He can still smell the fear of the girl as she watched in terror as he changed from the suave, sophisticated man that seduced her into coming home with him, into a monster from her worst nightmares.

He gives up on finding his clothes in this mess and breaks the wards, then seals off the room as he exits. He will get someone in to deal with this disaster once he has showered away his disgust. He stalks naked through the house to his bedroom. He hasn’t been here in months and now he never wants to see it again. He will burn it to the ground if he has to.

He ducks into the shower and washes himself a dozen times before he feels that he can face his wife again. He gets dressed quickly and he is about to Teleport back to Aefre and figure out how to tell her of his sins, when she suddenly appears in front of him.

He gives her a winning smile to cover up his behavior as he steps forward to kiss her, but then stops.

He gives her a quizzical look and then demands, “Who the fuck are you?”

She smiles at him and his coarse language and she says, “I am Aefre, but not the one you think. I am from the future. Precisely one year from today.”

He doesn’t get caught off guard much, especially not anymore, but he finds himself more than surprised by her statement. His heart thumps in his chest because that means that somehow, she has managed to be re-turned into a Vampire. It is the only way that she would have been able to time travel to him from the future.

“Why are you here?” he asks cautiously.

“To save you and your marriage,” she says. “My marriage.”

Constantine doesn’t quite know what to do with that information. “Meaning?” he asks, trying to determine if he is the one that succeeds in turning her back into a Vampire. He comes up empty of a sire bond and his heart sinks.

“Meaning the little stunt, you pulled here last night tore us up,” she says with her hands on her hips.

He pales as he hears her words. He completely believes her. She is furious with him, the two little spots on her cheeks tell him so.

“Don’t bother trying to deny it,” she says casually. “You confessed all.”

He licks his lips, trying to process this. “And I take it, you didn’t forgive me,” he states, his gut twisting even more. He should have known she wouldn’t.

“Nope,” she says. “Why would I?”

“Maybe because what you are doing is far worse?” he says, suddenly getting angry himself. He would never dare say it to his own Aefre, but he feels vindicated in some weird way to say it to a future version of her.

She nods sagely. “I knew you were holding it all back, that’s why I have let you complete this course of action. However, you will not say anything to her, me, about this. Do you understand?”

He narrows his eyes at her. “I understand you want me to lie to you. But why?”

“Because I don’t want my marriage to end, not like this,” she says bitterly. “I have waited months for this moment to come back here to tell you that if you confess, you will lose everything, and so will I. I have already lost so much; I cannot bear it. You must change the future. My future.”

Her stricken look tears at him. What is she not telling him? “Tell me,” he demands, gripping her arms tightly. “Tell me what happens?”

She shakes her head. “You know that I can’t do that, CK,” she says.

“Why not? You have already decided that the future must change, why not tell me everything?” he asks. Like who turned you and if you ever have my child.

“No,” she says. “I came here to tell you to stay quiet and that is all. I will not give you ammo. You have to let the rest of this play out the way it is supposed to.”

“Ammo?” he asks. “Christ, Aefre, what can you tell me? Who re-turned you?”

She blinks in surprise, but then she gets a wry twist to her mouth and shakes her head again. “I won’t tell you anything, especially not that,” she says. “Just promise me, you won’t say anything about this to me.”

He hesitates. He doesn’t want to lie to his wife. But if everything that the future Aefre is telling him is true, he has no choice. He won’t lose her, not over this and not over anything. “I promise,” he says eventually.

She relaxes in his arms, the relief evident on her face. “Thank you,” she says quietly. “Now you need to go to her, she desperately needs you.” She pulls out of his grip and vanishes, and he is left feeling cold and confused. Why would she be prepared to come here and ask him to lie to her about this? It can’t just be about saving their marriage. There must be more to it. He knows his wife better than anyone.

He Teleports back to the Underworld to an empty house, deciding to keep the knowledge of her Vampire-fate to himself. It will only lead to no good for him if she finds out that she can be re-turned. He frowns and closes his eyes. Future Aefre said she needed him now. What trouble has she gotten into in his absence? He fixes on her location and he is not happy to find that she is next door at Xane’s house. He Teleports off to his wife’s side, only to find her curled up in bed with her arms around the Demon.

The Underworld, July 2014 – Aefre

I sit up suddenly as CK pops into the bedroom out of nowhere. His face is one of murderous intent which I only fuel as I glare at him and hold even tighter onto Xane.

Tags: Eve Newton Fantasy
Source: readsnovelonline.net