Switch (The Forever Series, Book 7) (11 page)

“You are taking time away from me?”

“I have to. It’s the only way.”

He thinks it over and sees that is in fact the only way
around it. He sighs and looks sad as he says, “Fine. You are right. I don’t see
another way. Have you discussed that with him yet?”

“No, I will leave that for you to sort out,” I say with a
small smile. “You can lay down some ground rules.”

He smiles back at me. “So thoughtful of you,” he says
sarcastically, but I can see he means no harm. “But yes there will be some very
specific ground rules.”

“Let me know then. I do have to go now. Cole will be waiting
for me.”

“Wait, I need you. I have missed you this week,” he says,
grabbing my hand.

“I know, I have missed you too, but I have to go, my love.”

“No,” he says as he Teleports me directly into the shower
and starts to shed his clothes as he turns the jets on. “Quickly, two birds
with one stone,” he mutters as he kisses me while still trying to get his now
sodden clothes off.

“Oh, you don’t play fair,” I say as I get rid of my own
clothes. “You know how irresistible you are to me when you are wet.”

He grins. “I always play the advantage, my sweet,” he says
before he picks me up and in spite of still being half dressed, fucks me hard
and fast before he sinks his fangs into me and drinks deeply.

After a quick wash down, I hastily get dressed again and dry
my hair in a quick spin of inky black. I kiss him, desperately wanting to take
him to bed for the rest of the afternoon but I leave him and land back in my
empty suite. Still no Cole. I wonder briefly where he is when Xane pops in.

“Hey,” I say.

“Hey. I’m back,” he says.

“From where?”

“Vegas. I had to go back for a couple of days. I messaged
you on Monday night.”

“Oh, no. I wasn’t here then.”

He looks at me curiously and tell him the story of the
switch.

“Ah, yes, I was sure that something was off when I saw you
but it was so brief and then I had to go. Glad that you are back though,” he
says, coming closer. “And alone.”

“Not for long, Cole is going to be back any minute.”

He sighs, “Oh, Xerxei, you are killing me, really. But that
aside we are supposed to…” he holds up the Grimoire that suddenly appears in
his hand.

“Yes, I know. Tomorrow, I promise. We will go to your home
and look at it there, then there will be no interruptions. Come for me first
thing and we will go before anyone else gets to me.”

“Done,” he says without hesitation. “My parents are
desperate to see you again, and you made quite the impression on young Xanthus.
He asks about you all the time,” he says slyly. “I think he has a schoolboy
crush on you.”

“Oh please,” I scoff, waving my hand at him as he laughs at
me.

“Remember, 6:30 AM. I will come for you. Be ready,” he says
as he Astraports out right before Cole walks in.

“Where have you been?” I ask him as he kisses me.

“Just planning a little something for later.”

“And what would that be?”

“Well you got to have your fun with me and Devon, so I
decided it was time for my own fun,” he says mysteriously.

“Oh, really?” I ask with an arched brow. “And who pray tell
did you manage to rope into doing that on short notice?”

“Rope? I didn’t have to rope anyone into doing anything,” he
says, affronted. “Paid maybe, but that was kind of expected,” he adds with a
shrug.

“I see. And what time will she be here?”

“No, not here. We are going there.”

“There?” I say with a frown. “Is that such a good idea what
with you being so recognizable?”

“It’s a masked party, my dear, and the girl will be
blindfolded. At all times. A pre-requisite.”

“Well, you have certainly thought this through. Where did
you find out about this place?”

“Devon. He seems to know where everything is in the whole
world when it comes to Vampires being themselves,” he says with a small chuckle
and a shiver goes down my spine. And not the good kind. Seems that my darling
boy has been keeping some secrets with regard to his extracurricular
activities.

“He will be coming with us?”

“
They
will be coming with us, but to do their own
thing,” he says.

“Where is it?”

“A mansion out in Coconut Grove.”

“Okay. Wait, him and Jess? I don’t think that is such a good
idea,” I state.

“Why not?”

“She isn’t supposed to be near humans in that way,” I remind
him.

