Revelation (The Forever Series Book Three) (12 page)

“It doesn’t seem like I have much choice now does it?” he
says, his sarcasm evident.

“No, not really,” I say breezily and his eyes harden even
further.

“Don’t push it, Aefre. I am still not happy about the
changes you are making to our agreement. I haven’t decided what to do about
that yet.” I hear Cole suck in his breath as if punched.

I roll my eyes at him and step back relaxed now.

“Oh don’t think this is the end of it, my sweet,” he says as
he senses my release of tension. “It is far from over.” I nod briefly,
understanding that we will “talk” about it without an audience and he releases
some of his own tension now that he has put me back in my place. Or so he
thinks.

I clap my hands together then, pleased to have gotten my own
way. “I have the perfect place for you to live,” I say smugly and three sets of
eyes bore through me in varying degrees of query.

“Oh?” he says.

“Yes, I have been preparing for you to eventually at least
want a house near me, although how it never occurred to your own self is not
only a mystery but also slightly insulting,” I point out with a slight sulk and
he looks surprised then happy that I wanted him closer to me. “So,” I continue,
“I bought the house next to mine years ago and it’s been renovated and
redecorated to your taste and is waiting for you.”

“You bought me a house? We will be neighbors?” he says with
a slight smile.

“Yes.”

“Why did you never bring it up before?” he asks quietly.

I shrug, “I was never sure if you would say yes. It was
easier just to wait for the right moment.”

“Well how can I say ‘no’ to that?”

“You can’t,” I say and he hugs me tightly.

“I always wondered why no one ever lived in that house,”
Devon says. “How come I never knew about it? I would have seen the financials,”
he says, perplexed.

“I used Saxon money to buy it. It went through the
accountants.”

“Oh,” he says flatly, clearly not pleased that he was
deliberately cut out of the deal.

Finally bringing my gaze back to Cole having avoided him
thus far, he looks hurt and angry but adjusts his features when I catch his
gaze.

“With regard to Cade,” I say, bringing the conversation back
around full circle, “it can wait. We have far too much to accomplish. If it
becomes pressing we will deal with it then. In the meantime, we need to get
back home. Dev, let Jim know we’re on our way to JFK.” He nods and pulls out
his phone.

“I will need to go back to Milan for a couple of days. I
will see you there on Tuesday. No, make that Wednesday as I will have to fly
in,” CK adds and frowns at the inconvenience.

“Okay,” I say, having expected he would say that anyway.

“Good. You have been so strong these last few weeks, Aefre,”
he says softly. “I am so proud of you.”

I twinkle under his praise and he kisses me quickly and
pulls out his own phone to call Nico to come and get him.

Once CK has gone with assurances that I am fine after all
the upheaval, destruction, and mother issues, we head out ourselves. Back on
the dreaded G6, I snuggle up to Cole and even though he is upset with me he
lets me.

“So if you are Queen and I am your husband, does that make
me King?” he asks with a chuckle and Devon snorts in mirth.

“I don’t think so, my love,” I say apologetically and he
looks mock sad. “Oh Dev, that reminds me. Tiamat said that my Shifting ability
is a Dragon thing and it isn’t passed down to my Vampire charges.”

“Ah ha! I knew it wasn’t me,” he says smugly and I grin at
him.

We sit in a companionable silence for a few minutes and then
Cole asks, “When are you going to try and Shift?”

“I don’t know. I’m a bit nervous about it,” I admit shyly
and he pats my hand in reassurance.

“I am sure you will do it on the first try.”

“Such confidence in me,” I say dryly. “My problem is that I
have no idea what my Dragon self looks like. When I Shift to look like someone
else I obviously know what I want to look like.”

Devon ponders that for a moment, “But when you Shift, do you
have to think about it or is it like imprinted?”

“Well, imprinted, I guess, for forms I know.”

“So you think Elizabeth and you are?”

“Yes.”

“Then just try it. Think Dragon and see what happens. Not
right now though,” he adds worriedly looking about the small aircraft.

“Hm, it might work I suppose.”

“It also stands to reason that if Tiamat looks like you in
human form then maybe you look like Her in Dragon form.”

