He heaves a sigh and vows that he will take this time in the Fae Kingdoms to try and change her mind. Or maybe he should take a card out of the ancient Vampires’ books and start treating her like shit on the bottom of his boot. No, he could never do that. He loves her too much.
He watches her transfer her love to Constantine and it makes his stomach churn, so he looks away. As she takes her baby from Marguerite to cuddle and say goodbye, Constantine gives him a menacing glare.
“You will bring her back in one piece,” he growls.
“There was never any doubt of that,” Vito growls back.
“Touch her and you die,” Constantine snarls.
Vito just gives him a look that tells him that he is going to try no matter what. He has lost all of his fear of this Vampire. Aefre will never let him be hurt, he knows that now. He is under her protection and he revels in it.
“Boys,” Aefre chides them as she hands Arathia to Constantine. “There is no need for a pissing contest. You know I love you.” She directs these words to Constantine, and it makes his heart ache as her husband’s face lights up smugly.
“And I love you. To the ends of the Worlds and back, my sweet,” he says.
“Worlds?” Aefre asks with a chuckle. “My-my, you have upped your game, haven’t you, my love.”
Constantine laughs with her and Vito feels completely excluded. He has no idea what they are talking about and he is sure that Constantine made sure of that.
“Be safe and return swiftly. We need you,” Constantine murmurs to her as he gives her a soft kiss.
He hears Aefre sigh contentedly and she raises her hand to stroke his cheek.
Then she turns and says, “Shall we?”
Vito nods and takes her hands that she is offering.
“What’s wrong?” Vito asks, as she scrunches up her face in disgust.
“I am loath to use my Fae powers,” she admits.
“After this visit, you can never use them again, but we need them now, Aefre. We cannot get there without them and you cannot go there without accepting that you might need to use them to fight,” Vito says.
Constantine growls at his words but he knows that Vito is right. Aefre needs to be aware of what might happen.
She nods stoically and then closes her eyes and, in a swirl, they are then standing in the middle of the Fae forests that divide the Dark Kingdom from the Light.
Chapter 16
The Fae Kingdoms, January 2015 - Aefre
I shudder under the canopy of trees. We are deep in the forest, which is precisely where I wanted us to be. I would rather they know we are coming instead of us just popping up out of nowhere. Vito doesn’t let go of my hands as he looks intently at me.
“Are you okay?” he asks.
“Fine,” I lie, and he knows it.
“I will not leave you,” he says reassuringly.
I nod as I do feel a bit reassured. He is large and intimidating and while both the Dark and Light armies could do us in in an instant, at least I will die with him trying to protect me. What more could a girl ask for?
“Are you okay?” I ask in return.
“Of course,” he says with bluster, but I can tell he is upset at being here. We are about to confront my father for killing our child. That must be affecting him as much as it is affecting me.
I squeeze his hands and he looks down at me with a soft look. It makes my stomach flutter and my heart to beat faster. He opens his mouth to say something, but I can’t hear it. I know exactly what he is going to say: that we should try again.
I can’t hear it because I want that too, in this moment, it’s all I can think about. It’s this place. CK would never forgive me and that is something that I really and truly mean this time. There is nothing on any Earth that would make him understand and he would walk away, probably taking my daughter with him.