“No, they need to know that we are about to have a new member to our little group. Especially as it is one so close.”
A new member: one so close. I want to throw up. I don’t want this girl as part of my family. She isn’t welcome, especially after this horrific stunt she has pulled.
I nod eventually and go to sit next to Devon. He doesn’t acknowledge my presence until I loop my arm through his, resting my hand on his bicep. He leans his head towards me but stays silent for the longest time.
“How long do you think it will take?” he croaks.
“I don’t know, my love. Two or three days? You took less than two, but I was stronger.” I don’t mean it as an insult, it’s just a fact.
“Christ, Liz. I don’t want this,” he says quietly.
“I know.”
“What am I going to do with her? I don’t want her this way. I didn’t even want her any way, but I was lost without you. I didn’t realize how much I needed your attention until it was taken away.”
Fuck. I feel like the worst sire on the planet. I sigh and say, “You don’t need to be with her, but she is going to have to live with you, with us, for a time, anyway. You know that she won’t survive without you. You need to be close to her. Teach her.”
“I don’t want to,” he says mutino
usly.
“Dev, sweetie. I will help you, okay? I will teach her. You just need to be there.”
“You will?” he asks hopefully. “You would do that?”
“I will do anything for you. You know that.” I smile softly at him as his eyes finally meet mine.
“Why wouldn’t Constantine let you turn her?” he asks hesitantly. “What did he mean about experimenting?”
“We are unclear on whether I am able to sire, what with all my new additions.” I don’t go into the whole co-siring business. That is very much a secret I want to keep.
“Oh. Well, thanks for offering, anyway,” he says ruefully. I hold onto the giggle that wants to come out.
“Anytime,” I say instead.
He smiles at me sadly and says, “I don’t want her sharing our home. I don’t want to share it with her.”
Me either, I think, but say instead, “You don’t have to share a room with her. She can have the one next to you. But you need to stay close.” The gods, I hate this. I don’t want to be the voice of reason. I want to tell him to go now, run like the wind as far away as he can, but I can’t do that. He would hate himself if he did and I am Queen now. As much as I dislike this girl, she is one of mine now. One of Devon’s. I can’t leave her to her own devices to end up like Gustav. It is only that thought that keeps my mouth shut and not tell him to go.
“I suppose I can’t expect you to come back to L.A. with me – with us – now with Cole’s trips coming up. I will have to be responsible and do the right thing now,” Devon says.
“You aren’t going back to L.A. You are coming with us. Just as planned,” I say, shaking my head.
“I can’t drag her halfway around the world with us. She needs to be settled. You said that with Cole.”
“I think the best thing for her will be to drag her halfway around the world. She will be hungry, Dev. As much as we try to control her actions, there is no getting away from that. This whole business,” I gesture at her lying motionless on the bed, “is far from perfect. It couldn’t have been more incorrect if we tried. Murder is one thing; suicide is a whole other. Don’t expect her to wake up and be like Cole was. She will be like you were. Worse, even,” I say and again I don’t mean it as an insult, but we are far past any sugarcoating. “Not staying in one place for very long is a better option than taking her back to our home before she is under control.”
He takes all that in with a look of distaste. I know he doesn’t want to be responsible for her, so I will take up the burden for him. “I will sort it. Okay, baby? I don’t want you to have to worry about it. Let me do that for you. Okay?” I ask.
He nods gratefully and says, “Thank you. It’s selfish of me to want you to take the burden, but I just don’t think I can do it. I need you, Lizzie. I need you now, more than ever, to look after me.”
“I will always look after you. Not because I have to as your sire, but because I want to as the woman who loves you. You are my darling boy,” I say hesitantly but make a decision to tell him something. Something that I have never said out loud. Something that I haven’t even really formed into a full thought before. I lean forward and whisper in his ear, so softly, and his eyes pop up to mine in surprise and fill with all the love that he has for me.
He cups my face and kisses me. “Oh, Lizzie,” he breathes as he leans his forehead against mine.
Everyone chooses that moment to make their appearance and we don’t get to discuss it further, but he knows how I feel, and that is enough for now.
Lincoln is the first to reach us. He crouches in front of us and pats Devon on the shoulder in an almost sympathetic manner. I squeeze his hand and get to my feet. I have a bone to pick with Constantine and now is as good a time as any. I find him in the sitting room with Sebastian and Scott, who isn’t looking happy to be on his own with two ancient Vampires.