"Christ. That's a neat trick," he says. "What a time saver."
I smile prettily at him. I'm not mad with him, just these two silent creatures standing in front of me.
"Liv," Nico says, unsurprisingly speaking on behalf of his Master. "We are just watching out for you."
"Aww, that's sweet hunny," I smarm at him and his eyebrows skyrocket as I have never spoken to him in quite that way before. "But you do know that I can take care of myself, yes?"
CK narrows his eyes at me as I continue, "In fact, I could kick the arse off anyone who tried to hurt me."
"Yes, we are aware of your arse kicking capabilities, my dear," CK interjects. "However, with Cade still unaccounted for, we can't be too careful."
"He is no longer unaccounted for," I say. "In fact, he is very much accounted for, the jerk that he is," I say to three stunned faces.
"What?" CK snaps at me. "You've seen him again?"
"Twice. Once on my way to work and once on my way back."
"That was Cade you were walking with?" He is thunderous as he bellows at me. "For fuck's sake, Liv, have you lost your senses?"
"No, my senses are quite intact, Constantine," I say, emphasizing his name to show that I’m annoyed he called me Liv. "I didn't seek him out, he just turned up. Again."
"If he is the Hunter, he is dangerous, Aefre," he says darkly. "I don't want him anywhere near you."
"I am pretty sure he is, and I am too, if you remember rightly. Unfortunately, he seems quite taken with me so we will have to play this out."
"What do you mean taken with you?" he asks suspiciously, and jealously, I note with humor.
"He made it quite clear that I was going to see him again and that we were going to get involved."
"Involved?" he growls. "How so?"
"I don't know. Probably in an I-want-to-kill-you way," I say offhand, much to the un-amusement of my sire. "Oh, calm yourself," I say to him as he opens his mouth to yell at me some more.
Sebastian snickers, clearly enjoying this. Apart from himself, he has probably never witnessed anyone else tell our sire to “calm himself.”
“He has so far been quite unthreatening. A bit creepy in a stalkery kind of way but not a threat," I add.
"You think he has been stalking you?" Nico asks, suddenly rejoining the conversation.
"Not literally, no. More a fact-finding mission it seems. He has your number," I add and point to CK with a chuckl
e. "Called you a jealous lover." I grin now as Sebastian lets out a loud guffaw, unable to help himself. He silences quickly at a murderous look from CK, though the smile still tugs at his mouth.
"It doesn't seem to bother you that this Hunter is learning about your life, Aefre. That concerns me," he says, choosing to ignore my comment. "You know nothing about him or his methods. You are too cocky, and it might get you hurt."
"Whatever his methods are, I’m pretty sure he can't hurt me," I say, glaring at his ‘cocky’ remark.
"Pretty sure is not acceptable," he insists. “And it seems that I have to point out to you that not all of your subjects are as invulnerable as you are.”
"CK, really. You worry too much. We tested this, no weapon can hurt me and magick doesn't work on me either. With regard to everyone else, if he so much as touches a hair on any of my subjects, he’s toast."
"I can never worry about you too much," he says quietly, coming closer. "If anything happened to you…" he trails off. "You have your vulnerabilities as well, my sweet," he says carefully, warning me not to mention my fang and claw weakness in front of the other two. “You should get rid of the threat before it comes to that,” he adds with a frown, which I return. I’m not comfortable with just offing him for no good reason.
But I lose my anger at CK. He is being so sweet and caring in contrast to how these arguments usually go. "I'm sorry, my love. I will be more careful. But in the interest of full disclosure, Scott tried to read him and got nothing. He is magickly blocked. And even though I never gave him my last name he called me Mrs. O'Dell when we parted before. Plus, he is unbelievably observant," I say. CK grunts at the use of my married name but I ignore him and continue, "I mean a lot of it he could have gotten from a quick Internet search, but he clocked your three bodyguards and there just seems to be more he isn't saying. However, I am not going to just kill him without good cause."
"Please let Nico and his team do their job, Aefre. I will feel better if I know you are being taken care of," he responds. “I understand your need to be sure of your course of action, but don’t let your merciful side win out.”
"Fine," I give in. I am beyond starving now and I’m getting sleepy. "I need to feed. Now," I say to him.