Revelation (The Forever Series Book Three) (20 page)

He looks utterly dumbfounded, as do Cole and Devon, and
Lance just looks mildly amused as if I have lost my marbles. Have I? I wonder.
Did I just see myself down there in my memory? I shake my head, not willing to
accept that.

Again I close my eyes and focus. Lance does nothing to stop
me fully confident that his wards will hold and I won’t get through them.

I see her again, chained to the wall by her neck, as I was,
unable to move. Starving, weak as a kitten, so as not to break away from the
chains.

“Who are you?” I ask in my head. “What is your name?”

She looks up as if she can hear me and I try again. “Who are
you? I want to help you.”

“Polly,” she whispers. “My name is Polly.”

“Polly! Her name is Polly!” I turn to Constantine, “Does
that mean anything to you? Is she one of yours?”

His eyes widen in shock and I know the truth. She is one of
his. My sibling. Who looks like me.

All hell breaks loose then as Constantine launches himself
at Lance, fangs and claws drawn. “You took her? You did it
again
? What
the fuck is wrong with you?” he yells at him pinning him to the floor, claws
sinking into his neck.

No match for his sire’s strength he struggles nonetheless,
spitting out, “You said you would always share with me. That we were alike that
you would teach me and we would always be together, share everything. And we
did until you met her. A tiny, weak, green-eyed, blonde bitch that you wanted
to keep just for yourself. I hated her when I found out you were keeping her
from me. You knew I would want her and I did. And when I found out about her
methods, just like us, vicious, unfeeling, I wanted her even more. I wanted her
but you wouldn’t let me have her. Told me all about her and how much you loved
her and I wanted her too but you wouldn’t let me have her. She was coming in
between us. I wanted to punish her. So I took her. I took her from her castle
and tried to make her mine.”

What? Is he talking about me now or Polly? I wonder vaguely.

“She would never be yours because she was mine. Always mine.
The thought that you laid hands on her makes me sick to my stomach and I should
have killed you for it. If she had let me come back for you I would have made
you suffer in ways you could only dream about. She could never love you because
she loved me. Only me,” CK says and slams Lance's head into the floor as I just
stand there mouth, agape.

“She
was
mine. She was mine while I fucked her. I
fucked her until she was raw and bleeding and then I turned her around and
fucked her some more until she cried. She always cried, eventually. The longer
she took to cry the harder I fucked her. And when she cried in her sleep for
you, for you to rescue her, I punished her that much more.”

“You are a monster and not worthy of being in her presence.
Not worthy of living,” CK spits out at him.

“And what of your own monster. The one you keep hidden. Has
she seen the real you, Father? Does she know what you are capable of? Does she
know that you taught me everything that I did to her? Clearly she doesn’t know
of the substitutes you made to abuse. If she did I doubt very much she would be
here with you now.”

Substitutes? Abuse?

“What is he talking about?” I ask shakily.

 Lance just smirks as I have confirmed what he thought.

“Don’t listen to him, Aefre,” Constantine says quietly.
“Open the door Lance. You get one chance before I rip your head off. And you
will be lucky at that, if she gets to you first you will wish it had been me
who finished you.”

“You chose well I have to admit and you instructed her to
perfection but she is no match for the real thing, is she? Are you sure you
want me to open the door? You will have some explaining to do.”

“Open it. Now.”

Lance motions to Tatiana who has been hovering in the
doorway and she looks scared but does as he asks and muttering words in her own
language the wards I was still pushing against break down and I move towards
the door, pulling it open. But then I stop. I can’t go down there. I look back
to Constantine who still has Lance pinned to the floor.

“Go, Aefre. You can do it,” he says to me.

I shake my head, “I can’t. I’m sorry. I can’t go back down
there.”

“You can. Go.”

Still hesitating, Devon moves forward and grabs my elbow,
“We’ll do this together like we’ve done everything else that’s been thrown at
us.” Peering into the black hole he adds, “Take your shoes off.”

