by Eve Newton
Readers Note:
This is just a quick short story which tells the other side of the Switch and should be read after Switch, The Forever Series Book 7. Just a little look into the world of Other Aefre and what happened during and after the Switch. Enjoy!
Prologue
Miami, USA, February 2013 - Aefre
I wake up in an unfamiliar bed with cotton sheets. White cotton sheets. Ergh. Is this a hotel? I peer around in distaste. How on earth did I get here? And where is here?
“Aefre. You’re awake,” Constantine says to me in English, which is odd, as he strides towards me in an unfamiliar suit and sits next to me on the bed. He drops his mouth to mine with a quick kiss me and I blink at him and kiss him back with a deeper kiss, which he responds to after a slight hesitation. At least he is here. He peers at me before he says, “Your husband called, he is running late but everyone else is here. They want to see you. Can’t even go a day without your company.” He stands up abruptly.
I frown at him. “My husband? Everyone?” I ask in English as he is talking to me in the language.
He tilts his head and frowns. “Are you well, my sweet? Did you have another dream?”
Dream? “No, I am fine,” I say. “Give me a minute?”
“Of course. I like your accent. Decided to go with a change after a thousand years?” he asks with his perfect smile.
What does he mean a change in accent? I have had a perfectly cultured Italian accent, which I find quite charming, especially when talking in this language, for as long as I can remember. Whatever is going on, I seem to be somewhere that is not my world. I smile at Constantine, who doesn’t appear to be my husband, but someone else’s, as I notice the ring he wears. It is not the ring I gave him, and say again, “A minute please.”
He is looking at me curiously. “We will be in the sitting room.”
I nod as he closes the door. The first thing I notice then is that my own rings are all different. And I have no markings on my arms. I peer over my shoulder and see that I have the Dragon on my back. I look again at my hands. Well, not my hands. Long black nails that go with the, I squint at it, 5-carat black diamond engagement ring and black diamond wedding ring. I have a ring on my thumb, which on closer inspection appears to be the one made of Faerie Silver and the blue diamond is on my right ring finger. Wherever I am, it seems I am not married to Constantine, but to some other man who is running late. I wonder why Constantine has given me this ring, what I think of as my centuries’ late engagement ring, to wear on my right hand. I quickly get out of the bed and get dressed, pulling on a smart black pants suit and white shirt from, well, that’s a good question: where? I look at myself in the mirror. I look like me. The only difference is my posture. I pull myself up to my full height as I slip on the shoes left by the dresser. Hm, Louboutins. Good to know that Christian is also here.
I pick up the phone on the bedside cabinet and see that the date and year is the same. The time reads 7:45 PM. The damn thing is locked with a passcode, but I am pleased to see that the lock screen is a photo of myself and Constantine. Well, what I can only imagine is another “me” and her Constantine. Somehow it appears I have switched bodies and lives and time with another me. I always wondered if alternate universes exist and apparently, they do. Seems she has the power to move through the space/time continuum. I certainly don’t, but I try to get back to Italy and my time anyway and fail as I expected. I will just have to sit this out until she finds a way to switch us back. I look out of the window and I don’t know where I am. Well, I suppose I will have to go and face this “everyone” he spoke of. Whoever they might be. Should I mention that I am not theirs? One doesn’t know the proper protocol for something like this. I decide to wait and see.
I exit the bedroom, and “everyone” turns to stare at me. Hm, quite the crowd. I take them all in one at a time, starting with Constantine.
Chapter 1
Miami, USA, February 2013 – Aefre
“My sweet? Is everything okay?” Constantine asks me as I just continue to stare at him.
I nod and shift my gaze to Sebastian, who is standing next to him. Oh, my sweet Sebastian. I gaze at him adoringly and his eyes widen in astonishment, but then close as I adjust my features. She apparently does not have a relationship with him yet. What a pity. Everyone is silent as I carry on my inspection of this group.
“Liv,” a voice comes from the door. “I am so sorry I am late, but I had to wait for the script changes, and it took longer than we expected.” A dashingly handsome man strides towards me and sweeps me up in a passionate kiss. I guess this is the husband then. I kiss him back momentarily and then pull away. He stares down at me with eyes so beautiful they make me want to cry. He hands me a pile of leaflets and says, “Also, seeing as we are going to London next week, I thought you could help me familiarize myself with the city, what with it being your hometown and all.”
