“Fine,” I mutter and fluff out my hair. There is no point in pushing him.
“Be safe,” CK says to me as he kisses me. “I will miss you.”
“I will,” I reply, “and I will miss you terribly.”
“Then don’t go,” he says.
“I will be back tomorrow or the day after, I promise,” I say instead and take his hands in mine. “I am sure I don’t need to tell you that if Remiel turns up, or Tiamat for that matter, send for me immediately.”
“How do we do that?” Devon asks, perplexed.
“Whatever connection you have with Sebastian, use it,” I say to CK forcefully.
He nods quickly, not eager to share what that connection is and without another word, I Puffport myself to the Fae Kingdoms.
The Underworld, April 2014 – Constantine
“What do you think?” Devon asks him as he just stares at the space his wife occupied not a moment ago.
“Hm?” he asks. “About what?”
“Cade,” Devon says in irritation.
“Oh. I don’t trust him. Aefre may have forgiven him after his last betrayal, but I have been keeping my eye on him,” he says. “However, if she thinks there is a problem, we need to make sure she is safe.”
“Agreed,” Devon says.
Constantine looks at him and his anger gets the better of him. He has no right to be so protective of her anymore.
“Look,” Devon says before he can tell him exactly where to go. “I know that we are never going to be friends, but you have to accept that Lizzie wants me here. I am not going anywhere and you can be damn sure that if she needs protecting, I will do it with my last breath.”
“So will I,” Constantine says and then pauses. “No, we will never be friends. I don’t like you and I haven’t since the day I met you. I have tolerated you because of Aefre, but you are no longer bound to her. You are fair game.”
Devon scoffs at him. “Seriously? You think that you scare me? You wouldn’t dare, because you know she would never forgive you.”
Constantine shrugs. He knows that Devon is right but he has to pretend that he isn’t concerned about that. “You know that she will never choose you, don’t you? You aren’t a part of this.” He knows by now that Devon is planning on asking Aefre to marry him. In fact, he is absolutely sure he already has and that she said yes…before the boy’s dirty affair and she shrieked a definitive ‘no’ at him in the clearing. After the reverse-turn, she asked Devon to ask her again and he is sure that is what she meant. He is waiting for Aefre to mention it so he can shriek a very definitive ‘no’ at her. No way, no chance in Hell will he agree to share her with this little prick that he despises.
“Doesn’t matter,” Devon says. “Chances are, she isn’t going to choose you either. She doesn’t want to choose.”
Constantine narrows his eyes at him. He knows that Devon is just trying to get to him. He knows it isn’t true. She will choose him. In a way she already has. She has chosen him to keep Aefre here with the Blood Magick ritual. If she had no intention of ultimately choosing him, surely she wouldn’t have bothered. “Say what you like, but you know that isn’t true.”
“She needs us to be united,” Devon says suddenly. “If we cannot learn to get along, we are only going to end up hurting her.”
Constantine sighs. “I know,” he says. As much as he hates it, Devon is right.
“And she is trusting us to find out what Cade is up to,” Devon adds. “We have to work together.”
“I think I might know why Aefre is worried,” he reveals.
“Me too,” Devon says, then adds at his disbelieving look, “Don’t be so surprised, I have brains in my head.”
Constantine adjusts his features accordingly. “Well?” he asks.
“You first,” Devon says with a smile.
“Oh no, you claim to be so clever, you first,” Constantine says, almost enjoying this banter. Almost.
“What, so you can steal my idea and tell Lizzie it was you who figured it out?” Devon asks and laughs. “I don’t think so.”