I kick them off and he pulls me forward. In an instant Cole
is at my other side and gripping my arms we all move forward and down the
steep, slippery stairs. It’s pitch black and it takes my night vision a second
to kick in. Thankful that I have discarded my heels I take it one stair at a
time, my stomach in knots as I sense the blood and fear. My Vampire comes out
at the distress that I feel and my claws dig into both Cole and Devon as I grip
their arms too tightly.

Reaching the bottom of the stairs I pull away from them and
glide forward as if back in my own nightmare. I slowly work my way down the cells,
thankfully all empty, to the one at the end. My one. I see the altar there
still standing after all this time and behind it, Polly. Weak, bedraggled,
filthy, covered in her own bloodstains, slow healing cuts in her flesh.

“Help me. Please,” she whispers as she sees me.

Pulling on the cell door it is, of course, locked. I focus
and picturing what I want to happen the Power does its job and the door springs
open. I quickly move to her and with my normal Vampire strength break the
chains around her.

She flops forward and I offer her my wrist. Too weak to bare
her fangs I rip my wrist open and place it at her mouth and she feeds hungrily.
Taking in too much I force her back and she growls at me. I would give her more
but I need my own strength to fight Lance, as I am still not going to let CK
kill him. “Dev, give her more.”

He obliges and she drinks deeply and regaining her strength
her wounds start to heal and she relaxes.

Pulling back she whispers, “Thank you,” staring up at me
with eyes so similar to my own I want to hurl.

“How long have you been here?” I ask her as I help her to
her feet.

“What date is it?” she replies and I tell her.

“Three months,” she says and my heart clenches.

“Your sire?” I ask dreading the answer.

“Constantine. Is he here? Did he come to get me?”

Lance was right and that hurling feeling rises even more.
“He is here,” is all I say and she looks so relieved I want to die right there
on the spot.

“You must be Aefre,” she says as we reach the stone steps.
“He said I looked a lot like you.”

I stop dead in my tracks at her words. “He told you about
me?”

“Oh yes. I know all about you. I was made to be just like
you.”

“What?” I snap at her and she shies away closer to Devon who
has a strong grip on her. Cole, who has a strong grip on me, tightens his
fingers painfully on my arm at that nasty revelation.

“What do you mean?” I ask more pleasantly at her fearful
look and we all hesitate at the bottom the steps.

“He didn’t tell you?” she asks.

I say nothing and she shakes her head, “Then I won’t betray
him.” She tries to go up the stairs but I pull her back.

Sensing that she is roughly about two hundred years old, I
have the upper hand and ask her again less pleasantly, “What do you mean made
to be just like me?”

She shakes her head again and I tighten the grip I have on
her arm. “A lot has changed since you were brought here. I am your Queen now
and you will answer me or suffer the consequences.”

I feel bad about playing that card with her after what she
has been through but I want answers and I want them now.

Her eyes go wide at the threat, and she senses, if not my
Power then my superior Vampire strength. “He found me and turned me to be like
you. So he could love you but also take his liberties with you. He never wanted
to hurt you, never wanted you to see his bad side. But I didn’t mind. I was
happy just to be with him. I love him and I would do anything for him and he
wanted me to be like you, so he could be himself with you.”

I know I am staring at her like she is insane as are Devon
and Cole but a horrible, horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach says she
tells the truth. I move forward still gripping her arm and we silently head up
the steps back into the kitchens.

Constantine is still throttling Lance on the floor having a
heated conversation in Romanian. He looks up as we enter the kitchen. His face
hardens as he sees that in fact Polly was down there and she says,
“Constantine,” and tries to run towards him. I hold her back and she struggles
but soon gives up, still weak.

“Aefre,” he growls at me. “Finish him. Now.”

I shake my head no longer concerned with his feelings as I
stare at him in pain and disgust.

His eyes go sad at the look on my face, “Aefre. Do it now.”

“No, he is yours to do with as you please,” I say and,
letting go of Polly, I make a run for outside again unable to bear being in the
same room as them.

