I shake my head sadly. “There never was. I loved you back then, I felt something with you that I have never felt since, but it has always been Constantine.”
“Friends then,” he declares.
“Definitely,” I say, relieved that he hasn’t fought me on this. But I am pretty sure that Drake has had menacing words to him about staying away. “I want to be here for you.”
He shrugs. “I am all right,” he says. “Nothing that a few jugs of mead won’t cure.”
“Vito,” I say to him. “What you endured because of me…I will never let Constantine forget, I assure you.”
“Yet you have forgiven him,” he says bitterly.
“I have to. There is too much conflict. I need him by my side. He is my rock, he is the one who makes me strong,” I say with tears in my eyes.
I turn from Vito then and he says, “He was the one who killed Evoric.”
I look back at him with a sad smile. “I know. I know you took the blame for him, when he accused you in front of me. I didn’t want to believe it, but,” I say and tap my head to indicate my magick brain which still holds all of the Vampire records for some reason, “it has been confirmed to me.”
“And you confronted him?” he demands.
“No,” I say. “I know of all of his crimes, I know Evoric wasn’t the only one. But it was so long ago. I have too much else to be angry about now.”
“With him?” Vito asks hopefully.
“Yes,” I say with a smirk, “but everything else as well. Especially my daughter.”
He nods his understanding. “I want that fucking apology,” he says.
I chuckle as it seems he has picked up on a few more choice words in my absence. “Don’t let Drake hear you using those words.”
“Hah! Drake is the worst for cursing. You should hear him when Maurelle isn’t around,” he says with a loud laugh.
I raise my eyebrow. “Oh, really?”
There is a knock at the door to announce Tabetha’s arrival and I open it, hoping that Vito and I get a chance to talk some more about what my father does behind my and his wife’s back.
Tabetha is startled to find Vito in my room and me already dressed, but she brushes it aside to attend to my hair. I wave to Vito and when he disappears, I feel the pang of loss and all of my stress reappears momentarily, before I feel a spark of magick come from the baby that races through my veins and that tells me I’m home. I really don’t know what to make of that.
Epilogue
The Dark Fae Kingdom, April 2014 – Drake
He sees his daughter laughing as she watches the entertainment at the feast. She takes a sip of her wine and then he smiles as he sees her unable to stop herself from eating some more. That makes him happy. He is delighted that she has been rid of that Vampire. He will have to thank this Xanthe woman if he ever gets a chance to meet her. The only dark cloud on this evening is the secret she is hiding. She thinks that she can keep it to herself, but he felt the essence of the child as soon as he touched her earlier. It is strong, and that is a worry for him, especially as he sees Vito lean in close to her and whisper something to her that makes her eyes light up. It won’t do. He has spoken to Vito about this. He has to stay away from his daughter. The child she bears has to be Half Dark, Half Light, and while he would be thrilled with a Dark Fae grandchild, his people will not accept yet another child being born from her that isn’t the blessed one. It has been difficult enough to get them to overlook the Dragon child, and yes, he may have persuaded them that she was taken and forced into it–although he is fairly certain that is not entirely untrue–to gain a little of their sympathy and so far it has worked. They all know of the assault on her by Aelfric and they all know exactly what is at stake here. But he knows they will not stand by and let her breed just any other child. Even if it is Dark. He has to hope that this child is Kalen’s and that the magick he can feel from it is because Aeval is here with him where
she is supposed to be. He has to find out one way or the other before she decides to start telling people. He can only assume she is keeping it a secret because she doesn’t yet know herself.
“You know, don’t you?” Maurelle says as she slips her arms around his waist.
“Know what?” he asks innocently.
“That she is with child,” she says, even though he knows she can see straight through him.
“How do you know?” he asks her.
“You know of my gift,” she says simply.
He grunts in response. His wife does have a canny way of detecting these things on occasion. He looks at her suddenly in shock and she smiles and places her hand on her stomach. He beams at her and takes her hand. “Truly?” he asks.
“Yes, my love,” she says. “I am as surprised as you are, but I am happy.”