“Aefre!” he bellows at me. “What have you done?”
“Erm, we shall leave you two to talk,” Corinne says and deftly reaches out for Ahmed to pull him behind her and out of the line of fire. I wonder vaguely which one of us, specifically, she is more afraid of.
He looks in pain as he says bitterly, “I am sure I don’t need to ask why you went. Did you find him? Did you make plans for you to bring him here?”
“I did go to see if Fraser was there. Alive. I didn’t see him; I ran into her instead and we spoke of things.”
“What things?” he croaks.
“Where he was, what he was like, and The Thirteen,” I say, looking away.
“And?”
“She said he was in Scotland and that he was a monster. To leave well enough alone. Happy?” I snap at him, tears pricking my eyes.
“What did she say about The Thirteen, Aefre?” he says through gritted teeth, ignoring my outburst.
“That she defeated him centuries ago.”
“She didn’t say how?”
“No, she offered the information in exchange for my help.”
“With what?” he steps closer and takes my hand, knowing that I am hurting but also knowing he is unable to offer me anything more than that small gesture.
I grip his fingers tightly and he smiles as I step even closer to him. “With you. Or at least the other you. She wants him to love her.”
“He doesn’t already?” he asks, surprised.
“She says he hates her. I can’t say that I am shocked. Mean cow.”
“No, he doesn’t hate her. I saw the way he looked at her. He does love her, but he doesn’t like her or what she has become.”
“Maybe. I think she has always been like this.”
“What makes you say that?”
“Something she said about Lance,” I whisper his name.
“What about him?”
“She said they were involved. That they were in love.”
“What?” he asks. “How is that possible?
“She insinuated that it was because he wasn’t jealous of her. Which means other you didn’t stop him from being with her,” I say quietly, and he blanches.
“I can’t imagine a world in which I would let that happen,” he says fiercely.
And yet.
“She lies. To unnerve you,” he adds.
“No, she offered up the information. She assumed that our relationship was the same. But the point is, she said that The Thirteen had no power over her. Which led to our conversation on Lance and that makes me think that she has always been a vicious bitch as she has no fear. Nothing to fear and nothing to have loved enough and lost.”
“You think that your emotions are what is causing it to be so effective in manipulating you?” he asks.
“Yes. He has only ever appeared as Lance, the man I feared for so long and Fraser, the man I have loved and lost, and which broke my heart. There are a million other people he could choose but none of them would bother me. Even Radulf. In fact, I wish he would be Radulf, it would be more effective as all I would want to do is kick his arse,” I add with a small smile.