by Eve Newton
"Oh, my love, that you aren't. You are my sire. The man who made me. I wouldn't be here if it weren't for you."
"And your mother," he grouses. "Never thought I would have to deal with in-laws," he adds sullenly.
I chuckle at him. "At least you got to meet yours."
Frowning at me, he asks, "What is that supposed to mean?"
"Err, duh. I have asked you about your family a million times and you always change the subject. You won't even talk about them, yet you get to meet mine? Seems unfair, my dear," I say, using a nice patronizing endearment and it feels good. Also, at this point, I note we have used in-laws to describe our parents and it warms me. I wonder if he has noticed.
"Yes, I have noticed, my sweet," he says and heart thumps at his ability to read my mind as well as his own endearment. "It is so far in my past; I just don't like to think about it."
"But how do you feel about…what happened?" I ask the question I have been dying to ask for centuries. "Don't you ever wonder?"
"Wonder what? What happened to them after I was made? How they died? Where they were buried?"
"Yes! All of that.”
“Not really, do you wonder about yours?” he asks hesitantly. “I mean your human parents.”
“Once, briefly, the first time we went back to England, but I wasn’t fond of them. I was glad to be free of them and to be with you.”
"I know what happened to them if you want to know," he says slyly, nicely side-stepped as usual.
I pause then, my interest somewhat piqued in light of the fact that the information is out there for me to know. "You know?"
"Of course. I have been waiting for you to ask,” he says, relieved to have the spotlight off him.
"Why didn't you just tell me?"
"I was waiting for you to ask. It's a touchy subject, especially with you. I do know how you felt about them."
I sit down then, a bit overwhelmed that he did know all this time. Cole was right.
Calling the pack of smokes to me, I light one.
"Okay. Hit me with it."
My phone, which I had left on the piano when I arrived, starts to buzz away at that point.
Constantine, who is leaning against the piano, throws it to me and I catch it, checking the caller ID. I grimace. Just when things were going better. I answer it anyway.
"Not a good time, Linc. What is it?" I say briskly.
Constantine pulls his face and turns away.
"I'm sorry to disturb you, V.A., but I have something to tell you," he says hesitantly, using his pet name for me.
"What? I say, impatiently.
"Devon's left."
CHAPTER EIGHTY-EIGHT
"L eft? What do you mean left?"
"I mean, he's packed his bag and gone back to Los Angeles."
"What? Why? When?" I snap at him, causing Constantine to look over at me, concerned.
"About five minutes ago."
Ignoring my own Astral ban, I swirl off downstairs with Constantine hot on my heels.
"And you are just calling me now?" I yell at Lincoln, who looks startled to see me in front of him.
"He asked me to give him a head start. He asked for ten, but I knew you would probably kill me if I left it that long. You shouldn't have Astralled down here," he adds in a reprimand.
"What is going on?" Constantine asks.
Lincoln looks over at him as if noticing him for the first time, but ignores him as I turn to swirl off after Devon. He does a partial Shift, letting loose his claws and teeth but remaining in human form, and grips my arm, his claws sinking into my flesh. I scowl at him as he has effectively cut off my ability to Astral. Much like Gladius Infernus stopped Gregor and Eloise from being able to Teleport, claws and fangs when sunk into me, seem to be my only weakness.
"Get your hands off her," Constantine growls at him, stepping closer as the blood seeps through the sleeve of my robe.
"You can't go after him, V.A. What are you going to do? Astral into the middle of JFK and wait for him in your robe?" he says, still ignoring Constantine. "Besides, he doesn't want you to follow him," he adds softly.
Knowing he is right, at least about the Astralling part, I nod grimly, and he lets go of me, Shifting back.
"Did he say why?" I ask, my heart breaking as I already know the answer.
"He needs time away. He's only in L.A. Just give him some time, he will come back."
"He said it earlier. He said he had to go but I didn't know what he meant. I didn't have time to go after him, I had to get upstairs, I was already late," I say, looking at Lincoln in anguish.
