"Oh, okay," I say and take a sip of my drink. He stares at me in surprise as I have so easily dropped it.
"Oh, all right!" he snaps. "It was Devon. Happy?"
I look back at him mildly. "Oh. I see," I say. "What did he want?"
"Just to talk, it's no big deal. Don't make a thing out of it. Please?" he asks with earnest.
"Fine." I shrug. It infuriates him but he remains silent, as I do. I snuggle into him, knowing a thing or two about distraction myself, and he accepts it, relaxing a bit. Catching him off guard, I ask, "How is he?"
He tenses back up and scowls at me. "He's fine. Dealing. It helps he has…" he trails off and I wonder if he meant to say that or if it was a genuine Freudian slip.
"Has what?" I pounce and he sighs.
"He has someone to distract him, okay?"
"Oh, really? Already?" I sneer into my drink and he pulls my face towards his to look at him.
"Liv, that's unfair. She's been around awhile now."
"Awhile? How long is awhile? And why don't I know?"
“All I know is, he met her before you guys got closer again, I guess. It’s not a big thing. He doesn’t want you to know and worry about it."
"Worry about it?” I ask, genuinely confused by his words. "Unless now it's serious?" I gulp. If him leaving me has anything to do with this skank, I won’t bother asking if I can turn her before I do and then stake the bitch straight through slutty heart.
He shrugs. "I don't really know, he’s close-lipped. I know that she knows about him though."
"What?" I suddenly snap. "He told her about us?" I’m furious now, how dare he tell her our secret without telling me first.
He nods warily. "Yes. He doesn't need your permission to tell. Just like you didn't need his," he points out, still using pronouns and making life difficult. "She won't say anything. She's quite accepting. Wants to be one of us." He takes my hand, but I pull away.
"Wants to be one of us? Well, that will never happen," I say, absolutely confident of my words.
"Why not? I say he should turn her. Might help him to have something else to focus on…you know."
"He won't," I say, absolutely resolute and furious at Cole’s words. It’s like he is actively trying to put a wedge between me and Devon.
He peers at me curiously. The penny drops and his mouth drops open. "What? He's never turned anyone before?"
I shake my head smugly. “No, and if I know my oldest charge, he isn’t about to start now."
Processing that piece of information, he stares at me and then suddenly his eyes light up and he snaps his fingers. "It all completely makes sense now!" he says excitedly. "I don't know why I never realized it before!"
I narrow my eyes at him. "What are you talking about?"
"Oh, please, don't be coy. You know exactly what I'm talking about. His complete devotion to you even after all this time. The reason why he hasn't left your side in over five hundred years except for a few years a couple of centuries ago. You are his whole world. He doesn't have anyone to be responsible for and has you to take care of him so that he doesn’t have to have any responsibility. Crafty son of a bitch, he’s got this all worked out.”
I’m astounded by his words and he must see it pass across my face.
"I'm sorry, Liv. That was a bit harsh. I wasn’t trying to be a dick, but I'm right, aren't I?" he questions. Before I even have a chance to say anything, he clicks his fingers again and has another ‘Eureka’ moment, adding, "And you like it that way! I bet you haven't ever encouraged him to branch out on his own! You play right into his fantasy, only now you have other people in your life who mean as much to you. No wonder he had to get some headspace. It’s fucking with his grand plan."
"Excuse me?" I hiss, utterly incredulous by his reckoning. "How dare you! How dare you cast aspersions on our relationship! You don’t know the first thing about it."
He looks a bit wary at my tone but stands his ground and says, "I told him to do it. It will be good for him to have something other than you to focus on for once in his life. You should let him if he wants to."
"He won't," I spit out. "And I will not let him tie himself to someone he isn't in love with."
"It seems quite clear that you don't have to be in love with the people you sire. Why not just let him have some fun?"