Devon watches as he places his hand over the ward and it visibly bounces under his palm. This gets Remiel on his feet in an instant.
“Calm yourself,” the stranger says to him. “I am not here to cause harm and I cannot get through these wards. Constantine always was quite adept at these things.”
“You know Constantine?” Devon asks, not at all surprised.
“Quite well,” the Vampire says. “I was in his service for many centuries.”
“Who are you?” Remiel asks, getting impatient.
“I work for your father,” he says and that immediately sets Remiel off in an attack stance. That gets Devon on his feet as well, as clearly this man is deemed a threat.
“You can stand down,” he drawls. “I told you, I mean no harm. I was assigned to protect Lady Aefre a long time ago, that has not changed despite our untimely separation.”
His utter desolation and bitterness leaves a bad taste in Devon’s mouth. Man, he is pissed about whatever went down. Three guesses what...or who, in this case. “Untimely separation?” Devon asks, intrigued why he still has a head if he came in between that prick and his beloved charge. Err, ex-charge. “Who are you?”
“My name is Frederick,” the Vampire says.
“How long have you known Aefre?” Remiel asks.
“I first became aware of her in 1260,” Frederick answers. “It was many years later that she even knew who I was.”
“1260?” Devon asks in dread. “She was held captive by Lance then. You knew about that?” He clenches his fists, ready to beat him into the ground if he had anything to do with Aefre’s rape and torture.
“Indeed,” Frederick says with a tight grimace. “But that is neither here nor there.”
“Oh, I would fucking say that it is!” Devon bellows at him and takes a step closer, not caring that this ancient dick could rip his head off without a second thought. Maybe his new “grand” sire will protect him? It makes him stifle his snicker.
Frederick holds his hand up and shakes his head. “I was merely a bystander ruled by a megalomaniac psychopath.”
“You expect that to make it all right?” Devon asks. “Why didn’t you try to rescue her?”
“I did, in the end. It was I who sent word to Constantine of her whereabouts. Don’t think for a second that I wished any harm upon her,” Frederick says. “But we are getting off topic. When do you expect Lady Aefre to be out from under these wards?”
“Why?” Remiel asks suspiciously. “If you have anything to do with my father, I am inclined to keep Aefre exactly where she is.”
“While that would be helpful, it would only be a short-term solution,” Frederick says. “Laurentis wants that child.”
“I have already spoken to him about this,” Remiel says with a huff of annoyance as Devon stands there baffled by this entire stream of events.
“You know your father better than anyone,” Frederick says. “Talking to him won’t do a damn thing if he wants something.”
“Why does he want Aefre’s child?” Devon asks. Despite himself, he is quite curious about his biological father that she shares with Cole and, ugh, Constantine, and, of course, double ugh, Remiel.
Frederick regards him for a moment and then dismisses him in favor of speaking to Remiel by turning his back on him. That just pisses Devon off, so he storms over to stand next to Remiel so that Fredrick also now has to talk to him.
“He thinks the child has something special,” Remiel explains to Devon, quite bluntly. He had for sure expected a cryptic conversation of riddles purposely to exclude him.
“Like what?” Devon asks. He knows that Lizzie thinks the child is half-Vampire, which in itself is a miracle, but what else?
“Raw power,” Frederick says matter-of-factly. “And Laurentis wants it for himself.”
“How?” Devon asks, his brain working overtime to deal with the “raw power” comment.
“By absorbing it,” Frederick says to him as if he is dense.
Devon gulps when the realization hits him. “He will kill it?” he asks, hoping he is wrong.
“Precisely,” Frederick says.