“Go and get yourself cleaned up,” I mutter to CK, who is still sulking and turn to Cole to say… something to him. I have no idea what though. Luckily, I am saved by the prodigal charge that has turned up on the edge of the garden and is staring at the three of us silently.
“Cade,” I breathe and make a headlong run at him.
“Liv,” Cole calls to me, but I ignore him.
“You’re back!” I say as I rush towards Cade and stop in front of him. I want to give him a hug, but he is not all that pleased to see me. I sigh. So, nothing has changed then. He is still deeply upset with me over what I did.
“For now,” he says and turns from me.
“Cade,” I say desperately, needing him to talk to me. But he ignores me and walks away. He is slow and sluggish, and it rips at me knowing what he is doing to himself by being away from me. It is also clear from his sunken features he is not feeding properly. “Cade,” I say again, more forcefully, but I might as well be talking to myself.
“Liv,” Cole says as he joins me staring after Cade. “Don’t push him.”
“I have to do something, Cole. He is sliding badly,” I say as he takes me in his arms.
“I know, but you can’t force him. He will decide for himself if he wants to get better or worse.”
I choke back a sob as Cole spells it out in black and white for me. I am just glad that he is at least here. Close enough that I can start to make him stronger, just by being near enough to him.
I let Cole take me back inside, where suddenly the house is teeming with people. Devon and Jess are back, and I couldn’t be happier to see him. I take him in my arms and I never want to let him go. I have missed him so much and tell him so.
“We need to talk,” he murmurs to me, looking somewhere between pleased and sad, but I don’t get much time to ponder on it because Lincoln, who is a day late, picks me up and twirls me around. He has been in L.A. with our Pack these last few weeks and I have missed him terribly too. I let him know exactly how much by dropping my blocks for a few moments, and we share a private moment as he holds me close. As if sensing the family reunion, Xane also Astraports in, much to Cole’s irritation.
“Xerxei,” he says to me as he gallantly takes my hand and kisses it. “We need to have a conversation, and soon,” he adds with a pointed look. I nod grimly. I think I know what he wants to discuss, but I just can’t give it to him. Cole would never accept it if I formally tied myself to Xane and renounced my Vampires and, well, now that CK also has a say over these matters, it will happen over his dead body. Which, as he is practically indestructible, means never. I usher everyone into the billiards room, with a smile at Jess. She doesn’t look very happy to be home, but then I suppose she has had a nice vacation and now she must get back to work. Lucky for me. These last few weeks with her gone has made me appreciate just what it is she does around here.
“Now that you are all here, we have much to discuss,” I say, and everyone quiets down. “We are a bit late in having this meeting, but I hope that you have all had a think about what we discussed in Vegas and have some ideas about us moving on.”
I look at each of them in turn and nope, no takers. Didn’t think there would be. Well, that should make this even easier then.
“Very well,” I say. “Seeing as no one else has bothered to think about this, we have an idea.”
“We?” Devon asks. He is standing a little way from me with his arms crossed, looking a bit shifty. Interesting.
“Yes, my husbands and I,” I state with a small smile at CK, who grins back at me.
There is a shocked silence as everyone takes that in and then I get the rush of everyone’s feelings about this and they are not happy for a variety of their own reasons. I knew it would be taken badly which is why I chose not to make an announcement out of it as such, rather, just kind of let it drift into the conversation.
“Husbands?” Devon spits out with more venom than I have heard from him in a good long while. But he isn’t looking at me. He is looking at Cole with a look so furious, I think he is about to explode.
“Yes, husbands,” CK says, pulling me closer to him. Devon’s face goes even more thunderous, if that is possible, and I carry on with my speech before anything more can be said about this subject.
“Our idea is that we move to the Underworld. We can function as we are, nothing has to change, and I feel that I need to be there to exert my Power and authority.”
“Agreed,” Xane says straight away, as I knew he would, seeing he already knew this was my plan. I also know what Cole’s face will look like, so I don’t bother confirming it. I smile at him and his support.
“The decision, as I said before, has to be unanimous, so votes, please,” I say, even though I have every intention of seeing this through whether everyone likes it or not. “Devon?” I start with my oldest charge who is still looking murderously between Cole and CK.
“Agreed,” he growls.
I note with interest that Jess is looking quite murderous herself now. Whatever has happened between the two of them these last couple of weeks, she clearly expected to be consulted. Her sire has made the decision for her. I am partly to blame for that, as I am still trying to get used to him having a tagalong, I forget sometimes.
“Agreed,” Jess says anyway, as she has no choice.
“Agreed,” Lincoln says. “Although, how easy is it to get to and from?”
“Easy enough,” I reassure him with a smile.
That only leaves Cade. He is slumped in a chair in the furthest corner away from me, staring intently at nothing. We all turn to look at him and it takes him a moment to realize we are waiting for him and he looks up.