He heard them before he saw them. He stopped on the brink of where Aefre would be able to sense him and listened. He wanted to know precisely who she was in there with before he entered so that there were no surprises.
“Oh, Frederick,” he heard her murmur and his blood ran cold. No, it could not be. He shook his head. He must have misheard. She wouldn’t. Not after Vito. She wouldn’t dare to seduce
another of his men.
He clenched his fist as he heard his man mutter back how much he loved her.
Love? Love? They were in love? Impossible. That monster didn’t know how to love, most especially how to love his charge.
“I, too, love you,” Aefre whispered and his heart nearly stopped. No, she says those words to him and to him alone.
He ignored her cry of pleasure and the grunts of his man as he stormed into the barn ready to confront them and to dole out a worse punishment than death.
Ponte, Italy, January 2015 - Aefre
“Stop!” I roar at Remiel, seeing Constantine jump at my voice, almost as if he were daydreaming.
My sire pauses and turns to look at me. I am giving him a curious look as it suddenly dawns on me that he is standing in a pool of sunlight, with Carlotta cringing in this fist just inside the shadow, and he has no Silver. It never even occurred to me before that he can do this. I make a mental note to ask him about it later, but first I throw Devon a loving look as he is staring at me expecting some sort of response. I have no idea what to even say to him right now. The fear he must’ve felt must be overwhelming. What a great sire I turned out to be. He gives me a shaky smile and I turn my attention back to Remiel.
“Let go of her,” I command him. If anyone is going to kill her, it’s going to be me.
“Aefre, she is a danger…”
“I know. Let her go.”
He does as I ask and in a flash of Vampire speed, I am on her, gripping her throat in the same way he had.
“Aefre, please,” she starts, but I shush her.
“I have absolutely no idea why my husband wants to protect you so badly. Perhaps he feels some sort of affection for your services all those centuries ago…”
I hear Constantine gasp in dismay.
“However, I do not regard you as a friend any longer. You have borne witness to a very delicate subject and I will not put myself or my family at risk in the hands of a poisonous snake like yourself.” I drag her ever closer to the patch of sun.
I hear the collective gasp from my men as they realize what I am about to do. With a look of utter triumph, I pull Carlotta into the sun and hear her scream. I pull my hand back quickly as she sets on fire and then we all watch as she disintegrates into a pile of ash at my feet.
The silence is deafening, and I know why. No one has seen me kill in the longest time, except for my daughter who is not even here right now, and Cole who has closed the door on me forever.
I brush my hands off and turn to face the group.
“What?” I ask with a nonchalant shrug. “She was getting on my nerves.”
I hide my smile at the shocked looks, most of which are turning approving even as I exit the room. I need a shower and time to process what exactly losing my Dragon means for me. And to figure out where I went, why that woman wanted me and why I chose to leave Fraser.
Fraser. How could I? I choke back the sob as I remember seeing him. But I couldn’t stay with him. Not because of any other man though. My daughters need me. Devon would carry on without me, as much as he thinks he couldn’t, he would. Constantine definitely does not need me, as much as he says he does, he, too, would go on without me. But Arathia and Delinda are deal breakers. I wouldn’t, couldn’t, leave them to be with the man I know I love so much even if it means leaving him. I hope, deep down, somewhere he knows that. It stabs my heart just thinking about him. So, I don’t, as I stalk down the hallway towards my real bedroom and once inside, I close the door quietly and lean against it, taking in a deep breath.
The tears start to fall, and I mourn the loss of one of the most important beings in my life. Everything changed when She came and now everything is going to change again. All I am is a half-Faerie Vampire. I don’t even know if that is enough for me anymore. When I lost Her to Remiel’s binding power, I was weak and pathetic. Of course, I was also no longer a Vampire then, but still. This is going to change everything and Remiel is right. I am vulnerable now. Once word of this gets out, and it will get out, I have no doubt. I will have everyone and his dog out to try and kill me. I have caused too much strife for a lot of species either wittingly or not. They aren’t going to sit back and offer me condolences.
I walk to the bed and sit down heavily. No, Delinda is in the right place. The Fae cannot get to her in the Dragon Realms and I am not sure I can protect her properly until I learn to access all of my Fae power. It’s all I’ve got left. So far it has just been used as either a means to transport or anger-induced offensive magick. It’s not enough to take on those that wish to kidnap my child. I need to know exactly what I can do, how and on what level now that the Dragon is gone.
I brush the tears away, feeling only marginally better now that I have something to focus on. I stand up to head towards the bathroom when my knees buckle and I face-plant right in the middle of the floor, twitching. I convulse momentarily, before I shudder and then I don’t remember anything after that.
Chapter 2
Ponte, Italy, January 2015 - Constantine
“Well,” he says, clearing this throat. “I think we can all safely say that Aefre is alive and well and we can all go about our day.”