Betrayal (The Forever Series) (34 page)

“Don’t think about them,” he says as if reading my thoughts. “Tell me what you want me to do.”

Oh, a request like that is hard to ignore. I know what I want him to do to me. However, we are out of time. “Next time,” I say.

He flops back to the bed. “You are killing me,” he says.
Then looks at me intently. “Xerxei,” he says. “Next time I want to show you the real me.”

Intrigued, I sit back down.
“The real you?” I ask. “You mean your Demonic form?” I am almost salivating at the bit. I am achingly curious to see for more than a second, what he Shifts to. His piercing blue eyes widen as he sees my eagerness. “I will show you that, if you like,” he says. “But what I meant was, there are things I want to do to you and that I want you to do to me, that involves something other than sex.”

I flick my eyes quickly to the chains and then back to his. I lick my lips as I picture him chained to the wall, naked. Sadly, he has another thing coming if he wants to do that to me. It’s a little too close to home. Cuffs I can deal with, chains, not so much.
Like I said before, way too dungeon-style for my liking. However, never let it be said I wasn’t up for anything. “Okay,” I say. “But I have strict rules.”

“Yes, Mistress,” he murmurs to me and I go wet as he lowers his eyes. Fuck me. It won’t ever be me chained to that wall.
Interesting twist. The powerful Demon Overlord likes a bit of a spank. I slam him back to the bed and climb on top of him before he can say another word. I ride him quickly and powerfully, drenching his cock because I am so turned on right now. He groans as he feels me slick around him and we come together, panting and sweating.

“Now, I have to go,” I say as I climb off him. He lets me go this time and I look around for a shower. It doesn’t look much like this place is up to modern standards so I just Shift, get dressed, and decide to Astral myself straight into the guest room shower at home. Better to save myself the additional hassle. I blow him a kiss and Astral off, landing precisely in the shower. I strip off and get myself washed and then pull on the sexiest outfit I can find as a way of a distraction. I have a funny feeling I am going to be throwing some punches soon, as well as avoiding a few, perhaps I should change into fighting gear? I decide against it as it will look aggressive, like I am expecting them to attack me. I am starving again now and make my way down to the kitchen, not encountering anyone on the way down.
Odd.

I fix myself a sandwich, glad to see that someone took it upon themselves to go shopping for groceries. I am guessing Lincoln had a hand in that. I sit at the kitchen island and take a big bite. I savor the taste of the cheese and tomato and chew slowly, also savouring the silence. That is soon ruined as Jess comes into the kitchen and stops when she sees me. Her eyes flick to the food in front of me and she smiles and says, “Some blood to wash it down with?” as she takes a bottle out of the fridge and hands it to me.

“No thanks,” I say. “Not really feeling it today.” Now that is really odd, more odd than the eating thing. She looks almost disappointed as she replaces it carefully in the fridge.

“About the other day,” she says.

“Already forgotten,” I say with my mouth full. It’s not forgotten, but keep your enemies closer and all that. Just as soon as I can, I will remove this girl from Devon’s life.

“Thanks,” she says. “I was having a bad day.”

“I have those frequently,” I say and she laughs. I will smile at her and play nice. Then she won’t see me strike. “In fact, this one is about to be a doozy,” I add as I sense CK way before he smashes his way into the kitchen.

And by smashes I do mean that literally.

The door flies off its hinges as it splinters into a thousand pieces. He is followed closely by Cole and the only thing that could make these two look more menacing was if they were brandishing weapons of mass destruction. They are MAAAAAD!

I carefully replace my sandwich--no need for this to get that messy--and push the plate away. CK’s face goes even darker as he sees me eating actual food, on my own, for no apparent reason, but it is Cole who speaks first.

“Hello,
Mrs. Draconis
. I trust you had a pleasant wedding,” he snarls.

Oh boy, they are fully up to speed here. “Cole, CK, it isn’t what you think.” I stand up quickly and Jess backs away. She looks surprised, as if she didn’t know. Well, she does now.

