Revelation (The Forever Series Book Three) (11 page)

Tiamat stands then and we copy. “Well, story time is over
now, I’m afraid. You need to get back to your Realm. Time moves differently
here and your boys will be worried.”

“Wait, how do I get back here? If I want to see you again.”

She moves to stand in front of me and traces Her hand down
my face. “You can only get here in your natural form, my daughter. You have
only been allowed here today as it is a special circumstance.”

“Natural form?” I query. “I am in my natural form.”

She chuckles, as does CK, clearly in on the joke. “I think
that Tiamat means your other natural form, my sweet.” I stare at him not
following and then up as he points directly above us to the swooping Dragons
that are circling.

“Oh,” I say, feeling foolish. “How do I do that?”

“Same as you would normally do,” Tiamat says simply. “There
is a place in the Sahara, go to it and Shift and you will be directed here.”

“Where?”

“You will know it when you find it. Goodbye now, Aefre. I am
delighted to finally have you where you should be.” And with that She steps
back, Shifting at the same time into the enormous black Dragon we started off
with. Stretching Her wings, She takes off with a screech nearly knocking us over
with the force of Her wing beat, Her sides shimmering in the orange glow like
black crystals.

Watching Her go, my mother, I am suddenly overwhelmed and my
knees give way. CK catches me before I fall. “Talk about parental issues. Who
knew I’d have some of my own at this stage of my life,” I say weakly, trying to
make a joke.

Cradled in his arms, CK just smiles at me. “How the hell do
we get out of here?” he asks me. “I can’t leave. You try.”

I try to Astral us out and sure enough we leave the Dragon
Realms and arrive safely back in the hotel room to a very agitated Cole and
Devon who look like they haven’t slept in days, descending on us.

CK fights his way through the boys and places me on the
sofa.

“Calm yourselves,” he snaps as they bombard us with questions
and accusations, at the tops of their voices.

They both glare at him but shut up momentarily and then
Devon asks, “Liv, where the hell have you been? We were worried sick.”

“How long were we gone for?” I ask remembering what Tiamat,
my mother said.

“Two days,” Cole snaps more out of worry than anger.

“Two days? Shit. It only felt like an hour where we were.”

“Which brings me back to my question,
where
were
you?” Devon growls.

CK and I glance at each other and he says, “The Dragon
Realms.”

A long pause.

“The what now?” Devon asks.

“Dragon Realms,” I say. “We went to see my mother.”

“Your mother?” he asks slowly. “Going to assume not the one
from 11
^th
century England.”

“You’d be correct,” I say and I launch into my tale of
Tiamat and all She has brought forth.

“Whoa. That is… intense. Seriously Liv, that’s amazing,” he
says, big on the support as usual.

Looking at Cole who just looks back at me blandly. “Your
mother? You have a mother. Christ. I have to say I never thought I would have
in-laws with you,” he jokes and embraces me tightly.

I chuckle, “Well rest assured, She approves of you. Of all
of you.”

“And for that I am grateful,” CK says. “Fuck me, that woman
has Power.”

“What do you mean?” I say to him.

He looks at me as if I have just sprouted with the last
rainfall. “You didn’t feel it?”

I shake my head.

“Aefre, She must be well over four thousand years old,
Empress of our world and Her own. The Powers you feel are nothing compared to
Hers. One day, my sweet, that will be you.”

I gawk at him and he shakes his head at me wearily. Ignoring
him and his comment I stand up, wanting desperately to get out of this dress
that Corinne put me in. Summoning a vest top and jeans to my side I turn my
back to the boys out of a false sense of modesty and pull the dress over my
head. I hear their collective gasp as I pull on my jeans and step back into my
shoes.

“What, now?” I ask, not really wanting to know what the
problem is, before I pull the vest over my head. Bringing some pins to my hands
I proceed to clip up my hair, turning back to them. “Hello? Did you not hear me
speak?” I query sarcastically and they just blink at me.

“Err, your marking has gone,” Devon croaks.

