by Eve Newton
Letting me go, Cole gives me a quick kiss, as does Devon, with a grin I know is due to Eloise’s bitchy face. I grin back and walk towards my three colleagues.
I stand in front of them with an urge to burst out laughing, which must show on my face as CK hides his smile behind his hand.
One of The Council employee’s steps forward. I think he is some sort of Druid or Witch type person. And without further ado, I am sworn into The Council as its fourth member.
I repeat some words in Latin, which loosely translated into English is: “I, Aefre Allington nee Coortan, by the sanctity of The Council, I vow to serve my fellow Vampires with honor and loyalty. By my blood, I swear this oath here today.”
A quick stab of CK’s finger with a ceremonial dagger, he drops some blood into a basin and passes the dagger to Eloise who does the same, as does Gregor. He hands it to me with a leer and I stab my finger. A drop of blood wells up and I drop it into the basin. A rather spectacular explosion occurs within the basin with my smoky black Power vortex welling up. We all step back in surprise as I feel a pull on the other three members’ energy. I know they feel it too, as Eloise puts a hand to her heart and draws in a sharp breath.
“Holy crap!” I exclaim, glancing at CK, who looks slightly surprised. Recovering quickly, he pulls me into a tight embrace and congratulates me. He gives me a swift kiss and that look is back in his eyes as he murmurs, “You look breathtaking.” I drop my eyes in acceptance of his compliment. Okay, maybe there is some slight modesty here when it comes to him.
He lets me go and to my surprise Eloise steps forward to embrace me, sort of, in a half hug and a pat on the back.
“Welcome,” she says icily. I incline my head in thanks and then Gregor embraces me, letting his hand ‘accidentally’ brush over my backside. I tense up. I know CK is flaming mad. He pulls me to his side as soon as Gregor lets me go. “Well, that’s that then, my sweet. Let’s see what happens next.” I grimace at his words as my mark flares up. Not wanting to show weakness, I hold it together until CK leads me away and says, “I feel it too. Are you okay?”
I nod grimly and say, “I fucking wish this was over already, and we could move onto the next phase.”
“I know, my love. It shows a strengthening of our connection. We are now equals,” he says, casting an amused sidelong glance at me and I snort in amusement.
“Oh, sure,” I say sarcastically, to which he laughs.
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
T aking a moment to freshen up, I take a deep breath and resume my composure. The pain in my back has resided thankfully, so now I can go and enjoy myself.
“Lizzie?” It’s Devon at the door. I open it with a questioning look. Cole is standing next to him and they both hold up their wrists. Their own markings have doubled in size and are now filled in pitch black. Horrified, I turn around, but they both say “No,” to my relief, but what does it mean?
Getting more confused and irritated by this mystery, I ask, “Get me a drink, will you?” to neither of them in particular, so they both turn to go as Eloise steps into view.
Oh, wonderful. I sigh.
She glares at me from her superior height. I have to admit, she does look lovely with her auburn hair curling around her shoulders, and an emerald-colored dress that really makes her eyes quite striking. If she wasn’t such a hateful woman, I would compliment her.
“You are not worthy of this honor,” she states. “I have no idea why this Power chose you, but Constantine has asked me to accept you. I will try. But make no mistake, I will be watching you.”
“Do you do everything he tells you to do?” I snap in a bit of a temper at her insults.
She smirks at me and leans in close. “Well, he is very instructive, as you know,” she whispers. “He knows what he wants, it’s quite the turn on.”
My fist clenches to punch her in the face, but I hold back. Oh no, there will be a time and a place for that. Instead, I place a twisted smile on my face and lean forward, saying loudly so that several bystanders can also hear me, “Oh, yes. He was quite explicit about what I should do to him in bed the other day.” I saunter off to find my men, enjoying the look of shock and envy on her face.
Strangely, I find Cole talking with CK and Devon. I look at each of them in turn as Cole hands me a glass of Champagne.
