He coerced me into complying with his request. He made me beg him and I feel sick to my stomach about it.
“Are you sure you are okay?” CK asks me again and I nod wearily.
“I’m fine, my love. It is just taking getting used to. I feel a bit disorientated, that’s all,” I lie.
“We will find a way to fix this, Aefre. I promise you. We will find a way to get your Dragon back. And your Vampire while we are at it. I just can’t bear to see you in such pain,” he says.
I would love to get my Vampire back. I was doing all right without it. Yeah, it was hard losing Cole and my sire, and Devon and even Jess, but I managed to contain the conflict in my mind, and I was moving on.
Now, I want it back so badly it brings tears to my eyes. I was fooling myself to think I could live my life without it. Like it or not, she was the dominant force, the one that made me who I am and allowed me access to my other Powers. I can still feel CK’s bite on my neck and I wish with everything that I could bite him back. I know he misses the intimacy of the act–not that he would ever admit that to anyone.
Sex is sex for him. He can have it with whomever he chooses, but biting has always been reserved for me. And later I found out about Sebastian. The only two people he can love.
“Three,” I mutter as my eyes close.
“I’ll get them,” CK whispers to me, thinking I meant my candles. But no, I meant there are now three people he can love.
His child.
Our child.
I wake up refreshed and resolved and I know exactly what I have to do. It is so clear to me; it is like I have already lived it.
I get showered and dressed–manually to my utmost frustration–and go to find Delinda before I head out for the day. I can’t wait until all of this is over so I can finally spend some real time with my daughter.
I am incensed to discover that Sebastian has already called for her while I was sleeping. He just came and took her away without even bothering to ask me. It doesn’t escape my attention for even a moment that he is her father now. He can take her away from me if he wants to. It depresses me even more and makes me even more convinced that what I have to do is the right thing.
My second port of call is the Underworld. I need to see Xane and find out if Xanthe is telling the truth about the baby.
Cursing my lack of Dragon Power, which makes this such a tedious task, I have enough Faerie juice to get me to the Faerie Ring on this side, and back to Earth through the Ring, and then I can get myself to the Underworld. There is no way I could have puffported straight to the Underworld from the D.F.K. as it likely would have killed me. As Earth and the Underworld exist in the same Realm, it isn’t quite so taxing.
“Hey,” I say as I land right next to Xane and he jumps out of his skin.
“Fuck!” he says. “Xerxei!” He crushes me to him for a brief moment before he lets out a curse so profane and Astraports me into a different room.
“What are you doing?” I ask him as he grips my arms so tightly, he is hurting me.
“You shouldn’t be here,” he says, looking pained.
“Well, moving me to a different room is hardly going to stop Tiamat from sensing me,” I say with a small smile.
“No,” he says, shaking his head. “Shit!” He lets go of me and paces over to the other side of his bedroom. I had landed next to him while he was peering at Xander, who was sleeping.
“Xane?” I ask. “What is going on?”
“You need to leave before it can get fixed,” he mutters.
“Before what can get fixed?” I ask, getting annoyed now. “What are you talking about?”
“Nothing,” he says to my ire. “I have missed you.” He gathers me to him and kisses me deeply and I kiss him back. It feels completely different and I pull away with a frown. Something is very off here. Our bond has completely disintegrated. It was so strong only a few days ago and now…
“Xane,” I say and grab his wrist.
His marking has disappeared, but I know mine hasn’t. It is still on my shoulder, even more pronounced now by the lack of Dragon on my back.
“Xerxei, wait,” he says desperately as I step back and turn towards the door. There is a force pulling me into the corridor and away from my Demon husband.
“Xerxei!” Xane calls after me, but I start running. I push open the door of the room I landed in and stare at Xander. I make my way over to the bed and pick up his arm to examine his wrist. I feel the connection like a train hitting me and I gasp as I see the marking. I drop his arm as Xane rushes into the room with Xanthe hot on his heels.