He pulls me to him and whispers, "He will come back. Just give him time."
"No! I won't let him leave me! He can't leave me, Linc. I need him," I say and start to cry. Constantine pushes Lincoln out of the way to hold me, stroking my hair and crooning to me.
"He won't be able to stay away," CK says, obviously having realized that Devon has left me. Again. "You know he will come back. It's the way it is. He will come back."
I pull away from him and bring Devon's number up on my phone to call him. Voicemail of course. I leave a message, hearing the desperation in my voice, "Dev, baby. Please don't leave me. Please come back. I can't do this without you. I can't live without you. Please, my love. Please come back to me. Please come back so I can fix this." I start crying again and Constantine takes the phone away from me and hangs it up. I stare at him and turn away, sitting next to the fire, leaning my head on the wall and gazing absently into the flames. I zone out as the flames hypnotize me. I hear Constantine and Lincoln talking. I hear what they say but don't really take much of it in.
"You're back?" Lincoln snaps at him.
"Yes," Constantine says shortly.
"Good. You've punished her enough. She needs you. Especially now."
"Mind your own business, Wolf,” he snarls but then asks quietly, “Why did he go? Do you know?"
Lincoln sighs and says, "Things have been different since we moved here. With you punishing her and Cole on location in Toronto, he became the center of her world again. He is in love with her, but he wants…more than she can give him, I guess. He needed to get away to clear his head."
"It's all my fault," I say miserably. "I made him love me again and then didn't give him myself in return. I am a terrible sire and a terrible person. I don't deserve him; I don't deserve anyone."
"Aefre, don't say that," Constantine says, kneeling at my feet. "You are the sweetest, most wonderful person I have ever met and that's saying something. And you are a wonderful sire. Better than any I've ever seen. Including myself," he says wryly. I manage a small smile at his self-recrimination. "You treat your boys fairly and as equals, which is more than any of the rest of us do. This situation – our situation – is unusual. Your attentions are divided, and we all want more from you that you can realistically give. Don't blame yourself, my sweet. It is a testament to your relationship that for over five hundred years you have only been apart once, for half a century. Do you know how special that is? Not even you and I have managed that, and we are pretty special." He smiles gently and tilts my chin so I am looking at him while he says, "He will come back. How can he not?"
I take his face in my hands, needing everything to be all right with us again. "Tell me you forgive me. Tell me that you love me. I need you. I need things to be right with us again," I whisper to him.
"There is nothing to forgive, my sweet. You were right about before, I was just being a stubborn fool. I love you. I need you. I'm sorry," he says and kisses me tenderly. I feel better. My heart is still breaking over Devon but at least I have my sire back.
"Ahem," Lincoln clears his throat and we break apart. "So you just get to waltz back in here and act like nothing happened? Christ, I still don't understand you Vampires. Weird ass race."
I chuckle despite myself. Despite being stuck in a forest for fifty-seven years, Lincoln has taken to 21st century life like a duck to water. From technology to the changes in
vernacular, you would never know he had been away.
Constantine turns to him with a smug look. "You will never understand our bond as you aren't one of us."
"CK," I admonish him, "don't be rude." He looks delighted that I have nicknamed him again.
"You two have a lot of catching up to do. In fact, we all do," Lincoln says.
"Yes, so it would seem," CK says, narrowing his eyes at Lincoln. "You seem to have made yourself at home."
"It is his home," I say.
"Humph. I meant with you, Aefre," he says slyly.
Lincoln now looks smug and I roll my eyes. "It's new. Don't poke at it."
"New? How new?"
"Nothing to do with you," I remark blandly.
"Everything to do with you, is to do with me," he remarks back, just as blandly.
"Not this," I say through gritted teeth, while Lincoln just sits there casually as if we aren't discussing our sex life. Enjoying having my half-naked sire sitting in front of me at my feet, having a banter, I lean forward and wrap my arms around him, bringing my hands to rest on his chest as I lean my chin on his shoulder. "I missed you," I whisper, needing to tell him but also to distract him.
