by Eve Newton
Yeah, no kidding.
“It needs to be fixed. This switch that occurred has messed up everything.”
“What do you mean?”
“Cole is meant to be by your side, as your husband. There is an important role for him in all of this and it is at your side,” She says.
“Well, that is just unfortunate because your daughter now belongs to me,” CK says boldly and I purse my lips at him. I do not belong to anybody.
“No, she does not,” Tiamat says. “Not yet. Cole is her destiny and he needs to come back and forget about what happened.”
“That isn’t going to happen,” CK says, stepping closer to Her. “He left her and now she is mine.”
“Wait, I don’t understand. What are you saying? You can make him forget what I did and come home?” I ask hopefully, to the baleful glare of my sire.
“Not exactly,” She says. “You have to go back in time and undo the mistake.”
“How? I can go to the past, but I can’t relive it. I don’t have that kind of Power.”
“I do,” She says and we all gape at Her.
“Aefre,” CK says quietly. “It is our turn now. He gave you up. You are mine.”
I shift my gaze from my mother to him.
He shakes his head as he must see what is written all over my face. “No, don’t do this. Do not choose him over me again. I thought it was what you wanted? To be my wife.”
“It is, but as I told you in Vegas, I am not ready to give him up yet. I can’t. If there is a chance, I can get him back…I have to take it.”
“You have no choice,” Tiamat interrupts. “The path to the future has been badly pushed off course and it needs to be fixed. All of this jumping from one world to another is unnatural and is not supposed to happen. You cannot allow it to happen again, Aefre. I get one chance at this and you cannot mess it up again.”
“If you have the Power to take us back to the past, why have you not used it before?” I ask suddenly. “All of this time, there has been one screw up after another. Why have you not used it before?”
“I told you there is one chance. I will suffer the consequences and will have debts to repay. I have let nature take its course in the past, waiting for the last minute, and it all worked out in the end. I have been prepared on many occasions to use it, but I have never needed to as things always came right. But not this time. He won’t forgive you and he won’t come back,” She says quietly. “Not even because he has to.”
“What? How do you know that?” I say, the tears welling up as the hurt from Her words stabs my heart.
“I just do. This is the only way, my daughter. You cannot make the same mistake again. Do you hear me?”
I nod and ask, “But how will I know not to tell him again?”
“Only you will remember what has happened before. Everyone else will be none the wiser,” She says this with a quick glance at Sebastian before She shifts Her gaze back to me.
“Only me,” I repeat. “What about the rest of the world? Won’t they be affected by it?”
She sneers. “Humans are predictable, they will go about things exactly as they did yesterday. One, maybe two, will make a different decision, but they aren’t my concern. You are.”
I gulp at that. What if this messes with some innocent’s life? All so I can get Cole back? Is it worth that kind of risk?
“Do not let that bother you, ValamAtrux,” She says sternly. “They are not your concern either.”
“Only I will remember?” I ask again.
“Yes,” She confirms.
“So, hang on a minute,” Devon interjects. “Are you saying that you are going to make us all forget what happened, so that Liv is going to end up lying to all of us?”
She focuses Her intense gaze on him, and he looks like he wishes he hadn’t opened his mouth.
“Time will go back, you will not remember anything,” She says. “It is the only way.”
“The only way?” CK asks. “No, whatever role you say Cole has to play in all of this, he can do as her charge. She is not going back in time to get him back. I won’t allow it.”
“You don’t have a choice, it isn’t up to you,” She says, glaring at him. Smitten or not, She won’t be denied, clearly. “He was Chosen by me for a reason.”
Chosen? He was Chosen by Her? I just thought I met him at the right time.
He turns to me with a woeful look. “Don’t do this, Aefre. We belong together. It is our time.”
“You will get your turn,” Tiamat says to him, as if I am some kind of toy to be passed around and played with. “It just isn’t now.” She stands in front of me. “I cannot take you back further than the shift, but you can go back to a few minutes before you told him. Do not make the same mistake,” She enunciates the last sentence with a menacing glare, and I quake. Xane grips my hand tighter, reassuringly, and I feel marginally better.
“So, I have to lie to everybody?” I ask, trying to get my story straight.
“Yes,” She states, just as easily as all that.
I look back at CK, who looks so mad at me, I am glad that he won’t remember this. I shift my gaze to Sebastian who just looks sad. He has lost out again with this and I am glad that he won’t remember either. Then again, there is the whole conversation we just had, to be had all over again and that makes me sigh. Devon just looks resigned as does Lincoln and Jess looks terrified of Tiamat.
Cade clears his throat. “Shall we then?”
“Yes,” She says. “It is for the best, Aefre. It will be a catastrophe if you carry on as you are.”
If it gets me my husband back, then I don’t really give a shit about anything else. “Do it,” I say, and She nods.
She places Her hand on my head and says, “Close your eyes.” She mutters something unintelligible and I feel a wind so forceful it is more like a tornado, swirling around us and the crackle of magick so intense it makes my knees buckle.
Then I am back in the bedroom, naked on the bed, watching Devon disappear into the bathroom.
