He sounds so serious I glance up at him with a frown. He is grimacing at me and whatever it is, it can’t be good. But I don’t want anything to shit on my parade. I am finally so happy, so I shake my head at him.
“Aefre,” he says again more determinedly, but then Kalen pushes the door open and I grin up at him.
“You’ve had your fun,” he says with only a slight edge to his voice. “Time to return to me.”
I nod dutifully, and, giving Lincoln a quick kiss on the lips, I scramble out of bed and hastily pull my gown back on.
As I pass my husband, he whispers to me, “I will be with you shortly. Go and bathe.”
Again, I nod, and I scamper off to our bedroom, wondering what he wants to say to Lincoln. I have a flash of worry that he is going to send him away again but push it aside, wondering why he would even bring him here in the first place if that were the case.
I fill the tub up and pour in some lavender, and then I strip off and sink into the bubbles. I close my eyes as the headache that plagues me in this place is returning at full force. Everything is so bright here. The bathtub, the walls, and the floor are all cream colored and the spotlights in the ceiling are vicious. I have always preferred darker colors and muted lighting, but I know this is the way of the Light and I will have to accept it. I am their Queen now.
With a soft sigh, I sink further into the bubbles and feel the pull of sleep go over me.
The Underworld, October 2014 - Devon
“Well?” Devon asks after what seems like several long minutes. “Can you reach her?”
Remiel cracks his eye open and glares at him with an angry look that is covering up something else.
Devon snickers despite himself and then quickly shuts it when the anger turns to fury. “You don’t know how, do you?” he just can’t help himself from asking.
Devon hears Xane stifle his own noise of amusement but ignores him to focus on Remiel.
Remiel clears his throat and deflects the question by saying, “Well, it isn’t like I have ever had a charge before.” He then adds snippily, “Seeing as you were once a sire, perhaps you would care to share?”
Devon’s smile turns upside down as he is reminded of his own brief stint as a sire. “Sorry, I had no bond to my charge,” he says with a shrug.
“Then you need to call Constantine,” Vito snaps suddenly. “We are wasting time. If you don’t know how to call upon your bond, then we need someone who has thousands of charges to show you.”
“Or Xane could have a go,” Devon says slyly, really not wanting Constantine and his foul mood back here to ruin his plans. Apart from needing to get Aefre back to him for the obvious reasons, he still has an enormous request to ask of her the second she returns safely. They all know that she hasn’t really chosen Sebastian and, once she finds out he spelled her into it, he will be out of the running for good. That leaves Constantine…and him. Lincoln told him that if he asks her to turn him again, his chances of being able to boot Constantine out of Lizzie’s life for good are better than they currently are. And he intends to make that happen, even as it means becoming a Vampire again.
“I can’t,” Xane says, looking utterly defeated. He holds up his left wrist and it is bare of its marking. “I no longer have a bond with Xerxei.”
“How?” Devon asks him sharply.
Xane glares at Remiel, who glares at him back. “Three guesses who interfered,” Xane snarls.
Devon looks between the two men with a sigh. This is just a fucking disaster. “So, are you saying that you now have the Demon bond with her?” he asks Remiel.
“No,” Xanthe says quietly. “Xane’s younger brother has it.”
That stops the conversation in a big way.
“Come again?” Devon asks after that sinks in.
“He wanted to corrupt our bond, but he ended up transferring it to Xander,” Xane growls, his anger close to boiling over.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake, man,” Devon mutters. “I have no idea what that means for…well…everything, but we need to get Xander here then.”
“Just. Get. Constantine!” Vito roars. “You have no idea
how much danger Aefre is in right now!”
They all shuffle their feet as they have lost sight of the most important thing: Aefre’s safety and well-being.
Devon looks over at Remiel and nods his head. “He’s the only one who can help you.” If he will help, he adds to himself.