Trials (The Forever Series, Book 6) (28 page)

“That makes two of us. However, it happened and the ‘me’
from the other timeline or whatever you want to call it told me she defeated it
centuries ago.”

“Centuries ago? How is that possible?” Corinne asks with a
frown before understanding dawns. “She has been Queen longer, since…?” she
asks.

“1506, Devon,” I say.

“Oh my.” She puts her hand to her heart and sits suddenly.

“I know. And what a bitch.”

“She is not very nice?”

“That is putting it mildly,” I state.

“I wonder…” she says, but then stops as I look at her with
interest.

“Wonder what?” I press.

“I wonder if there are others?”

“Others?” I furrow my brow.

“I think she means a ‘you’ that was turned correctly by ‘me’,
as it should have been all along,” CK says from the doorway with a look I can’t
quite place.

“You mean another world? No, that can’t be. And besides
which, we are getting off topic. The other me said she defeated The Thirteen so
I want to know how,” I say.

“When did she say that?” CK asks.

“When I asked her about it?” I say absently.

“And that would be in all of the two minutes you saw her on
board your jet?” he says now with a hint of realization. Oh crap! Where is my
muzzle?

“No, that would be yesterday when I went to the alternate
universe,” I say, in for a penny and all that now.

“Aefre!” he bellows at me. “What have you done?”

“Erm, we shall leave you two to talk,” Corinne says and
deftly reaches out for Ahmed to pull him behind her and out of the line of
fire. I wonder vaguely which one of us, specifically, she is more afraid of.

He looks in pain as he says bitterly, “I am sure I don’t
need to ask why you went. Did you find him? Did you make plans for you to bring
him here?”

“I did go to see if Fraser was there. Alive. I didn’t see
him, I ran into her instead and we spoke of things.”

“What things?” he croaks.

“Where he was, what he was like, and The Thirteen,” I say,
looking away.

“And?”

“She said he was in Scotland and that he was a monster. To
leave well enough alone. Happy?” I snap at him, tears pricking my eyes.

“What did she say about The Thirteen, Aefre?” he says
through gritted teeth, ignoring my outburst.

“That she defeated it centuries ago.”

“She didn’t say how?”

“No, she offered the information in exchange for my help.”

“With what?” he steps closer and takes my hand, knowing that
I am hurting but also knowing he is unable to offer me nothing more than that
small gesture.

I grip his fingers tightly and he smiles as I step even closer
to him, “With you. Or at least the other you. She wants him to love her.”

“He doesn’t already?” he asks, surprised.

“She says he hates her. I can’t say that I am shocked. Mean
cow.”

“No, he doesn’t hate her. I saw the way he looked at her. He
does love her, but he doesn’t like her or what she has become.”

“Maybe. I think she has always been like this.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Something she said about Lance,” I whisper his name.

“What about him?”

“She said they were involved. That they were in love.”

“What?” he asks. “How is that possible?

“She insinuated that it was because he wasn’t jealous of
her. Which means other you didn’t stop him from being with her,” I say quietly
and he blanches.

“I can’t imagine a world in which I would let that happen,”
he says fiercely.

And yet.

“She lies. To unnerve you,” he adds.

“No, she offered up the information. She assumed that our
relationship was the same. But the point is, she said that The Thirteen had no
power over her. Which led to our conversation on Lance and that makes me think
that she has always been a vicious bitch as she has no fear. Nothing to fear
and nothing to have loved enough and lost.”

“You think that your emotions are what is causing it to be
so effective in manipulating you?” he asks.

“Yes. It has only ever appeared as Lance, the man I feared
for so long and Fraser, the man I have loved and lost and which broke my heart.
There are a million other people It could choose but none of them would bother
me. Even Radulf. In fact I wish It would be Radulf, it would be more effective
as all I would want to do is kick Its arse,” I add with a small smile.

“I see,” he says stiffly. “Then you need to get over this.”

I step back from him, “Get over it?”

“Yes. Lance is dead. You killed him and watched him disintegrate
to nothing. You know he can’t hurt you. And you need to go and see other
Fraser. If he is the opposite of what he was as a human you have to go and see
what would have happened to him had you turned yours. You will then maybe
realize that he was better off.”

