by Eve Newton
Chapter 24
Sunday rolls around after a very long Saturday night. I refuse to see anyone, and Cole is happy to turn everyone away. I can’t stop thinking about what he has asked me to do. What he wants to do. It’s unthinkable. But then I must remember what I was like, and Devon, and most especially CK. We were all killers. It was what we were. Just because we, or at least I – I couldn’t say for sure about the other three, has evolved doesn’t mean that Cole should or can even. He is so much younger than the rest of us, I forget. I always forget. I heave a big sigh as the door goes again.
“What is it?” I snap at CK, who is standing there leaning casually against the door frame as he often does. He knows it makes him look sexy as fuck.
“I thought we were going to see Ahmed and Corinne?” he queries.
“I still want to go on my own.”
“Sorry, my sweet. Not going to happen.” He peers at me closely. “Something is amiss? Did you have another encounter? I told you to tell me if It showed back up.”
“No. He didn’t come back. It’s...nothing.”
“Tell me, my love. You are upset.” He takes my hand and I want nothing more than to fall weeping into his arms and for him to tell me it will be fine and that he will fix the problem.
“I am okay,” I say instead. I turn and walk into the sitting room and he follows, knowing I am lying but leaves it as Cole comes over to kiss me goodbye.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to come with?”
“No, I need to speak to Corinne alone. I will hurry back though. Don’t do anything about that thing we talked about yesterday while I am gone, promise?”
“I promise. I said I would give you some time.”
CK is watching this exchange with interest and I have no doubt in my mind he knows exactly what we are talking about as he takes my hand and looks at me knowingly.
I nod at Cole and close my eyes, picturing myself back in Corinne’s study. I open my eyes as CK squeezes my hand and we have arrived at our destination. Although, the room is empty.
“I wondered how long it would take. I will take him. You shouldn’t have to be a part of it if it upsets you,” he says quietly.
I stay silent, not wanting to discuss it, but also shocked that he offered. I know he isn’t Cole’s biggest fan, but there again it probably has more to do with his Vampire side than his personal one.
“You know he has the urge. We all do. He has done remarkably well to control it all these months,” he adds.
I shrug, still not wanting to talk about it.
“I will take him,” he squeezes my hand again.
“Thank you, but it isn’t your responsibility. It is mine.”
“My responsibility is to you. To help you.”
“I always forget how much younger he is than me,” I say sadly.
“As I did with you,” he says just as sadly.
“Do you still…go out?” I ask hesitantly.
He ponders whether to answer that and it tells me everything I need to know.
“Oh,” I say and turn from him. He pulls me back.
“My love. You are probably the only one who doesn’t. Even your boy goes out.” He uses my words to sugar coat it.
“Devon? How do you know?” What about the things he said about not killing Jess’s mother and that guy? “Are you saying he still…kills?” I gulp.
“You would have to ask him that. All I know is that he doesn’t want you to know. He thinks you will be disappointed in him.”
Oh, crap on toast. When did I, suddenly, become so pious and judgy, after all the things I have done in the past?
Fortunately, Ahmed and Corinne enter the room then with epic timing, so I don’t have to continue this conversation.
“Aefre, Constantine. How wonderful to see you both,” Ahmed says in his usual polite way as Corinne bobs her head at us.
“Nice to see you too,” I say. “I hope that you have something for me.” I really hope they do, as I am loathed to go back to that woman and take her up on her deal.
“Ahmed, perhaps we can leave the two ladies to talk while we have a catch up,” CK says. “It has been too long, my friend.”
Ahmed chuckles. “Yes, I suppose it has. Come then. Ladies.” He bows at us and they leave us alone.
“Did you learn anything?” I ask.
“Perhaps,” she says vaguely.
Gee, so forthcoming.
“Aefre,” she says. “Ahmed told me you were asking about your father the other day.”
“Yes. Do you know anything about that?” I ask, surprised that this takes precedence over my Thirteen issue.
“No. I wondered as to your reasons for asking?”
“Erm, because I would like to know obviously. I mean who is he? Is he still around? Does he know about me? That kind of thing.”
“Your mother is…um…don’t go asking Her. Just try to forget about it,” she stammers.
Oh, she knows something and like hell am I going to forget it. Especially now. I will ask Tiamat the next time I see Her.
I shrug noncommittally and she grimaces, knowing I am not going to drop it. Why the big secret? Unless it is someone I know? Would have to be someone older than me but that is a lot of possibilities.
“As for The Thirteen, all we have managed to dig up is that he was born under a cursed moon, according to the lore. He was a powerful Demon, that wanted to take over The Underworld, but your mother wouldn’t allow that and that is why she killed him. We also found out that in order to get to the real sword there will be some sort of trial,” she says hastily. “And we can tell you that the rest of the sword is in the Spirit Realms.” A frown appears on her pretty face and she wrinkles her nose and adds, “For some reason there is very little on this creature. Almost like the record was wiped clean after his demise.”
I ponder that for a moment, and it does sound like no one can come up with much on him. “What kind of trial? Everyone keeps mentioning it and yet not saying what? How do I get to the Spirit Realms?”
