Secrets (The Forever series, Book 8) (4 page)

“How much is it worth to you?” I ask and he chuckles.

“Nicely done. I have a price in mind, but will you pay?”

“You won’t know unless you ask,” I say, hands on my hips,
but I feel anything but cocky. I feel fear. Fear that he is going to ask too
much and yet I will have to give it to him to get my sire back.

“One week,” he says. “You give me one week, seven days in
your dreams, and I will give you a return trip.”

The feeling of dread blossoms in my stomach, but I push it
down. It’s just a starting point.

“No, Liv. You can’t,” Xane says desperately. “You can’t give
him that. You don’t know if he will keep his word.”

“My word is my honor,” Remiel snaps at Xane, annoyed for
interrupting.

“Four days,” I say quietly.

“Five,” he says quickly.

“Three,” I drop it to his astonishment.

“Five,” he says more determinedly.

“Two,” I drop it again and he is furious.

“Five or no deal.”

“Two. One day to take me there and one day for bringing us
back.”

“That’s fair,” Sebastian says, as Xane opens his mouth to
protest further.

“Five, going once…” Remiel says, backing away.

“I can always find another way. Between Sebastian and me we
should be enough Faerie to find a Ring and pass through.” I am probably spinning
a yarn but who knows, it could work.

“Going twice…” he backs up even further.

“If you refuse, I will still find a way and you won’t get
anything. Two days.”

He narrows his eyes at me and says, “Done,” and claps his
hands.

Err, what?

“I don’t like this,” Xane says. “Something isn’t right
here.”

No kidding. That was too easy.

“What aren’t you telling me?” I ask suspiciously.

“Why nothing, my dear Aefre. Now shall we?” He holds his
hand out to me and I hesitate. I change my clothes from that ridiculous gown
into some nice comfy fighting gear, just in case I have to fight. I would
rather be in loose pants and a vest top than a long, flowing gown getting in my
way.

“Liv, no don’t do this,” Xane says, gripping my elbow. “We
can find another way.”

“This is the quickest way,” Sebastian says. “In and out.”

“Then why can’t he go alone?” Xane asks.

Remiel answers for himself, “I cannot go alone as I have no
idea where I am going. I don’t have a connection with him. Aefre needs to come
so that we can go straight to him.”

Makes sense to me.

“Liv,” he says, shaking his head. I turn to him fully and
wrap my arms around him in reassurance.

“It will be fine. I’ll be back in two shakes.”

He leans down to kiss me, not caring if anyone sees us.
“Please be safe.”

I nod and hold out my hand to Remiel. “If you get me behind
that forcefield and try to kill me, I will have the sword in my hand so quickly
you won’t know what hit you.”

He holds his hand up to his heart and says mockingly, “I am
wounded that you don’t trust me.”

“Whatever!” I scoff. “The last time your hands were on me,
you were throttling the life out of me.”

“Not true,” he says with a wicked smile. “The last time I
had my hands on you, you were writhing naked on my lap, unable to keep your own
off me.”

I hear the sharp intake of breath from Sebastian and Xane at
that little bombshell and I cringe. Oh yeah. I had forgotten about that. I had
pushed it into the dark recesses of my mind as something to never think about
again.

“Mention that ever again and I will do you in, truce be
damned.”

“Is that what we have? A truce?” He sounds surprised as he
sees it for what it is. “Well in the interests of keeping our ceasefire, I will
keep my hands and thoughts to myself. That is, until I get you in your dreams.”
He drops the barrier and quickly grabs my hand, yanking me not so gently to his
side before it pops back up again. “You two, I don’t trust,” he says, pointing
to Sebastian and Xane, who have inched closer. “Ready?” he asks me and I nod.
We blink out of existence and, expecting to be at Constantine’s side
immediately, I am surprised that it takes a bit longer. We are moving through
what appears to be clouds or fog or something of that nature, until we aren’t
and we are standing in a poorly lit cell, deep underground. I blink to adjust
my eyes and I see Constantine strapped down and being bled out, quickly enough
that it is hurting him and he isn’t healing.

He opens his eyes and smiles. “I knew you would come,” he
murmurs before he closes them again. “I knew you would come so I could ask you
for forgiveness and tell you I’m sorry. I didn’t mean what I said to you,
Aefre. I didn’t want to hurt you. The monster…” he trails off.