“Just doing as you asked, my sweet,” CK offers up quietly when my querying gaze lands on him.
I smile softly as Cole asks in amusement, “Everything okay with your colleague?”
I take the glass. “Thank you. Yes, fine, nothing a good bitch slap won’t cure,” I say in exaggerated hatred, looking at CK who looks back again, puzzled by my loathing. Christ. Men are just as oblivious at two thousand, seven hundred and fifty-nine as they are at twenty.
Clearing his throat, Cole asks, “Liv. This sounds crazy, but your names earlier? Why did you use your old ones?”
“As my original name, it is the name that appears on all my official Council documents. I can use any name I choose in the mortal world, but here I will always be Aefre Allington nee Coortan.” I sigh. I don’t mind CK calling me by my first name, albeit he usually reverts it from the Old English Ah-vuh, to his native Latin Ai-Vuh, on most occasions, it’s just a subtle change to the Æ diphthong. I find it quite sweet that he prefers to use it, as it is the name I told him a thousand years ago, but I’m really glad that I’m not that girl anymore.
“Oh, so I’ll always be Cole O’Dell?” he asks.
I nod. “Yes.”
He turns to Devon and asks, “What was your original name?”
Devon looks taken aback by the interest in him, but then he looks mildly pleased to be asked. “Always been Devon. Last name in 1506 was Sawyer.”
Cole flicks his gaze to CK, and I smile as he hesitates. I know his original name, he told me centuries ago when I asked, but he won’t reveal his private business in front of Cole and Devon. He takes a deep breath though, and I catch mine before he says, “Constantinus Kaius Aquila. It was Etruscan.”
My mouth drops open. Holy shit! That is unbelievable! I touch his arm, my face registering my surprise at him. He shrugs uncomfortably. “We are family now. It’s of no consequence.” He dismisses it, but yes, it is of consequence. This sudden change in his attitude towards Devon, and to Cole, is mind-boggling and the feeling of love bubbles up as I feel a massive wave fall over me. I grip his arm tighter and I see him, in my mind’s eye. I see him as a human. Quick, distorted flashes depicting the events that led to his becoming an Initial Vampire. I gasp in shock and horror. He looks at me with concern and I hear him say my name quietly. I look wildly around the room, my eyes searching for Eloise. As I find her, I see another series of images flash through my mind. I’m gasping for breath as my eyes search for Gregor. I find him and it happens again, searing the horror of their creation onto my brain. No wonder these events have been shrouded in secrecy. No sane person should ever have to know what happened to them. And yet the three of them do know.
And now I know.
What they went through to create our race makes me feel nauseous, and sobbing, I look at my sire and he knows what I saw.
“Aefre,” he says before I bolt from the room needing air.
A s I run from the room, the feeling gets worse. More information that I shouldn’t be privy to, enters my head. The records of every Vampire ever created and killed and by whom. A few of my own felonies jump out at me, along with the list of my own charges that I created. I quickly slam that closed as I don’t want to see it. The library of all the ancient texts, every prophecy, every piece of information stowed in the archive’s, crashes into my head. It is completely overwhelming and as I reach the door and stumble out into the cool evening air, I pass out.
Fortunately for me, CK has caught up with me and I fall ungracefully into his arms. I come to with my three loves, plus Eloise and Gregor, staring at me in varying degrees of concern and amusement.
“Aefre,” CK says softly. I blink and take a
moment to register that I am still outside in CK’s lap.
“I’m okay, really,” I say, struggling to stand up. “It was…” I trail off, smoothing down my dress and trying to recover some of my dignity.
“What did you see?” Gregor asks.
I glance at CK wondering how much I should tell them. He comes to my rescue as usual, my hero, and says, “She had flashes of us.” He points to the three concerned.
Eloise looks suspicious. “Flashes of what?” she barks.
“Images of you…before, Aìa.” I call her by her first name and look at her with pity at what she went through, but that soon disappears as she hisses and narrows her eyes, taking a threatening step forward.
