“That’s ridiculous, Mother!” I started down the hallway and she grabbed my shoulder, spinning me around. The roar quieted slightly to a loud rumble while footsteps hurried back and forth in the kitchen. “He loves me. He just needs my help.”
“That is not your Tristan, Alexis. That is Daemoni. They got to him, honey, and all he’s wanted since we returned is to kill you. Owen can hardly hold him back.”
I pulled away from her grip and continued down the hallway. “He is my Tristan. I don’t feel Daemoni. And I was with him for two days. I think I would know. Owen knows, too. He spent the day with us yesterday. You even saw him last night.”
“And he wasn’t doing so well,” Mom reminded me.
We’d come into the kitchen. Owen paced frantically, shaking his head.
He spun at me. “He’s snapped, Alexis. Something’s made him completely lose it!”
One part of my brain heard him, but the other part focused on the scene.
“Holy hell!” My hand flew to my mouth.
He didn’t look like my Tristan. His back pressed against the front of the refrigerator, and he struggled forcefully, the fridge moving back and forth as if tied to him, I assumed by magic. His muscles bulged and strained against his clothes. He growled at me, his lips peeled back from his teeth like an animal. And his eyes. There were no whites, no green or gold. Just fire against blackness.
“Why do you have him tied up like an animal?” I cried, tears of anger and compassion burning my eyes.
“Because he’s a beast!” Mom said. “Stay away from him!”
“How did this happen? Did I do this to him? Is it because he took all that evil energy from me last night?”
“We are not sure,” Rina said. “Last night probably did not help matters, but I believe the Daemoni planted dark magic in him. Something to respond to you only. I think the energy change in you has set it off. Your Amadis power won, Alexis. You overcame the Daemoni force and when it left you…”
“He took it again, didn’t he?” I asked.
Rina’s dark expression answered my question. “Not like he did last night, no. I believe it found him, as a… how do you say...an already open vessel. And now Tristan is losing.”
As Rina spoke, I wondered if Tristan was in a place like my meadow, fighting himself for his soul. Although my life had been far from perfect, I’d always been surrounded by love and goodness. Overcoming the evil temptations came relatively easily to me. But Tristan had known only evil for hundreds of years. And now he’d been separated from the Amadis, not receiving that regular dose of good power for so long. He’d been unstable when he came back and last night could have only made it worse. But I knew he wanted to be good. If he were in that strange meadow, part of him would still be fighting. The part that needed me.
“I can’t hold him much longer,” Owen said, his voice strained with effort. “We need help.”
“When you lift the shield, there will be Daemoni, too,” Mom warned. “They’ll hear him.”
“I know,” Owen said. “Protectors are waiting to get in, though. We just have to hope there’ll be enough.”
While they debated this, I took a few timid steps toward Tristan. My heart picked up speed as a part of me feared for my life. His power rolled off in waves from his tensed body, the energy crashing over me like a hot, violent sea. And his eyes absolutely terrified me.
But I knew my Tristan was in there. He had to be. And I had to bring him out. So I gathered my courage and held up the wall in my mind while reaching out to him with my mental cloud. I focused intensely on his mind, saying what had always worked before.
Tristan, it’s me, baby. I love you. I trust you.
He struggled wildly. The refrigerator slammed against the walls, the drywall cracking and big chunks crumbling to the ground. The floor quaked and the kitchen cabinets shook. Their contents rattled and crashed. A cabinet door swung open, popping the bottom hinge, and the door continued swinging, the corner of it crashing into Tristan’s temple. He took no notice of it.
“You disgust me. I’ve been waiting a long time to tear your throat out and watch you die,” his thoughts growled. Not his voice at all, but a wretched, throaty sound. A devilish sound. My mind filled with images as seen through his eyes—him attacking me, snapping and crushing my bones with his power, my body going limp as his teeth dug into my throat.
Tristan! Stop it! You’re not going to kill me. You love me!
The muscles in his face and neck strained, purple veins popping out, the scars severely red. He snarled ferociously, a wild beast threatening its prey.
Tristan, it’s me, your Lexi. I love you. You’re not going to do this.
I thought he just needed to feel my touch, to be reminded of me and our love. I reached my hand out and it trembled fiercely. I held it in mid-air for just a second, terror almost forcing it back to my side. I trusted my senses he was still in there, that he wasn’t Daemoni. But he was much more powerful than I’d ever realized and even the slightest movement could possibly kill me. I’m stronger now. Yes, the Ang’dora made me less fragile and I had my own powers. I doubted they were anything close to his, but I had to do something for him. So I moved my hand closer and just barely touched his arm with my fingertips.
Electricity zapped between us. It broke the magic. A lion-like roar rattled my bones as he lunged at me.
And then I somehow stood in the family room.
I must have flashed because Tristan hadn’t touched me and I’d felt nothing push me there. I stood in the kitchen in front of him and then I didn’t. The suddenness disoriented me and I lost my balance, falling into the chair.
Tristan bowled through the kitchen island, smashing through the wood and granite as if they were hollow props. He stood where the island once had, the fire-eyes on me, his muscles twitching and jerking. Mom and Owen stood in fighting stances, their hands held out toward Tristan. They had some kind of power on him. I didn’t know what, but knew it couldn’t be good.
“Stop it!” I yelled, jumping to my feet. “You’re hurting him!”
But Tristan’s face showed no pain. Only fury. He flicked his hand casually and Mom and Owen flew backwards several feet, their powers released from him. Tristan flashed into the family room, less than five feet from me. He started to lift his hand toward me.
“I have to do it!” Owen yelled. The air in the room whooshed upward, followed by popping noises as four more people appeared. They immediately crouched, hands and wands out, focused on Tristan.
“NO!” I cried, throwing myself in front of him, my arms held out protectively. “Don’t hurt him!”
Tristan roared. I heard more popping outside and then cackling. Daemoni! My old sixth-sense alarms weren’t sounding. I had a feeling my new “gift” replaced that other sense. Instead, I identified the Daemoni with an instantaneous conviction. I could physically feel their evil energy nearby. The noises outside momentarily diverted everyone else’s attention. Tristan took advantage of their distraction. He snarled ferociously and his arm suddenly snaked around my waist, pinning me to his body.
Evil! Good! Evil! Good! Again, not my sense, but a physical feeling of the powers battling within him. I remembered the pain I’d suffered as the same forces had battled inside me only hours before. I had to help him win. I had to bring him back to us.
The protectors’ eyes flew from Tristan to me to the glass doors. The popping outside continued, like popcorn in a hot pan.
“Go!” Mom commanded the others. “Outside! Owen, we need more help!”
“Already on it!” Owen yelled.
“Alexis, you can do this,” Rina thought calmly. “His heart is yours. His soul is yours. Use your Amadis power.”
Confidence filled her silent voice. Confidence that felt unworthy. I knew the truth in what she said about his heart and soul. They belonged to me. Or, at least, they had. I didn’t know what, if anything, remained. The evil energy—the demon, the Daemoni force, whatever raged inside him—was so strong. Even if I could beat it, I couldn’t help but wonder what the evil power had already done to him…what would be left of him…if he would still be my Tristan.
