At a loss for words, I moved to stand in between them, watching cautiously as they just stared at each other, sizing each other up. Putting my hand on Devon’s arm, I said, “Constantine, this is my charge, Devon.” I could think of nothing else to say. This was not how I had hoped this would go. All sires can be incredibly territorial of their charges, Constantine was no different, in fact probably more so than most when it came to me. Introducing your sire to your charge needed to be handled delicately, with care and finesse, which were all in short supply here.
Constantine looked at my hand on Devon’s arm before moving back up to my eyes. The look of menace returned, and I quickly pulled my hand away.
“Aefre,” he called me again, “tell your boy to leave before I rip his head off.” He enunciated each word of his earlier statement.
Devon shifted at the threat, preparing for a fight.
I reached out and pulled him to the side, my eyes on Constantine. Turning my gaze to my charge, I whispered, “Devon,” even though I knew Constantine could hear me. “Devon.” I reached up and pulled his face towards me, forcing his eyes on mine. “Do as he says, please.”
“I’m not leaving you alone with him,” he insisted.
“Devon, do as he says or he won’t hesitate to hurt you,” I pleaded.
“And what about you? Will he not hesitate to hurt you? You’ve been running from him for over a hundred and eighty years, my love. I won’t let you be hurt by him again.”
I turned to look at Constantine, who was watching our exchange with, what looked to be, amusement. I turned back to Devon. “No, he won’t hurt me. I need this now, my love. I need him. It’s been long enough.”
He sighed and nodded, reluctantly understanding my need for my sire. Instead of walking away though, he turned to Constantine and said to him, “If you hurt one hair on her head, I will hunt you down and kill you.” And with that he disappeared into the crowd.
“So, suffice it to say, it was a disaster,” I finish with a look at Devon, who appears to be ignoring me in favor of his phone.
Cole is silent for a moment, but then bursts out laughing. Startled, both Devon and I look at him.
“I’m sorry,” he manages in between sniggers. “I’m fairly certain our meeting will be better than that!”
Smiling at him, I assure him, with a conviction that I don’t feel, that it couldn’t be any worse.
Devon snorts, “No, I think I win that contest hands down.”
After a few moments, Cole settles back down and pulls me to him still smiling. “Oh, Liv. You have lived such an interesting life,” he says wistfully.
“Hm, it’s not all been good. There has been a lot of bad and a lot of boring, too,” I point out.
“I like hearing your stories. You’ve seen and done so much, both of you have. You will carry on seeing the World, forming history, long after we’ve all gone.”
I exchange a look with Devon as he picks up on it as well. Cole sounds so matter of fact about him dying and me carrying on. It clearly hasn’t occurred to him that I could turn him. Or maybe it has, but he doesn’t want me to. Again, I think of Fraser. I stay silent. As does he.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
C ole leaves my house soon after that awkward moment. He has a busy week of meetings to attend and my own work is piling up. He is reluctant to leave, and I don’t want him to go. We have a long, lingering goodbye that leaves me wanting so much more from him. I don’t want him to leave me, ever.
Lending him the keys to my Aston Martin DB9, he promises to return it, and himself, to my care the next night. I pull a face at the amount of time between now and then, but I know he has a life to get on with, as do I. Our happy bubble had to burst at some point. Waving him off from the door, I close it and sigh. I miss him already.
Devon appears as if by magick with a drink for me. He always knows what I need, when I need it. “Fancy a swim?” he asks.
“I’d love to, but I’ve got that meeting with Harlow tomorrow that I need to prep for. He’s bringing us loads of work at the mo. Need to keep him happy.”
“Need any help?” he offers.
I shake my head and say, “No, but thanks. It’s pretty standard, just a lot of it.”
“Well, nothing your super brain can’t retain,” he jokes.
I smile. I miss Cole already, but it’s nice just having the two of us alone again. “Come and sit with me though, while I work?”
He lights up at the invitation. “Of course. I’ve some shit that needs looking at too.”
A couple of hours later we are both still sitting in the office, heads bent over our files. My phone buzzes for a message.