My hometown? Well, yes, technically it is where I was born and lived out my human life. She must still live there.
A devastatingly good-looking young man, with the clearest blue eyes I have ever seen, jumps up from the sofa. “Lizzie hasn’t been back in decades, I’ll help,” he says and plucks them out of my hand.
Lizzie? The other one called me Liv. This is getting confusing, and is she English or not? I’ll just go with it.
“Of course, anything to help,” I say to him in the best English accent I can muster, hoping it doesn’t sound too fake. I assume she goes with an upper middle-class accent, as do I in my own language.
He peers at me curiously. “Thanks. So, what did I miss?” he asks, gesturing around the room.
“Not much. Liv has just been standing there staring at us for a while,” the little helper says, still examining the leaflets in his hand.
“You okay?” her husband asks me.
“Just fine,” I say as I saunter over to the sofa and take a seat next to a girl. A pretty young thing, just my type with her dark hair and blue eyes. She sees me staring at her and shifts uncomfortably under my scrutiny. Not one of hers then. This Other me is also clearly not partial to female company.
“How has your day been?” her husband, whose name I still don’t know, asks me. I can tell he is her charge, as is the other one, and I turn my attention back to him.
“Fine,” I say. “How was yours?”
He looks startled as does everyone else in the room. Clearly, she doesn’t ask that question a lot.
“Err, good, thanks. Busy,” he says as he stares at me.
“Oh, good,” I say. I am usually better on my feet than this, but I am completely thrown with this time shift. It is the strangest thing and I am still not sure if I should tell them I am not Liv, or Lizzie, or whatever her name is.
“So did your training go well?” he asks.
“It went great,” a man says from over in the corner. I look closer at him now and recognize him. Cade Sinclair. What is he doing here? He shouldn’t be here. This makes no sense.
“Can’t wait to do it all again tomorrow,” he says with a smile at me.
“Me either,” I say brightly, although I have no idea what he is talking about.
I shift my gaze to Lincoln now and he smiles at me. It is odd to me that he is so friendly. He is quite the stern, menacing presence where I come from. I don’t even think I have ever seen him smile before. And last, but certainly not least, the very handsome Xane Draconis. So, it seems, except for the two charges, we know some of the same people.
“Aefre, have you fed?” Constantine asks me.
“No. Nobody came up,” I say, and he narrows his eyes at me in query. Now that he mentions it, I do feel incredibly weak. This body is not as strong as my own, and she doesn’t have the Fae markings. I wonder if it is possible that she isn’t as powerful as me yet.
“I will get Ramon,” he says.
Ah, Ramon. Good that he is here. I still don’t know where “here” is though.
“Liv. You are starting to frea
k me out a bit. Are you sure you are okay? Did you have another dream? Has The Thirteen come back to bother you?” the husband asks, all concerned.
“The Thirteen?” I ask, surprised. What is he still doing around? He should have been dealt with a millennium ago. “Um, yes, The Thirteen,” I say, determined now to do a bit of digging. “It seems he has come back to destroy me after I have been Queen for…” I say and wave my hand about, hoping someone will fill me in. I am clearly not Empress here.
“Eight months,” the boy with the gorgeous eyes says. Actually, to be fair, they all have gorgeous eyes. She, indeed, has a type.
“Yes, eight months,” I say and inside I am quaking. Eight months? I had been Queen for nearly eight hundred years before I became Empress. She is weak and this is just too strange. How is this possible? However, I am not one to sit around; while I am here, I might as well try to help, without being too obvious.
“We should deal with him first,” I state. They all look at me. Sure, Other me must have said that before, so I add, “I think I may know a way.”
“What?” they almost all say in unison as they lean forward, and I quite like the stand to attention. Where I come from, I am feared and respected, but no one really supports me in the way that these seem to with her.
I stand and say, “I need to think about it some more. We shall meet again tomorrow at the same time,” remembering what Mr. Sinclair had said about taking me out training again. Must keep up pretenses while I am here.
