“Can you, though?” Devon asks. “Trust me when I say you need all the help you can get.”
Remiel growls at him, but Devon lets it wash over him.
“How do I know you aren’t just saying all of this?” Remiel asks suspiciously. “You clearly seem to think I am the only one who can help her, which makes me think you have an ulterior motive. I would do this for her regardless.”
“I want Cole back,” Devon says. “Get Cole out from under Tiamat and I guarantee you I will give you Lizzie, err, Aefre.”
“He is heavily warded, it won’t be easy,” Remiel says.
“It will for you,” Devon replies, not above stroking his ego.
“Perhaps, but what I mean is, I require something else for this most difficult task,” Remiel says smoothly but with a sinister smile.
“Anything,” Devon says with a heavy dose of meaning behind his words. He thinks he knows exactly what Remiel is going to ask for and he is fully prepared to give it to him and deal with the fallout later.
Chapter 2
The Light Fae Kingdom, October 2014 - Kalen
He studies his wife’s face as they sit outside in the sunshine with their daughter. She is smiling but it isn’t reaching her eyes. She is sad and he can’t for the life of him figure out why. He has thought of everything he can to make her happy and to spell away any thoughts that she might have about her other men. She wants only him; he has made sure of that.
“What’s wrong?” he asks her with trepidation. He doesn’t want to open a can of worms, but he doesn’t want her sad, either.
Aeval looks at him with an adoring gaze that makes his loins burn and she gives him a bright smile. “Nothing,” she replies but he can tell that something is amiss with her.
“You can tell me,” he says, scooting closer to her on the soft grass. “Delinda, go and pick Mama the biggest bunch of flowers you can,” he adds and Delinda scampers off, leaving them alone. He takes her hand and she sighs.
“I don’t want you to think me ungrateful,” she says carefully. “You know that I love you.”
“I do know that,” he says but he stiffens his back slightly. If this is about the child she is carrying, he is going to lose his mind. He can’t bear seeing her pregnant with Constantine’s child. It bothers him more than he ever thought possible now that she is with him. There is no way he can accept a child of his sire as his own. It won’t happen. Not ever.
“Don’t be like that,” she chides him gently, knowing him. “This isn’t about him. It’s about something else.”
He relaxes slightly giving her a terse smile. “Tell me,” he demands quietly.
She looks away from him and before she has even taken another breath, the realization hits him.
For fuck’s sake, that damn bond! “It’s about the Wolf, isn’t it?” he asks, knowing the answer already. He can try to wipe away her feelings for him, but that bond is too real. She has no other ties except to her sire and fortunately he knows that she hates Remiel, so he isn’t worried about that. She hasn’t missed him at all while she has been here with him.
“Yes,” she whispers, looking back at him. “I can’t leave him again, Kalen. I promised.”
“There is no place for him here,” he replies shortly.
“Yes, there is,” she says, taking his hands. “He said he will fit in. I will find him a place and I swear it won’t take away any time from us.”
Kalen takes in her desperate tone. She is desperate to have her Wolf mate with her, but above that, she is desperate to keep him happy. That pleases him immensely and it puts him in a grand mood. He gives her a patronizing smile before he kisses her soft lips. He focuses on her eyes and says to her, “I will have you whenever I want you, regardless of whatever else you are doing, are we clear?”
“Yes,” she says immediately. “I understand.”
He sits back then, his decision made. He will go for Lincoln, give his wife something that she wants and make her happy, but under his terms. He must ensure that Lincoln will not tell her about his spelling. He will have to threaten him to keep his silence, but that is not a problem. He is confident that Lincoln will stay quiet and be happy just to be around her, but if not, he will rip them apart and the Wolf will never see his mate again.
Satisfied that Aeval’s smile is now a genuine one, he gathers her close, breathing in her sweet scent. He is content with his life, he has even gotten used to calling Delinda his daughter, and despite how he came to have the woman of his dreams, she is here in his arms, in his bed every night, telling him how much she loves him.
That is all that matters.
Well, that and the fact that he won, of course.
The Underworld, October 2014 - Devon