Trials (The Forever Series, Book 6) (9 page)

“Lance?” he blanches. “How do you know about Lance?”

“She told me. A bit.”

“I am sitting right here, you know. You don’t need to talk
about me like I’m not here,” I say annoyed.

“Well you aren’t saying anything so deal with it,” Cade says
to me.

“Aefre, what dreams are you having about Lance?”

“Happy ones. We are at Castle Black and we are married and
happy, and other things,” I say, resigned to my fate--better he hears it from
me than Cade.

“Married? Happy? What other things?” he asks in dread.

“We are living our life, my love,” I might as well get it
all out so I add, “Our plans.”

“Our plans? All of our plans?” he croaks.

I nod and he pales even more. “Why? Why would you dream of
that with him?”

“I don’t know. I am more concerned with who has this power
of over me.”

“You are sure someone is forcing you to dream this?”

“Cade is. That is what he is researching. Help me up.” I
hold out my hand. He takes my hand and helps me stand.

“Aefre. This is worrying. And it makes no sense.”

“I know. Believe me, I can’t think of any reason why someone
or something would want me to…” I trail off, staring into the corner of the
hallway in horror.

“Aefre?”

“Liv?”

“What are you looking at?”

I raise my finger and point, “Don’t you see him?”

“Who?” CK asks, looking.

“Lance,” I say and sink back to the floor.

Chapter 5

“What? He’s here? That’s impossible, Aefre. You killed him.
We saw him die. The three of us.”

“I saw him, he was here. Standing there,” I say in shock.

“No, my love. He wasn’t. We didn’t see him,” he says,
looking at Cade and Nico for confirmation. They shake their heads.

“Am I losing my mind?” I ask of no one in particular. “I am,
aren’t I?”

“No,” Cade says firmly. “There is something at work here
making you think you are. I will find out what,” he says, determined.

CK picks me up and cradles me in his arms. “We will find out
what is going on. Nico, ask Serena to look through the old Council archives.
There may be something in there we can go on.” Nico nods and goes off to call
whoever this Serena is.

“Can you protect her?” CK asks Cade.

“No, my magick doesn’t work on her. Just keep the candles
burning when she is asleep,” Cade replies.

“You can put me down now,” I say to CK. “I’m fine.”

“No, you are not.”

I struggle in his arms. “Put me down.” He does as I ask but
keeps a firm hold on me.

“Can we just go back to what we were doing? Why was I coming
this way? Were we going somewhere?” I ask, still not remembering what I was
doing here.

“You still don’t remember why you were out here?”

“No.”

“Oh, well I was taking you to see the erm, room, down in the
right wing,” he says a bit forced and I stare at him in suspicion.

“What room?”

“The room, we have our plans for,” he says cryptically.

“Oh. Why?”

“Cade, please go and see if you can find anything out about
this mystery power. Aefre and I need to be alone now,” CK says.

“Of course,” Cade says and squeezes my elbow in a concerned
way. “You will be okay?”

“Yes. As long as I am awake, I will be fine. I hope.”

“Come,” CK says to me. “I want you to see.”

“See what?” I ask as I let him take my hand and lead me down
to the still sectioned off right wing. “Still don’t want to go down here?” I
chuckle.

“It’s more to keep prying eyes away.” He stops outside the
nursery room and pushes open the door. I expect a cloud of dust like last time
and brace myself but nothing. He opens the door wide and flicks on the light.
Electric?

I blink in surprise. “Oh, Constantine. It’s beautiful,” I
say as I glide into the room. “When?”

“Last year. I asked for it to be done before the whole,
well, you know. I had hoped that you would come around to my way of thinking,”
he says with a soft smile.

“Pink, though? You seem awfully sure it’s going to be a
girl,” I giggle.

“Easy enough to change to blue,” he says and shrugs. “But I
am convinced we are going to have a girl.”

I trail my finger over the white cot with pink and white
blankets and pick up the pink teddy that rests there. “Who did you get to do
this? It is supposed to be our little secret.”

“Marguerite. She won’t say anything.”

I nod.

“Do you like it?” he asks shyly, coming up behind me.

“I love it.” I smile and turn in his arms.