He looks pleased as punch at my actions and words and says, "I missed you too," as he tilts his head to the side so that I can kiss him. "But you won't distract me that easily, Aefre," he adds. He glimpses at me and I sigh. "What does Cole make of this addition?" he asks, not nastily, just interested.
Lincoln laughs and says, "He wasn't best pleased." I snort, remembering my husband's furious face when I broached the subject. "He came around though, in the end."
"I'm sure it didn't take much doing once Aefre turned on her charm," CK says with a laugh of his own.
I marvel that he is so relaxed and discussing this so casually when not a couple of hours ago, he was so angry with me about this. Shifting uncomfortably, I remember the collar and pull away from him.
"Take it off," he says to me without turning around.
Pissed that he once again knows my issue without me saying anything, I say, "No." He turns to me, surprised.
"Take what off?" Lincoln asks.
"Take it off," he demands, and I shake my head.
"Aefre," he warns me.
I smile serenely at him, now having the power back, knowing it upsets him that I have it on knowing how it makes me feel. Complex Vampire mind games. I have missed this with him.
"V.A.? What are you talking about?" Lincoln asks suspiciously now.
"Why do you keep calling her V.A.?" CK now asks, suspicious himself, and also, nicely dodging the question.
"ValamAtrux," he says as if it's obvious.
"And that would be?" CK asks, annoyed to be out of the loop.
"He doesn't know," I say to Lincoln.
"Oh," Lincoln says and looks away.
"Aefre. What secrets are you keeping now?"
"It's not a secret. You just weren't, you know…" I shrug.
"Wasn't what?"
"In the mood for us to fill you in," I say pleasantly.
He hisses at me. "Fill me in about what?"
"She Shifted at Christmas. Went to go and see her mother," Lincoln says, getting fed up with this to-ing and fro-ing. "Turns out she is a spectacular creature just like her mother and goes by the name of ValamAtrux."
"You Shifted? To your Dragon form? Aefre, why didn't you tell me?"
"You weren't exactly talking to me," I say dryly, and he huffs at me.
"You still should have told me. ValamAtrux? I like it. Suits you," he says. "Tell me about it."
"I will. But can you give me my phone back? I want to call Devon again."
"He'll be in the air now; his phone will be switched off. Just leave him for tonight," Lincoln says quietly.
"I will call the jet phone. I assume he took the G6 and didn't hang around waiting for a flight to LAX."
"Liv. Don't. He needs time."
"Tough shit. I can accept, just about, that he needed to go and get some space but he fucking could have told me in person and said goodbye. Now give it to me."
CK hands it to me and I go to my bedroom to call the jet.
CHAPTER EIGHTY-NINE
He answers on the first ring. "Yes?" he snaps.
"You fucking left me? You arsehole. You don't get to walk away from me."
"Shit, Liv. Why are you calling? You are just supposed to accept it and move on."
"Move on? Move on?" I yell at him. "I can't just move on!"
He sighs. "I just need to get away for a bit. Away from you. You are taking over my life again, Lizzie, and I just can't do it again. I can't just be a quick fuck whenever you have time to fit it in."
"That's what you think?" I croak out.
"Yes. You go off to Toronto for three days to be with Cole, you come back and the first thing you do is go to Lincoln and then I get twenty minutes before you have to get upstairs to that fucking bastard that has been treating you like shit for the last few months. I would never treat you like that, Lizzie. So why do I lose out to him?"
"Fuck, Dev. I'm sorry. I know I have been so busy with everything lately, but it's no excuse. Please just come home so I can fix it."
"I am going home. Back to L.A. Just for a bit. I'll be at home and I'll hold down the fort at work but if you need anything from me with regard to business, ask Lincoln to call me. You'd better get back to him. I'm sure you will pay for taking this much time out to speak to me," he says derisively.
"We're okay," I say shortly.
"Good. That's good," he says softly, and he means it. "At least you will have him now."
"It's not a trade-off, Dev. I need you."