“Constantine,” I shake him, as it appears he has passed out.
“Wake up.” I shake him again.

“Aefre, I knew you would come,” he says again. “I knew you
would come so I could ask you for forgiveness and tell you I’m sorry.”

“Constantine,” I shake him again and his eyes flutter open.
I don’t think he knows I am actually here. It seems that he only thinks he sees
me, and that I am some sort of hallucination.

“Aefre,” he says. “I knew you would come.”

“Shut it,” I snap at him. “We haven’t got much time.” I yank
the IV out of his arm, which looks like it hurt, but forget that. I am not here
to coddle him. “Sit up,” I say, shaking him as he has closed his eyes again.
His eyes fly open and he sits up. Now that he isn’t losing his blood it has
woken him up out of his daze. “Aefre?” he asks me. “Are you really here?” He
grabs me and I pull away from him.

“Yes, get up, we’re going home,” I say stiffly.

“Oh, Aefre,” he says and falls at my feet. “I am so sorry
for what I did to you. I didn’t mean any of the things I said. I was angry and
I was lashing out. You shouldn’t have been there, you should have left when I
told you to. I knew the monster was going to come out, I never wanted you to
see it.”

I stand there stock-still. My heart is breaking for him, he
is so upset, but I push it away as I am upset too. This time, I won’t forgive
him.

“Aefre, please say you forgive me. I can’t bear it. I can’t
bear what I did to you. Say you forgive me,” he begs.

“We have to go,” I say, stepping back from him and he looks
at me with such pain and anguish I have to look away before I fall to the floor
with him and forgive him. I take Remiel’s outstretched hand. “Constantine, we
have to go. Now.”

He gets to his feet slowly and I look down. He hurt me so
badly and yet I still love him. Damn him. “Take his hand,” I say.

“Well, we are in a bit of a pickle now,” Remiel says to me casually.
“Who knew it was two in, two out?” He shrugs and smiles at me innocently.

“You son-of-a-bitch,” I hiss at him. “You knew that all
along.”

“Well, I may have had a hunch. I was hoping I wasn’t right,”
he admits slyly.

“So, what do we do now?” I snap at him.

“Either he goes or you go. The choice is yours.”

I close my eyes and breathe in deeply. There is no choice.
“Take him,” I say as I open my eyes and glare at him.

“Wrong choice,” he says. “I vote you.”

“What?” I say, perplexed. “What the fuck is all of this in
aid of?”

“Aefre, what is going on here? Who is this, anyway?”
Constantine asks.

I sigh in exasperation. “Constantine, this is Remiel. The
Thirteen. We have a sort of truce going. Or at least we did until he just
tricked me into coming here.”

“I didn’t trick you, I told you I didn’t know for sure.”

“And now what? If you take me back, we are back at square
one, if you take him back I am stuck here. To what end? Is this where you want
me, out of the way?”

“No, I want to take you back and have my two days with you,
with
him
out of the way.”

“What two days?” Constantine growls at him.

“My payment for bringing Aefre here,” he explains.

“That isn’t what we agreed,” I argue.

“Go back with him, Aefre. This is the last place you want to
be,” Constantine says, taking my hand.

“No, I came here to get you back and you are going. Drake
was going to come for me sooner or later. This is some music I have to face
now, like it or not. Remiel, take him back. I will find my own way.”

“No,” he says. “I told you I am taking you back.”

“No!” I yell at him. “You are taking Constantine.”

“For what price?” he asks. “You get one chance. Make me an
offer and I will take him back if it is acceptable. If not, I take you.”

“One week,” I say quickly. “Seven days. Now take him.”

“Done,” he says again in glee. “Do find a way out of here in
a hurry, my dear.” He takes Constantine’s arm, who is protesting loudly, and
blinks out of existence, leaving me in this dark, damp cell with iron bars and
earthen floor that smells of my sire’s blood.

Oh fuck, what have I gotten myself into now?

Chapter 2

Buckinghamshire, England, 2013 – Constantine

“Let go of me!” Constantine snaps at the creature that has
just left Aefre to rot in that disgusting cell. “You go back for her right
now.”

“I can’t,” he says. “One in, only one out.”

“Then take me back, she doesn’t belong in there.”

“No, sorry. She made the deal.”

He growls in frustration and then turns to Sebastian, who is
hovering. “How could you let her make such a deal?”

