. At once pain flared on the left side
of his body, but the rage inside him tampered it down so he barely noticed it.
He started to get up but his leg wasn’t acting right. He tried to put pressure
on it but it only jolted forward, not letting him stand. He wobbled as he
braced himself on one foot.

The demon shrieked again.

Then he heard soft footsteps
coming from behind him.

Fear gripped him deep in his gut.
His head spun around and he watched Abbigail charging towards him with the look
of a mighty, determined warrior on her face. Her hands were outstretched. Even
in his rage, he saw the bright orange glow of magic bursting from her
fingertips as if it couldn’t be contained. The bolts shot straight for the
demon.

“You will not hurt him!”

He jerked at her words. That
couldn’t be what she said. That’d mean she somehow cared for him. She didn’t.
He’d stolen her, planned to use her to his own means, to her own death. An
imminent death she still knew nothing about. No way did she come back for him.
His heart cracked in his chest. A real physical ache that made him want to
bellow his pain for the world to hear.

The demon started falling. Flesh charred
along its entire upper body that released a disgusting, stomach-churning smell.
Even if he couldn’t move he had to help her. Alrik dropped to his knees, ready
to cast his own lethal spell when he froze.

Time slowed for long, endless seconds,
and all he could do was watch.

The demon opened its mouth and
let out a roaring bellow—green, goopy spittle sprayed from it like from a hose.
Alrik couldn’t run, he couldn’t hide, he was too close...and so was Abbigail.

With a power from somewhere deep
inside him, from desperateness, he used the strength in his good leg to jump up
and catch Abbigail. She grunted as he slammed her to the ground, covering every
inch of her body with his.

The acid spittle landed on his
back and legs like fiery poison. He shouted brief and hard as his body started
jerking from tiny convulsions as the noxious spray ate through his clothing as
if it was nothing and burned into his skin.

Abby’s wide eyes turned up to
his, and then she pushed him off her. Where she got the strength, he had no
idea. He couldn’t focus on anything but the pain. Even worse as his back hit
the ground the acid was only shoved deeper into his skin.

His rage started to fade. It was
too much; he struggled and tried to fight the urge to pass out. Abbigail stood
and shot more power out one more time at the demon.

It bellowed and choked as green
acidic spittle dripped down its chin and torso, sizzling its own skin. Then it
collapsed to the ground with an earth-shattering thump.

The last thing he saw before his
shaking body took him under was Abbigail leaning over him, her mouth moving. He
tried to focus, tried to hear, but he heard nothing but a high-pitched ringing
from faraway in the distance. Just as she leaned over him, his body shut down.

Chapter Sixteen

“Alrik!”

He wouldn’t move. Abby couldn’t
stop shaking. His chest rose and fell but was he okay?

The demon was dead, and if it
somehow decided to get back up again, she swore she’d summon more power than a
god could to destroy it with how pissed off and terrified she was now. Alrik
was hurt. Not a paper cut hurt or an ‘ouch I slipped and skinned my knee hurt’.
No, she could smell, see, and hear his flesh burning where that green acid
touched it.

“What do I do? What do I do?”

She could smell the demon carcass
each time the wind blew. Her stomach rolled with nausea at the rancid odor. She
needed to get them out of there. They needed to get somewhere safe so she could
flip him over and see to his wounds.

Abby stood and looked over Alrik for
a moment while chewing furiously on her cuticle. She needed to move him. The
demon had to be at least two-hundred pounds though. This wouldn’t be easy, but
she had to do it—for him. He saved her life.

Her chest tightened at the
thought and she forced it away. She couldn’t think like that, couldn’t let
herself think with her made her decision. She needed to check his wounds.

Kneeling beside him, she grabbed
his side and pushed. He barely moved.

“Holy hell you’re heavy,” she
muttered. Switching tactics, she turned around and used her back and legs to
push against him. Finally, she felt him move. After he finally budged just
enough, she pushed hard with her legs and got his left side up in the air.

A deep groan sounded from his
chest. Abby dug her ankles deep and pushed the last of the way. His heavy body
thumped to the ground, this time with his back in the air. A nice row of
perspiration had worked up over her forehead. Abby wiped it off with her
shoulder then turned to assess the damage.

She sucked in a breath at what
she saw. His shirt lay in tatters around his back. His pants had deteriorated
where the acid hit him and it seemed that’s where the bulk of it went. Where
his pants had covered his thighs and calves were now gaping holes dotted like Swiss
cheese.

She pulled back the fabric and
gasped. His skin had bubbled up. It was a harsh red and swollen. Her gut told
her she had to do something. But what?

“Alrik, you need to wake up.” She
hated the sorrow in her own voice, but she couldn’t hide it. The tears were
barely at bay as it was.

Taking deep breaths, she looked
up at the sky. After a minute, she got her breathing under control, and had
stopped sweating. She needed to inspect the wounds even if it grossed her out.

“Time to put your big kid pants
on, Abby. You do this kind of stuff for a living, remember?”
Yes, but not to
people she cared about.

Slightly more relaxed than
before, Abby set to work. She lifted Alrik’s shirt up as gently as she could. Apparently,
that wasn’t gentle enough because he groaned in his sleep as she did it. “I’m
sorry,” Abby kept whispering to him until finally she got the shirt up around
the uppermost part of his chest.