“Oh good. That thing was a pain in the arse. Makes sense
though, I suppose, as Ahmed says that the Power of One no longer exists.” I
flex my shoulders and feel a weird ripple go across my back. I roll my eyes,
“Oh what now?” I bark at them. “What the fuck is it?” I spin on my heel and
stalk into the bathroom pulling my top back off in the process. They follow,
still silent, as I shall soon see for myself what they don’t want to tell me.

Back facing the mirror, I see Cole’s pained expression and I
have the grace to hold my top over my naked tits to his relief. Turning my head
to peer over my shoulder I see what they saw and my shoulders sag. “Oh great,”
I mutter as my eyes take in the Dragon tattoo etched across the expanse of my
back. “Holy crap!” I then say suddenly as the thing actually moves, a slow
sweep of its wings.

I turn back to the three with a horrified look on my face
and Devon says, “Nice ink,” with a smirk.

“It, it moves? What if someone sees it? Am I going to have
to wear clothes with backs in them forever now?” I say woefully and they laugh
at me and my sartorial concern.

“Clothes with backs in them, while not necessarily a bad
suggestion, is hardly the most pressing concern, my love,” Cole says. “How are
we going to explain that your surprise Power of One tattoo is no longer there
and has been replaced with… that?” He holds up his hands and motions in a
circle.

“Indeed,” CK says. “I think you may have to cover up for a
while.”

Huffing in annoyance I pull my vest back over my head and
take another peek. Yep, I can see wing tips.

“What about your markings?” I ask Cole and Devon.

They hold up their wrists and the markings have gone.
Clearly their use to build my Power is over.

A commotion in the sitting room causes us all to head back
that way, tattoo forgotten, when James launches himself at me and has me pinned
to the wall by my throat and a punch to my face that momentarily stuns me and
it takes me a second for my brain to catch up. He must know about Eloise. I
bring my hand up to his and using my superior strength pull his hand away from
me and turn him, bringing his arm up behind his back and forcing him to his
knees. Not unlike his sire’s final pose, I think ironically.

“Hit me again I will rip your head off,” I snarl at him and
he struggles against my tightening grip.

“You bitch!” he snarls. “What have you done to her?”

That catches me by surprise as I assumed he must know of her
demise. My grip loosens slightly and he takes advantage of that, bringing his
other arm up to elbow me in the stomach. I let go of him for a split second,
winded, but it’s a split second too long. Almost evenly matched, Vampirically
speaking, I still know I can take him with this new Power, as can CK but Devon
and especially Cole are hundreds of years younger and therefore sitting ducks.
With a flash of Vampire speed he makes his move on Cole, fangs and claws at the
ready. I move myself forward with my own Vampire speed but to my astonishment
Constantine beats me to it and knocks him flying across the room with a hand to
his chest before he gets his hands on my husband. I smile my thanks and he shrugs
but I am grateful. Had James got a hold of Cole that would most likely have
been the end of him.

Taking several seconds for him to recover after an attack
from an Initial Vampire, James stands slowly hands up with a vicious sneer. “If
I could just get you on your own, I could take you.”

“Not likely,” I scoff. “You have no idea who you are messing
with now.”

That gives him pause, “Just tell me where she is and I will
leave.”

Glancing at CK he says, “He is going to find out eventually.
Might as well tell him.”

“Tell me what?” he asks warily.

“She’s dead, James. I killed her. And Gregor,” I add as an
afterthought. And for the second time in as many minutes he has me at a
disadvantage and pinned beneath him by the throat on the floor, banging my head
painfully. Christ, will I never learn? I grip his shirt front and shove at him
at the same time that CK pulls him off me by the scruff of his neck. “I can
fight my own battles,” I say to him huffily as I stand up, dusting my jeans off
and he raises an eyebrow at me. “I know. But I’m not taking any chances,” he
says.

To James I say, “You can’t win this. Even if I was alone,
you can’t win. She’s dead. Deal with it or I will finish you off as well.”

“Why?” he asks in defeat, “Why did you do it?”

“It was part of the plan,” I snarl in loathing.  “And I
hated her. She has been the bane of my very long existence, if it weren’t for
her I never would have…” I trail off with a quick look to CK who doesn’t look
best pleased at the reminder of my rash behavior nine hundred years ago.