I blink and readjust. Whoa. That is some Power. Very impressive. I quickly turn to Cole and before he can say anything about other me or me over there, I kiss him deeply and passionately, putting every ounce of how I feel about him into it. He responds eagerly, taking me hard and fast.
“Not that I am complaining, but what was that for?” he asks.
“I love you. I love you so much. Don’t ever leave me,” I whisper to him, to his surprise.
“I won’t, Liv. I adore you and worship you. I will never, ever leave you.”
If only that were true, I think ruefully, but I smile at him and snuggle against him as Devon comes back out of the bathroom. He grins down at me and says, “We should do this again sometime soon, Kitten,” before he kisses me.
“Oh, definitely,” I murmur and wave him away and then it is just me and Cole and any second now, CK will pop in out of nowhere.
Which he does.
“Aefre, I need to…oh, I thought you were going to be alone at this time,” he says, glaring at us both.
“Well, she isn’t, so if you don’t mind?” Cole snaps, waving his hand at him. “You were most definitely there when Liv spoke about boundaries.”
“Of course,” he says, not best pleased to have caught me as he has done but this is what happens when you don’t knock. “I need to speak to you though, it’s important. Do come and find me when you are…done here.”
Done here. He hates it when people say that to him, but I am not surprised he feels the need to use it himself.
“I will,” I mutter before he nods and disappears. I can only imagine it has to do with Sebastian and that reminds me of the conversation we are going to have to have…again.
“Liv? Can I ask you something?”
“Err, sure,” I say, a bit wary knowing what’s coming. Watch what you say, watch what you say.
“What did you do when you were over there? Did you tell them who you were?”
Oh, watch what you say. �
��I didn’t get the chance to,” I say carefully. “I woke up and it was disorienting and confusing and when I realized what had happened, I was going to talk to her CK about it and I asked him where you and Devon were, and then found out that neither of you were there. I was devastated and somewhat hysterical, which is so not fitting for an Empress of her stature,” I add with a small smile, as he is just looking at me with a blank expression. “And then they ushered me off to my bedroom to rest. Which is pretty much all I did as I wasn’t allowed to do anything else.” I say the lie easily and he just continues to stare at me.
“So, you didn’t tell them.”
“I didn’t really see anyone to tell.” Oh, I am so glad I am not Pinocchio.
“Oh.”
“When I finally did get my hands on her phone, which was just before I came back, I Googled you,” I say truthfully, now running my hand down his chest casually, but it’s enough to distract him. “I wanted to know where you were so I could come and find you.”
His eyes light up at that. “And, where was I? Here in Miami?”
“Yes. Just as you are now, only human.” Nicely diverted, as that will give him something else to think about.
“Human. Wow, I just can’t even imagine it. Were you going to come and find me?”
“Of course. If I had been stuck there, I would have come for you.”
He grins but then his smile fades. “That must have been difficult for you to know that Devon was…gone.”
“It was, but I held onto the hope that I would get back to you both and I did,” I say, wishing this conversation closed as I kiss him. It works and he kisses me back, pushing me on to my back and making love to me, and then I just have to take him, so I straddle him, wrapping my legs around him and dropping my fangs. He hisses as I bite him harshly and, savoring the taste of him, we come together, and I pull back just as another unwelcomed visitor makes a sudden appearance. I sigh as Cole looks startled and she narrows her eyes at me and says, “What happened here?”
I shake my head imperceptibly and she projects into my head, “Well, Lil’ Sis, not sure how you managed to shift time like this, but you will have to tell me about it sometime.”
“May we help you?” Cole asks, struggling to pull the covers up over us as she focuses on him, hands on her hips. Purple leather this time. Does she wear anything else?
“Hm, I can think of plenty of things you could help me with,” she murmurs seductively at him, as she sits next to us on the bed.
He looks mortified and I put my hand up to her face. “Look at him like that again and I will rip your eyes out.”
She chuckles and flops onto her back, putting her legs straight up in the air and crossing them at the ankles.
“It worked,” she says to me casually.
“Oh?” I ask.
She turns her head to me. “Don’t sound so surprised, I am capable of being you.”
“Erm, Liv? What is she doing here?” Cole asks, shuffling uncomfortably as I am still straddling him and of course we are both naked under the thin sheet.
“Your wife here is helping me with a project in return for some information I have.”
“Oh? And what would that be exactly?”
“I am helping her to be nicer,” I say as I pull a face at her. “So, if it’s working, tell me what I want to know.”
“Don’t you want to hear how it is working?” she asks.
“Not particularly,” I say, as I really don’t want to hear the gory details.
She rolls onto her stomach now and, keeping her legs in the air, bent at the knee, ankles crossed, she says anyway, “Oh, he is responding to me. As in, for the first time in forever he looked at me. Really looked at me.”
Cole clears his throat, not wanting to hear this either.
“Look, Liv. We don’t really want to hear this. I am glad that it is working, but can you tell me what I want to know now, please,” I press with earnest.
“Sure.” She sits up now and we both lean forward. “As I said before, you can only defeat him in the Spirit Realms with the real sword which is also there. In order to get to the Spirit Realms, you have to piggyback a ride.”
“Beg pardon?” I say. “How do I do that?”
