Prologue
Buckinghamshire, England, December 2013 – Other Liv & Other Devon
“So, what exactly are we doing here?” Devon asked her and she glared at him to shut up. She peered out of the woods and at the house. It looked completely deserted. She hoped it was. After that bitch discovered her with her darling charge, she was flaming mad and that was what had brought Liv to this World. She needed to know what this Liv meant by saying that the magick she was wielding was from her father. She didn’t know who her father was. Her mother never told her before she died, and no one had come to claim her. Not that she was concerned. She’d never even really thought about it, thinking that if whoever it was couldn’t be bothered with her, then she wasn’t going to be bothered with them. It suited her just fine. But it seemed that Daddy was a powerful son-of-a-bitch and she needed to know who he was. She wanted the magick that this Liv had.
“I want to know what she is,” Liv said to her husband.
“How do you know she wasn’t lying?” Devon asked her. “Maybe she just found a way to combine her Dragon and Demon Powers together to form something new?”
“Hm,” she said and pondered that for a moment, but then dismissed it. “No, it’s new. Something I haven’t felt before. I don’t know what it could be.”
“And you expect to find answers in the house?” he asked.
“Maybe,” she said and shrugged.
“Why did you bring me?” he asked her suddenly.
She looked at him in amazement. She didn’t understand why he was still so needy all the time. “Because you are my husband,” she said. Actually, she had an ulterior motive. If this Liv was hanging around, she was hoping her Devon would distract her for a few moments while she did some snooping. He’d told her of their conversation outside Fraser’s room and while she was beyond pissed that woman dared to tell her husband to find a little plaything, it was interesting how she seemed to care for him.
She Astralled them to the terrace and she peered hesitantly inside. She felt foolish for being so cautious, but she did not want another ass-kicking like she’d got before and certainly not in front of one of her people. It was bad enough that all of this World had a front row seat.
The library was empty, and not just of people, but of all of its furniture and books. Did they move?
She turned the handle and the door opened so she entered with Devon hot on her heels.
“Do they not live here anymore?” he asked, looking around.
She shrugged as she wasn’t sure herself. “Let’s have a look,” she said. They had a slight wander around the library, but unfortunately there was nothing left in there, so they went upstairs. There was still some furniture about, but it was dusty. She pushed open the door to this Liv’s bedroom and walked inside. The bed was missing, but everything else was still there.
Good. Now she could perhaps have a bit of a root around. She started pulling open drawers and cupboards and rifling through all the things she came across. Devon opened the closets, but they were empty.
Liv huffed in frustration. She didn’t know what she expected to find, but there was nothing there that was useful.
“What now?” Devon asked her as she hoisted herself up on the chest of drawers.
“Where did they all go?” she asked instead.
Devon came across to stand in front of her and she opened her legs for him. He stepped in between and she got a wicked glint in her eye.
“Here?” he asked her in surprise.
“Why not,” she replied, and, on a whim, she Shifted to Elizabeth.
His eyes lit up as he took her in. She rarely Shifted for him anymore and it caused a reaction in him that he hadn’t felt for a long, long time.
Passion.
She saw it spark through him and it surprised her. One of the reasons she started screwing this World’s Devon was because he was so hot and passionate and everything, she wanted her own Devon to be again. Who knew all it would take was a little effort on her behalf?
She wrapped her legs around him and his hand went up her leather skirt instantly, feeling for her. He let out a little moan when he found her wet and inviting and she fumbled with his pants to get him free. He cupped her ass and dragged her closer to him, impaling her on his stiff cock and she cried out. He was rock hard, and he hit the spot dead-on. Sex with her husband had turned into a bit of a chore over the last century or so, but this was something else. She felt what they once had as he beat into her, causing her to come in a sudden wave.
“Oh, fuck yes,” he murmured as he took her face in his hands. He made her look him in the eye as he slammed her against the drawers, and she liked what she saw there: fire and life. Two things she never thought she would see again. A small, black worm started to crawl through her as something stirred inside of her. She didn’t recognize it at first, but then it became apparent. She hadn’t felt this in centuries. Long before she turned Devon and became Queen, long before she cut a swath across the continent with her first love, Lance, even before her sire turned her. The feeling grew as she watched her husband’s eyes go dark as he exploded inside of her and he clamped down on her neck to feed from her. He was still a ramrod inside her and she wiggled so she could come again all over him. He bit harder as he felt her and pulled back, her blood covering his mouth. He hadn’t bitten her in so long and suddenly she needed it. She needed him this way. She knew now it was her that ruined him. All the people from this World told her it was her that did it and they were right. But she couldn’t ever admit it. She pushed him away and Shifted back. His eyes closed briefly and when they opened, she saw the cold, dead look she had become used to. The feeling was rife in her now and it made her nauseous. She had to get away from him and this feeling. She swallowed as she thought of the word and it coated her insides like black oil. A word so foreign to her it would make her choke if she tried to say it out loud. But it was a word she knew she had to face if she was ever going to get her husband back.
Guilt.
Chapter 1
The Underworld, January 2014 – Cole