“How do you know? No one is supposed to know,” she rasps.
I shrug. “I just do. I know about all of you.” I look at each of them in turn seriously and they shift uncomfortably.
“Among other things,” I say as a distraction.
CK’s eyes snap to mine and he shakes his head imperceptibly.
“What other things?” Gregor snaps.
“A lot of history about everyone. All the records were ‘downloaded’ into my head,” I say. They all look at me as if I have lost my mind.
I turn to Devon. “All this time, you never told me you had a sister,” I say hurt.
His mouth drops open in shock. “She died when I was a baby. I didn’t even know her,” he says eventually. “How would you even know that?”
CK takes over for me once again and says, “The Council archives has records of every Vampire that has been turned and their history. It’s automatically updated once the transformation is complete. Regardless, the fact is that Liv is now a Council member and is privy to such information. The nature of her knowledge however is somewhat unprecedented.”
“Anything else we should know about?” Gregor asks shrewdly and I shake my head.
“Very well. I say we take this back indoors. I think we have caused enough of a scene already.” With that said, he turns on his heel and leaves us to follow.
“I need another minute,” I say, sitting down on the bench. Eloise ignores me and goes back inside, but my three boys stay with me.
Once she is out of Vampire-hearing earshot, CK asks, “What else?”
“A lot. Everything,” I say, taking a deep breath. “Along with the archives, I got the library index and the history of The Council and its members. All of its members,” I say pointedly.
“Ahmed,” CK breathes.
I nod excitedly and exclaim, “It is him standing next to Corinne in my vision! I bloody knew it!”
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
A fter that revelation, we don’t really have much more to go on, so we decide to go back inside and kill a couple of hours before the ballet.
CK is pensive and I know his genius brain is trying to figure out how, where, and why Ahmed is in my vision.
“Dance with me,” I say, pulling his attention back to me.
“Of course.” He takes my hand and leads me out to where a few couples are dancing. He twirls me into his arms and pulls me close.
“Can you tell if he’s alive or is in fact just a vision himself?” he whispers.
“I don’t know. If I’d have a guess, I’d say alive and kicking though,” I reply.
He looks intently at me. “Interesting,” he muses.
“By the way,” he says suddenly, “you do know that you will have to be here some of the time.”
“Yes. I’m aware of that. Thank you.”
“Good. I propose that when you come, say two days a week, you come alone,” he says, staring into my wide eyes. “I need you to myself, my sweet,” he whispers then. “How did we let ourselves fall into this pattern of only seeing each other now and again?”
“I don’t know. Life just happens. I need you to myself as well, but how do I even go about convincing my charges to let me go for two whole days every week?” I ask him in earnest.
“Oh, Aefre, you could convince them even if you weren’t their sire. I want to work with you during the day, but at night…” he stops leaving me to imagine.
A risky business, I think, as I feel a heat flare up inside me as my imagination runs in a very erotic direction.
“I’ll talk to them. But I’m not promising anything,” I warn, trying to calm my racing heart.
“Oh, you will promise me, Aefre or there will be consequences,” he says almost menacingly. I stare quizzically at him. Before I can ask what he means, he changes the subject again. Christ, his thoughts move so quickly, I have to really concentrate sometimes to keep up.
“I have a gift for you, in your office. Something for tonight. Come,” he says and leads me off the dance floor and to the elevators.
“Wait. Let me find the boys,” I protest.
“Let me show you first. I’ll come back down and find them while you change,” he says.
Change?
He opens the door to my office, which I still can’t get used to saying, and leads me inside.
Hung up on the coat stand is a beautiful black dress. It has a strapless bodice of taffeta covered satin, shot through with tiny Swarovski crystals. The full skirt, falling in soft taffeta folds to the floor, is covered in glistening black feathers.
I inhale sharply. “Odile. The Black Swan. Oh, Constantine. It’s perfect. Absolutely perfect.” I turn to hug him emotionally, tears pricking my eyes. “Thank you.”