“I loved her,” he says sadly. “You know that.”

I do know and I feel just a tiny bit sorry for him. If he
had been the one and ended Constantine I would be devastated and probably try
and stake myself.

“I know,” I say quietly. “I’m sorry that you are hurting.” I
can’t really say anymore than that.

Less forgiving than me, CK pushes him to his knees and says,
“Now bow to your Queen and get the fuck out before I take it upon myself to
finish you off.”

He stares up at me in surprise, “Queen? Is that what all
this is about? You killed my sire to be Queen?”

“No, I killed her because my mother wanted me to, she was no
longer required.”

“No longer required? I required her!” he says in pain and I
soften even more.

“CK, let him go.”

He doesn’t question me and he lets him go.

“I’m sorry,” I say again and he stands up and slinks out
without another word.

“We haven’t seen the last of him, you know,” CK warns.

“I know. But I can understand how he feels. If anything ever
happened to you…” I turn from him not really wanting to think about that.

“You okay?” I say to Cole who has been silent along with
Devon throughout this encounter.

He nods, “Yes, fine.”

“Watch your back. He may try it again,” I say as I pull him
to me.

“Don’t leave my side then,” he says quietly with a slight
chuckle.

“Ahem.” CK clears his throat in an effort to remind us of
his position on that, like we needed reminding. “Now about that other matter,
why we are here in the first place?”

“Really? After everything else that has just happened? CK, I
need to get back to L.A. Our little trip to the Dragon Realms has lost me yet
another couple of days. I have a life to get back to,” I snap and he flinches
briefly. I think, it’s hard to tell. I drop like a stone then onto the sofa,
exhausted, hungry, and dreading getting back on the jet and then heading back
to Italy in a couple of days’ time. Plus all the work now this Queen malark is
going to throw at me. Making a decision, my first royal decree if you will, I
stand and say, “We’re going home to L.A. Now, all of us. All of us.” I repeat
the last part to get my point across with a hard glare at CK.

“Aefre, I told you the other day, I’m not moving to Los
Angeles,” he says and I all but wither under the glare from Cole.

Ignoring the burning gaze from my very irate husband I turn
back to CK, “Yes, you are. I am not flitting around the world any more. It’s
exhausting and I have a new Council to build. I am doing it at home. If you
want this arrangement to stand you will do as I say.”

The evident fury on my sire’s face at my order makes me
smile inwardly. “Do I need to remind you of the terms of this arrangement, my
sweet?” he hisses at me.

“Liv, don’t do this,” Cole begs me quietly and Devon--who
still doesn’t know about the terms--flicks his eyes from me to Cole to CK and
back to me.

“Do I need to remind you that you work for me now?” I hiss
back. “You will be wherever I say you will be.” Okay, I am actually surprising
myself now as well as him as his astounded look lasts longer than his usual
fleeting expressions.

He steps closer to me, glaring down his perfectly straight
nose at me, still inches shorter than him even in my heels. “Say that again?”

“I said you work for me now and you will be wherever I want
you to be,” I say, not backing down to his and my own utter amazement.

“Liv,” Cole says quietly but I ignore him. This is between
CK and me.

“Aefre,” he growls and I get the Old English pronunciation
again which warns me he is over the top mad at me. “I am still your sire and
you will respect that, or do you need another lesson to remind you?”

“Liv.” It’s Devon this time.

I step even closer to him and glare up at him and say
quietly, “I told you what would happen if you tried that again.”

“And I told you what would happen if you threatened me
again.”

At an impasse we just stand there, neither of us backing
down, the tension ratcheting up several thousand notches. All four of us
getting even more agitated and yet none of us move.

“I work for you, how?” CK asks me suddenly catching me
completely off guard.

“You’ll be my proxy, of course,” I say, recovering quickly
and saying it like it’s obvious.

He raises his eyebrow at me, “I will?”

“Well I will give it to Devon if you don’t want it.”

His eyes flick to Devon who probably looks gob smacked, and
back to me. “I accept,” he says as if I offered it to him instead of telling
him he had to do it or else.

“And you will move to L.A.?” I push.