As soon as we are home, Cole pulls me into my office. “We need to talk.”
I was expecting this, so I square my shoulders and let him start.
“I know that whatever I say won’t make a damn bit of difference, but I’m going to say it anyway. I’m not happy about you moving your sire in next door to us. I’m especially not happy about the part where you didn’t discuss it with me, us, first and I’m even more upset that you pushed him into rethinking the terms of our arrangement. And before you say anything, I know about the real arrangement and its terms. I agreed to them as I assume you did as well, in return for that engagement ring you’re wearing. Or engaged to be engaged ring, whatever,” he grouses. “Furthermore, you gain all this new Power, a new title, become ruler of a nation, then within minutes, flit off to a different Realm – I’m not even really clear on what that means – for a couple of days with him and he gets to meet your mother. Your mother, Liv. Do you know how special that is in these circumstances? He learns about your true nature and your true purpose firsthand, while I’m left to worry about you and whether I will ever see you again. And it really pisses me off that he doesn’t call you Liv! Don’t ask me why? I don’t really know why. Maybe because Aefre was the name you were given as a human and he knew you as a human. I’m just so frustrated and mad that more often than not, you choose him over me.” He ends abruptly.
I stare at him in silence at his tirade.
“Wow. Okay. Feel any better?” I ask sardonically. Unsurprisingly, he isn’t amused as he waits for me to respond.
“Well, where do I start? I’m sorry about the house thing. I am responsible for restructuring the Underworld and I need to be here at home to do it. It seems the best idea to get him to come here so I’m not traveling around the world on a weekly basis. It’s too confusing and disruptive. If he is next door, it’s simple, easy. I made the decision and then it was out. I knew the only way to get him to even think about considering it, was to push him. I would never let him destroy us, Cole. I have told you that. I love you; I want to be with you. This,” I hold up my hand, “this is a promise I made to him so that he wouldn’t tear us apart.” I take a breath, knowing that I haven’t been entirely honest with him about the ring. He pounces as soon as I stop talking.
“The fact that you have to make promises to him to stop him from tearing us apart is part of the problem, Liv. The fact that you obviously think that if he makes a play for you, he will win.”
“Clearly you think that as well or you wouldn’t have agreed in the first place,” I snap but then regret my words as his face hardens.
“What I think is irrelevant. I made a decision to keep us together, to keep him from interfering. Your agreement is clearly an acceptance that you will be married and without me one day.”
I close my eyes and breathe in deeply. Opening them again, I find him searching my face for a reaction. I choose to ignore his last comment and move on, saying, “We didn’t mean to be gone a couple of days in the Dragon Realms. Tiamat said that time moves differently there, we thought we were gone an hour tops. I’m sorry that you were worried. I’m sorry that for whatever reason Corinne wanted him to go with me. I can’t answer for that. I am acutely aware, Cole, that you have been royally shafted – excuse the pun – since I turned you. I have asked you to accept things, asked so much of you. But I do love you. I love you more than anything. I don’t purposefully choose him over you. Sometimes it just happens. We are all in a very special set of circumstances now and we are all trying to adapt. Me especially, being thrust into this bizarre position, but CK’s whole world has changed as well. He was one of four Chosen ones. He helped create a new species and helped keep order among the Vampires for nearly three thousand years. Eloise was right to query his loyalty to her and The Council, in a way, but he chose to have faith in me. To be loyal to me even though he knew his whole reason for existing would crumble away. I don’t expect you to understand or accept that. It is just a point that needs to be made. As for him not calling me Liv? I see in a way, why that pisses you off, but he called me Aefre for a hundred years before I ran away and then again for another two hundred and fifty when he found me again. It’s habit. Even Devon calls me Lizzie again. I’m sure you will always think of me as Liv. It’s only natural.” I stop speaking. I know he has heard me. Whether or not he accepts what I have said, remains to be seen.
“Fine,” he says in defeat. “I hear you. I get it. I don’t want to be jealous of him, but I can’t help it sometimes.”
“Loo
k, Cole, we are together now. We love each other and we decided to turn you so we could be together. We are married and we are in love with each other. Trust that. Trust me.”
“I do. I do trust you. It’s him I don’t trust,” he says mutinously.
I chuckle despite myself. “You would do well to never say that to his face. He did save you today and has fought your corner since Monte Carlo. Despite what you may think, and as weird as it is for any Vampire, never mind him, he has called you family and he means it. He wouldn't have said it if he didn’t. Christ knows he’s never said it before.”
He grunts grudgingly as I hold my arms out to him. He accepts my embrace, so I Astral us off to our bedroom. Enough talk. I haven’t been with my husband for days and I want him.
A fter a night of unbridled passion with Cole, I awake feeling very happy and relaxed for the first time in ages. The source of my Power has been revealed, I have a mother again, my future – while uncertain – has a sense of purpose now and I know what I must do. I have woken up early. It’s still dark out so I pull on my robe and wander out to the balcony. The gods, it feels good to be home. All of this to and fro-ing has been a nightmare. Leaning on the railings, I take in the view, feeling completely happy. A familiar tingle goes up my neck and I turn with a big smile expecting my sire. My smile turns to horror – worse – terror, as I see who is standing before me. Evil, black eyes are focused on mine in an amused anger. “Lucretia. It’s nice to see you again, Sister. It has been far too long.”
CHAPTER SEVENTY-FOUR
“L ance,” I breathe, trying desperately to hold myself together. “What are you doing here?”
He breathes in deeply, taking in the sudden spike of my fear. A cruel smile crosses his face. “Just here to congratulate you on your… promotion.”
Sending out as many panic signals as I can, I stand still, unable to move an inch under his intense stare. Within seconds, Constantine is at my side in concern, but his face hardens into a mask of pure hatred and darkness as he sees Lance. “I warned you never to set foot near her again,” he growls, taking a step forward in front of me.
Lance looks vaguely amused. “Always her protector. What about me, Father?” he asks in earnest. His use of familial terms is creeping me out… again. “I was yours a thousand years before you even met her.”
“And yet you betrayed me. Went after her for your own purposes. You stopped being anything to do with me a very long time ago, Lance.”
“But you made me who I am. I learned from you. And you turned your back on me,” he presses.
My heart almost stops at his admission.
“I should have finished you for what you did,” Constantine snarls at him. “You are a disgrace and I am itching for a reason to end you.”
“Ah yes, my sister took pity on me. Deep down, she loves me. Why else would she stop you from killing me,” he says slyly, goading CK into a temper.
He moves quick as lightning to pin Lance to the wall.
“She is far too merciful. You should be grateful. Rest assured, I won’t make that mistake twice.”
“Why did you pick her over me?” Lance asks, suddenly, almost sadly. “We are alike, you and me. You should have picked me. Is it because she is a good fuck? I never got her to willingly give it up, but it was good all the same,” he sneers, his mood changing as abruptly as his sire’s always does, creeping me out even further. CK tightens his grip on him until he is seconds away from ripping his head off.