“You are welcome, my love,” he smiles, his heart-stopping, made-just-for-me smile. “I will leave you to change while I go and find your boys.”
He leaves me alone then and I slip out of the blue satin dress and place it carefully over the back of a chair. Taking the black dress off the hanger, I unzip the back and step into it carefully. Pulling it up over my breasts, I struggle to reach the zip to do it up.
“Allow me,” says a voice from the doorway.
I turn to see Gregor leaning casually against the doorframe. I’m startled that I didn’t hear him. Stealthy much? Or maybe that should be: Stalkery much?
“No, thank you. I’ll manage,” I say, a mild flutter speeding up my heartbeat. I haven’t been alone with him since the last time he raped me.
He walks into the room and is at my back before I even realize he’s moved that far.
“Exquisite,” he murmurs, trailing an ice-cold hand down my back. I wince. I’m not afraid of him. I’m older and stronger now and wouldn’t go down without a bloody good fight this time, but the dread of having to do it naked, makes me uneasy.
“Perhaps now that you are older, wiser and more experienced, and have learned the nature of the Vampire, we can try again?” he whispers in my ear in Russian, now trailing his hand down my bare arm. “I have heard you are so very experienced now, my dear.”
Thankfully CK arrives just then, ever my savior, with Cole and Devon in tow. He strides into the room, his face furious.
“Step away from her now, Gregor,” he says softly, also in Russian, with venom dripping from every word.
Gregor places his creepy hands on my hips, trails them back and slowly zips up my dress. “I am just helping the lady,” he says mildly. “Although in the spirit of friendship, Constantine, you really should share,” he scolds and steps to my side.
CK growls, “Never!” I am sure he is going to try and rip Gregor’s head off. Thankful to at last have my hands free from holding up the dress, my fist clenches, itching for a dagger to stick into him. It wouldn’t kill him, but it would hurt, and it would make me feel better. Oh, and it would make a point. I like making a point.
In the next second, I hold a dagger in my left hand. CK’s eyes flick to it briefly, but I hide it in the folds of the voluminous skirt. CK said not to do anything to put him on the defensive, so I won’t. Much as I’d like to.
Ignoring CK’s murderous look, Gregor turns to me and says, “Well, my dear, you look stunning.” He continues to speak in Russian with the purpose of excluding Cole and Devon. “I shall see you
later at La Scala.”
“You’re going?” I ask rudely.
He looks surprised by my question. “Of course. It is the Kirov after all and in your honor. I was there you know, when Svetlana took her final bow in 1895.”
I gape at him, really not enjoying the fact that he saw me dance.
He carries on conversationally, “You were breathtaking. Never have I seen a dancer before or since with such grace and beauty. Your technique and precision are to this day, unmatched.”
I glare at him, not prepared to thank him for the praise. He raises an eyebrow at my rudeness and says in English now, presumably for the benefit of including Cole and Devon in what he has to say, “Think about what I said, my dear. We would be very good together.” He strolls out as casually as he entered.
“What did he say to you?” CK asks.
“I’m sure you can guess,” I say with a look of disgust.
All three of my boy’s growl in protest.
“Relax, he won’t make a move on me. He’s too clever for that. He knows I am unpredictable with this Power.” I pull my hand out from behind the folds of my dress and peer at the dagger. It looks familiar. A long blade with a red stone embedded in the hilt. “Do you know where I moved this from?” I ask, holding it out to CK. He moves forward, as does Cole to pull me into a tight hug.
“I hate that man,” he whispers.
“As do I,” I whisper back.
“It looks familiar,” CK says, peering at it. “Where do you think it came from?”
“No clue. All I wanted was to stab him in the guts and the next second it was in my hand,” I say viciously.
“I didn’t see any of the usual black swirl,” Devon says. “It was literally like it just popped into your hand.”
I frown at him as CK starts laughing then and I look at him strangely. “Oh, Lucretia,” he says not too fondly, “I remember this dagger as being the one you stabbed me in the guts with.”