“When can we do the bonding thing again?”

“Not yet.” I smile at his eagerness. “A few weeks.”

“I wonder if they are pregnant yet,” he says.

I laugh, “It’s only been a day.”

“No, it’s been a hundred years,” he corrects me.

“What?” I ask, confused. “Is that how it works?”

“I assume so. Can’t say that I have ever heard of anyone
time travelling before though. You truly are something so special.”

I glow under his compliment. “So, what next? You said you
had plans for us.”

“Oh yes. It’s a bit late now, though.”

“Late? What for?”

“A walk in the gardens. It’s dark, we’ll go tomorrow.”

“No, I want to go now. It has been too long since we walked
here together.”

He nods, “You should change.”

I twirl in a circle and his eyes light up as he sees my
chosen outfit. “You want to wear that to go walking with me?”

“Of course. This is what I wore last time.”

“I remember. You never fail to amaze me,” he says and I turn
in a pretty circle for him, the full skirt of the 18
^th
century gown
swirling around me.

“Oh, one more thing,” I say. I click my fingers and he
snickers.

“You won’t be needing that,” he says.

“It’s decorative,” I say as I grab his hand and Astral us
outside where I then open up the beautiful white lace parasol. It is almost
fully dark but the grounds have lights that flick on as we walk. He takes my
arm in his and we walk in a companionable silence.

“Do you think you really saw him, or a manifestation of him,
or do you think it was just the dreams playing on your mind?” he asks, breaking
the silence.

“I can’t say for sure. There is definitely something funky
going on though. Like this morning. I swear Cole had just left a little after 5
when you showed up. I lost nearly an hour and I don’t know how.”

“Do you think it is something to do with the time travel?”

“No. I had the bad feeling before then. I knew something was
coming.”

We fall back into silence, the only sound is the swish of my
skirt. “Devon said that our future selves said that there was no way they
wanted to live through this again. Whatever it is, it is bad,” he says
carefully.

“I know.”

We have reached the small hilltop that lies in the middle of
the grounds. “Oh Constantine. This view is so different. It’s breathtaking.”

“Yes it is,” he says, his eyes fixed solely on me. I lower
my eyes, being deliberately coy and twirling my parasol coquettishly.

“I remember being out here and it being completely dark. Now
it’s just beautiful.” I point to the lights shown below.

“I remember bringing you out here in the dark to get you
alone. You were always the belle of the ball and so difficult to get to.”

“Same to you,” I say with a sidelong glance at him. “I find
it so strange that this place is so empty now. It doesn’t feel right.”

He shrugs, “Times change. I have changed. I no longer need
the company and the adoration. Except yours.”

“Well you will never lose that.”

“Good. Now get out of that dress so I can take you right
here.”

“Done,” I say as I twirl and the gown disappears. “Pity I
didn’t have that Power back then. Christ, it used to take an eternity to get
these things off.”

He chuckles, “Oh you don’t need to tell me that. Most times
I just wanted to rip the damn things off you and to hell with it.”

“I remember a time or two when that happened. Perfectly good
gowns ripped to shreds by your impatience.”

“My impatience? I am sure that some of the responsibility
can be placed with you as well.”

“I won’t deny that. I never could keep my hands off you,” I
say as I Vamp out and rip his own clothes to shreds to get rid of them. “Now
that is more like it,” I say with a wicked grin before I push him to the ground
and mount him, much to his delight.

He roughly pulls my hips down and I boldly rake my claws
down his chest and stomach, wanting to feel his flesh ripping underneath my
nails. “Feisty tonight, aren’t you?” he asks as he grabs my hands to stop me
from doing it again. I know he has issue with being clawed but sometimes I just
need to do it. He flips us over, pinning me to the damp grass underneath him,
his blood dripping onto me from the wounds I inflicted, that are healing far
too slowly for him.

We both look down. “Interesting,” he says. And I wonder,
briefly, if I am now developing his ability to inflict more serious wounds.