My bare feet sink into the damp grass, it has started
raining but I really don’t care. I run for the gates and snapping to the guards
to open them, remembering what Constantine had said earlier. They do as they
are told and I run, into the forest and breathe in deeply. Trying to clear my
head and my memories. I feel stifled and sick. I sink to the floor, dress
forgotten and cry. I cry so hard I think my heart is going to break. A soft
whimper draws my attention to my wolf companion, again coming to sit with me.
He plops his big head on my lap and I smile in spite of myself. He wags his
tail as I stroke him and I start to relax. I couldn’t say for sure how long I
was out there, rhythmically stroking the wolf, listening to him breathing. I
murmur all my problems to him and I feel better for talking about it even
though he can’t answer me back. My mind goes blank and all there is is just the
two of us sitting in the rain. Suddenly a black swirl goes up around him. I
pull my hand away wondering what I’ve just done to the poor creature when the
fog dissipates and sitting in front of me is a strikingly handsome man with
short spiky black hair and the clear green eyes of the wolf. He peers at me
closely and clears his throat. “Whoever you are, thank you,” he says and
launches himself at me kissing me, pushing his tongue into my mouth. I enjoy
being kissed by him for a moment until I remember myself and push him back.
“Whoa. Where did you come from?” I ask a bit stupidly.

“I could ask you the same question. My name in Lincoln.
Lincoln Anderson.”

“Liv O’Dell. What just happened here Mr. Anderson?”

“Lincoln, please. You broke my curse.”

Again with the curses.

“What curse? And I don’t think it was me.”

“It was most definitely you. I felt your Power. What are
you, Liv O’Dell?”

“Well that’s a bit of a rude question,” I huff at this point
only noticing he is completely naked. Touching his arm I think of clothes and
thankfully when I open my eyes again he is fully clothed in a black t-shirt and
jeans.

“Huh. Neat trick,” he says, looking down at himself. “You
didn’t like what you saw?” he says with a slight twinkle in his eyes.

Blushing a tiny bit, as I did indeed like what I saw, I
ignore the remark and ask him again, “What curse?”

“Your friend in the castle there cursed me to roam these
forests on an altered schedule.”

“He is not my friend I can assure you of that. What do you
mean roam on an altered schedule?”

He grins at my English accent, his strangely being American.

“Instead of being human and turning into a wolf at the full
moon, I am a wolf and turn human for three nights of the month, bound to these
forests.”

My mouth drops open. “A Werewolf?” I ask hesitantly.

He nods. “You are a Vampire. A Powerful one. And a Shifter?
But I can’t tell what kind,” he says

“I am both.”

He shrugs off my vagueness, asking instead, “What year is
it?”

Huh, the second time I have been asked that tonight.

“2012.”

He looks alarmed and then sad. “Fifty-seven years. I’ve been
here fifty-seven years.”

“What? Unable to leave even in human form?” I ask.

“No, I have been confined here by his witches, unable to
leave, and no one ever comes. Except the other wolves.”

“Not witches,” I say as if that makes a difference to him.
“Romani. Powerful, magick.”

“But you are more so as you broke the curse. Tell me, how
you were able?”

“I really don’t know. I was talking to you and thought how
nice it would be if you understood me and could talk back and then there you
were.”

“Liv!” I suddenly hear Devon calling me. “Liv!” he tracks me
down within seconds and I stand up, helping Lincoln up as well.

“There you are!” Devon says as he sees me. His eyes shift to
Lincoln and to our clasped hands. I pull away and he shifts his eyes back to
mine. “You need to come back inside, right away.”

“Cole?” I ask in panic.

“No, he is fine. It’s Constantine. You need to come.”

“What happened?”

“First tell me what happened here?” he asks rudely, glaring
at my wolf friend.

“Oh sorry. Devon, this is Lincoln. He is a Werewolf. Cursed
by Lance and kept here for fifty-seven years until I just somehow broke said
curse. Lincoln, this is Devon, my older Vampire charge, business partner, and
best friend.” Quite a thorough introduction but now that everyone is up to
speed I say again, “What happened?”

Devon still glaring at Lincoln who returns it says to me,
“He was about a second away from ripping Lance’s head off after you bolted when
Tatiana threw some magick at him and knocked him unconscious.”