She shakes her head. “We don’t know and there is only one way to get there.”
“Which is? Oh... to die.”
“Yes.”
“So then how come he gets to come here?”
“The rules must be different over there.”
“Or he is just that powerful,” I mutter.
“No, you can defeat this, Aefre.”
“I know. My other self did it so, I am sure I can too. If I only knew how.”
“Your other self?” she asks, confused.
I launch into our tale of time travel and she looks askance.
“Your Majesty, that is dangerous and something I did not think possible.”
“That makes two of us. However, it happened and the ‘me’ from the other timeline or whatever you want to call it told me she defeated him centuries ago.”
“Centuries ago? How is that possible?” Corinne asks with a frown before understanding dawns. “She has been Queen longer, since…?” she asks.
“1506, Devon,” I say.
“Oh, my.” She puts her hand to her heart and sits suddenly.
“I know. And what a bitch.”
“She is not very nice?”
“That is putting it mildly,” I state.
“I wonder…” she says, but then stops as I look at her with interest.
“Wonder what?” I press.
“I wonder if there are others?”
“Others?” I furrow my brow.
“I think she means a ‘you’ that was turned correctly by ‘me’, as it should have been all along,” CK says from the doorway with a look I can’t quite place.
“You mean another world? No, that can’t be. And besides which, we are getting off topic. The other me said she defeated The Thirteen, so I want to know how,” I say.
“When did she say that?” CK asks.
“When I asked her about it?” I say absently.
“And that would be in all of the two minutes
you saw her on board your jet?” he says now with a hint of realization. Oh, crap! Where is my muzzle?
“No, that would be yesterday when I went to the alternate universe,” I say, in for a penny and all that now.
“Aefre!” he bellows at me. “What have you done?”
“Erm, we shall leave you two to talk,” Corinne says and deftly reaches out for Ahmed to pull him behind her and out of the line of fire. I wonder vaguely which one of us, specifically, she is more afraid of.
He looks in pain as he says bitterly, “I am sure I don’t need to ask why you went. Did you find him? Did you make plans for you to bring him here?”
“I did go to see if Fraser was there. Alive. I didn’t see him; I ran into her instead and we spoke of things.”
“What things?” he croaks.
“Where he was, what he was like, and The Thirteen,” I say, looking away.
“And?”
“She said he was in Scotland and that he was a monster. To leave well enough alone. Happy?” I snap at him, tears pricking my eyes.
“What did she say about The Thirteen, Aefre?” he says through gritted teeth, ignoring my outburst.
“That she defeated him centuries ago.”
“She didn’t say how?”
“No, she offered the information in exchange for my help.”
“With what?” he steps closer and takes my hand, knowing that I am hurting but also knowing he is unable to offer me anything more than that small gesture.
I grip his fingers tightly and he smiles as I step even closer to him. “With you. Or at least the other you. She wants him to love her.”
“He doesn’t already?” he asks, surprised.
“She says he hates her. I can’t say that I am shocked. Mean cow.”
“No, he doesn’t hate her. I saw the way he looked at her. He does love her, but he doesn’t like her or what she has become.”
“Maybe. I think she has always been like this.”
“What makes you say that?”
“Something she said about Lance,” I whisper his name.
“What about him?”
“She said they were involved. That they were in love.”
“What?” he asks. “How is that possible?
“She insinuated that it was because he wasn’t jealous of her. Which means other you didn’t stop him from being with her,” I say quietly, and he blanches.
“I can’t imagine a world in which I would let that happen,” he says fiercely.
And yet.
“She lies. To unnerve you,” he adds.
“No, she offered up the information. She assumed that our relationship was the same. But the point is, she said that The Thirteen had no power over her. Which led to our conversation on Lance and that makes me think that she has always been a vicious bitch as she has no fear. Nothing to fear and nothing to have loved enough and lost.”
“You think that your emotions are what is causing it to be so effective in manipulating you?” he asks.
“Yes. He has only ever appeared as Lance, the man I feared for so long and Fraser, the man I have loved and lost, and which broke my heart. There are a million other people he could choose but none of them would bother me. Even Radulf. In fact, I wish he would be Radulf, it would be more effective as all I would want to do is kick his arse,” I add with a small smile.
“I see,” he says stiffly. “Then you need to get over this.”
I step back from him. “Get over it?”
“Yes. Lance is dead. You killed him and watched him disintegrate to nothing. You know he can’t hurt you. And you need to go and see other Fraser. If he is the opposite of what he was as a human, you should go and see what would have happened to him had you turned yours. You will then maybe realize that he was better off.”
“Better off? Better off dying at the age of twenty-six because of some vendetta against me?” I am shaking, I am so furious with him right now.
“Aefre, you know that isn’t what I meant,” he says softly.
“No, what you mean is you are better off,” I say nastily, and he flinches.
“Aefre, you aren’t being very fair.”
“Like you are? You are supposed to be supportive.”
“I am being. Or I am trying to be. But again, we digress. Go back to what you were saying about her wanting your help. What exactly does she want you to do?”
