by Eve Newton
I chuckle. “Agreed.”
“Anyway, once you have it, the rest is easy. All Thirteen will come looking for you and while the sword will destroy everything in its path, you need to stab him to make sure it goes for good.”
“How will I know if he has?”
“Oh, you’ll know,” she says.
“How do I get back?”
“The rules are different there, you can just Astral back.”
“Thank you,” I say. “You have saved me a lot of time arsing about trying to figure it out.”
She shrugs. “Well, speaking as one who did spend a lot of time arsing about,” she says, using my Anglicized word, “I am happy to help.”
“Hm, happy to help for something in return,” I mutter, and she grins at me.
“It’s the way of the world.”
She kind of has a point.
“Can I ask you something?” I say suddenly.
“Err, sure,” she says warily.
“You have kids, many of them…who is the father of the one who will be the future Empress?”
She couldn’t look more surprised if I had turned around and smacked her in the face with a dead fish.
“I…I don’t know,” she stammers. “I don’t have any daughters. Do you?”
“Erm, no. No kids,” I say hastily. “So, you have all sons?”
“Yes.”
“How many?” I ask as casually as I can, and she smirks at me.
“Don’t go all judgy on me, it is expected.”
“Just curious,” I say lightly.
“Hm, sure. But I have seven.”
“Seven?” I croak, feeling a sweat break out. “Seven sons?”
“Yes.” She peers at me closely and elaborates, “Two with Lincoln, two with Xane, two with Cade and one with Finn. Dragon breeding, now that is hard work.”
I gulp. “I don’t want to know. So, no daughters?” I bring the conversation back around to my original query. Maybe because she doesn’t have a relationship with CK. He must be the one.
“Nope. Not yet. I should get back. We really shouldn’t be in each other’s spaces.”
“Yeah, okay. Thank you for telling me everything. I really do appreciate it.”
She nods. “I’ll bring this back to you in a few days.” She picks up the dress and tiara.
“No rush,” I say. “Err, good luck.”
“Thanks,” she says and disappears.
I stand and shake off the knowledge of seven sons and the whole Dragon breeding remark and go to find Cole who is watching TV in the sitting room. So normal in this time of paranormal.
“She gone?” he asks as I snuggle up next to him.
“Yes.”
“What did she want?” he asks with a sidelong look.
“Help with her outfit for her date with her Constantine,” I say.
He snorts. “Oh, what did you suggest?”
“I lent her that blue satin dress I wore to the Council thing last year.”
“Hm, I remember that dress. You looked incredible,” he murmurs.
“Well, she does too. Especially with the Dragon tattoo. She told me everything else I need to know.” And I tell him what she told me.
“So now we just have to wait for him to show up I guess?”
“I suppose. The sooner I can get rid of him the better. Well, I really should go and see Cade. And I still need time with Xane and CK wants to talk to me. So much for taking a break,” I grumble.
“I think you are going to have to resign yourself to the fact that it is impossible. I have,” he says quietly. “I have an errand to run. I’ll be about an hour if you go and speak to your sire and Cade, then we can just be together when I get back.”
“I like the sound of that. What are you going out for?”
“Nothing you need worry about just yet,” he says slyly.
“Oh, a present?” I ask.
“Maybe,” he says. “I’ll go shower and change, and I’ll see you back here soon.”
“Okay,” I say, standing. My first point of call is actually going to be Sebastian. We have to have that talk again and the sooner the better. He kisses me quickly and I Astral off to Sebastian’s suite, thankful to have my husband back where he belongs.
Chapter 8
“Seb?” I call out as I land in his suite.
He comes out of the bedroom and regards me, “I know what you did. Or at least what Tiamat did, and you agreed to.”
“Excuse me?” I say, taken somewhat aback.
“I didn’t forget. I have remembered everything as you have. What you did, that you told Cole and he left you and that Tiamat came here to undo it.”
“Uh…” I say, desperately trying to get my head around that.
“I haven’t told our sire, yet,” he says slyly, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall. “He will be monumentally pissed at you if he finds out he had you and you took that away from him.”
I shake my head. “No, Seb, please you can’t tell him,” I say, stepping forward. “You heard what She said, that it has to be this way.”
“I take it you came down here to re-have the conversation about your Fae heritage,” he says, ignoring me. “Fortunately for you, I remember that as well.”
“How do you remember?” I ask, still fearful, as his whole demeanor has shifted to one, I am unfamiliar with.
He shrugs. “Must be a Faerie thing. You are building up quite the treasure trove of secrets, aren’t you, little one? And it just so happens that I seem to know about them all.”
I gulp, as this is now true. From himself to Xane, the Faerie business and now this. How did I let this happen?
I go on the defensive and cross my arms too, saying, “You have a few of your own there, Princie, be careful who you are threatening.”
He smiles a slow, predatory smile and says, “You won’t tell. My secret is big, but yours are just as destructive if they come out. Especially the Fae secret, it’s kind of tit-for-tat, really.” He moves closer to me and in a very swift move, grabs my left hand and pulls my Faerie Silver ring off at the same time as he pushes me into the patch of sunlight over by the windows. I gasp in shock and wait for the burn as I duck back into the shadows, shrinking against the wall. But it didn’t come.
