“I told him about us becoming Vampires again,” he blurts out.
“Oh?” I ask, sitting up. “What did he say?” I try for nonchalance but fail miserably. Devon’s hand stills on my feet and Lincoln clears his throat as the silence grows.
“He was interested as to how, of course, but nothing much else,” Devon says and glares into the fireplace so that he doesn’t have to look at me.
“Oh,” I say again, but this time a little deflated. I lie back down, disappointed, but of course, he wasn’t going to beg Devon to bring him to me so I could turn him again and live happily ever after.
“Would you?” Devon asks, after a pause.
I chew my lip and ponder that question. Would I? I still love him, but he didn’t take to being a Vampire very well and my life hasn’t changed at all. Instead, it has only become more complicated, and so has his with his son.
“He left you,” Devon accuses with a pout when I don’t say anything. “Why would you even think about going back there?”
“I’m not,” I say with a fierce glare at him. “And, anyway, it’s none of your business.”
“You said that last time and look how well that turned out,” he points out as Lincoln stifles his guffaw. Not very well, I might add.
“Fuck you,” I retort, not having anything snappy to say in the moment.
Devon chuckles, knowing he has stumped me, but I can see the worry simmering under the surface. He truly does not want me to sire Cole again. Or probably anyone for that matter. Ever again.
“Don’t worry,” I tell him, prodding him with my big toe. “You are my one and only. Forever.”
“Be careful how you word things,” he says to me with a twinkle in his eye. “A fella might get the wrong idea.”
“Charge!” I exclaim quickly, as I belatedly realize how that could have been taken. “My one and only charge!”
“Understood,” he says and brings my foot up to kiss it before he resumes his massage and I resume my ruminating. Why would he even ask if I would, if Cole hadn’t expressed an interest in it? Did he? Does he want to come back?
I don’t get any further in my thoughts as the three men return, grim faced, and CK is even paler than he was before.
“Is everything okay?” I ask, jumping up immediately to go to him.
“As well as can be expected,” Remiel replies for him.
“Explain,” I demand, as that tells me nothing.
“Dracul is fine. In all the upset we seem to have forgotten that the Faerie Rings have been sealed and as a result only the elder of the royals can get to the Underworld,” Remiel says.
“Sealed?” I ask in confusion. “What do you mean?”
“Tiamat sealed them before She died so that we couldn’t get to you. The magick stayed after Dracul killed Her,” Devon pipes up.
“So, what are you saying?” I ask.
“The army of Light Fae will not be coming anytime soon,” CK croaks out.
“Oh,” I say, going slightly lightheaded. “What about…S–Sebastian?”
“Pyleah and Anders came for him. They took….” CK looks away, unable to finish his sentence.
“What was left of his body,” Remiel says with apparently no tact at all.
CK hisses at him as I ask, “What do you mean what was left of him?”
Vito reaches for me as my knees buckle, catching me in his strong arms. “He was still a Vampire, Aefre, no matter what else he was as well. He was slowly turning to ash,” he says to me in a low tone that makes my heart lurch and almost break when I hear CK stifle a noise of pain.
“It’s real,” I whisper, unable to stop myself. “There is no coming back for him.”