“He isn’t leaving here until I say so,” Tiamat’s imperious voice says from outside the cell. “I am impressed that you made it this far, Devon.”
Devon stands up quickly. This is the first time (that he remembers, obviously) that he has met Lizzie’s mother. She is a beautiful creature, but he can see the coldness that envelops her like a thick fog.
“I’m stronger than you think,” he says.
“Clearly,” She says and leans into the bars. “You will be the perfect bait to get ValamAtrux to give me back my granddaughter.”
Devon feels the fear shoot through him. If he gets captured, no offense to Cole or anything, but he knows Lizzie will move heaven and Earth to come and rescue him. She starts to mutter some words he doesn’t understand, and Cole stands up and in front of him. He tries his hardest to Astraport himself back out of the cell, but he doesn’t go anywhere.
“Go!” he says back over his shoulder. “Now.”
“Not without you,” Devon says stubbornly, even though it is impossible.
“Neither of us will be going anywhere if you stay here. GO!” Cole yells at him and reaches out to grab Tiamat’s hands. She stops Her casting and gives him a furious look. Devon wants to stay, but Cole has given him the chance to get out of here. He knows if he stays, that is it for him.
If Tiama
t doesn’t kill him, then Elizabeth will for being so foolish.
“I’ll get you out of here,” Devon says to Cole before he brings himself back to the Fae Kingdoms. His nose is pouring with blood and it is seeping out of his ears and eyes as well. He tore through the wards that Tiamat was in the process of setting just for him by the skin of his teeth.
Devon clutches his head and lies down on the cold, stone floor and curls up into a ball. He understands that Elizabeth can’t go back for Cole now. She will be done for, but there must be a way to get him out of there. At least he was unharmed. For now. Who knows what power She will unleash on him now that he has betrayed Her.
Devon groans and wipes his nose. If one thing is clear to him now, it is that he is strong. He felt himself breaking through Tiamat’s magick, and even though it wasn’t yet set, it was still more powerful than anything he has ever felt before.
He staggers to his feet and out of the room. He has the strength to fight this feeling of vulnerability that Other Liv has left him with, and he will do it now. Lizzie needs him at full strength to fight for her and her children, and he is more convinced than ever that he can be the man she needs. He will have to tell her about Cole, he cannot keep this from her for much longer, but she is in no fit state to go and rescue him. He will have to step up in her place, and he knows that he will, or die trying.
The Dark Fae Kingdom, September 2014 - Aefre
I stay with Delinda until she falls asleep and then I come back to my bedroom, expecting CK to be waiting for me. Instead I am alone. I take this moment to examine myself in the large mirror that stands in the corner of the bedroom. I am paranoid now since CK mentioned my immortality. I peer at myself closely, looking for any signs of aging. It sounds ridiculous, but I feel weak. Physically weak, yes, but more than that: human weakness. I haven’t felt it for so long and it scares me. For some reason, when I had my Dragon, my Faerie side was strong, powerful, but now all that is propping it up is a human side that has seen better days.
I strip off my clothes, needing to see for myself now that the Dragon is gone and as I turn around and peer back over my shoulder, it has been confirmed. Completely deactivated somehow. Although, for some strange reason, my Demon mark is still there. How is that possible?
I just don’t get it. How can Remiel possess the power to take away an integral part of me? It makes no sense.
I turn back around, and something catches my eye. My mouth opens slightly in awe.
I place my hand on my slightly rounded stomach and circle it around. I am starting to show.
Even four months into my previous pregnancy, there was no sign of her. My stomach was still as flat as the day I was turned, which in my poverty-stricken, malnourished state, was a little bit concave. Now it is protruding with a tiny bump that to anyone who doesn’t know my body might not notice, especially under my clothes. But there is it. She is growing and showing, and I feel a sense of love and pride rush through me. It also makes me frown slightly. This is only going to fuel the fire with CK wanting to protect me. Although at this point, I suppose I could do with some protecting. Seems that I am incapable of protecting myself at any rate. I also must wonder in my paranoia if he is going be put off me now. He has harped on for a millennium how much he loves my body and doesn’t want me to change, and now here I am, changing.
I turn sharply to the door as it opens. CK is standing there, pushing it closed quietly as he stares at me.
“Aefre,” he chides me, coming close. He knows exactly what I was doing, staring at myself in the mirror.
I turn from him and try to hide the bump with my arms. I am not ready for his lack of approval.
He comes behind me and wraps his arms around me, his gaze taking in every inch of my naked body in the mirror with an adoring gaze that I see wiped off his face when he pulls my arms away to reveal the very thing I was trying to hide from him.
“Oh, Aefre,” he breathes and places his hands on me. “Oh, you are magnificent.”
I catch my breath in relief. “You think so?” I ask. “I thought you would find me repulsive to look at.”
His shocked look is quickly replaced with a loving one. “My love, you are the most beautiful creature I have ever seen.” He drops to his knees in front of me and traces his lips over my little bump. “I worship you for creating this child with me, you are absolute perfection.”
“I was worried you would look at me differently,” I admit quietly.
“I do,” he says, standing up again and taking my face in his hands. “I have always loved you, Aefre, since the moment I laid eyes on you, but now, I feel something so deep and so overwhelming for you, it scares me. You are the mother of my child, the woman I love more than anything, and I will do anything to protect you, even more so now, and I am so afraid of your vulnerability. You are so fragile right now, yet your spirit is still so strong. You are still my warrior princess, but you have to start taking more care, my love.”