“Baby, Devon has stepped up and taken responsibility for
her. You can let it go now. He knows what he is doing,” he sighs. “Please
forget about them and just think about us.”

“Mm, what would you like me to think about?”

“What I am going to do to you later,” he says as he kisses
me.

“Just me? Or her as well?” I ask slyly.

“Oh I have specific plans for her, but you are what
interests me the most.”

“Specific plans?” I ask, suddenly worried.

“Uh-huh,” he says as he slowly bites me with his regular
teeth before he Shifts and his fangs puncture my skin and he starts to suckle,
distracting me from further inquiry as to his plans. He is getting good at
that…too good.

He releases me and I think briefly to what Sebastian said
earlier.

I decide to test his theory. “Cole, would you have a
three-way with me and CK?” I ask casually and he looks up at me. “Sure,” he
says easily and my mouth drops open and he kisses me.

Sure? He said that when I asked him if Devon could stay the
night with us.

Oh, I don’t like this. I pull back from him. Have I
inadvertently been influencing him? He seems to accept it, but he is younger.
But wait, Jess. She drank from me in the room at CK’s house and then went on to
be all amenable about moving her attentions away from Devon. Shit. And I know
have swayed Devon’s opinions fairly easily after we have been together, now
that I really think about it and back to how easily he accepted Lincoln into
our lives. Sebastian says he feels the pull but can resist it. Also, I have
wondered about CK’s opinions on certain things having changed dramatically on a
moment’s notice. Is it me? I thought it was odd that Cole had so readily agreed
to Devon sleeping with us, but put it down to how he knew I was feeling after
having lost them both. Shit. Now I am going to have to watch what I say even
more. Shit.

“Can’t say he would go for it though,” he mutters in my ear
as he nips at me. “He is so jealous, I’m surprised he hasn’t tried to have me
killed by now.”

What? I just stare at him.

“Liv?”

“What?”

“You went somewhere then, everything okay?”

“Sure,” I say and then cringe. “Just fine.”

“Don’t be worried,” he says then and seems completely
normal. “I am not going to do anything you don’t want me to.”

“What is it you want to do?” I ask with a slight gulp.

“I’m not sure yet. I will see when we get there. However, I
do have one small request,” he says with a wicked glint to his eye.

“Oh?” I ask, intrigued.

He leans down to whisper in my ear, “I want to see you two
together.”

I chuckle, typical bloke. “Of course, you do.”

“Hey, it’s a valid fantasy.”

“I know, sweetie. Oh by the way, what should I call you?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well I can’t call you ‘Cole,’ that would defeat the
object.”

“Don’t call me anything. No names.”

“Done. What time do we leave?”

“Not for a few hours yet. Can we go to bed?”

“Definitely,” I say with a leer.

“Not for that, we will do enough of that later. I’m tired
and I want to hold you and sleep with you. I feel oddly needy today,” he says
with a frown.

Uh-oh, I hope that isn’t something to do with the blast back
to the past.

“Come then. I could do with a siesta,” I say, leading him to
the bedroom.

“You always have a siesta,” he says lightly.

“Hey, I can’t help it. These Powers are murder on the energy
sapping.”

“Oh, quickly, before you fall asleep, message Constantine to
send your fella Ramon up before we go. You will need all of your strength.”

I snicker, “What about you? Should we get Dawn up too?”

“Dawn is in L.A. with Scott,” he says with frown, which
turns to a grimace as he realizes this is something else he probably told other
me. “Besides which, I intend to feed when we get there.”

“Oh, would that be part of your specific plans?” I say,
putting the phone back down, and climbing into bed next to him.

“Definitely yes,” he says before he falls asleep in much the
same manner as I normally do. Only now I am really worried and it takes me ages
to drop off. But I keep my arms around him and hope that just being with me
like this will be enough to put his equilibrium back on track.

I fall into a fitful sleep and start to dream of Constantine
and Sebastian. They were both at
Ponte
in my old room and talking about
me and my decision to take care of Sebastian.

“What do you think made her change her mind?” CK asks.

