That has me intrigued, as I have never heard him speak of a home of his own. “Paris,” he adds as he sees my look. “I do have my own place, you know,” he says with a smile. “A life of my own. Or at least I did.”
“You gave it up to be with Constantine?”
“Of course. He asked me to stay. Do you know how long it has been since he asked me that?” he says sadly. “We have to find a way to get him back. I dread to think what Drake is doing to him.”
“Surely he can’t hurt him? Not much does,” I say.
“Out of all creatures, with perhaps the exception of Dragons, Drake hates Vampires the most. Because of the blood thing. He will go to great lengths, I am sure, to make his stay as unpleasant as possible.”
“Well, as much as I never want to see him again, I can’t leave him there, especially as he is there because of me,” I say with a sigh and wish I could just leave him there. I fiddle with the ring he gave me and start to pull it off. If he thinks that we can still be together after this, he is sorely mistaken. Tower incident aside, even finding out about his deception, having Sebastian violate my mind to get me to leave Cole, that alone is unforgivable.
“Don’t,” Sebastian says at my side instantly, his hand over mine. “Please give him a chance to explain before you destroy him.”
“He destroyed me first and there is nothing to explain,” I say sadly as I take it off and put it in a box on my desk. My hand feels bare without it, and my heart feels like lead. It feels wrong, deadly wrong, and something makes me take it back out of the box and slide it back onto my finger, almost against my will. I frown at it, but don’t get to ponder the mystery further as a familiar voice makes me turn with a grimace. “I can help,” he says.
“Go away,” I snarl at Remiel. I don’t need him messing with me right now.
He holds his hands up. “I come in peace,” he smirks. “Ah, young Xane. I had hoped we would have another encounter.”
“Who the fuck are you?” he growls at Remiel’s use of 'young Xane.' He hates that and it makes me giggle to myself. But this is what you get when you play with the grown-ups. Being eight hundred and sixty-eight, it makes him older than Devon, Lincoln, and Cole, but he is still younger than me, Constantine, Sebastian, and of course Tiamat, and now Remiel as well.
Remiel’s eyes shift back to mine. “You haven’t told them? Well, well, I am honored that you chose to keep our little rendezvous a secret.”
“Don’t be. I haven’t told them because they wouldn’t understand why I tolerate you,” I say.
“Tolerate me? You are quite amusing, my dear. I think you have that backwards. I am tolerating you because I enjoy our chats,” he retorts.
“Chats? I wouldn’t say that exactly.”
“Liv?” Xane interrupts. “Who is this? And if you turn around and say The Thirteen, I will stake you myself for being a fool.”
Remiel lets out a loud laugh. “Now that I would gladly stick around to see. Although, I was under the impression the common stake would be useless against you?”
“It is,” I say through gritted teeth. “Xane, Sebastian, this is Remiel. The artist formerly known as The Thirteen.”
“It has a name?” Xane asks incredulously. “And It gave it to you?”
“He has a name and you should be more respectful of your ancestors,” Remiel says with more loft in his tone than I could ever accomplish, even on my best day.
“Ancestors?” Xane now looks like he is about to faint, and I put my hand on his arm to focus him.
“Yes, Remiel is of the House of Dracul. In fact, he is Dracul’s grandson.”
“Grandson?” he stammers. “How do you know all of this?” His piercing blue eyes pin mine with a furious intensity that I have never witnessed from him before. If he starts throwing punches, I am so out of here. I have had enough of a beating for one day.
“She asked and I told her,” Remiel says smugly. “We have formed a special relationship.”
“One based on tolerance, I assume,” Sebastian says, sidling up to my other side with his arms crossed. “How can you get my sire back?”
“Now, now, don’t be so hasty,” Remiel says, settling down into his favorite chair and holding his hand out for a cup of tea.
I hand him one much to the surprise and consternation of the other two. “Where is the Wolf today?” he asks idly pointing to the table where I slam the cup down in annoyance that he still won’t drop his shields. “I quite like him.”
“Good question,” I mutter. “But leave him out of this, what do you know?”
“I know I can get to the Fae Kingdoms. They exist on a completely different plane, but unlike the Dragon Realms, I have access. Don’t ask me why,” he says and shrugs.
“Then what are you waiting for?” I shriek at him. “Go and get him!”