“Yes, I do,” I say haughtily. “I know I can kick arse.”
“Well, while kicking arse,” he says and frowns at the word, “is all very well. You need to believe you can kick his.”
“I know I can,” I say hesitantly.
“And yet you are scared to. Why?” Vito presses.
I pause. “What are you getting at?” I ask.
He sighs. “For the first time in his life, he has someone that is more powerful than him and yet you don’t use it,” Vito says.
“I don’t want to use my Power on him,” I say with a frown.
“Why not? He killed Evoric remember? And it wouldn’t hurt to remind him every now and again that he isn’t the most powerful one in the room anymore,” Vito says, avoiding my gaze.
“Oh, I see,” I say with a little laugh. “You want me to kick his arse for you.”
“I would not say no,” Vito says carefully. “What he did to me…”
“Oh, Vito. I know what he did was atrocious. I will find a way to make him be truly sorry, but I am not going to fight him. He may not be as Powerful as me, but he knows just how to hurt me,” I say, remembering everything he did in the tower.
“Very well,” he says. “I understand. I suppose all that’s left is to forgive.”
I take his face in my hands and brush my thumbs under his electric eyes. “I know that will be difficult for you, but it would make me so happy.”
“That is all I want, Princess, for you to be happy,” he says sadly.
“One day,” I say to his confusion and pat his hand.
“I will leave you now,” he says. “I hope that your man comes to you soon so we can end this once and for all.”
Makes two of us then. I nod my thanks and he gets up to leave, but I am still confused over our conversation. Was he trying to pit me against CK for entertainment or revenge? I have come to learn that the Dark Fae are quite subtle in their manipulations, unlike the Light who just spell you to do their bidding. I shudder as I think both are just as equally bad but knowing at the same time that I am a Dark Fae through and through. I lay my head back down on the soft pillows and close my eyes in desperate need of some head space.
Sometime a bit later, I look up in surprise as someone appears before me. “What are you doing here?” I ask Rosalina.
“Hello to you too,” she says in a reprimand.
“Sorry,” I mutter. “I am surprised to see you.”
CK comes bursting into the room and looks down at me to make sure I am okay and then turns to his sister, who sits next to me on the bed.
“What do you want with her?” he barks out to Rosalina.
“Aefre’s Heat is close,” she says. “I promised you one more try.”
CK and I look at each other and he nods eagerly. I am less enthused. What if it works and someone takes her away from me again? He sees my hesitation, but he knows what I am thinking. “We will be careful,” he says to me. “I promise you.”
“Okay,” I say and lie back down on the bed.
Rosalina shoos him away and in a flash of white magick I am lying naked on the bed.
So, no robe this time. Fantastic.
She places her cool hand on my forehead and says to CK, “I will bring it to the surface and then you need to mate while I perform the ritual.”
“I remember,” he murmurs as he watches me like a hawk. Does he not trust his sister to not hurt me?
“Close your eyes,” she says to me and when I do, I feel the fever start to descend on me. I start to sweat and then I shiver in the cold wind that has picked up. I wait for the agonizing cramps or the spasms, but neither of them comes. My body must be getting used to this process now.