“Aefre?” I hear CK say from a distance away and then all Hell breaks loose in my head. I let out a scream of pain as the invasion in my head gets worse, and that is exactly what this is: an invasion. Tiamat has wormed Her way into my head somehow and is clawing Her way through my thoughts. I drop to my knees, unable to breathe from the sheer torture of Her psychic link to me. I scream again as She digs deeper and I can feel the press of people around me, suffocating me. My sight is blurry and then it goes black for what feels like forever as time seems to slow down.
I feel the pressure start to ease then and my sight comes back. I see a sea of worried faces staring at me and I try to smile in reassurance, but my face has gone rigid, so I just grit my teeth instead. I feel extremely embarrassed to have had this slight mental breakdown in front of so many strangers, but Shakespearean drama has always been my thing. We are old friends, which is ironic, really, seeing as Shakespeare couldn’t stand the sight of me.
But I digress…
“Aefre? What was that?” CK asks me quietly.
“Nothing,” I say and struggle to stand up.
“Aeval,” Drake says to me in exasperation. “That wasn’t nothing.”
“Not here,” I murmur. “Just tell them I’m fine, just a bit overwhelmed or something.”
Drake turns to the gathered crowd and gives them an explanation. I look around to try and find Delinda. She is looking at me intently, still nestled in her “father’s” arms, and I smile at her. A look of relief passes over her sweet, little face and then without a word to me, Sebastian whisks her off and away from me. I feel like I have been hit in the gut (and the head) by his actions. I never thought he could be such a cruel bastard.
Just like his father.
“Kalen!” Drake calls to him. “A word.” He stalks off looking suspicious, leaving me to the attentions of my three remaining boys.
Chapter 8
The Dark Fae Kingdom, September 2014 – Sebastian (Kalen)
Sebastian grips the girl tighter in his arms and turns around as Drake catches up with him.
“What is wrong with you, man?” Drake asks him. “Your wife is distressed.”
“I need to make sure my daughter is okay,” he says, almost choking on the word “daughter.” He can’t get used to it, but he knows he must, especially now that Delinda has been presented before the Courts.
Drake snaps his fingers and a maid comes running over and takes Delinda from him. He reluctantly hands her over and knows that he is going to have to tell Drake that he has ended things with Aeval. It tears him up inside to think of the hateful things he said to her. Her distraught face will forever be etched into his memory and he truly hates his sire for making him do this.
“We need to talk,” Sebastian mutters and Drake leads him over to his office and bangs the door loudly behind him. He has his arms crossed and he looks every inch the scary-ass motherfucker that he is.
As Sebastian deliberates on this for a moment, he suddenly has an idea. He is going to come clean with Drake, tell him the whole truth. If anyone can stop Constantine from telling Aeval about what they did, it is Drake. This is going to be an all-out war now and he is tired of fighting for what is rightfully his. She was born for him. Him. Kalen. All he needs to do is get Drake to fight for him and he will win this. It’s so simple; he doesn’t know why he didn’t think of it before.
“Constantine knows about what we did to Aeval,” he starts.
Drake’s whole demeanor changes after that revelation. “How?” he asks shortly.
“It’s a long story, the point of it is, he has blackmailed me into ending things with Aeval. She can never know what we did to her and her baby,” Sebastian says sadly.
“You have already spoken with Aeval?” Drake asks. “Ended it already?”
“Yes, first thing this morning,” Sebastian says and sits down heavily. He then gets hauled to his feet by his collar as Drake shakes him furiously.
“Why did you not come to me with this sooner?” he says, seething.
“I thought I was doing what was best,” he gets out before Drake slams him up against the wood paneling.
“What is best is the two of you raising your daughter together!” he roars into Sebastian’s face.
“She can never find out what we did,” Sebastian says again, and Drake lets go of him.
“No,” he says calmly now. “She cannot. But I will not allow that bastard Vampire to ruin our plans. You must go to her immediately and fix it.”
“I can’t,” Sebastian says, downtrodden. “The things I said to her…she hates me now; she never wants to see me again.”
“What did you say to her?” Drake asks curiously.