They all look at me in wonder and I have to determine that my counterpart is probably not the best leader this group has ever seen. Well, that will change while I am here. I will get them to fall in line before I leave here. My concern then lies with what she will do with my Empire while she is over there. I have worked long and hard to implement the rules and regulations. I know my status, but she clearly does not. I hope that she doesn’t end up destroying everything I have worked for.
I stalk off to the bedroom, leaving them all staring after me and forgetting all about Ramon. The husband tells everyone to get out and they go, and it is just him and me, which is somewhat awkward. I change into a long navy-blue satin nightgown with a cream lace trim and his brows go up, but he doesn’t say anything as I pick up her phone and feign interest as I sit at the dresser. I really need to get into this thing to find out more about her.
“Do you know my passcode?” I ask him. “It’s not working.” I hold the phone out to him, but he shrugs.
“No. Does Jess know?”
Jess? I shrug myself. “Maybe.”
“I’ll call Grayson. Ask her if she knows,” he says, staring at me curiously.
He takes out his phone and calls Grayson. I have no idea who that is.
He speaks into the phone and says to me, “She doesn’t know but Scott might. She will get him to call you.”
I nod. And Scott would be?
I answer it on the first ring, and he says “Liv? You don’t remember your passcode?”
“It’s not working,” I amend.
“Try it again…2233. Should work,” he says, confused.
2233? What is that?
“Oh, very good. I’ll try again. So sorry to bother you,” I say, trying to sound apologetic.
“No worries. I have to go; I’ll catch up with you later.”
“Of course.” And I hang up and punch it in. It opens, hm. Now I can do some digging.
“All good?” the husband asks.
“Yes, thank you,” I say dismissively and open up messages. I hope to find out what his name is by something in here.
I see messages from Devon, Lincoln, Xane, and two people called CK and Cole. Both of those are loving and hard to determine. CK? I am going to go with Constantine with that one, seeing as he isn’t listed anywhere here under his full name and those would be his first two initials. A bit familiar, this one, isn’t she? It surprises me that he lets her be so. So, the husband must be Cole.
“Cole?” I ask.
“Yes, my love?” he asks and looks up at me from his own phone.
I just smile at him, at least now having a name to his face. He smiles back. He is incredibly handsome. Those eyes. I feel a swell of lust go up in me, but I push it down. No, I can’t. He isn’t my husband. My husband is in another world with another me. Oh, gods. I hope she isn’t trying it on with my Constantine. I know we aren’t in the best place right now, but surely, he will see that she isn’t me? And what about Sebastian? He will go after her. It’s the day, today is the day and we must be together. I feel a bit sick to my stomach but grab onto the fact that at least she is in my body. If anything happens, when we switch back at least it will still be me. I will just have to overlook any encounters as Sebastian isn’t going to let anything deter him and she won’t be able to resist him in my body. They may not have our relationship here yet, but she is still Drake’s daughter and he is still Aelfric’s son and our child is destined to bridge the gap between the Fae. Crap. I flinch myself as I use this invective. An Empress doesn’t cuss, but this is just bad, bad timing.
Cole stands up and comes behind me. He kisses my shoulder and whispers to me, “Come to bed.”
Oh, I want to. I am on such a short leash. My only two lovers are my husband and Sebastian. Constantine doesn’t tolerate unfaithfulness except in Sebastian’s case. But he is special. The girls don’t count, as he doesn’t see them as a threat. Although, I do have a pleasing arrangement with Ramon, we never have sex. I daren’t risk Constantine finding out and killing him. Judging by the messages on this phone, Liv openly has at least four regular lovers on the go. How does she get away with that? I let him lead me towards the bed, intending to put a stop to this as I just cannot, but then he kisses me, and I forget all about being good. I forget about everything except his mouth on mine. He pushes the straps of my nightgown over my shoulders and it drops to the floor. I lose all reason as he trails his hands down over me. Oh…this is her body and her husband. I will just go with it. I am sure she is doing the same with Sebastian as I stand here in her husband’s arms. Well, technically, she is standing here. I find complete justification in that argument as he pushes me back towards the bed and lowers me gently, kissing me intently. “I want to make love to you, slowly,” he says, and I have no argument with that. In fact, I am quite looking forward to it. Sebastian and I can’t keep our hands off each other and even though things with Constantine are not the best right now when we do occasionally make love–it is hard not to when we sleep in the same bed next to each other every night–it is us ripping at each other. This is something else entirely. I could stay here forever just to feel this. This love. I feel a bond with him. Her bond with her charge. It is strong and beautiful. They are so much in love. I had always thought that bonds were two essences connecting with each other. Seems it is more basic than that. Two bodies: their blood, maybe?
