Devon shakes his head at him, knowing his game. “You can’t play that one with me. I have five hundred years’ worth of history with her that you know nothing about.” He knows that was a very mean thing to say and regrets it when Cole flinches.
“Fine,” Cole says, now eager to hurt Devon back. God, these games are so childish and yet it always seems to come back to tit for tat. “Gustav was her charge up until a couple of years ago. He was turned in 1250 right before Lance kidnapped her.”
Devon pales and he looks like he is going to be sick. “No,” he says, shaking his head. “No! You are lying. If she had another charge, she would
have told me, she wouldn’t have let me think I was the only one. She wouldn’t be that cruel,” he cries.
Cole gulps. He shouldn’t have said anything. He knew it would rip Devon’s heart out and yet he did it anyway. He is a hateful bastard. Devon didn’t deserve that. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything.”
Devon looks at him and it feels like he is looking straight through him. His face is haunted, and Cole goes to him, putting his hand on his arm.
“Wh-what happened to him?” Devon asks.
Cole leads him to the bed and sits him down, forgetting about the other issue that Devon must deal with.
Cole tells him the story of how he devolved into a feral beast and that Liv never knew he was still alive, assuming he was dead because she never heard from him again, and how Constantine kept him in the dungeons under his castle for centuries trying to fix him.
“Fuck,” Devon breathes when Cole has finished his tale.
“Indeed,” Constantine says, having joined the retelling of the tale halfway through. “That wasn’t your story to tell,” he reprimands Cole.
“Why did she kill him?” Devon asks.
“Because he was a monster that couldn’t be fixed,” Constantine says. “If he hadn’t been linked to her with Blood Magick, I would have offed him the minute we freed him.”
Cole and Devon stare at him, mouths agape at his callous attitude. It makes both of them wonder if he has “offed” any of her other charges over the centuries.
“Then why did she do it?” Devon asks. “Why would she risk herself?”
“Because he was her charge,” Cole says woefully.
Devon flops back onto the bed, utterly incapable of processing this piece of news and mutters, “Damn fool,” to which Cole and Constantine both agree. He suddenly flies off the bed and glares at Constantine, who looks mildly back at him.
“If you hurt her in any way…” he starts, but Constantine holds his hand up.
“As much as this sire indignation pleases me, I have no interest in the girl. Keep her away from me, or next time she will really regret it,” he says and with that he marches off back downstairs.
Devon just stares after him and then at Cole. “You really think that you might end up like Gustav?”
Cole shrugs. “If she never comes home, yeah,” he says. “It doesn’t help that I will have to see what happens when it hits Cade first.”
“No,” Devon says. “I won’t let that happen.” He disappears, but Cole doesn’t have the strength to follow him, so he stays. He doesn’t really want to crawl into the mussed bed, that Constantine has clearly had it off with someone in, so he sits on the floor to wait for Devon to return.
Devon returns moments later with Cade slung over his shoulder fireman style and gently drops him onto the bed regardless. “From now on, we all stick together. Maybe being in here with her things will help,” he says determinedly as he roots around the dresser and comes up with what he was looking for. He sprays her perfume all around the room and Cole chuckles as he wafts the heady scent away. “Not sure that will help, but thanks for caring,” he says.
“Anytime,” Devon says back.
Chapter 5
The Dragon Realms - Liv
I awake with a start, sitting up in this godforsaken bed I have been in for days on end. I put my hand on my now perfectly flat stomach and gingerly feel around. Nothing. No pain. That’s good. I lift the gown and discover nasty red welts, but I was kind of expecting that. The main thing is they don’t hurt, and they are healing. Unlike before. I wonder what’s so different this time. Unless I have been here for that long that I have started to heal. I could have been gone from my home for years at this rate. I start to panic and get up. I fly to the door and drag it open, surprised to see Aida still standing there. She blocks my way as I prepare to leave, and I glare up at her.
“How long have I been out?” I ask her.
“I don’t understand your concept of time,” she says in her stilted English, and I pull my face at her, frustrated beyond belief.
Fortunately, Remiel shows up and ushers me back into the bedroom. “Where is my baby?” I ask him immediately. “How long was I unconscious?”