Revelation (The Forever Series Book Three) (18 page)

“Did anyone else get the impression that he’s been spying on
us?” Devon asks bluntly.

“Yes,” CK and I say in unison but then he adds, “If he has,
he also knows of your…” he holds his hands out at his sides palms facing
outward in the universal sign for my virtual armory. I grimace. Not good news.

“We had better go check the room.” And off we troop.

Cole and I take a long leisurely shower where he more than
makes up for his mistreatment of me earlier, while Devon and Constantine check
the room for bugs.

Giggling we exit the bathroom dressed in our robes and find
the other two working. One on a laptop, one on an iPad.

“So in spite of no lighting, I assume we have wi-fi then,” I
roll my eyes at them and they both look up and smile.

“Well? Anything.”

CK indicates the small pile on the table in front of him.

I move closer and discover not only microphones but also
video cameras.

“Oh fucking wonderful. He saw the entire thing,” I grouse.

“I’m afraid so. We should have been more vigilant and
checked it beforehand.”

“But he didn’t know we were coming, why would he have this
place rigged as a sex tape room?” Cole asks.

“Lance has certain… tastes. Watching is one of them. If I
hadn’t been so worried about keeping Aefre safe from him, I would have
remembered,” he says, more annoyed with himself for forgetting than us having
been peeped on, but as ever the abrupt change of subject comes and we all
struggle to keep up, “I got an email from Louis Harlow.”

Blinking at him as I register his statement I say, “Oh?”

“If you wanted it, why didn’t you just tell me and I would
have given it to you.”

“I only realized I wanted it after Versailles. But it was
too late. Monsieur Du Pont had already sold it off to the L’orleau’s,” I remark
with a pointed look at the said Monsieur.

“Wanted what?” Cole asks, lost as ever in our trip down
memory lane. Yes, I understand why he gets pissed off with this and I’m almost
certain Constantine leaves out details on purpose to annoy him.

“
Castel Gradile
,” my sire responds as if that is
going to make any difference.

“And that would be?” Cole snaps at my smug sire.

I answer instead with more detail, “After Constantine turned
me and he took me to Normandy, the castle there that I woke up in is
Castel
Gradile
.”

“Oh. Why do you want it?”

“Because it is the place where I woke up,” I repeat as if he
is dense.

“Actually, you woke up on board the ship when we crossed the
Channel.”

Devon’s eyes pop up from his work in surprise.

“So you keep telling me but I don’t remember,” I huff.

“You were violently ill. I had to give you laudanum to put you
back to sleep.”

Devon snorts, “Good to see some things never change,”
referring to my lack of sea legs, which made for a very disgusting
Atlantic-crossing to America.

“Anyway,” I say, bringing the conversation back round, “as
far as I am concerned that was my first real home. And I want it back.”

“Back? It was never yours to start with,” CK says snidely
and I glare at him.

“I named it. You couldn’t even be bothered to do that.”

He shrugs, “It was just a place between Italy and England.
William’s father gave it to me.”

Hm, now that I did not know.

“Speaking of,” Devon interrupts. “Why did you call it
Gradile
?”
He taps something on his iPad and peers at it. “Blackcurrants?”

My sire and I exchange a look and he grunts, “It’s private,”
much to Cole’s fury.

Devon, still peering at his iPad, turns it around to show us
what he is looking at. “It’s pretty. Called
Château Cassis
now.”

“Yes, I know,” I grump at him.

“Why did the name change?” Cole asks still pissed but
interested enough to ask.

“When Aefre named it, the language of the time was still
Norman. Once the French language developed it was automatically reassigned the
French version of the name and then the L’orleaus bought it and kept it.”

“Developed? Christ, you were around when a language was developed?”
Cole asks in wonder.

Again with the smug, “Several of them, yes.”

Looking impressed in spite of himself, Cole asks again, “So
why Blackcurrants?”

“You said before that I tasted like cherries? Well
Constantine…”

“Aefre. I said that’s private,” he interrupts me.

But the cat is already running away from the bag as Devon
finishes my sentence, “Tastes like Blackcurrants. Huh. So did she.”