He kisses me all the way down her body, nipping at me here and there and generally just driving me into a frenzy. He dives his tongue into me, and I buckle under the pleasure of him licking me. Oh, he is good at that. I feel momentarily bad that I am enjoying her husband, but I push it aside as all I want now is him inside me.
“Cole,” I say. “Please.”
And he doesn’t need asking twice. He thrusts himself inside me and I am in heaven. He kisses me softly and I run my hands down his back. “Take over,” he murmurs.
I do as I am bid and roll us over. Oh, I want to feed from him. I pull him up and drop her fangs. His gray eyes darken to a really deep blue and I stare at him in wonder. I lower my mouth and take my fill of him as I move over him and he can’t get enough.
“Fuck,” he says. “I want to taste you.” He drops his own fangs and takes a bite out of her, which sends me over the edge. “Oh yes,” he groans as he pulls back. “You are addictive,” he mutters as he comes inside me. Yes, this is me. I plan on staying here. If I can feel this every day, I want to stay. I will face The Thirteen again and defeat him easily and anything else he
r life throws up. She can have mine; Empire be damned. She already has her sire where she wants him so the only thing, I need from this life now is my sweet Sebastian. Everything else doesn’t matter.
Chapter 2
I awake in this strange bed with these god-awful sheets, alone. I peer at the clock and it is only 4:45 AM.
“Cole?” I call for him. I want him to make love to me again like he did the five times last night.
He comes in from the bathroom, wet and sexy, and I want him right now. “What is it, baby? Did you have another dream?”
What is this dream thing all about? “No, I want you. Come back to bed,” I say to him.
He chuckles. “Insatiable little thing, aren’t you? I wish I didn’t have to say no, but I have to get going.”
I frown at him. “You are saying ‘no’ to me?” I am not used to being denied.
He frowns back at me and my tone. “Liv, sweetie. I have to go to work. You know that.”
Work? He works? She lets him swan off at this ungodly hour to work? I will never understand this woman.
“Fine. Go and work,” I say in a mood now and he crosses over to me in an instant.
“Don’t be like that with me,” he says, and he kisses me. “I will make it up to you when I get home, I promise.”
I cheer up at that thought. Oh, I can get him to make it up to me in ways his young Vampire self has never even thought about. “You had better,” I say. “Or I will be most unhappy.”
“Well, I wouldn’t want that.” He kisses me again with the most delicious half smile that makes my heart skip a beat. “Go back to sleep, now. It is still early for you.”
I nod as he tucks me back under the sheet, and I feign sleep as he bustles about getting dressed.
He is her charge and I want what he can give me. I find it incredible. But then, he isn’t her only charge, I think with a wicked smile. Maybe it is time to embrace the life of this woman and go to see Devon. He is gorgeous and older than Cole. I’d say around five hundred years or so. I am sure he can also give me what I am looking for. He says he is in love with her and she says she loves him in their messages together. I can find out just how much once I touch him and when he touches me. I shiver at the thought as Cole kisses my forehead before he leaves. I sigh. I could get used to this life. It doesn’t seem she has any regiment whatsoever. She is free to do as she pleases, with whomever she pleases. She has no regular feedings, which, while that is irresponsible, it is quite liberating. I haven’t fed this body since I got here. I suppose I should, really. There is no one insisting she do things the right way, and no servants milling about. To my great sadness, it also appears she has no daughter. I do miss my Cassis. I hate the argument we had about that awful man she insists on being with. Everyone thinks he is so wonderful, but I don’t see it. He is too perfect. She is the only thing I will mourn if I don’t get back to my life. Everyone else is here with the added benefit of not one, but two charges. And speaking of, time to go and find charge number two.