“I know,” he says again and she leans forward to kiss him.
“Really?” Devon sneers in disgust. “He nearly killed you and you just forgive him like that.” He snaps his fingers. “It is so ingrained in you that you can’t even switch it off now.”
“Enough!” Constantine bellows at him. Who does he think he is, giving her ideas like that?
“Both of you, enough,” Aefre says calmly. “I am okay, and to be honest, the time out was good for my head.” She smiles softly and they both melt and give in to her.
However, no sooner are the words out of her mouth, she grimaces and tries to hide it, but Constantine sees it, he knows her face so well. He grips her fingers and she smiles weakly at him, trying to reassure him, but he can see the toll this war inside of her is taking.
“Tea?” he asks and she nods her head. He won’t push her now. He is lucky that she is being so understanding about this whole matter, it could have gone a lot worse. He wishes that it had worked, but as she said, they have to move on now, and he will try to stick with his plan of reverse-turning himself instead. He plans on keeping this to himself now, though. Aefre wasn’t very enthusiastic about it. It worries him and feeds his paranoia that she doesn’t want him to give up being a Vampire, but it is his life and she doesn’t have a say in the matter.
Chapter 14
The Underworld, March 2014 - Aefre
CK leaves me and Devon to go and make my tea like the last twelve hours hadn’t just happened. He can be the most infuriating creature I have ever come across. I am annoyed that he took it upon himself to try and turn me again and lost me half a day in the process, but I have to admit, I am disappointed that it didn’t work. It would make dealing with the four personas a whole Hell of a lot easier.
“You’re disappointed, aren’t you?” Devon asks astutely.
“Yes,” I admit, because he will know that I am lying if I say otherwise. “Aren’t you?”
“Yes,” he answers. “Although, Constantine said he wouldn’t let your fangs anywhere near me.”
“He wouldn’t have been able to stop me,” I say sadly and he smiles sadly back at me.
“I know,” he says with a sigh. “I am glad you are all right. I was worried. For you and the baby,” he adds with a whisper.
“Not much can keep me down,” I say confidently and he snorts with amusement. “And it seems she’s just as tough.” I place my hand on my stomach to feel the little reassuring buzz that she is there and safe.
“Seems so. I will leave you now, but I need time with you soon,” he says with a pointed look.
I get his meaning and nod. “Soon,” I promise.
I lie back on the bed when he has left and let out a huff of breath. I put my hand on my stomach again just to make sure, the buzz is like a little bee in my palm. She is one tough cookie to survive two Dragon Shifts and a failed Vampire transition. I wonder what this could possibly mean and who the father could possibly be.
I am pondering this when I get the shock of my life and find myself being flipped over onto my stomach and my face buried into the mountains of soft pillows.
“What the fuck?” I cry out as a burning sensation tears across my back, leaving me with tears in my eyes. I look over my shoulder and see a golden glow and I know that V.A. has had enough and is trying to tear Her way off my body with Her talons. I shriek in pain as She rakes Her talons across my back from the inside and CK comes rushing in, dropping the tea in the process as he races to my side.
“CK,” I gasp. “Stop Her.”
He looks back at me at a complete loss. “I don’t know how,” he stammers.
“Put. Your. Hand. On. Her,” I say through gritted teeth as yet another slash goes down my back. I am bleeding profusely and I can hear my own sobs as my tears wet the pillows.
He carefully places his hand on my back and She abates for about a second, but then with a blinding flash She claws me again and I hear CK hiss, but he keeps his hand in place. She must have caught him as well that time.
“It’s not working,” he says. “She doesn’t want me.”
The pain is so unbearable for me now, I don’t bother responding. Not that I could anyway, as suddenly I am being flipped over again and onto the floor, sprawling at CK’s feet in a bloody mess.
“Aefre, what is going on?” he asks me desperately as I am then catapulted into midair and thrown back against the wood-paneled walls with such a force I hear my bones crack.
“Oof,” I reply as my vision goes blurry.
CK is looking at me like I have been possessed by a Demon. Err, that might be a bit of a bad analogy. He is looking at me like Xerxei has gone crazy might be better.
“Aefre!” he yells at me as I suddenly go into a spasm, not unlike the one I have when V.A. decides She needs a little Finn-time. Only this isn’t coming from V.A. This is coming from my baby. She is frying the living shit out of V.A., trying to get Her to separate from me, but V.A. is clinging on for dear life (by the threads of my skin no less), while Baby gives Her a blasting of pure electricity. I scream as my whole body gets electrocuted again and again. I have minimal brain functionality by this point, but one thing is very clear to me: I only know of one species that uses lightning in their magick, and that thought does not sit well with me at all. The static on my hair is making it stand on end and every single one of my nerves has been shot. I am shuddering violently and trying desperately not to vomit while being pinned up against a wall several feet off the ground.