“Now you know what it’s like,” I say smartly and he kisses
me on my clever mouth. He pushes my hands up above my head with his and then
rakes his claws gently all the way down my palms, down the inside of my arms
and keeps going all the way down my sides as I writhe in a mix of pleasure and
pain. He hasn’t drawn blood but the red welts are stinging and I draw in a
sharp breath. I push him back over and underneath me and as I ride him I notice
someone watching us from the terrace in the distance.

I can’t make out who as it is just a dark figure but it must
either be Cade or Nico. I have no problems with people watching. I know I give
a good show so it doesn’t surprise me that people want to watch me. I moan as I
start to feel an excited rush at being watched and CK brings his hands up to
cup my breasts, pushing my nipples into twin peaks that are aching to be
bitten.

“Just this once, do it without making a fuss,” I say to him,
pulling him up and he obliges me without hesitation, clamping his fangs down on
me as I lean back and come instantly as he bites me and starts suckling. “Oh
yes,” I say and I push my hands into his hair to keep him close and cast a
quick glance towards the terrace. We are still being watched and it is turning
me on in all sorts of ways. I move my legs around him now, getting even closer
to him, pushing him deeper inside me. “I love you,” I whisper to him and he
lifts his head up from his suckling and takes my mouth with his, fangs still
down and slicing into my lips and tongue. The taste of blood causes my own
fangs to drop and I pull his head to the side to feed on him. Long and hard,
needing him this way. I come again as he does and I groan as I taste the rush,
still drinking from him. I reluctantly pull back as he pushes on me to release
him.

“Hungry, my love?” he asks.

“Very,” I say, fangs still down. “I want to feed,
Constantine. I want to feed on a human until every last drop of their blood is
inside me.”

He blinks at me, “Is that what you want?”

“Yes. I am tired of being so restrained,” I say and push him
back to the grass. “I want to feel what it’s like again.”

“Oh, Aefre. It has been so long since we shared someone.” He
pushes my hair out of my face. “I want to feel that again with you.”

“Then get someone,” I say with a cruel laugh. “A murderer or
someone equally as bad. Someone who deserves it. Someone we can punish.” I am
riding high on this power trip and I don’t know where it is coming from.

He looks at me then, concerned. “Aefre, it has been so long
for you. I know that it isn’t really what you want.”

“It is,” I insist.

“No, you are too good for that now, my sweet. It isn’t who
you are anymore. This feeling must be coming from the mystery power that is
trying to mess with you.”

I pout at him and he sighs, “Don’t look at me like that. I
find it hard to refuse you.”

“Please,” I coax him. “Please do this for me.” I run my
hands down his now healed chest.

He pushes us over so I am underneath him again and says,
“This way you are feeling isn’t you, Aefre.”

“Yes it is,” I snap at him. “I want to feed, to kill.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“Leave it for tonight. If you still feel this way tomorrow I
will personally take you Hunting,” he says, deliberately using the word Hunting
to try and put me off.

“Then you had better start thinking where you can take me,”
I say before he kisses me, so sweetly that I know he is trying to distract me.
I am about to protest his actions when he enters me and, well, I just forget
about everything else. He makes slow love to me, ensuring I get the maximum
pleasure (and distraction) out of it until I am throbbing around him for the
third time. I roll us over. “I want to fuck you,” I whisper to him.

“Don’t let me stop you then,” he purrs. “I love it when you
take over.”

“You do?” I asked, surprised. “Whatever happened to sire
dominance?”

“It is replaced with your soon-to-be-husband’s love,” he
replies.

“You don’t want to dominate me anymore?”

He shakes his head.

This disturbs me a bit. It is not like him at all. I try a
different tactic. I lower my eyes to his mouth and say in as submissive of a tone
as I can muster, “Don’t you want to play with me, Master?” I peek up at him
through my lowered lashes.

His eyes flash. “Don’t, Aefre,” he warns me.

“Please,” I whisper. “I’m not asking you to go hardcore on
me, I just want to play. It has been months.” I lean forward so my nipples are
brushing against his chest and I start to move over him slowly.

“I can’t,” he says. “I don’t want to. It’s all or nothing,”
he says despondently.

“Then give me your all,” I say bravely.

“No.”

“Stop denying me!” I am getting mad now. “You said you would
give me anything I wanted.”