“She?” I ask and then realize with dread that he means
Eloise. “You drank from her?” I ask incredulously.

Devon and Cole exchange a look and Cole replies, “We both
did.”

“What?”

“Jealous?” he responds slyly.

Oh my husband has a mean side and he isn’t afraid to use it.

Recovering somewhat from my shock at this revelation I say,
“Not jealous. Just surprised she let you.”

He smirks at me and not in a cheeky good way but in a
tit-for-tat kind of way, “Oh it wasn’t difficult at all. Once she knew you
weren’t there she all but begged me to do it.”

“Cole,” Devon warns him as he sees the flash of
Power-fuelled temper in my eyes.

“I see,” I say calmly. “And did she feed from you?”

Watching me closely he replies, “Yes.” His eyes flick to
Constantine and back to mine as he adds, “I know how much that pisses you off.”

Oh a shit storm is brewing now as I feel the flare of anger
go up in CK.

“You told him? That is our business, Aefre,” he snaps at me.

Casting a “look what you’ve done now” glare at Devon I turn
to CK, “He asked me in Monte Carlo. He wanted to know why I left you, so I told
him.”

Oh crap, that was the wrong thing to say, I think, as his
eyes go to two hard flints that pierce mine.

“You told him before you discussed it with me?”

I have to smile inwardly at the “discussed” part of that
question but have the good sense to keep it off my face. I hope.

“He asked. I wasn’t going to lie.” I look back at Cole who
is looking mighty pleased with himself for causing discord between us. So no
support there then.

“And I suppose you told him about the other time as well?”
he snarls at me.

“I didn’t know what happened the other time – as you call
it. Remember? All I knew was you left. But you made a colossal fuck up!” my
temper getting the best of me I start yelling now.

“So did you!” he yells back much to my surprise. He, in
fact, has done more yelling these last couple of weeks than he has - ever.

“If I may interject,” Devon stands up to join in this heated
conversation, “I wouldn’t be standing here right now if he didn’t leave you,
Liv.”

Constantine turns to him with a sneer. “Like she said, I
made a colossal fuck up,” he throws the insult at Devon and he takes the hit,
badly.

Devon growls at him and moves forward to stand in front of
him. “You left her and she found me. Fell in love with me and turned me so we
could be together forever. I have been by her side for five hundred and six
years, with the exception of what, fifty. We work together, we live together,
up until a few weeks ago, we spent every minute together, every night in her
bed. I took care of her. Took care of all of her needs. Sustained her for
months at a time when she refused human blood. Can you say the same? No. You
left her on the other side of the world, visiting only when you saw fit. You
don’t get to come here and dismiss what we have.”

I am staring at him in utter amazement at this impassioned
speech while Constantine looks like he is about to rip his head off.

“I had my reasons for staying away. She knows what they
are,” he says quietly.

“I don’t particularly care what your reasons were. You have
no idea what she feels when you aren’t there.”

“And you do? You think you know what she feels for me? You
have no idea. You cannot even comprehend the strength of our bond.” Constantine
steps forward and now they are glaring at each other from inches away.

“I do know!” Devon yells at him. “I do know because what she
feels for you, is exactly what I feel for her. But you wouldn’t know what that
is.”

“Oh the charge-to-sire bond thing again,” he scoffs and I
get my back up as he once again dismisses our feelings.

“You don’t get to dismiss it,” Devon says again. “You can
sit there on your all powerful, I am a creator of a race high horse all you
like but you will not ever dismiss me again,” he says forcefully and I am so
proud I am beaming at him.

“Talk about a God complex,” he mutters as Constantine just
stares at him as if he has lost his mind. Which he probably has to be, even
thinking of talking to my sire that way. People have lost their heads for less
and I gulp.

“You are right to be afraid for him, Aefre,” he says to me
but not taking his eyes off Devon’s furious blue ones. “Insolence will not be
tolerated.”

