“Hardly,” he scoffs. “Not even the fires of Hell can kill you,” he says with a proud smile, which throws me off my game. His harmless act of staking me has made him smile again and I understand. He needed a release, some way to hurt me without actually hurting me. It brings tears to my eyes and I pull away from Cole and throw myself at him. He catches me as deftly as he caught the stake and I kiss him soundly on his perfect mouth. However, Sebastian is not getting away with his parting shot. I turn in CK’s arms and say, “Go on,” much to CK’s annoyance and Sebastian’s glee.
“Arathia Aquila was the most beautiful woman in Rome,” Sebastian says as he settles himself on the edge of the bed. We all focus intently
on him for this dish. I am practically drooling because I want to know so badly of the things that CK won’t discuss. I repeat her name in a whisper. What a lovely name. Sebastian continues, “It should come as no surprise really when you look at her son.” He smiles a secret smile at CK, and he smiles back a little shy smile that I have seen pass his face only once before in a thousand years. It’s not a great leap to come to the conclusion that I do, and the flutter in my stomach is quite pleasing.
“The only thing that Luceres passed down was his height and his prowess,” Sebastian says and CK grimaces again. I assume Luceres was his father’s name. Sebastian gets a wicked gleam in his eye and CK growls at him. I look between the two and poke Sebastian to spill, which he does, “To his eldest son. Marcus was the spitting image of his father, while Rosalina also favored her mother.”
“Siblings,” I breathe out. “You had actual siblings, a brother and a sister.” I whack him hard for never telling me any of this, but he ignores me.
“Don’t you dare,” CK rumbles to Sebastian, who holds his hands up in a can’t-stop-now gesture.
“Have, Rosalina is still alive,” he declares.
Chapter 6
The Underworld, March 2014 - Liv
“What?” I shriek after what seemed like the longest silence in history. “You turned your sister?” I can tell by the look of mortification on his face that no, he didn’t turn his sister, so I round my fury on Sebastian.
“You,” I snarl at him. “You turned his sister.” It’s disgusting. All I can think of is Eloise and Vivienne, which of course leads to Vivienne, CK and Sebastian and the three of them doing things they oughtn’t to be doing. I don’t go in for turning family members. It’s just plain gross.
Sebastian looks horrified as well and that placates me somewhat. “I did no such thing,” he says haughtily. There seems to be a lot of that going around this room here today.
“Not that she wouldn’t have loved it,” CK mutters and Sebastian flusters.
I ignore that comment in favor of a bigger question. “Who then?” I demand.
“Aefre,” CK gives me his long-suffering sigh. “She isn’t a Vampire.”
That stops me dead in my tracks. If she isn’t a Vampire, how can she still be alive two thousand seven hundred and however many years later? “What is she then? Half Demon?”
Wrong thing to say. CK’s temper flares and I swear he reaches for the stake again before Corinne stops him as she pops into our little party uninvited.
“Druid,” she corrects me quickly. “High Priestess of our Coven,” she adds as we all stare at her.
“Uh,” I stammer. I wasn’t expecting that. Actually, to be fair, I wasn’t expecting any of this. “I thought you were the head of your Coven?” I ask Corinne instead, trying to sound like I haven’t been completely battered by this information.
She flushes prettily at the apparent compliment and says, “No, Your Majesty. I am head of my local Coven. Rosalina is head of us all. By the way, it’s nice to see you back.”
“Thanks,” I say. “It’s nice to be back. Interesting. How come you never mentioned it?” I ask CK seriously as I am beyond hurt that I am only learning of this information a thousand and two years later.
He shrugs uncomfortably. “It never came up,” he says.
“Liar,” I snap at him. “How many times did I ask about your family?” Apparently, I wasn’t asking the right questions. A vague “Did you have brothers and sisters?” is easy to avoid, whereas “Is your sister still alive and the Druid High Priestess?” is less easy.
“I believe we are getting off topic,” he says. “Our concern should be lying with how to keep you safe…” He glances at Corinne, clearly unsure how much to trust her. She is Team Tiamat after all, and we were discussing me avoiding Remiel at my next Heat.
She clears her throat and lowers her eyes. “We heard, Your Majesty…”
“It’s fine,” I bark at her, cutting her off and she raises her eyes in surprise. “Is there something in particular I can help you with?” I add coldly.
She senses the change in atmosphere and adjusts accordingly. She formally inclines her head and states, “No, my Queen. I came here to pay my respects.”
Okay, now I feel like a complete douche.
“I’m sorry,” I say quietly. “Thank you.”
“Of course,” she says stiffly. “I will leave you to your reunion.” Then she Teleports off in a huff. Can’t say I blame her. I was quite rude.