“Oh I think it is exactly what I think,” Cole says. “I knew there was something going on. I knew it and you denied it!”

“Cole!” I snap at him. “Listen to me. It was a tactical move.
Political. That’s it,” I say, hoping that those words never make it back to Lord Falcor’s ears.

“Why?” CK growls at me, but having the presence of mind to at least let me explain.

Which I do, the abridged version of the Trial. I am quite happy to have the kitchen island in between us, as it doesn’t really go over as well as I had hoped. Cole is in front of me in flash, staring down at me. “How long has this been going on?” he asks.

“Six months,” I reply and get the shock of my life when he raises his hand to me and slaps me, hard across the face. Yeah it hurt, but the fact that he did it hurts worse.

“And you only mention now that you have been forced to wed and fuck that Demon?” he yells at me as CK sends him sprawling across the kitchen floor.

“Touch her like that again and I will have your head,” he says. Ironic, really, seeing as he has done far worse to me in the past. Perhaps that is why he got all defensive. I help Cole up as Jess cowers in the corner. She is
trapped, all the exits are currently blocked by three very angry Vampires. He shakes me off and glares at me. “I thought we talked about everything,” he says quietly. “Why didn’t you tell me about this?”

“I didn’t want to worry you unnecessarily,” I say lamely.

“Bullshit,” CK suddenly shouts at me. “I know you too well, Aefre. You would only hide it if you actually had something you wanted to hide. Are you fucking him now that he is your husband?” The venom is dripping like Remiel’s fangs in his voice. “Or were you always fucking him? I told you months ago I would not tolerate that with him.” He advances on me and I brace myself for another slap, but he just stands so close to me, baring his fangs, forcing me to look up at him. An intimidation tactic if I ever saw one off him.

“Back off,” I snarl at him and push on his chest. He is no longer a threat to me and I will not be treated in such a manner in my own home by my own husband.

“You are both way off base,” I lie. What else can I do? Admit to my Blood Magick tie with Xane and lose them both? Not a fucking chance. Not here, not today with Jess watching with far more curiosity and less fear now. “However,” I add and Cole Vamps out on me now as well, “We do have to move to the Underworld tomorrow and everyone has to play nice. If word gets out, I will be handed off to Sven to do with me as he chooses.”

That gives them pause, but then, being the clever arse that he is, CK says, “You are Queen, why can’t you just tell them the way it is going to be?”

“Don’t you think I tried that?” I ask in exasperation. “I am dealing with thousands upon thousands of Demons who all want a piece of me. Unless I kill all of the opposers and start a war, I have no choice but to bend to their traditions. Xane just made a way where we could do it without bloodshed and loss. It is legal and it is final.” As is this discussion. I cross my arms and they both fall back and retract their fangs, not happy in the least.

“You should have discussed this with us first, Aefre,” CK says. “Do you even care that you have just added a third husband here? Has that even registered with you, the effects that this is going to have on the three of us?”

“Yes, of course,” I say indignantly. No, not really. Didn’t exactly have much time to process it. “This will not affect our relationship at all. I promise both of you that. This is just politics,” I say again.

At this point, Cade walks into the kitchen and rears back from the angry vibe that is still bouncing around. He glances at my husbands and then to me. “I’ll come back,” he says and turns to leave.

“No, wait,” I say. “What is it?” Anything to change the subject.

“Uh, that thing you asked me to look into,” he says.

I pounce on it. “You know?” I ask.

“Yeah,” he says and looks really uncomfortable.

“Well?” I say to him.

He looks at the others and says, “Perhaps, show rather than tell? I know you like to kill the messenger and I’m just starting to accept what I am.”

While that warms my heart, he has me seriously worried. What on Earth could Devon be up to that would make me so mad as to want to kill?

“Show me,” I say shortly and he gestures for me to follow.

