My mouth drops open in horror. “What?” I snap, the black SUV now makes sense.
“You know the deal, Liv,” he says. “We have to protect ourselves.”
Fuck me! He had a cleaning crew on standby to kill the man I think I love in case he didn’t accept me? I am shocked and outraged. Unfortunately, also speechless, so no words come out when I open my mouth to blast him.
“I’m sorry,” he adds quietly at my silence. “Your safety is the most important thing to me. I love you.”
I want to cry in frustration and yell at him for being such an obnoxious dick. “I’m disappointed that you didn’t trust me to handle this on my own,” I say just as quietly. Fury is lost on him; he sees it as a weakness and dismisses it. Calm and controlled gets better results.
“I do trust you. I don’t trust him,” he says darkly.
“You don’t know him,” I say weakly.
“Precisely. And now none of us know what the future will hold. But what’s done is done. Go and tell him your story and be sure to make me the hero.” He hangs up on me before I can say anything else. Maddening brute.
I return to the den.
“Everything okay with the old man?” Devon asks with typical Devon sarcasm.
“Perfect, thank you,” I say a little too brightly. No way am I revealing the contents of that particular conversation to either one of them. Devon will jump on the prophecy business and grill me to within an inch of my life about it, and Cole will… Well, who the fuck knows what Cole will do if he finds out he might be a part of some ancient Vampire prophecy that will sky-rocket me into an exalted position within our race? Oh, yeah, and let’s not forget the fact that if he had spurned me, my sire would have had him wiped clean off the face of the Earth. Man, what a day.
Cole finishes a sandwich and turns to me, saying, “Liv, I’m burning with curiosity about you. Tell me your story. I want to know how on Earth you became a Vampire a thousand years ago. Christ, I can’t believe that sentence just came out of my mouth.” He says this in awe as Devon snickers.
“Wait!” Cole exclaims suddenly. “How do you move about in the sun? Or is that Legend as well?”
Devon and I exchange looks and hold up our left hands, thumbs sticking out.
“The ring? That allows you to walk in daylight?” he asks.
I nod.
“I knew it was unusual,” he says, almost to himself.
Not wanting to get into that story just yet, I carry on: “As I said, it was back in 1012 in London, England.” I proceed to tell the story of me and CK in the barn, pausing briefly to take a sip of wine. I elaborate further to events after the barn, to the day I woke up turned. I provide the PG-13 version for Cole, though, as he may not want to hear all the gory details.
Caen, Normandy, 1012 - Aefre
I woke up in a daze. No pain, thankfully, just a bit foggy, trying to recollect what happened and trying to figure out where I was. A noise from the other side of the room startled me. I sat upright, all my senses on high alert. Then I saw him. He smiled that heavenly smile at me.
“Good evening,” he said in that wonderful accent, then asked, “how do you feel?”
I tried to speak, but my throat was dry. He handed me a cup of water, from which I drank deeply, taking in my surroundings, my eyes wide at the lavish room. I placed the cup on a carved table.
“Better?” he asked.
“Yes.” I bobbed my head. “Constantine, where am I? What happened to me?”
“Oh, Aefre, it is a long story. One I will tell you, but please, you must vow that you won’t be afraid.” He looked intently into my eyes as mine widened further.
“Afraid? I could never be afraid of you, my love,” I said.
He took my hand and kissed it softly, taking a seat beside me on the soft bed.
“What is the last thing you remember?” he asked.
I tried to remember, but everything was a bit unclear.
“Oh, the barn!” I said, then my face fell as I remembered seeing Radulf. “Radulf? Where is he? Is he here?” I asked, starting to panic.