“Constantine, you cannot reverse-turn yourself because I need you as you are. I need your strength as an Initial Vampire to do the ritual with me to keep Aefre here. If you go and get rid of that, despite being a half-Dragon twice removed, I don’t know if you will be strong enough.”
There, I’ve said it. I have known this all along, but the thought of telling him that he might not be strong enough to protect me and keep me as his, was a prospect that I have been dreading. With good reason it seems. His face is one of utter fury that I could dare insinuate that he is weak in any way. However, it has taken the haunted look off his face, so that’s good, right? He stands up and I join him on my feet.
“You think that I will be so weak that I can’t keep you here?” he roars at me.
“I honestly don’t know, Constantine, but I am not prepared to take the risk. Are you?” I ask him calmly and it stops his bellowing. He thinks it over and thankfully comes to the same conclusion as me.
“No,” he says. “I suppose not.”
“So, you will think about my offer?” I press. I need him to know that it’s okay. Well, not okay, it sickens me to think of him ripping into another woman while he fucks her senseless, but I’m just going to have to try not to think about that.
“No,” he says, and he is back to the normal, composed, strong CK that I find reassuring. “I do not require the services of a Pet.”
I beg to differ and while I don’t say it out loud, it must be written all over my face.
“I don’t,” he says defiantly. “All I need is you next to me. Don’t push me away, Aefre, that is when I lose control.”
A strange something passes over his face and I remember the slip-up he made before. But it is gone almost as soon as it appeared. I really don’t want to go looking for trouble, so I just leave it and take him in my arms.
“I’m not going anywhere,” I tell him.
“There is something I need to discuss with you,” he says, clearing his throat.
“What?” I ask, pulling away.
“Well, it has been brought to my attention that there is possibly a way for us to end your quest,” he says slowly.
“What do you mean?” I ask. He can’t know about me and Remiel, Xane wouldn’t have told him. I know that.
“Vito and Devon think that if I call him to me and tell him I am giving up on you and that he can have you, it will bring him to you,” he says matter-of-factly, but I can see the agony on his face that this has caused. No wonder he has been off the last few days. The mere suggestion must be sickening to him, but to have to acknowledge that it is, in fact, a sound plan must be Hell for him. I will kick the arses of both Vito and Devon for putting him through this without my consent.
Fortunately, I can give him the out he desperately needs. “No need,” I say breezily. “I have seen and spoken to him myself. We are reaching an understanding.” Please, please, please don’t ask how.
“How?” he asks suspiciously.
Of course, he did. Why would I expect anything else?
“I am managing to convince him that I accept my destiny with him,” I say.
“Now? After all these weeks? How?” he demands. “How?” he yells at me, clutching at my arms before I can answer him.
“I told him that I loved him,” I squeak. No way am I copping to our lovemaking. He will kill me where I stand.
He lets go of me and steps back. “Oh,” he says quietly. “I see.”
“I don’t, obviously,” I say quickly. “But I needed him to come to me. It was the only way.”
“No, it wasn’t. If you had spoken with me before you called him, I could have told you of my plan,” he says.
“I won’t let you deal with this for me,” I say stubbornly. “It is my situation to sort out and I have. Just give it time and all of this will be over.”
“This obsession has to end, Aefre,” he states. “The sooner, the better. For us all.”
“Stop calling it an obsession,” I sulk. “She is my daughter, CK.”
“Yes, I am very much aware that you have a child with another man, Aefre. You can stop reminding me every time we speak,” he snaps at me.
I step back, stung that he would speak to me like that about this. “Okay, I get it,” I say stiffly and turn my back to him. “You don’t want me to go for her. It is clear to me now.”