Of course, CK, Cole, and Jess follow suit, eager to be a part of what’s going on, our fight already forgotten under the intrigue. Cade marches through the house and outside, across the terrace, down the steps and heads towards the woods at the back. I follow with a feeling of dread. The other three hang back as they pick up on my anxiety over this and want to give me some space, just in case I do decide to go homicidal. I run after Cade in my heels. His long strides slow down as we enter the woods. I am so not dressed for this, but I am too nervous to change. What is Devon doing in these woods, and with whom?

Silently Cade leads me to the clearing and I stop dead. I see Devon at the exact moment he senses me. He is kissing a dark-haired woman who is clinging to him. No, not kissing, they are fucking up against a tree. Devon’s head spins and he stumbles back as he sees me, quickly adjusting his clothing. His face goes deathly pale and he looks from me to her. I look at her now and my jaw drops as does my stomach.

She looks identical to me, to Elizabeth.

“Livvie, please.
This isn’t what you think,” Devon pleads with me, his hand outstretched.

Livvie?
He called me
Livvie
. My brain tries to make sense of this, but it is exactly how it looks.

“Oh now,” the skank drawls and I turn to ice. “It is exactly how it looks.”

My heart turns to stone as I recognize her New York accent. “YOU!” I bellow at Other Liv and fire a blast of Faerie magick at her so hard she goes careening off into the woods, hitting several trees on the way before falling into a heap on the floor. I ignore Devon’s pleas for the moment as I just can’t look at him. I march off after her and find her just getting to her feet.

“What the fuck?” she yells at me. “What the fuck was that?”

I blast her again, wanting to set her on fire for daring to go anywhere near what’s mine. She yelps as the agony rips through her. She’s not so tough after all. Seems I can beat her and so help me god, I am going to beat her, to death, preferably. I fire a stream of lightning at her and she spasms as it hits her, but she recovers quickly and draws on her own magick. She is pissed, but she has no right to be.

“I have every right to take what is yours,” she says to me, seeing my thoughts on my cursed face. “You are taking mine from me, so I am taking what is most precious from you, you bitch.” She sends a stream of Dragon fire my way, but I dodge it and douse the burning trees with a nice little Dark Fae weather system. I dodge another blast and roll out of its way through the bracken, coming up in a crouch, and firing her again with the ice cold lightning I saw Drake use and that I used on Xane. She screams and I straighten up.
Definitely should have opted for fighting gear, I think as I check to see if my shoes are still in one piece.

Fortunately for her, my Louboutins remain intact and I stride up to her, my fist ready
.
“What the Hell are you?” she chatters to me.

I peer at her curiously and all of a sudden it strikes me. All this time and I never even noticed. She doesn’t have the Fae markings!

“Just a little something courtesy of my father,” I say to her and enjoy her shock.

“You know who our father is?” she says, stunned.

“I know who
my
father is!” I shout in her face. I want some physical contact with her, my knuckles are itching to bruise her. I punch her square in the face, flattening her and scream, “You are nothing to do with me. Leave this place and don’t ever return.”

She Astrals off in shock, bleeding and shaking, and I take in a deep breath as I turn back and see everyone watching me. I storm past them all and slam Devon up against a tree. “How could you?” I spit out at him.
“With
her
? You fucking Substituted me with another World version, it is disgusting.” I let him go and the adrenaline rush from the fight disappears as quickly as it came. I feel nauseous. My stomach is churning as I say to him, “You disgust me. I never want to see you again.”

“No!” he grabs my arms. “Livvie no, don’t say that.” He has tears in his eyes, but I feel nothing. This betrayal reaches down into my very essence and rips it into a million pieces. “I can explain,” he says in desperation. “I never meant to…”

“Save it,” I say and shake him off. “We all saw what you were doing. It couldn’t have been spelled out more clearly.”

“Lizzie, please.” He reverts to his name for me and it furthers my resolve.

“Is that what you called her?” I ask in absolute revulsion and walk away. “I will never forgive you for this, Devon. Never!”