The energy in him is so strong, Rina. Stronger than Sheree’s. I can’t do this. You and Mom have to.
“Use your Amadis power,” she repeated.
It’s not strong enough! I’m not risking our lives again. I can’t do it, Rina!
“Yes, you can, darling. Your power is stronger than even mine. You can do this, Alexis.”
Tristan put the debate to an end. He flexed his bicep and forearm, squeezing me tighter so I could barely breathe. One more move like that and he would crush my ribs. Maybe even snap my spine. But because he hadn’t done so already, I knew he still fought for us. Somewhere deep inside, he resisted.
“Trust me, Alexis. I am here if you need me, but only you can reach Tristan.”
I closed my eyes, inhaled as deeply as possible and focused on harnessing the Amadis power. I could feel it concentrating and then expanding, creating a bubble within me. Then I heaved the air I’d been holding and forced the bubble outwards from my core. A growl rumbled in my own throat as I impelled the Amadis power away from me. The bubble exploded from my body.
Electricity zapped between Tristan and me, violently separating us. I flew into the shelving against the wall. Glass shattered around me and rained to the floor. Tristan flew to the opposite wall. He crashed onto the couch, which broke with a crack under his force. He raised his hand. His power pinned me against the wall as he stood up. I remained motionless for several moments, knowing from previous experience that his power paralyzed his victims. But I realized I wasn’t completely paralyzed. I am strong enough.
I lifted my left arm and twisted my hand at him. The power surged through my arm and out my palm—not a thin thread anymore, like yesterday, but now a thick rope pulling through my veins. Blue lightning shot out, hitting Tristan in the chest. His shirt sizzled and fell to the floor in pieces. I pulled back slightly, for some reason afraid I could actually hurt him. I made the current strong enough to hold him still as he continued to hold me with his own power.
Owen and Mom both moved to take advantage of the opportunity.
“No!” Rina said. “Alexis needs to do this.”
“Mother!” Mom gasped.
“She can do it, Sophia. She needs to do it. She is the only one who can.”
“And what if she can’t? She won’t be able to kill him.”
“Her powers are very strong already,” Rina said.
“Even if she could physically kill him, she doesn’t have it within her. She won’t bring herself to do it.”
“What are you talking about? I’m not going to kill him! We don’t kill!” I shouted, confused and astonished at what my own mother said.
“See, Mother?” Mom seethed. She turned her eyes on me. “Alexis, if it’s your life or his…you’ll have to kill him.”
“She will not have to,” Rina said. Her voice remained amazingly calm. “Alexis, you can do this.”
“We’ll do it if she can’t,” Owen muttered. “But it’ll take all of us.”
Pain shot through my chest as my heart squeezed. “Nobody’s killing him!”
Even while this whole debate went on, even while I held the current on Tristan, another part of my mind assessed the situation outside. The popping noises had stopped and I heard fighting, but no one made their way up to the house. The protectors held the Daemoni back…at least for now. I had to keep Tristan away from them, keep him with us. Because if they had any influence on him, I might really lose him forever.
Mom was right—I could never kill him. Even if I lost him again. In fact, I thought I would just follow him this time. I couldn’t live without him again.
But what about Dorian? The Amadis?
They needed me and I needed him. I had to fight for him. He had to still be in there.
Tristan, listen to me, baby. It’s me. Your Lexi, your wife, your soul mate. You love me. You don’t want to hurt me.
He growled and increased the pressure on me. I could barely hold the current on him.
Tristan, you don’t want to do this. I love you. I trust you. I know you’re in there and I know you love me. Please, baby, come back to me.
My love and trust had always worked before. Mom and Rina even emphasized love when working on Sheree. But it seemed to only anger Tristan—or the monster within him. I could feel his power gaining on me, pressing my flesh tighter to my bones. I started to panic and lost control of the current. It jumped, singeing a hole in the wall. The break was exactly what the monster inside Tristan needed.
He lunged at me again.
I wasn’t quick enough this time.
He coiled his arms around me as if tackling me in a football game. We flew through the air, crashing head first through the sliding glass doors, through the railing and over the edge of the balcony. We landed hard on the ground below—hard enough to loosen his hold. I rolled free. We both jumped to our feet, facing each other. He let out a roaring bark and threw a flame of fire at me. I jumped out of the way and shot electricity at him.
Mom and Rina leapt from the balcony, landing to my right with the soft sound of bending grass blades. Owen followed with a harder thud, but still landed on his feet, his hands out and ready to throw magic. I noticed all this out of the corner of my eye while keeping my main focus on Tristan.
Everyone else had stopped fighting, holding each other at bay while watching Tristan and me. White noise, like static, buzzed in my head—everyone’s thoughts agitated and louder than normal with the promise of bloodshed. My wall started to crumble and I had to make a point of keeping it up. But the attention to the wall made me realize that if I could keep it up and focus on Tristan, not on talking to him, but listening to him, I would at least know his next move.
It was a good defense. Every time he moved at me or tried to use a power, I eluded it. He lunged. I stepped to the side. He shot a fire ball at my legs. I dodged it with a hop. He shot another, but higher. I dropped to my knees and leaned back, my shoulders nearly touching the ground as the flame soared over me. From my upside- down viewpoint as I looked behind me, I watched Mom extinguish the fire with a shot of water from her hand. The shock of never knowing she could do that consumed my mind, but my body moved on its own, jumping back to my feet to face Tristan. My evasions infuriated him and his chest rumbled angrily. His thoughts filled with frustration and we stood in a stand-off.
I didn’t know what to do. Reading his mind protected me from his attacks, but it wasn’t a good offense. I didn’t want to hurt him, if that were even possible, but I had to do something to reach him—the Real Tristan imprisoned by the monster trying to kill me. I’d never fought before. I’d never even thought about fighting. This part of my life had arrived so soon and so quickly and no one had prepared me. I didn’t even know what powers I had, how to use them or their strength.
And I fought the person I loved most in this world, the person I could not live without, my own husband, my sweet Tristan.
No, not my Tristan. The demon within.
Chapter 22
I had Amadis power and love and those would have to be enough. But are they? I just didn’t know. Whatever the Daemoni had planted in Tristan proved itself powerful. He was the mightiest creature on Earth and he couldn’t control it on his own. He needed my help. He needed my love. After everything we’d been through— everything we’d both suffered because of our love—surely it was strong enough to overcome this. Isn’t it? Tears stung my eyes with the possibility that the answer was “no.”
Owen’s words from just a couple of days ago echoed in my mind: “We always win.” Good always wins over evil, right? I’d lost my faith in that belief over seven years ago. And then Tristan came back…or so I thought. No, don’t think that. He is my Tristan. I just need to pull him out, help him beat the demon.
A strong gust of wind blew through the grounds. My hair whipped around, slapping my face. My dress thrashed at my legs. I glanced up for a split-second, the wind watering my eyes. A storm cloud formed directly over us, though the rest of the sky was the clear blue of a Spring day. The cloud reminded me of our wedding, right when Tristan took his vow to the Amadis. A strange, angry storm had hovered over us then, too. Like that
