“You should have told me,” I say with tears in my eyes.
This all gets to be too much for me. I want to run away and never come back. I want to go back to the past and forget all of this happened. Even for just a minute, just to get some peace and not have everything go to crap just as soon as I see the light at the end of the tunnel.
For a split second, I think about going right back to the beginning and starting this life all over again. It would be preferable, especially as I would tell myself what is coming, and I could avoid all the heartache and pain. But then I remember what Devon said about Delinda and my unborn child and I dismiss it in favor of a better idea.
“Drake will get him back,” CK says. “We will figure out a way. Please just promise me you won’t try and rescue him on your own.” I can hear the fear in his voice and for some reason it angers me further. I am strong again now, I can take care of myself and if push comes to shove, I have a sire who can kick Tiamat’s arse–perhaps not win, but give Her a beating, anyway–so this can be done.
“If you won’t help me, then I know someone who will!” I spit out at CK, who goes pale before his eyes go flaming red.
“Aefre,” he warns me, but I am done listening. I need to be alone to formulate my plan. Remiel will require something in return, of that I have no doubt, and I will have to give it to him to get Cole back. But he is the only choice to help me right now, the only one with enough power to pull it off and have something to gain in the process. CK doesn’t want Cole back in the picture. He is quite happy to leave him where he is, and there is nothing that I can offer him to assist me. As much as I love Drake, I don’t trust him with this. He, too, has nothing to gain by helping me.
As I run down the stairs with everyone hot on my heels, I start to think clearly. This is the only way to do this.
I hear them calling to me as I run, but I ignore them all. I push open the huge double doors that lead to outside. The storm clouds are swirling overhead, making it darker than it should be. I keep running through the gardens, trying to put distance between me and everyone else, when I run into Kalen.
I stop and look up at him. He is smiling down at me, his hair lifting lightly in the wind that is being created by the storm, I have no doubt, that I am causing. I feel the chill of the wind and I feel my nipples pucker under my blouse. I try to dodge around him, but he grabs me by my upper arms.
“Aeval,” he says quietly, but I hear it like a scream over the wind and the rain that has started to lash down, mirroring my tumultuous mood perfectly. “I need you,” he says, taking my face in his hands. “I need you to choose me.”
“No,” I say, shaking my head and trying to pull out of his grip. “Not now, Kalen, I can’t think about that right now.”
Kalen.
Kalen.
Kalen?
I frown up at him.
“Seb?” I ask and pull out of his grasp, stumbling backwards.
“Aeval,” he says again calmly. “I need you. I need you to choose me.”
“Sebastian, no!” I shout above the roaring wind and when I turn from him, needing to get away from him, I find that I can’t Astral. A force field has been put up around us. I run in the opposite direction, but he stops me by standing in my way. I look around frantically, feeling trapped, and while I can see my men on the garden path, they cannot get to me.
My panic rears up and I turn again, only to find Sebastian in my way.
“Stop it!” I yell at him, brushing my wet hair furiously out of my face. “Just stop it! Get out of my way!”
“I can’t,” he says and takes my arms in his tight grip again. “I need you to choose me!”
The Dark Fae Kingdom, September 2014 – Sebastian (Kalen)
She is shaking in his grasp. She is panicking because she knows what he is trying to do to her. Somehow, she is pushing through his mother’s spell and now he has his work cut out for him. But he has to do this now. He has run out of time. He overheard everything that Lincoln and Devon said, and he cannot lose her. He will not lose her, not to his sire and not to some little shit that has no business even being here.
He is pulling on every cell in his body to calmly coax her into choosing him. He wants to demand it, command it of her, even, but he cannot go about it in such a ham-fisted manner. He needs her to calm down so that she doesn’t fight it.
“Be calm, Aeval,” he says to her with a loving smile and it catches her attention. She gazes at him, her eyes on his lips. “I am here to protect you. I will never hurt you. I love you.”
“I love you too,” she says, bringing her eyes up to his now. “You will never hurt me
.”
“Never,” he says vehemently, and he means it wholeheartedly. It makes this easier now. He sees her relax when she sees the truth in his eyes. “I love you and I need you to choose me.”
“Choose you,” she murmurs and spins her head around to look at Constantine, no doubt. “Choose you.”
“Choose me,” he says quietly but firmly. “Choose me so that you and me and Delinda can be a family, Aeval. That is what you really want. You want to choose me and our family.”