I accept the change in subject as I don’t like fighting with him. “She is delusional. She wanted me to pretend to be her to make him fall in love with her.”
“What?” he asks in disbelief. “Does she honestly think I would fall for that? I mean other me?” he corrects.
“She says as long as I sweep him off his feet and he falls in love, it won’t matter when we switch back.”
“Well, I have no doubt you could do it, but I don’t think you should be going over there. You have too many commitments here and problems of your own to deal with.”
“I know, but she can help.” I sigh. “I just don’t know what to do.” I turn towards the windows and he wraps his arms around me. I lean back into him and feel comforted. He runs his hands lightly over my stomach and I smile.
“You know it is too soon for us, right?”
“I know,” he sighs. “I just wish it were so and then we could be together.”
“Ahem,” Ahmed clears his throat from behind us. “Have you managed to sort out your issues?”
CK turns with me still in his arms, hands resting on my belly. “I think so. Is there nothing at all you can add about this thing?”
“Except what his plans were, why he was killed and where the sword is? No, I’m afraid not,” Corinne sighs.
“Where is the sword?” CK asks.
“The Spirit Realm,” I say. “I can’t get to it without dying first,” I joke weakly.
“Not funny,” CK says to me with a sidelong glance.
I shrug.
“We will keep looking and trying to figure out a way to get you there safely and back safely,” Corinne says. I get the feeling she is not telling me something and stare at her until she looks away. Definitely guilty.
“What do you know?” I ask her. “Is it to do with my father?”
I sense CK’s eyes on me, but I ignore him in favor of glaring at Corinne.
“No, Your Majesty,” she says innocently but I am not buying it.
“Fine. Please do come and find me if you learn anything new. About anything.”
“Of course,” she says, and Ahmed avoids my gaze. This is getting annoying now.
I take CK’s hand and relocate us back to Toronto where Cole and Cade are waiting for us.
“Your father?” CK snaps at me. “Why didn’t you tell me you were looking?”
“Father?” Cole and Cade ask in unison, just as surprised.
“I only thought about it on Friday and they said they didn’t know, but I can tell they are hiding something.”
“Hm, it is interesting that Tiamat never mentioned it,” CK says thoughtfully. “I wonder who it could be?”
“Yeah, you and me both. I am starting to wonder if I don’t really want to know. Everyone seems so cagey about it. What if it is something so horrifying it will give me nightmares?”
“What, like The Thirteen?” Cole asks and both CK and I look at him.
“Holy shit!” I shriek. “What if it is? What if he was Her lover? Makes sense, why She would get so mad with him she killed him.”
I get two affronted looks at that comment and flush somewhat. “Sorry,” I mumble.
“Yes, well, I think Cole may have a point. I can’t see any other reason why they wouldn’t tell you or want you asking questions about it,” CK says.
“But why would he want to hurt you if he is your father?” Cade asks a damn good question.
“I don’t know. Maybe he doesn’t know?” Cole says.
“Or maybe he does and doesn’t care. He is evil, after all. What difference does it make whether I am family?”
We all ponder that morosely for a few minutes.
“We are jumping ahead of ourselves here,” Cade says, breaking the silence. “It seems unlikely to be The Thirteen, because the timeline doesn’t track. But it must be somebody. It is worth looking into some more, if you want us to?”
“Or, I could just go to the Dragon Realms and ask Tiamat,” I say.
“Ask Tiamat what?” Sebastian asks, joining the party – uninvited.
“Boundaries, people!” I snap at them. “All this willy nilly barging into everyone’s rooms is disturbing.”
“Yes, what if Liv and I had been fucking?” Cole asks, crossing his arms.
“Then I’d have joined in,” Sebastian says with a shrug to which Cole nearly punches him. But he did kinda walk into that one. “So, ask Her what?” he presses.
“None of your business,” I say as CK says, “Who her father is.”
“Do you mind? I don’t want the whole world knowing my business.”
“I wouldn’t call Sebastian the whole world, my sweet. Besides which, we don’t keep secrets.”
“Humph, except your own,” I mutter and then look up at him sharply. No secrets? He looks away innocently, but I resolve to ask him about that later.
“Father? Can’t say I even thought about it?” Sebastian remarks.
“Well, why would you?” Cole snaps. “It’s nothing to do with you.”
“She is my sibling and my Queen,” Sebastian says haughtily. “It is everything to do with me.”
Is it? I think with a slightly raised brow. Getting a bit protective there, Princie.
“Look. Let’s just forget about this for now and next time I see Tiamat, I will ask Her straight up. Everybody just stand down now. The most important thing now is to find a way to get this bloody sword out of the Spirit Realm so I can get rid of this thing.”
“Can you not just Astral there?” Cole asks.
“Corinne says no. She says the only way there is by dying. I need Xane, can someone please go find him?” There are unsurprisingly no takers to that request but as it happens when I beckon, he comes, as he is there in a swirl, or shimmer, or whatever, it is he does.
“You rang, my love?” he says with a slight bow.
“Very funny. Tell me later how you did that? Right now, what can you tell me about the Spirit Realm?”