“Sit down,” he commands me, but I put my hands on my hips defiantly.
“Answer me,” I demand but he takes my hand and leads me back to the bed. “I don’t want to sit; I don’t want to be in here anymore. I want to see my child,” I say, feeling the tears about to tumble down my cheeks. He sees my anxiety and he pulls me into his arms. I cling to him briefly, but then I know that something very, very bad has happened.
“Aefre,” he says gently, and I shake my head in full denial mode.
“No, don’t say it. She is fine, tell me she is fine. I want to see her,” I say.
“Sit,” he says again and pushes me carefully onto the edge of the bed. “Firstly, you haven’t been out that long. A couple of hours in your time, at the most.”
That sort of reassures me, but now all I want to know is what happened to my baby.
I nod and wait for him to continue. “The baby, our baby, he didn’t make it,” he says quickly.
I squeeze my eyes shut and the tears seep out. I didn’t think I would be so concerned. I didn’t want it, I had hardly bonded with it, it was a child conceived not out of love between the father and me but for political reasons. I had already decided deep down to sacrifice my relationship with it to go back home, but now I feel the weight of sorrow bearing down on me. I breathe in deeply and then open my eyes. “Wait, you said ‘he.’ I thought you were sure it was a girl.”
“I was, the prophecy is quite clear about that. This, this was just not meant to be this time,” he says sadly.
“Oh,” I say flatly. “What happened? Was it because I asked you to cut him out of me?” I add in terror, thinking that this is somehow my fault.
“No, Aefre. Nothing like that. It just happens sometimes with the male of the species,” he says.
“What do you mean?” I ask.
“Male Dragons are weaker than the females. It’s why the female’s rule. They are stronger, faster, and more powerful. The males struggle in their early years and our child, while being a Dragon, was a human-born boy.”
“Which made him even weaker,” I say.
“Yes,” he says. “I am so sorry, Aefre.” He takes my hand and links our fingers together. We sit in silence, each grieving in our own little ways. A part of me, a desperately horrible part of me, is a bit relieved. I can go home guilt free and get on with my life. I stand up, ready to get out of here and forget this ever happened.
“Can I leave now, please?” I ask him. I need Tiamat to give me my Powers back before I can go anywhere.
“No,” he says. “Aefre, we have to try again.”
No beating about the bush, there. Just a plain statement of fact.
I think rapidly on my feet. I am not staying here to try again. No chance in any Realm is that happening. I must get home and see what damage has been caused, not only by my shock pregnancy, but also by my long Earthly absence from my boys. Devon will be fine, even though I am still so angry and heartbroken over his disgusting behavior and betrayal with that vile creature. I am glad that he is old enough to not be affected. Cole and Cade on the other hand are probably in very bad shape and I need to get home and comfort them.
“Let me go home, please, Remiel. You can come back for me when the time comes,” I say to keep him sweet. “My charges are dying. I cannot lose them as well.” I am perhaps being overly dramatic. Vampires can’t die by not being in their sire’s presence, it will just feel like they are until they turn into Rogues, or worse. My words, however, have an effect on him and he thinks it over.
He doesn’t seem overly pleased though when he opens his mouth to speak. “So, your sacrifice was going to be our child? You were going to go back to them all along?” he spits out.
Shit! I hadn’t thought this through well enough. Fix it! my brain yells at me, fix it
now!
“No, of course not,” I say, lowering my eyes at the lie. “But our child is gone, Remiel. Please don’t let me lose everything I hold dear in one day. Please.” I start to cry again, and it gets him on his feet. He wraps his arms around me, and I sink into his embrace, letting my tears flow. This is the only time I will allow myself to cry over my dead baby. Once I get home, there can be no more grieving. It all has to come out right here, right now. Minutes later, I pull away from him and he hands me a tissue. I weakly smile my thanks and he says, “Very well. But I will be back for you, Aefre. We will try again at the next Heat, and again and again until we get it right. Do you understand me?”
I nod reluctantly. I am going to have to find a way to get out of this. Before I knew about the baby, I knew I had a decision to make: Faeries or Dragons. I was kind of leaning towards the Faeries, I must admit. Not only because my Chosen Faerie mate is someone I care for deeply and I am attracted to on so many different levels it boggles my mind, but because I respect and love my father and he returns my affections. My mother, on the other hand, is a cold, vicious bitch who scorns and hates me and as it turns out my Chosen mate is someone I don’t even like, never mind love. It might have been different if it had been Cole, but that has gone down the toilet with Remiel’s return and I don’t want a child with someone I don’t love. It is wrong. Greater good be damned.
Fortunately, he takes my reluctance as fear of wanting to try again just to fail. “We won’t fail again,” he whispers to me. “Next time, we will do everything right and it will be perfect.” I nod again and let him hold me. We won’t be doing anything if I have any say over it, but right now I need my Powers and I need to get home, so I will say and do everything I can to make that happen.
“Perfect,” I murmur, and he tightens his hold on me. He runs his hand down my back and I feel a whoosh go through the room and over me and just like that V.A. has woken up. I bite my tongue to stop myself from yelling at him that he had the power to give me mine back all along. The hits just keep on coming today.
“You need to see To’Kah,” he says.
I look up at the hatred in his voice. What did Finn ever do to him?
He claps his hands and Finn enters the room with a serene smile that aggravates Remiel even more.