Once again, I find us all sharing the bed as I snuggle into her sire with Sebastian at my back tracing small blazing circles on my thigh as I fall asleep in their arms.
Chapter 4
“Liv, sweetie. Wake up.” I hear Cole. Oh, I must be dreaming. Cole isn’t here in this world. Or at least not with me. “Liv. Please, baby. Wake up,” he says now a bit desperately.
I frown and open my eyes and stare straight into the worried, deep-blue eyes of my husband. My actual, thank-fuck-for-that, husband. She did it! She switched us back!
“Cole!” I sit up and pull him to me in a death grip, kissing him.
“Christ, Lizzie. You had us worried there for a minute,” Devon says.
I pull away from Cole and stare at him.
“Oh, Dev.” I launch myself at him, hovering near the end of the bed, tripping over the long satin nightgown I am wearing and falling into his arms, I crush him to me. “I never thought I would see you again,” I say, the tears flowing down my face as I kiss him on his startled self. “I thought I had lost you.”
“Erm, Lizzie. Are you okay? What are you talking about? You will never lose me,” he says softly, taking my fac
e in his hands and wiping my tears away.
“I…err…you didn’t know? She didn’t say?” I ask hesitantly.
“Who say what?” Devon asks.
“I knew,” Constantine says quietly. “I knew it wasn’t you.”
“What do you mean, wasn’t you?” Devon says and Cole repeats.
“Oh,” I say as I see the horror on their faces. “You didn’t know.” I sit back and feel incredibly sorry for myself even though I have been a terribly bad girl myself. “You didn’t know.”
“I knew,” CK says again loudly. “I knew it wasn’t you and confronted her. She was the ‘you’ from the Other world when I made…”
“… me Queen,” I say. "You knew?” I ask him.
“Of course,” he says smugly. “I know you, Aefre, and she definitely was not you.”
“Oh. You didn’t think to mention it to anyone else?” I say but then without waiting for an answer, I continue, “Seems you are the only one out of the whole lot who knew.”
“He didn’t know?” he asks with a frown.
“No, I think he thought I had gone mad. How did you not know it wasn’t me?” I yell at Cole, who looks mortified.
“I knew something was different, but I felt our bond. I felt it as strong as it is now. How long have you not been you?”
“Since Monday,” I say, eyes going to Sebastian lounging in the doorway and his face drops as he listens and straightens up. Oh, crap. She did. She slept with him. That stupid, stupid, bitch.
“Since Monday?” he croaks and I nod, my heart full of sorrow for him.
“Monday?” Cole says. “Oh, no, no,” he says, shaking his head.
I sigh. “You slept with her,” I say in front of everyone and I don’t really give a damn.
“I…oh…I… Liv…” he stammers desperately.
“Forget it, I know she felt a bond with you like you did with her,” I say despondently. “I felt it over there. We switched essences but it seems our bodies are the source of our connections.” I curl my knees up to my chest. I was bad, bad, bad, but his betrayal hurts me anyway. Such a hypocrite, I know.
Everyone is deathly silent, and Sebastian is staring at me like he wants to throttle me.
“Please, can I have some time alone with Cole and Devon?” I ask. “I need my boys. You weren’t there,” I say desperately. “You weren’t there, and it nearly killed me.”