“Constantine,” I bark at him. “Just stop this at once. Both
of you. It’s this kind of dissension that is not acceptable. We will not turn
on each other! Do you understand?” I shout at them. They ignore me, “Do you
understand me?” I shout louder this time and bang my fist on the table to
emphasize my authority. “Don’t make me call forth my trusty friend to split you
two up,” I threaten menacingly, and finally they step back from each other
relaxing a tiny bit but still glowering at each other. Christ, it’s like
Versailles all over again.

Turning my attention back to Cole who has been silently
watching this scene play out looks somewhat smug.

“You,” I snarl at him and his eyes find mine and he adjusts
his features. “You have issue with me, deal with me. You do not ever bring them
into our fight again. Do you hear me?”

He looks at me warily, never having been on the receiving
end of a sire’s wrath before. “I didn’t,” he says cautiously.

“Whether you meant to or not, your actions started this. You
were the butterfly.” But then I think back, yes, he riled Constantine with his
comments about Eloise but really it was Devon who started this. Rounding on my
older charge I snap, “No, you were the butterfly. If you had just kept your
trap shut about Eloise’s blood this would never have happened.”

“I think you will find, my sweet, that
you
were in
fact the butterfly by telling our secrets. We agreed the naming of the castle
was ours to know and ours alone,” Constantine, smarmy as ever, points out and I
realize in horror that he is right. It was me. I’m the butterfly and the
hurricane was the fight between my sire and my charge.

“Shit,” I mumble abashed. “You are right. I’m sorry. It was
me. I shouldn’t have told but then Devon shouldn’t have either and Cole should
not have said what he did.” I try to shift at least some of the blame.

“So in fact the only one innocent in all this is me. Me and
my God complex,” Constantine smirks.

“Humph,” I say rudely. “You are never innocent. It was you
who brought the whole thing up in the first place.”

Looking amused he says, “I mentioned an email I received so
we could discuss it, Aefre. Like adults. Clearly I was mistaken that in spite
of our collective years we are still just the young fools we were when we were
turned.”

Devon and I glance at each and burst out laughing at this
most hilarious comment coming from Constantine of all people, who I am
delighted to note included himself in his statement.

Cole, not so amused, watches us with bad grace and I sober
remembering his words from earlier.

“So,” I say then, “bringing the conversation back round in
an adult manner to Harlow’s email. What I should have asked was why is he
contacting you about my interest in his property?”

“He is under the impression that I can talk you out of
pursuing it.”

I sigh, “So he’s not budging then.”

“Doesn’t seem so. Is this what you wanted to talk to me
about last week that we never got around to discussing?”

“Yes. I was hoping you could get him to change his mind.”

“Seems that I am the middleman in this, even though I sold
it nearly five hundred years ago,” he grouses.

“Seems so. Please try and get him to sell it to me. It means
a lot to me,” I ask him quietly.

“Well how can I refuse when you ask me like that?” he says just
as quietly.

“Thank you.” I turn then to Cole again and say, “We need to
talk. Alone, please.”

“The rules are the same, Aefre. We don’t split up.”

“Then put some earphones in or something. I need to talk to
Cole. Alone.”

“Fine,” they both agree and I drag Cole back to the bathroom
for maximum privacy.

“And play nice,” I snap back at them over my shoulder as
Devon goes to light the candles.

“In three’s!” I hear CK snap quietly and Devon’s, “I know!”
snap back.

Closing the door I take a deep breath, “Did she really feed
from you or were you just saying that to piss me off?”

He takes my hand and pulls it up to his lips. “She did. Only
for a second. Devon made her stop.”

I close my eyes and slide down the door to sit in a heap on
the floor. “A second is still a second,” I say miserably.

He sits too. “I know. I’m sorry. Although I’d say we are
even now as I know that Gregor drank from you,” he says with a pointed look.

Well I can’t argue with that, I suppose.

“And,” he adds, “you also have those two out there snacking
on you whenever they feel like it.” He smiles though to show he’s not angry.

“Oh my love. This has been quite the shit day hasn’t it?
Again,” I add in disgust.

“It hasn’t all been shit,” he says shyly. I look at the
shower and grin.

“No, I suppose it hasn’t.”

“I…, err, I didn’t mean that,” he says thoroughly
embarrassed.