“Where is she?” Sebastian asks, the fear creeping off him
and hitting Constantine hard. “Why did she not come back with you?”

“I knew it!” Xane says. “I knew you couldn’t be trusted. You
caved too easily. What have you done with her?”

“She stayed in her sire’s place as I could only bring one of
them back,” Remiel says.

“Which you knew all along. I will kill you myself for this,”
Xane says, stepping closer to him.

“You could try. You would fail, but you could try,” Remiel
retorts.

“Enough!” Constantine barks at them. “None of this is
helping. We need to get her back before Drake gets his hands on her.”

“Who is Drake?” Devon asks, as he and Cole enter the
library. Constantine glares at them both, wishing that neither of them existed
and that she was just his.

He remains silent, as do all the others.

“Erm, hello? Anybody going to answer the question? Who is
Drake and why is Liv not here?” Devon asks again.

He turns to face them, looking forward to dropping this
bombshell as clearly they are also in the dark about her father. He loves his
beloved so, but she can be so secretive. “Drake is her father. Her Dark Fae
King father,” he states and he has a momentary satisfaction of seeing their
shock. It is short lived, though, when he remembers that she is there and not
here with him.

“Come again?” Devon asks. “You mean she found her father?”

“What is a Dark Fae?” Cole asks.

Constantine explains the situation briefly, leaving out the
part about Sebastian. He is still furious with him and his part in all of this.
His betrayal hurts worse than hers, but he will protect him no matter what.

“You mean she is stuck there?” Cole yells as he finishes.
“You traded her for your own freedom?”

“Of course not!” he snaps, highly offended. “She had this
creature take me out on a deal she struck before I could stop her.”

“This creature has a name,” Remiel says, just as irate as he
is.

“You may leave. Seeing as your services are completely
useless, there is no need for you to be here,” Constantine tells him.

“There is no need to be rude. I did as she asked, I brought
you home,” Remiel says huffily.

“You should have left me there and brought her home.”

“He was killing you. Of course she was going to send you
back. Even I know her sense of loyalty is at its strongest with regard to you.”

“He wasn’t killing me. I cannot die,” he says and turns to
face Remiel completely now, getting pissed off with his attitude.

“Well it looked like it from where we were standing, that is
why she made the deal. She is sure that her father won’t treat her in the same
manner.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure,” Sebastian mutters and then closes
his mouth on a whispered curse.

“How do you know so much about her?” Cole asks, stepping
forward. “And who the fuck are you anyway?”

“I am getting quite tired of that question. You have all met
me before. This is the downside to taking on different personas – when you
adopt your own, no one recognizes you.” Remiel sighs wearily and sits.

“Aefre called him Remiel. He is The Thirteen, apparently new
and improved,” Constantine says wryly. “But he is not important. We need to
find a way to get Aefre back. I am not leaving her there to be tortured or
worse.”

“No, not when you can do it yourself,” Xane mutters and it
hits him like a ton of bricks. He stares at Xane and he stares back.

“Yes, I know what you did. She told us,” Xane says.

The pain in his heart intensifies as he remembers what he
did to her. What he said to her. He hates himself for being this monster that
loses all control. She is never going to forgive him. He could see that in the
cell--all her anger and her pain that he caused, but he can’t think about that
now. All that matters is getting her back here. He can start to make it up to
her when she gets back. He ignores the Demon, turning from him and back to
Sebastian, who also clearly knows what he did to her. But then, of course he
would, he seems to be her confidant, the one she goes to with all her secrets
and desires. He can still hear them in the tower, fucking and enjoying each
other, all the while knowing what might happen. His anger flares up as the
betrayal rears its head again and Sebastian steps back, sensing it. He looks at
Constantine imploringly and he knows he is hurting because he is angry with
him, but he can’t forgive him. Not yet. He has forgiven Aefre. He forgave her
the second he saw her in the tower, but it was too late. The monster was
already out and he couldn’t hold it back. He tried. He really tried, but her
defiance just made it worse. Just once he wished she had done as she was told.
He closes his eyes briefly as he remembers now through the haze of his rage, he
showed her his true power and he all but told her what he was having done to
her. No wonder she looked so hurt in the cell. He thinks there was maybe a
glimmer of hope that she would forgive his actions in the tower but that, if
she knows, she won’t ever forgive him.