I nod. “She called you clever,” I say shrewdly and he preens
at the compliment.

Landing at LAX a couple of hours later, we all gratefully
disembark and ask Grayson to head to… you guessed it, X-tasy. Seems to be a
ritual now. I am beyond starving and ask for two feeders much to the alarm of
my boys.

“Stay with me Dev. Please,” I ask. “Not sure if I can pull
back.”

He nods grimly, keenly aware that there isn’t much he could
do to stop me, but stays anyway as I bare my fangs and bite down once, then
twice, remaining in perfect control. The calm comes over me and I flex my
shoulders. “Thank you,” I whisper and he gratefully goes off to fulfill his own
needs as I head to find Cole.

Soon we are home and Cole pulls me into my office, “We need
to talk.”

I was expecting this so I square my shoulders and let him
start.

“I know that whatever I say won’t make a damn bit of
difference but I’m going to say it anyway. I’m not happy about you moving your
sire in next door to us. I am especially not happy about the part where you
didn’t discuss it with me first and I am even more upset that you pushed him
into rethinking the terms of our arrangement. And before you say anything, I
know of the real arrangement and its terms. I agreed to them as I assume you
did as well in return for that engagement ring you are wearing. Or engaged to
be engaged ring, whatever,” he grouses. “Furthermore, you gain all this new
Power, a new title, become ruler of a nation and then within minutes flit off
to a different Realm – I’m not even really clear on what that means – for a
couple of days with him and he gets to meet your mother. Your mother, Liv. Do
you know how special that is in these circumstances? He learns of your true
nature and your true purpose firsthand while I am left to worry about you and
whether I will ever see you again. And it
really
pisses me off
that he doesn’t call you Liv! Don’t ask me why? I don’t really know why. Maybe
because Aefre was the name you were given as a human and he knew you as a
human. I am just so frustrated and mad that more often than not you choose him
over me.” He ends abruptly and I am staring at him in silence at his tirade.

“Wow. Okay. Feel any better?” I ask sardonically and he
isn’t amused and is waiting for me to respond.

“Well, where do I start? I’m sorry about the house thing. I
am responsible for restructuring the Underworld and I need to be here at home
to do it. It seems the best idea to get him to come here so I am not travelling
around the world on a weekly basis. It’s too confusing and disruptive. If he is
next door it’s simple, easy. I made the decision and then it was out. I knew
the only way to get him to even think about considering it was to push him. I
would never let him destroy us, Cole. I have told you that. I love you and I
want to be with you. This,” I hold up my hand, “this is a promise I made to him
so that he wouldn’t tear us apart.” I take a breath, knowing that I haven’t
been entirely honest with him about the ring. He pounces as soon as I stop
talking.

“The fact that you have to make promises to him to stop him
from tearing us apart is part of the problem, Liv. The fact that you obviously
think that if he makes a play for you, he will win.”

“Clearly you think that as well or you wouldn’t have agreed
in the first place,” I snap and then regret my words as his face hardens.

“What I think is irrelevant. I made a decision to keep us
together. To keep him from interfering. Your agreement is clearly an acceptance
that you will be back together one day.”

I close my eyes and breathe in deeply. Opening them again I
find him searching my face for a reaction. I choose to ignore his last comment
and move on, saying, “We didn’t mean to be gone a couple of days in the Dragon
Realms. Tiamat said that time moves differently there, we thought we were gone
an hour tops. I’m sorry that you were worried. I’m sorry that for whatever reason
Corinne wanted him to go with me. I can’t answer for that. I am acutely aware,
Cole, that you have been royally shafted – excuse the pun – since I turned you.
I have asked you to accept things that you aren’t comfortable with, asked so
much of you. But I do love you. I love you more than anything. I don’t
purposefully choose him over you. Sometimes it just happens. We are all in a
very special set of circumstances now and we are all trying to adapt. Me
especially, being thrust into this bizarre position, but CK’s whole world has
changed as well. He was one of four Chosen ones. He helped create a new species
and helped keep order among the Vampires for nearly three thousand years.
Eloise was right to query his loyalty to her and The Council, in a way, but he
chose to have faith in me. To be loyal to me even though he knew his whole
reason for existing would crumble away. I don’t expect you to understand or
accept that. It is just a point that needs to be made. As for him not calling
me Liv? I see in a way why that pisses you off but he called me Aefre for a
hundred years before I ran away and then again for another two hundred and
fifty when he found me again. It’s habit. Even Devon slips now and again and
calls me Lizzie. I am sure you will always think of me as Liv. It’s only
natural.” I stop speaking and I know he has heard me. Whether or not he accepts
what I have said remains to be seen.