“Better off? Better off dying at the age of twenty-six
because of some vendetta against me?” I am shaking I am so furious with him
right now.

“Aefre, you know that isn’t what I meant,” he says softly.

“No, what you mean is you are better off,” I say nastily and
he flinches.

“Aefre, you aren’t being very fair.”

“Like you are? You are supposed to be supportive.”

“I am being. Or I am trying to be. But again we digress. Go
back to what you were saying about her wanting your help. What exactly does she
want you to do?”

I accept the change in subject as I don’t like fighting with
him. “She is delusional. She wanted me to pretend to be her to make him fall in
love with her.”

“What?” he asks in disbelief. “Does she honestly think I
would fall for that? I mean other me?” he corrects.

“She says as long as I sweep him off his feet and he falls
in love it won’t matter when we switch back.”

“Well I have no doubt you could do it but I don’t think you
should be going over there. You have too many commitments here and problems of
your own to deal with.”

“I know, but she can help.” I sigh, “I just don’t know what
to do.” I turn towards the windows and he wraps his arms around me. I lean back
into him and feel comforted. He runs his hands lightly over my stomach and I
smile.

“You know it is too soon for us, right?”

“I know,” he sighs. “I just wish it were so and then we
could be together.”

“Ahem,” Ahmed clears his throat from behind us. “Have you
managed to sort out your issues?”

CK turns with me still in his arms, hands resting on my
belly, “I think so. Is there nothing at all you can add about this thing?”

“Except what his plans where and why he was killed and where
the sword is? No, I’m afraid not,” Corinne sighs.

“Where is the sword?” CK asks.

“The Spirit Realm,” I say. “I can’t get to it without dying
first,” I joke weakly.

“Not funny,” CK says to me with a sidelong glance.

I shrug.

“We will keep looking and trying to figure out a way to get
you there safely and back safely,” Corinne says. I get the feeling she is not
telling me something and stare at her until she looks away. Definitely guilty.

“What do you know?” I ask her. “Is it to do with my father?”

I sense CK’s eyes on me but I ignore him in favor of glaring
at Corinne.

“No, Your Majesty,” she says innocently but I am not buying
it.

“Fine. Please do come and find me if you learn anything new.
About anything.”

“Of course,” she says and Ahmed avoids my gaze. This is
getting annoying now.

I take CK’s hand and relocate us back to Toronto where Cole
and Cade are waiting for us.

“Your father?” CK snaps at me. “Why didn’t you tell me you
were looking?”

“Father?” Cole and Cade ask in unison, just as surprised.

“I only thought about it on Friday and they said they didn’t
know, but I can tell they are hiding something.”

“Hm, it is interesting that Tiamat never mentioned it,” CK
says thoughtfully. “I wonder who it could be?”

“Yeah, you and me both. I am starting to wonder if I don’t
really want to know. Everyone seems so cagey about it. What if it is something
so horrifying it will give me nightmares?”

“What, like The Thirteen?” Cole asks and both CK and I look
at him.

“Holy shit!” I shriek. “What if it is? What if It was her
lover? Makes sense, why she would get so mad with It she killed It.”

I get two affronted looks at that comment and flush
somewhat. “Sorry,” I mumble.

“Yes well, I think Cole may have a point. I can’t see any
other reason why they wouldn’t tell you or want you asking questions about it,”
CK says.

“But why would It want to hurt you if It is your father?”
Cade asks, a damn good question.

“I don’t know. Maybe It doesn’t know?” Cole says.

“Or maybe It does and doesn’t care. It is evil, after all.
What difference does it make whether I am family.”

We all ponder that morosely for a few minutes.

“We are jumping ahead of ourselves here,” Cade says,
breaking the silence. “It seems unlikely to be The Thirteen, because the
timeline doesn’t track. But it has to be somebody. It is worth looking into
some more, if you want us to?”

“Or, I could just go to the Dragon Realms and ask Tiamat,” I
say.

“Ask Tiamat what?” Sebastian asks, joining the party –
uninvited.

“Boundaries, people!” I snap at them. “All this willy nilly
barging into everyone’s rooms is disturbing.”

