“Oh?” he asks.
“It is imperative this remains a secret, ‘Bastian. I know you have your reasons for keeping it, but I have my own and she has made it quite clear that if it gets out, I will never see her again.”
“What? She wouldn’t do that,” he says, but with a strange look on his face.
“Oh, I believe her when she says it. She has left it to me to decide when. I would prefer it out of the way, so first thing Tuesdays is when you will have her.”
“Out of the way?” Sebastian asks. “You m
ake it sound like it is something nasty.”
“Well, it isn’t pleasant for me,” CK snaps and Sebastian looks away. “Two hours in your room. Not a second longer and nowhere else in the castle. You will follow us here and then leave afterwards. Understood?”
“This is turning into rather a chore,” he grumbles.
“This or nothing,” CK says with finality.
“Done,” he says straightaway.
“And one more thing. It is your responsibility to make sure she is fully fed up on human blood before she returns to me, just as I gave her to you.”
“Meaning?” Sebastian asks.
“Meaning, freshly showered and not smelling like you,” he says through gritted teeth.
“Oh.” Sebastian looks somewhat embarrassed by that. “What about the other thing?”
“The spelling?” CK asks and continues at Sebastian’s nod. “You will do it. At the end so it doesn’t ruin your time with her. And you will push her hard. I am sick of waiting now,” he says as he turns to stare out of the window. “And you will get that boy to focus on that fucking girl if it kills you! Any questions?”
“Not so much a question as something you need to know,” Sebastian says idly.
CK turns to face him and asks. “What is that then?”
“As it turns out, we do belong together. She is my Faerie soul mate.”
I awake suddenly, sweating. What was that about? It makes sense I would dream of CK talking to Sebastian about the ground rules, but there is no way that Sebastian would betray me like that. Would he?
“Ah, you remember it, don’t you?” Lance says from the corner.
I hadn’t even noticed he was hovering there until he spoke. “I have no idea what you are talking about,” I say, checking quickly on Cole, before sidling carefully out of bed, pulling on some comfy arse-kicking clothes as I do so. Here is my chance to get rid of this thing once and for all. I bump into the force field and it flings me across the room. I land painfully, yet silently, on the floor, not wanting to wake Cole up. Gods, that thing is fierce. He wags his finger at me in a reprimand as I rub my head.
“The vision, Aefre,” he says in exasperation. “Do you know how many I have given you, to show you that your sire can’t be trusted? That you are making a mistake? I am trying to help you.”
“You are talking bullshit. And why would you want to help me?” I say as I edge closer to the force field, closer to him.
“You think it is just a dream. Pretty vivid for a dream though, wouldn’t you say?”
“Well, never let it be said that you weren’t damn good at creating dream worlds,” I sneer at him.
He laughs quietly. “Well, you have me there. However, I can assure you, this had nothing to do with me. I just showed you the truth. I want him destroyed as much as I do you.”
“Truth? From you?” I scoff. “Tell me another one. What has he ever done to you?”
“I’m glad you’re back from your adventures. I was most disappointed to find you gone the other day.” He changes the subject. “That other you took great delight in fucking your husband.”
“You don’t tell me anything I don’t already know,” I say even as the hurt stabs at me.
“Question is…did you take great delight in fucking hers?”