“Stop interrupting and I will tell you,” she chides. “When he is here you have to banish him and just before he disappears you have to take hold of him. Sink your claws in for good measure, as he will not want you following him back. You will get one chance so pick your moment. Not too soon and not too late. Once he knows what you are going to do, he will fight tooth and nail, excuse the pun,” she snickers at her own joke, “to stop you.”
Okay, this is good. Useful stuff, finally. “Then what?”
“Then you find the sword and do your thing,” she says. “I will elaborate further when you help me again.”
My shoulders sag as I realize she isn’t going to tell me any more. “What this time?”
She flicks her eyes to Cole and back to me and says, “Can we speak privately?”
“Do you mind, baby?” I ask him and he shakes his head but doesn’t move.
She laughs at him. “Oh, please, it isn’t like I have never seen it before.”
“Not mine you haven’t,” he says through gritted teeth, swirling his finger in the air and she continues to giggle, turning around. “You have no need to be shy, I quite enjoy seeing you naked,” she says as he scrabbles off the bed and into a pair of sweats quicker than I can blink.
“Again, not me,” he says as she turns back to face him.
“Same diffs,” she says offhandedly.
“Completely diffs,” he says as he bends to kiss me. “Don’t be too long.”
“I won’t,” I say, hoping she will leave soon, as Tiamat was quite specific that all this time hopping had to stop.
“So, what can I do for you this time?” I ask, climbing off the bed and shifting into something a little less comfortable.
She looks uncertain as she bites her bottom lip and says awkwardly, “I need some help with…” she waves her hand at herself.
“The way you dress?” I ask. “Cover up a bit, it’s not rocket science.”
She glares at me and says, “Specifically, with an outfit that he would like to see me in on our date.”
Oh! “He’s taking you on a date?” I splutter.
“Not exactly. I am taking him.”
“He agreed to go on a date?”
“Yes, why do you sound so surprised? I told you, it is working,” she huffs at me.
“I’m just surprised he agreed to go on a date full stop. My CK doesn’t date,” I add.
“Oh. Why not? Mine does. Jess throws shit fits at him, but I think he does it partly to irritate her.”
“Jess?” I ask and remember with a gulp that in her world, CK sired Jess. I don’t even want to know how that happened.
“Yes, his charge and girlfriend? You have one here, I saw her on the jet,” she says.
“Girlfriend?” I choke. “They are together?”
“They live together, yes. I take it they don’t here?”
“No!” I snap loudly. “He isn’t her sire. Devon is.”
“What?” she snaps back, just as loudly. “How the hell did that happen?” It comes out as a roar.
I’m quite impressed at this show of jealousy and nod approvingly, but say, “Look, we are getting off course here. I do not want to know the ins and outs, as I am sure you don’t. Where are you going?”
“Actually, I do want to know why my husband sired the girl. The Opera.”
“Devon isn’t your husband here.”
She shrugs. “More’s the pity. Tell me, why do you call our sire CK?”
“It’s his first two initials. I just shorten it. It’s easier.”
“Huh, and he lets you?”
“Yes. Only me though. I think he would likely rip the head off anyone else who familiarized themselves that much with him.”
“You really do have a special bond
with him, don’t you?”
“Yes, now, I have this dress that I wore last year to my Council thing that he practically drooled over.” I summon up the ice blue satin dress and hand it to her. She holds it up critically.
“Hm, it’s nice. Not really my color though,” she says.
“It’s not mine either but put it on and you will see what I mean.”
She shrugs and, in a flash, has it on and turns to the mirror. Her eyes widen as she sees how striking she looks.
“Turn around, see the back,” I say. She pulls her long hair over her shoulder, turns and looks back at the mirror.
“Wow.” The whole of her Dragon tattoo is on show with the entirely open back. I chose this dress specifically to show off the Power of One marking, but it looks even better with the Dragon.
“Perfect,” I say. “You will want to wear your hair up and perhaps add a small, tasteful tiara.”
“Tiara?” she asks.
“Yes, but small and tasteful,” I emphasize. “You are Empress of the Dragon Realms and Underworld after all.” I summon up one of my own and hand it to her. She stares at it like it is going to bite her, but I smile encouragingly. “Here, let me show you,” I say, grabbing a hand full of clips out of thin air and pinning her hair up and placing it on her head.
“Elegant,” she says. “I like it. Thank you.”
“No worries,” I say.
“You see, it’s things like this. I have done nothing for you really and you help me with all of this. This is why they all love you.”
“It doesn’t take anything out of your day to be nice. You don’t have to be a badass all of the time, you know.”
“Hm. I suppose. Well, as a gesture of good faith, I will share a bit more.” She changes out of the outfit and places it carefully on the bed and sits. I sit too and wait. “Once you get to the Spirit Realms you have to act quickly. The sword will know you are there, and it will call to you. You must get to it. You can Astral to it, but it is buried deep in a cave wall. This is where the trial comes into play. I can’t tell you anything about it as it will be something you have to battle to deem yourself worthy to get your hands on the real G.I.”
“You call it G.I. too?” I say.
She blinks. “Yes. Gladius Infernus is too much of a pain in the ass to say every time.”