“And Devon?” she asks.
He squints at her. He also told her about that? Fuck’s sake. He is in deeper shit than he first thought. “That had nothing to do with you, per se. Constantine, well, you know how he is about irresponsible sires. He just wanted Devon to become a proper sire to the girl so that he didn’t have a Rogue to deal with, and you know what that means…” He gives her a pointed look. Christ, he just pulled that out of his ass and by her pale face, it worked.
“He would have had to kill Devon,” she mutters.
“He did it to protect you, both,” he drives his point home and she softens. Considerably.
But he still needs to defend himself first and foremost in this moment. “I wanted to stop doing the Cole thing. I asked him to let me off the hook, but he has that way. You know that as well as I do…”
“Yes, I do know,” she says quietly. “I understand about Devon. But what you did to me was…”
“I am sorry about my part in all of this. Forgive me, Livvie, I swear to you I will never, ever use any of my powers on you ever again.”
“Damn straight,” she mutters and sighs. “How can I trust you now? Every time I look at you, I will be wondering if you are spelling me.”
“You can trust me, Liv, because I love you. I won’t hurt you again. Please forgive me,” he begs her.
“How is it that your powers work on me anyway?” she asks suddenly.
“Faerie are strong and as they don’t fall under your rule, you are not immune to their powers,” he says, knowing he is leaving a whole load of information out of that explanation, but she doesn’t need to know it. Not yet, anyway.
“Great,” she says and sits at the dresser.
“Do you forgive me?” he asks, going up behind her, and with a manipulation that he dislikes himself for, places his hand on her shoulder, sending a current through her that she can’t ignore.
She sighs and says, “If I ever find out that you have been violating me again, I will have your head.”
“I know you will, Princess,” he says with a soft smile at her that she returns weakly in the mirror. “You need to rest now.”
She nods wearily and lets him lead her back to the bed. He tucks her in and kisses her forehead. “I will leave you to sleep,” he says to her.
“You’re leaving?” she asks.
“I need to go and see my father. There are things that need discussing now,” he says as he strokes her hair.
She frowns at him and his evasiveness, so he adds, “I will fill you in when I get back.” She is happy with that and without a second thought to what they were originally discussing, she closes her eyes and falls asleep.
Sebastian leaves the bedroom and the two guards posted outside her door bob their heads at him, he returns the courtesy. He can’t decide if they are there for her protection, or as her jailers. He hesitates, as she is completely vulnerable while she sleeps. What if they let someone in to hurt her?
“Kalen,” Aelfric’s voice booms at him from down the corridor. He turns to see his father and Drake stalking towards him. “Kalen, I need to speak to you,” he says.
“Is Aeval resting?” Drake barks at him before he can respond.
It takes him a second to register that he means Liv and he nods. “Yes. She is sleeping. She will be safe?” he asks with a tilt of his head towards the guards.
“Of course,” Drake sneers at him. “She is of the utmost importance to me. To all of us.”
Well, it’s not exactly that he cares about her well-being because he loves her, but he’ll take what he can get.
Aelfric looks at Drake and says, “I need to speak to my son. I will catch up with you later. Now that we have our children in place, there is much to discuss.”
Drake nods back in agreement and Aelfric takes Sebastian by the elbow and steers him away. “There is something you need to know,” he says without preamble. “The prophecy has changed.”
“What do you mean?” he asks. “How can a prophecy change?”
“Well, not so much changed, as amended, then,” Aelfric says in a low voice. “The Dark don’t know about this yet and we won’t be able to keep it quiet forever, but you need to get back in that room and make this baby now before your brother decides to take it upon himself.”
“What?” he asks, dumbfounded. “What the Hell are you talking about?”