I smile weakly. “I love you too.”
I ask them to leave me with my thoughts and they reluctantly go. I curl up on the couch in my office staring at the stained-glass window, Scotch in hand. The painful memories are so close to the surface now. Fraser’s vehement refusal had ultimately been his death sentence. If he had stepped onto Culloden Moor as a Vampire, he would have survived. For the thousandth time, I curse myself for not just turning him anyway. He would have been furious with me, but he would still be here, I smile sadly. He did furious almost as well as Constantine. My heart aches for my lost love. I steer my thoughts away from his final moments and get up to find my new-found love, as he needs me. He needs me to be strong.
“Hey,” I say softly as I find him out by the pool sipping a beer.
He looks up and smiles. “Hey.”
I hand him a glass of blood, which he stares at momentarily then takes.
“It’s unconventional, but you need to drink,” I say, adding, “Cheers.” He touches his glass to mine and takes a sip.
“Thank you,” he says.
“No worries.”
“No, I mean, thank you for telling me. About him.”
Oh.
I nod grimly. He takes my hand and we sit in silence, sipping our blood.
“Better?” I ask when he finishes.
“Yeah. It’s not the same, but it’ll do.”
“Don’t worry, we have someone for you tomorrow. She'll be here first thing,” I say.
“Okay. And you?”
I hold my glass up. “This will suffice for now. The cravings are less now that the Power has calmed.” I avert my look remembering my afternoon with CK.
“So, who do you think that man is from your vision?” he asks at the mention of the Power.
“I have a working theory, but I’m not willing to share yet, just in case I’m wrong,” I say mysteriously.
He looks intrigued. “Aw, you can’t just say that and leave me hanging,” he sulks.
I laugh. “We shall all find out soon enough, my love, I’m sure. Come now. It’s bedtime,” I order.
“Yes, ma’am,” he says and salutes sardonically. I see myself in him, his defiance of me so similar to my own with Constantine.
I narrow my eyes, and he smiles that half smile at me that stops my heart. “You are lucky that I’m so easygoing,” I say as I stand and pull him up with me. “It is my right to punish you for your impudence,” I add, my eyes glinting wickedly.
He grins. “Oh, I wouldn’t say you were easygoing after tonight’s performance, but don’t let me stop you from meting out any discipline you see fit,” he says with a wicked glint of his own.
In a swirl of smoky black, I whisk him up to our bedroom. Impressed that I managed a passenger, I pin him forcibly down and start an arduous torture on him, which soon has him begging for mercy.
T hat night I dream the same dream in the canyon, but this time when the voice calls to me, I turn and he’s standing there. The man from my vision, next to Corinne.
“Aefre,” he says again. I try to speak, to ask him who he is, but no words come out. “Let go, Aefre. It’s the only way.”
I awake with a start. Let go? Of what? I wasn’t aware I was holding on to anything. Glancing at the clock it tells me it’s 6 AM. Four hours of sleep again. This is ridiculous. It should be less, not more. Cole is still sound asleep, so I creep out of bed and ‘Teleport’ downstairs to Devon.
He jumps as I appear next to him. “Jesus! Stop doing that!” he snaps, and I grin.
He fetches me some tea while I ponder my dream. “The dream man told me I had to let go. What am I holding onto, Devon?” I ask him candidly.
He looks at me in earnest. “I could answer that, but I don’t fancy a smackdown this early in the morning.”