“Yes, what if Liv and I had been fucking?” Cole asks, crossing
his arms.

“Then I’d have joined in,” Sebastian says with a shrug to
which Cole nearly punches him. But he did kinda walk into that one. “So ask her
what?” he presses.

“None of your business,” I say as CK says, “Who her father
is.”

“Do you mind? I don’t want the whole world knowing my
business.”

“I wouldn’t call Sebastian the whole world, my sweet.
Besides which, we don’t keep secrets.”

“Humph, except your own,” I mutter and then look up at him
sharply. No secrets? He looks away innocently but I resolve to ask him about
that later.

“Father? Can’t say I even thought about it?” Sebastian
remarks.

“Well why would you?” Cole snaps. “It’s nothing to do with
you.”

“She is my sibling and my Queen,” Sebastian says haughtily.
“It is everything to do with me.”

Is it? I think with a slightly raised brow. Getting a bit
protective there, Princie.

“Look. Let’s just forget about this for now and next time I
see Tiamat I will ask her straight up. Everybody just stand down now. The most
important thing now is to find a way to get this bloody sword out of the Spirit
Realm so I can get rid of this thing.”

“Can you not just Astral there?” Cole asks.

“Corinne says no. She says the only way there is by dying. I
need Xane, can someone please go find him?” There are unsurprisingly no takers
to that request but as it happens when I beckon he comes, as he is there in a
swirl or shimmer or whatever it is he does.

“You rang, my love?” he says with a slight bow.

“Very funny. Tell me later how you did that? Right now what
can you tell me about the Spirit Realm?”

“Not much. It is the place dead things go to…be.”

“Obviously,” I snap at him. “Something I don’t know.”

He shakes his head.

“What good are you then?” I ask him. “You are normally more
informative than this.”

He laughs at me, “I am a lot of good. I normally just point
you in the right direction and you take it from there.”

“Normally?” Cole sneers. “And exactly how many times have
you steered my wife in the right direction?”

“Oh plenty,” he says and I purse my lips at him.

“Can it.”

“As you wish,” he says blandly. “How about in your dreams?”

“In her dreams what?” CK is starting to lose his temper now
with this and I have to say I am too.

“You kill It in your dreams. Somehow.” He taps his chin and
says, “You say they are real, vivid, that you feel everything that goes on in
them, maybe It does, too. Maybe It is vulnerable when It is inside your head.
And remember it is your head, not Its head.”

“I have the power to steer the dream you mean? Like to the
Spirit Realms where I find the sword and kill this bastard dead?” I am getting
overly enthusiastic in my irritation at not being very effective.

Five sets of eyes bug out at me and my vigor. “Well maybe
not exactly like that…” Xane says trailing off, “But perhaps something along
those lines. It is worth a think about.”

“Hmm,” I say and then fill them in on what Corinne has said
about him, It, being born under a cursed moon. “What do you think that means?”

“Cursed moons are very rare,” Xane says. “They come along in
The Underworld once every millennium if that. Parents take great pains to
ensure that their offspring are not born on that day, because if one happens to
be born as the cursed moon rises, they are feared as no one knows the amount of
power they will hold.” The thought of what happens to the babies that do
unfortunately get born on that day makes me swallow loudly. I don’t ask, and
neither does anyone else when Xane doesn’t offer up the information.

“Screw this then,” I say. “I am going to ask other me.” I
close my eyes and add to CK, “Oh yeah, be a dear and fill them in on that would
you, Devon and Linc too. I’ll be back when I’m back.”

He grabs my hand, “Not so fast. You mean to say that you
went off half-cocked yesterday and nobody knew about it?” He fixes his steely
gaze on Cole, “You were supposed to be watching her.”

“I was, except when she tricked me,” he says, annoyed, “into
having a bath by herself. Explain yourself.” He snaps at me in a very CK-like
tone, which has him nodding his approval.

“Later, sweetie. Right now I am going to make a deal with
the devil.”

“Aefre, no! You cannot comply to her demand.”

“A little flirting never harmed anyone,” I shrug and close
my eyes again and wish myself back to the other world and other me.