“Fine,” he says in defeat. “I hear you. I get it. I don’t
want to be jealous of him but I can’t help it sometimes.”

“Look Cole, we are together now. We love each other and we
made a decision to turn you so we could be together. We are married and we are
in love with each other. Trust that. Trust me.”

“I do. I do trust you. It’s him I don’t trust,” he says
mutinously and I chuckle in spite of myself.

“You would do well to never say that to his face. He did
save you today and has fought your corner since Monte Carlo. Despite what you
may think, and as weird as it is for any Vampire, never mind him, he has called
you family and he means it. He wouldn't have said it if he didn’t. Christ knows
he’s never said it before.”

He grunts grudgingly and I hold my arms out to him and he
accepts my embrace as I Astral us off to our bedroom. Enough talk. I haven’t
been with my husband for days and I want him.

After a night of unbridled passion with Cole I awake feeling
very happy and relaxed for the first time in ages. The source of my Power has
been revealed, I have a mother again, my future--while uncertain--has a sense
of purpose now and I know what I have to do. I have woken up early. It’s still
dark out so I pull on my robe and wander out to the balcony. God it feels good
to be home. All this to and fro-ing has been a nightmare. Leaning on the
railings I take in the view and feel completely happy. A familiar tingle goes
up my neck and I turn with a big smile expecting my sire. My smile turns to
horror--worse--terror, as I see who is standing before me, evil black eyes
focused on mine in amused anger. “Lucretia. It’s nice to see you again, Sister.
It has been far too long.”

“Lance,” I breathe, trying desperately to hold myself
together. “What are you doing here?”

He breathes in deeply, taking in my fear, and a cruel smile
crosses his face, “Just here to congratulate you on your… promotion.”

Sending out as many panic signals as I can, I stand, still
unable to move an inch under his intense stare. Within seconds Constantine is
at my side in concern but his face hardens as he sees Lance. “I warned you
never to set foot near her again,” he growls, taking a step forward and in
front of me.

Lance looks vaguely amused. “Always her protector. What
about me, Father?” he asks in earnest and his use of familial terms is creeping
me out… again. “I was yours a thousand years before you met her.”

“And yet you betrayed me. Went after her for your own
purposes. You stopped being anything to do with me a very long time ago,
Lance.”

“But you made me who I am. I learned from you. And you
turned your back on me,” he presses and my heart almost stops at his admission.

“I should have finished you for what you did,” Constantine
snarls at him. “You are a disgrace and I am itching for a reason to end you.”

“Ah yes, my sister took pity on me. Deep down she loves me.
Why else would she stop you from killing me,” he says slyly, goading CK into a
temper. He moves quick as lightning to pin Lance to the wall.

“She is far too merciful. You should be grateful. Rest
assured I won’t make that mistake twice.”

“Why did you pick her over me?” Lance asks. “We are alike, you
and I. You should have picked me. Is it because she is a good fuck? I never got
her to willingly give it up, but it was good all the same,” he sneers and CK
tightens his grip on him until he is seconds away from ripping his head off.

“Don’t. CK, don’t do it. He isn’t worth it.”

“I won’t let him hurt you again. Don’t make his case for
him, Aefre. Not this time.”

At this point both Cole and Devon have joined us on the
balcony and are watching in horror at the scene playing out in front of them.

“As I told her, I am only here to offer my congratulations,”
he chokes out. “And maybe ask for a seat on the new council for the Eastern
European section,” he adds as a carefully planned afterthought. “After all, it
should stay in the family, no?”