I throw him a look of pure rage. “You bastard. You just tried to kill me.”
He chuckles and holds up the ring. “No, I just showed you don’t need this, just as I don’t.” He walks into the sun and grabs my hand again, pulling me into the light. I flinch as he holds me tightly. I look up at him in shock. “What? I don’t understand. How did you know that I wouldn’t need the ring?”
“I didn’t. At least not one hundred percent sure,” he shrugs as I gape at him. “Don’t worry, had you started to sizzle, I would have put you out. I don’t think you can maintain it forever but…” He laughs at my horror and replaces my ring that hasn’t been removed in over a thousand years. “So, you see, my secret is now your secret.”
I shake my head. “Not exactly. I am pretty sure that my blood doesn’t have the effect that yours does and what do you mean about maintaining it?”
“Because you aren’t true Faerie. Only half. A powerful half to be sure, but still only half. Well, is it even half? Your conception is quite confusing. But your blood does have its own power. I told you in Vegas it is like a drug. They feed from you and you have them at your mercy. You can ask them to do anything and they will do it. Haven’t you noticed?” he asks, squinting at me. “Or did you just think it was your girlish charm that sways your lovers?”
“What are you talking about? I don’t control anybody,” I say with an authority I don’t really feel. I try to think back to a situation where what he says makes sense, but I can’t think of anything.
“I can feel the pull to do your bidding, but it is easy to resist. You’re going to test it now, aren’t you?” he says with a half-smile.
“No!” I say loudly. Probably too loudly because, err yeah, I’m g
onna test it.
“Liar,” he teases me with ease now and he is back to the Sebastian I know.
“Well, as fascinating as this is,” I say huffily. “Back to the matter at hand, you must keep this between us, Sebastian. Tiamat said that Cole had to forget, and he has. We need to leave well enough alone.”
“I will leave it alone…for a price,” he says.
I should have been expecting it. CK said he doesn’t do something for nothing. Apparently just doing something out of the goodness of his heart isn’t in his wheelhouse. I sigh.
“You know what I want,” he says. “It is non-negotiable. I won’t settle for anything less than the real deal or I spill to Cole exactly what you were up to over there, and to our sire that he had you and lost you. And don’t think that I don’t know you slept with other me as well.”
My eyes snap to his as he elaborates, “Our sire is correct in saying that everything passes across your face if you look closely enough. I saw your guilt when you were talking about the baby. He somehow convinced you to fuck him in an effort to produce this baby. Which I don’t think is really fair seeing as I am the one who knows you and yet you won’t take care of me.”
“Sebastian, I…”
“Oh, you don’t have to explain your actions to me,” he interrupts me easily. “I am not your keeper. But I do want what you can give me, and I will destroy you if you don’t give it to me.”
I am momentarily stunned at his threat. “You are blackmailing me into giving you what you want. Is that really how you want it?” I ask sadly.
“No, you know that it isn’t,” he says softly as I hit the nerve I was looking for, “but if this is the only way, then so be it.”
Well, I can’t say that I really have much of a choice, even though I am extremely worried about the whole baby consequence, but I try to take some of the control back as I say to him, “I will speak to Constantine about it. If he is still agreeable, then I will do as you ask. I will not go behind his back with this as it is too sensitive, and I don’t want another lie to add to the growing pile.”
“Of course. I don’t want it to be a secret from him either. He will agree so you will comply,” he says confidently.
I nod and look away from him, not best pleased to have been put in this situation, but it is my own doing. I should never have let the other two anywhere near me.
He moves to stand in front of me. “Liv,” he says softly, “I don’t want to hurt you, it is the last thing I want to do but if you won’t come to me on your own, I have to make you.” He runs his hands down my arms and my whole body tingles in response. “But I know that even though the first time you will come under duress, when you feel what we have, you will come to me then, for yourself, for me. For us.”
“I know what we have,” I whisper, tilting my head up to look at him. “I have felt it. The real connection that we will have, it makes me ache to be with you. Yes, I am agreeing to this now because you have left me no choice, but make no mistake, I won’t be coming to you under duress.”
He closes his eyes and drops his mouth to mine, his arms lifting me up as he kisses me. I pull away to his disappointment.
“I need to speak to CK first,” I say as he puts me back down.
“Okay, go now. He is at Ponte,” he says.
I nod and Astral off, feeling worn out and crappy and almost hoping that The Thirteen comes to find me right now so I can go and kick his arse.
I land right next to CK as he is sitting at his desk in his bedroom. Our bedroom. He only looks mildly surprised to see me. “Aefre,” he says as he looks up at me and I bend down to kiss him.
“I have something to discuss with you,” I say.
“As do I, with you.”
“You first, then,” I say.
“Sit,” he says, pointing to the bed.
Uh-oh, this sounds like trouble. Watch what you say, watch what you say, I start this chant in my head again.