Sebastian shrugs nonchalantly, “I guess this whole
situation with the other her.”

“She seemed so adamant before, it is a surprise to me she
folded so easily.”

“I’m not. You haven’t changed your mind though, have
you?” Sebastian asks, worried.

CK ponders that for a moment. “No. But there are going to
be rules. And they will be adhered to,” he says sternly.

“Of course. Whatever you want.”

“Well first things, she said that it will take place
while we are here on either a Tuesday or Wednesday when she is with me.”

“Oh?” he asks.

“It is imperative this remains a secret, ‘Bastian. I know
you have your reasons for keeping it, but I have my own and she has made it
quite clear that if it gets out, I will never see her again.”

“What? She wouldn’t do that,” he says, but with a strange
look on his face.

“Oh, I believe her when she says it. She has left it to
me to decide when. I would prefer it out of the way, so first thing Tuesdays is
when you will have her.”

“Out of the way?” Sebastian asks. “You make it sound like
it is something nasty.”

“Well it isn’t pleasant for me,” CK snaps and Sebastian
looks away. “Two hours in your room. Not a second longer and nowhere else in
the castle. You will follow us here and then leave afterwards. Understood?”

“This is turning into rather a chore,” he grumbles.

“This or nothing,” CK says with finality.

“Done,” he says straightaway.

“And one more thing. It is your responsibility to make
sure she is fully fed up on human blood before she returns to me, just as I gave
her to you.”

“Meaning?” Sebastian asks.

“Meaning, freshly showered and not smelling like you,” he
says through gritted teeth.

“Oh.” Sebastian looks somewhat embarrassed by that. “What
about the other thing?”

“The spelling?” CK asks and continues at Sebastian’s nod.
“You will do it. At the end so it doesn’t ruin your time with her. And you will
push her hard. I am sick of waiting now,” he says as he turns to stare out of
the window. “Any questions?”

“Not so much a question as something you need to know,”
Sebastian says idly.

CK turns to face him and asks, “What is that then?”

“As it turns out, we do belong together. She is my Faerie
soul mate.”

I awake suddenly, sweating. What was that about? It makes
sense I would dream of CK talking to Sebastian about the ground rules, but
there is no way that Sebastian would betray me like that. Would he?

“Ah, you remember it, don’t you?” Lance says from the
corner.

I hadn’t even noticed he was hovering there until he spoke.
“I have no idea what you are talking about,” I say, checking quickly on Cole,
before sidling carefully out of bed, pulling on some comfy arse-kicking clothes
as I do so. Here is my chance to get rid of this thing once and for all. I bump
into the force field and it flings me across the room. I land painfully, yet
silently, on the floor, not wanting to wake Cole up. God, that thing is fierce.
He wags his finger at me in a reprimand as I rub my head.

“The vision, Aefre,” he says in exasperation. “Do you know
how many I have given you, to show you that your sire can’t be trusted? That
you are making a mistake? I am trying to help you.”

“You are talking bullshit. And why would you want to help
me?” I say as I edge closer to the force field, closer to him.

“You think it is just a dream. Pretty vivid for a dream
though, wouldn’t you say?”

“Well, never let it be said that you weren’t damn good at
creating dream worlds,” I sneer at him.

He laughs quietly. “Well you have me there. However, I can
assure you, this had nothing to do with me. I just showed you the truth. I want
him destroyed as much as I do you.”

“Truth? From you?” I scoff. “Tell me another one. What has
he ever done to you?”

“I’m glad you’re back from your adventures. I was most
disappointed to find you gone the other day.” He changes the subject. “That
other you took great delight in fucking your husband.”

“You don’t tell me anything I don’t already know,” I say
even as the hurt stabs at me.

“Question is…did you take great delight in fucking hers?”

I glance quickly at Cole and thankfully, somehow, he is
still fast asleep. He must have been beat. He follows my gaze and frowns.
“Something seems off here. What have you done?” he steps forward quickly to
peer at me from just the other side of the magickal barrier, pushing it back
into me. I stumble as he says, “What have you been up to?”