"And I need you. I just need some space from all of…this. I need some normal. I'll get over this. Just let me. Okay?" He hangs up.
My shoulders sag as I realize he isn't going to come back anytime soon. I go back into the sitting room to find CK on his phone and Lincoln flicking through his.
"You okay?" Lincoln asks as CK hangs up.
I shake my head. "Not really. He's going home though. To our home. That's a good sign, right? That he isn't going to be gone long?"
"Absolutely," CK says and Lincoln says, "Sure." Whether they said it to humor me or not, I feel better.
Lincoln stands up and comes to give me a tight hug. "Everything will be okay. We'll get through this. I promise," he says and drops his mouth to mine to kiss me. I let him, needing a distraction.
CK clears his throat behind us and I pull away. "Aefre," he grumbles, "time to go."
Lincoln gets a wicked glint in his eye as he pulls on the belt of my robe and it falls open. He turns me around to face my sire, whose face is a picture of fury as Lincoln squeezes my nipples and nuzzles my neck.
"Aww, come on now. What's a family reunion without a bit of sharing?" he says seductively.
"No sharing tonight. This is my time," CK says sternly.
Lincoln ignores him as he moves his hands further down, lightly brushing over me. He pulls us back towards the sofa and sits, pulling me onto his lap. I lean back against his chest, enjoying the attention and wiggle in delight as he pushes his fingers inside my pussy.
"Oh, baby," he whispers to me, eyes on CK's furious reaction.
Unable to help myself, I thud against his fingers as he rubs them over my clit. He says to CK, "You're right. There really isn't anything like it in the world." I writhe against him, relaxing, completely at his mercy.
"Ah," he breathes as I rub against his stiffening cock. "You wouldn't let her rile me up like this and then leave me hanging, would you? At least let me watch."
CK narrows his eyes and moves closer, observing Lincoln still playing with me and my reaction to it. For all his time spent away, Lincoln has more than made up for it with me. I delight in his desire to please me and to learn new ways in which to do so. Devon has been most instructive, and we have had many a pleasing night, the three of us.
"Or would you prefer to watch me? What would you like t
o see me do to her?" he asks slyly.
CK crouches in front of us with a hunger in his eyes that I haven't seen for a while. "Oh, the things I would like to see you do to her," he says softly.
A frisson of uneasiness goes through me. Lincoln, surprised by the whiff of fear coming from me, flicks his eyes to CK's.
"Oh, a sadistic bastard, are you? Too bad not much hurts our girl, and I'm not into trying."
"Neither am I," CK says quietly but I can see the wheels turning in his head as he has come up with an idea and all he needs now is a willing accomplice.
Pushing the robe off my shoulders, Lincoln drags it off me and discards it. "Well, seeing as I have warmed her up for you, what are you going to let me do?"
"I can assure you; I don't need assistance when it comes to that."
"No, I don't suppose you do. Especially when it comes to this vixen."
"Erm," I interject now, "I am still here, you know."
"Yes, Aefre, we are quite aware of your presence."
"Then don't speak about me as if I’m not here."
"What would you like us to do about this impasse?" he inquires softly.
Lincoln focuses on me as I deliberate.
"That's a dangerous question," I say seductively as CK trails his hand over my thigh.
"Do you want us both?" Lincoln asks.
"Yes," I murmur, thoroughly enjoying this negotiation.
"How about us both together? No need to take turns," CK says and slips two fingers inside me. I squirm in pleasure, much to the enjoyment of Lincoln as I move against him again. Lincoln brings his fingers around to my clit to play with me while CK pulses in and out and he whispers in my ear, "How about it, baby? Can you handle both of us at the same time?"
Holy fuck, yes. "Oh, yes," I moan as a double rush of pleasure rips through me and they both groan in response as they feel it.
"Fuck, Liv. You are driving me wild," Lincoln breathes before he does a partial Shift and clamps his mouth full of sharp teeth into my neck.
Hoping that CK is well and truly over his snit as Lincoln slowly bites me, I find that he is as he Shifts as well and bites down on my wrist to feed from me.