“When the other you was here, and I confronted her, I asked her some questions that I probably shouldn’t have but was curious,” he starts as he comes to sit next to me. I turn towards him and he smiles softly at me. “I wanted to know how he had managed to do what, I and the other, other me, had failed to do and to turn you correctly.”
I lean forward, also dying to know. “How?”
He pauses. “When we went back to the past the first time and I told past me to take you and run, it seems that I did. Only it wasn’t me, it was him. The other me saw us and took on board what I had said. He followed you, other you, home and after killing Radulf after he hurt you, he took her to an old Pagan circle and told her about him and she agreed to be turned. I fear that we changed the course of their history with our time jump which is why when we came back here, nothing had changed.”
“Well, that makes sense, I guess. But how did I manage to get there in the first place and take you with me, when it seems that the other two, who are infinitely more powerful than me, couldn’t do it. That bit I can’t wrap my head around.”
“Because you don’t believe you are that powerful, my love,” he says as he takes my hand. “She also said she had a daughter,” he adds carefully. “That they have a daughter.”
“Yes, Cassis,” I say without thinking and then curse myself. Shit, shit, shit. Watch what you say, woman.
His eyes light up. “You saw her?”
“Briefly. In the Entrance Hall,” I backtrack. “Before they thought I had lost my mind and ushered me off for peace and solitude,” I say, hoping he drops it.
He frowns at me. “They thought you had lost your mind?”
“Well, I was acting very strange and I was devastated that Cole and Devon weren’t there. I think they thought I had a breakdown. But I don’t want to talk about that anymore. I need to discuss something else with you.”
“Oh, so you didn’t really see what she was like?” he continues, ignoring me.
“No. But she has blonde hair and looks just like you,” I say, giving him something. “And she adores you. Other you. As he does her. I could tell by the way they looked at each other.”
“Oh, Aefre. I want her so much. When can we do the ritual again?”
“Soon. But please, Constantine, I need to talk to you about something else.”
He looks serious then as I have called him by his full name. “What is it? Is everything okay?”
“That depends on you,” I say, standing up and pacing. This is an awkward conversation to be having and I am vastly uncomfortable.
“Me?”
“Yes, you.” Might as well just spit it out. “I spoke with Sebastian before I came here,” I say, turning to face him full on. I am sure my expression will tell him everything he needs to know about what that conversation was about.
“Oh,” he says flatly. “I see. You have decided to comply to my request?”
“Yes,” I say quietly. I drop to my knees at his feet and take his hands. “He is in so much pain after what she did. I feel like I need to do something…but only if you still agree.”
He just looks at me for a long time, silently.
“Of course,” he says, clearing his throat. “You are still the only one we can trust. And he has feelings for you. He won’t treat you badly or make you feel used.”
“CK,” I say as I sense his pain, “I…”
“No, Aefre. It is fine,” he says, taking my hands and kissing them. “Have you discussed when?”
“No. But there’s more I have to say.”
“Okay?”
I stand up again and start to pace again. “Only the three of us will ever know about this. If you are thinking that you can somehow get this to work in your favor and you tell Cole about it, I swear to the old gods, Constantine, I will take off this ring and run and you will never see me again. I know Sebastian won’t say anything because he has a lot to lose if I refuse to see him again, so if Cole ever finds out, I know it will be you.”
“You think that I would betray you to get y
ou?” he asks me in disbelief as he stands up to face me.
“I think, the thought has crossed your mind and I am just telling you how strongly I feel about keeping this a secret.”
“Oh, Aefre. When will you see that I would never do anything to intentionally hurt you? Not to mention that it would also hurt Sebastian if you stopped taking care of him. You should know I would never do that, to either of you.”
“Fine, I just wanted to make myself clear. Which leads me to my next request.”
“There’s more?” he asks dryly.
“Yes, as this is going to be such a secret, I have to ensure it stays that way. I will come to you every Tuesday and Wednesday as planned. We will come here, to Ponte, every week, where I will then spend a couple of hours or whatever with Sebastian, as and when you see fit.” I get it out in a rush and his face goes thunderous.
“You are taking time away from me?”
“I have to. It’s the only way.”
He thinks it over and sees that is, in fact, the only way around it. He sighs and looks sad as he says, “Fine. You are right. I don’t see another way. Have you discussed that with him yet?”
“No, I will leave that for you to sort out,” I say with a small smile. “You can lay down some ground rules.”
He smiles back at me. “So thoughtful of you,” he says sarcastically, but I can see he means no harm. “But, yes, there will be some very specific ground rules.”
“Let me know then. I do have to go now. Cole will be waiting for me.”
“Wait, I need you. I have missed you this week,” he says, grabbing my hand.
“I know, I have missed you too, but I have to go, my love.”
“No,” he says as he Teleports me directly into the shower and starts to shed his clothes as he turns the jets on. “Quickly, two birds with one stone,” he mutters as he kisses me while still trying to get his now sodden clothes off.
“Oh, you don’t play fair,” I say as I get rid of my own clothes. “You know how irresistible you are to me when you are wet.”
He grins. “I always play the advantage, my sweet,” he says before he picks me up and despite still being half dressed, fucks me hard and fast before he sinks his fangs into me and drinks deeply.
