“How dare you?” I hiss at him quietly as I drag him a little way away. “You had no right to blurt that out in front of everybody.”
“At least everyone is fully in the know now about what to expect in the future. You will be mine and there isn’t anything anyone can do to stop it,” he says blandly. I just stare at him for a moment.
“Is this just a game to you?” I ask him suddenly.
He looks taken aback but I carry on. “You seemed quite happy to leave me be until I had someone. Someone that I loved enough to turn and marry and then all of a sudden you wanted me again. It’s all just very coincidental,” I sneer at him.
“Is that what you really think? That I am doing this to amuse myself? I can assure you, Aefre, that I am less than amused by this situation. I thought we had discussed this, and that you understood?” he says sadly.
“I thought I did,” I say, just as sadly. “You said you would wait for me. That you would respect my marriage.”
“I changed my mind.”
“Well, I haven’t. We go back to the original terms, or I take back what I said about trying.” It’s a low blow. A very low blow and he takes the hit of it badly.
“Is that blackmail, my sweet?” he says menacingly to cover up the pain I have just inflicted on him.
“An ultimatum,” I say, not backing down.
“You would take that away from me after it was you who brought it up? Your vicious side lives on, my love. Be careful, you wouldn’t want it to get you into trouble again.” And with that said, he Teleports out, presumably back to his house. Or probably more likely to Ponte.
I breathe in deeply, trying to steady my shaking nerves. I didn’t want to hurt him, I didn’t want to have to do that, but he left me no choice. I have to protect Cole. He cannot do it himself against Constantine. He will be dead in a second if CK pushes him into doing or saying something suicidal and my sire decides that enough is enough.
“What did you say to him?” Sebastian asks.
“Something he didn’t want to hear.” I sigh, “But I had to say it. I need him to back off and stick to the plan. He is pushing Cole’s limit and I just don’t want to see what he will do if Cole pushes back.”
“I think you will find that backing off isn’t going to happen now. I’m glad all of this is out in the open, maybe now you will see reason,” he states, and he Teleports out as well, presumably to wherever our sire has gone to plot his next move.
“Fuck!” I yell at no one in particular and the remaining members of our group flinch. I turn to face them, and everybody avoids my gaze. “Look at me,” I snarl at them. And they do. “What you have witnessed here is personal and sensitive and I don’t want to hear a word of it discussed either between yourselves or to me. Got it?”
They all nod in unison, even Xane, to my surprise, agrees to my request. Well, my demand.
“I will talk to all of you tomorrow. I have to go and deal with the fall out,” I sigh, suddenly weary.
“Erm, Liz,” Devon starts, and I glare at him. “I don’t mean to add to your shit, but I have my own shit and, well, I must point out that it is Friday.”
What? “Are you serious right now?” I hiss at him.
“Very,” he says with the most grave look I’ve ever seen on him. “We had a deal.”
“Yes, before you created a newbie and my husband turned up and provoked my sire into being a dick. I was under the assumption we would start next week.”
“You would be wrong,” he says, standing his ground.
“Devon,” I warn him in my best sire tone.
“Elizabeth,” he says back to me.
“Come here,” I order him, and he strolls forward. I drag him a bit further away. “You need to be with Jess,” I say to him. “You don’t have to fuck her, but you at least need to stay with her until she falls asleep.”
“No, what I need is the time you promised me.”
“Dev. I need to sort this crap out with Cole. He is going to get himself killed if I don’t get him line. Go and do your sire duty by Jess and I will come and find you later. That’s the best I can do for now.”
“No, I told you that I won’t be a quick fuck before you move on.”
“I never said it would be,” I say, affronted.