His eyes flick straight to my finger, bare of his ring, and his face hardens to stone. “Where is it?” he asks quietly, menacingly.
“I have it,” Cole says just as quietly, turning to face Constantine. “She isn’t wearing it anymore. She is my wife and I will not have her engaged to you.”
Constantine steps forward, his face full of fury. “Give it back to her now or there are going to be serious consequences.”
“No.”
I see the change go over my sire the exact microsecond he Shifts and I am in between the two of them in a flash as he rakes his claws, meant for Cole, down my face, right down my chest all the way to my stomach, slashing my clothes and slicing brutally into my skin. The sting of it causes me to recoil as the blood pours out of the deep cuts. Christ, he didn’t hold back. He was going for serious damage and I’m glad that I got it instead of Cole.
“Fuck!” I cry out a
s I take a deep breath.
CK stares at me in absolute horror.
“Liv!” Cole yells at me. He spins me around and his face falls as he sees the damage done to me. “What the fuck?” he yells at CK, who just stands there mortified that he has done this to me.
“Aefre…” he whispers. “What did you do?”
Me? Me? I turn back to face him, the blood still pouring out of the slow healing cuts. “What did you make me do?” he whispers.
“I didn’t make you do anything,” I snap at him. “I was defending my charge. How dare you attack him! Who the fuck do you think you are?” I am roaring at him now, as mad as a snake.
All the commotion has brought Sebastian in to see what’s going on.
“Fuck, Liv! What happened?” He stares at me.
I must look a right fright for all the horror being directed my way.
“Our sire is what happened,” I yell at him. “He attacked Cole.”
“But you defended him. You defended your charge from me,” CK whispers to me, still in shock that he has hurt me.
“I defended my husband from you. I love him. I am not about to let you or anybody else for that matter, hurt him.” I am beyond pissed now and I start to shake uncontrollably. I need to feed, badly.
“You defended your husband, from me,” he says, and the realization seems to truly hit him hard that I am in fact, in love with my husband and I intend to stay with him until he leaves me. The denial he has been in is slipping away as he sees the facts and mutters, “You chose him over me.”
Oh, for fuck's sake. Of course, he would see it that way. It isn’t about choosing a side. We are all on the same side. Or at least we are supposed to be. He backs out of the room with a look of sorrow that breaks my heart. I take a step towards him, but he puts his hand up. Cole grabs my arm in a tight grip.
“I’ll go,” Sebastian says quietly, and I nod my thanks.
I drop my head into my hands, smearing the blood all over my face. The wounds have almost fully healed now but I am still a right mess. I pull away from Cole and step into the shower, losing my clothes in the process. I ignore him as he says, “Liv.”
“Please, baby, I’m sorry. I’m sorry,” he pleads with me.
“What are you sorry for? You aren’t the one who raked me,” I say absently.
“I’m sorry for treating you harshly before,” he says. “I’m sorry for putting you in harm’s way. You shouldn’t have jumped in front of me like that.” He leans his forehead against the shower door, and I turn the taps off. He steps back as I open it and he hands me a towel.
“Cole…” I start but heave a deep sigh instead. “This is all so fucked up,” I mutter to myself.
“He won’t stop until he has you,” Cole says quietly. “I see it now. You are going to be in the middle of this until one of us lets you go. I won’t have you hurt like that again.” His sad blue eyes change color as they meet mine. “I will let you go,” he whispers.
“NO!” I shout at him. “NO!” I step towards him, but he puts his hands up to stop me.
“Liv. I’m letting you go. We can still be together, like you and Devon are. But we can’t be married anymore. He doesn’t want it and it’s too hard and too painful.”
“Cole, no. I am not letting you do this. I want you. I want to be with you. I want to be married to you, to be your wife. Please stop this,” I beg him, and he lets me take his hands. “I need you. Please don’t leave me.”