Constantine laughs at him. “Spelling her. Now you know how she feels about that,” he says.
“Maybe so, but when I tell her it was your idea to begin with, don’t think she will forgive so easily, especially now that Vito is back,” Sebastian retorts, his temper rising.
Constantine shrugs without a care in the world. “She will forgive me anything,” he says. “I have done far worse to her and yet here we are, married and happy and planning a child. She will always come back to me, because she has no choice. She needs me.”
“No,” Sebastian says as the weight of Constantine’s words hit him like a sledgehammer. “No, she doesn’t need you.”
“Yes, she does. I am her sire,” he says and as Sebastian smiles a wolfish smile, knowing he has the upper hand for once in his goddamned life against this man, he shakes his head and Constantine’s eyes widen in terror as he realizes his error.
Chapter 9
The Underworld, March 2014 – Aefre
“Let go of me,” I say to Xane as he keeps his firm grip on my arm. I need a clear head. I look around the room and groan. He has brought me back to the scene of the crime.
He lets me go reluctantly and I turn to face him. “Just tell me why you did this? Why you thought it would be a good idea to mess with so many lives like this?”
“I wanted to fix you,” he says again.
“I wasn’t broken!” I shout at him.
“You were,” he says. “That Vampire never should have been a part of your destiny. Don’t you see that?”
“But it was,” I say. “Don’t you see that? And now you have reverse-turned me, my charges, lost me my husband, and killed a girl. Are you happy with the outcome?” I ask bitterly.
“Xerxei, please. You must know it was never my intention. I didn’t know all of that would happen. I just wanted us to be together and I know in my heart that getting rid of the Vampire in you will bring you to the greatness you were meant to achieve. With me,” he states.
“You had no right,” I say, defeated. “No right at all to make a decision like that about my life.”
“I am your husband,” he says with authority. “I did what was best for you and for us. I fixed you.”
He keeps saying that and it is getting on my last nerve. “I am not a Rubik’s Cube that you can mess with, Xane. You can’t just peel all the stickers off and place them where you want them to form a neat little square. What you did was unforgiveable.” I turn away from him again with my hand on my forehead. I am worn out. It has been the day from Hell, yet again, and just once I would like a nice, easy life. But right now, all I want is to crawl into bed and fall asleep for a century or two.
“I’m sorry,” Xane says after a moment.
I fix with him with an icy glare. “Gee, the sincerity in that has left me reeling,” I say sarcastically.
“I am,” he insists. “I know you are hurting over the consequences, but you will see that I made the right decision.”
He stands with his arms folded, looking for all the Underworld completely not sorry.
The door opening startles us both and we turn to see who the visitor is. If it is Xanthe, so help me…
“Xander?” Xane asks with a frown at his little brother. “What are you doing here?”
“Mother said...’ he starts but shuts his mouth as I growl at him. “Err.” He looks between the two of us and shifts uncomfortably.
“You can leave now,” Xane says wryly.
Xander recovers his composure quickly and shakes his head. He stares at me with that look and I advance on him with my hands in tight fists.
“Stop looking at me like I am a bug,” I snap at him.
“Sorry,” he says quickly and puts his hands up. “I have just never…” He shakes his hand around my head and I bat it away roughly.
“Yeah, me either,” I say grumpily.
Xander grins at me and after a moment of deliberation, I grin back at him. I want to irritate Xane and what better way than to flirt with his little brother? I sidle closer to him and with a seductive gaze I ask, “Like what you see?”