Forever (The Forever series Book One) (11 page)

He did come, as I knew he would. I heard of his arrival
before dawn. The messenger sent from the village to my castle to tell of his
arrival was terrified and with good reason. I had a reputation for killing the
messenger. Why? Because it sends a message. Underneath his terror he didn’t
resist when I kissed him sweetly in thanks for his service, I bit him swiftly
and then I drained him and discarded his body with distaste.

Stepping over him I sat down to wait, playing with the
dagger in my hand. A beautiful, long blade with a red stone at the hilt. A
knocking at the door brought me to my feet, rushing to meet my sire with what I
hoped would be this dagger to his gut before he realized what I had done. I
opened the doors and there he was glowering at me as if he wanted to kill me.
Quick as lightning I stabbed him in the stomach and he was startled at my speed
and strength. Grunting in pain he pulled the dagger out and shoved it back into
me with a ferociousness, a viciousness I had never seen from him before, at
least not turned towards me, pinning me to the door with his strength.

“Aefre, what have you become?” he whispered as he holds
the dagger in me, twisting it to cause maximum pain. I was unable to shift his
iron grip, as strong as I was, he was still stronger.

“What you made me!” I cried out as I managed to push him
away and remove the dagger, healing instantly.

He looked at me then in puzzlement. “What I made you? You
have run from me for over a hundred years. Why? Why did you leave me without a
word?” If I knew better I would have said he looked sad but I do know better,
remembering him and that woman together.

“As if you don’t know,” I snarled. I flounced back into
my castle and he followed, banging the heavy doors closed behind him.

He paused as he saw the dead body of the messenger still
slumped in the middle of the floor but stepped over him with revulsion.

“You are causing quite a stir, my sweet,” he said.

“Don’t call me that!” I snapped. “I am not yours. Not
anymore.”

He raised an eyebrow at me even while his eyes hardened
at my disrespect of him. In a flash of Vampire speed he had me pinned up
against the wall by my throat. “Don’t forget your manners, Aefre. I will punish
you if you continue with this behavior.”

I smiled an evil smile at him, panting with the thought
of his punishment. “What will you do to me?” I choked out as he increased the
pressure on my throat.

“You really don’t want to know,” he threatened me.

He lets me go and I gripped my neck with a vicious sneer.

“Join me in a drink?” I asked with mock sweetness and
turned to the kitchens before he answered. He caught up with me just as I was
heading to the dungeons located underneath the kitchens. Descending the stairs
he followed, curious now. He breathed in sharply as the scent of blood filled
his senses. Wandering down the cells trailing my hand along the iron bars, I
turned to him, “I’ll even let you pick.”

He grimaced as he sees all my prisoners in various states
of torture.

I stopped in front of a cell. “This is one of mine. He is
my favorite,” I told him. “I keep him around as he tastes like you.”

“Aefre, what are you doing here? This isn’t you,” he said
quietly.

“Call me Lucretia, it’s more fitting,” I growled. “And
you don’t know me. Not anymore.”

In an instant he had me up against the iron bars. “You
are mine. I will always know you. But you need to stop this, Lucretia.” He
emphasized my name. “You are drawing too much attention to yourself. Unwanted
attention.”

“No attention is unwanted,” I said as I brought my hands
up to his chest to push him off me.

Again he is surprised by my strength and the concern
showed on his perfect, handsome face, as he knows the reason why.

“Stop this,” he ordered. “You don’t want what is coming
for you, I assure you.”

I laughed a cruel laugh and turned from him. Opening the
cell, I moved to the prisoner. I kept him well, like I would a favorite pet. He
desired me as his sire and he reached for me as I got closer to him. I let him
touch me and kiss me knowing that Constantine was watching this display. The
need to let him see someone else bring me pleasure spurring me on as I let the
prisoner take me. I orgasmed intensely, the excitement of being watched
arousing me, my eyes on my sire’s as he glowered at me unmoving from a few feet
away, his eyes like two hard flints and his expression unreadable.

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” he said and was gone in a
flash, leaving me to feed alone.

Later that night a loud, insistent banging on the front
doors brought me out of the dungeons in a temper at being disturbed. Feeling a
familiar tingle down my neck, I grinned cruelly as I opened the door expecting
my sire’s return, but instead of Constantine, it was a stranger. Evil, pure
black eyes met mine from a very tall Vampire with pitch black hair and the
palest skin I’ve ever seen. The figure said, “Hello, Sister. How I’ve been
dying to meet you.”

The next day, I wake early and take my Blackberry into my
bathroom with me. Two messages: one from Cole the other from CK.

I read CK’s first: “Ring me. Xoxo.”

Short and to the point as usual, I think wryly.

Cole’s is more loving: “Morning, my love. I wish I could be
with you today. Ring me when you get this. Xx.”

I ring him straight away.

“Hello?” he answers.

“Hey.”

“Hey, baby. Did you sleep well?”

“Yes, although I missed you. Did you?”

“No, I hate my bed. I prefer yours,” he says with a chuckle.

I tell him I love him.

“I love you too. I’ll let you go now, ring me when you get
to work.”

“I will,” loving him for being so him.

Several hours later, I remember to ring Cole and do so. He
doesn’t pick up, but then he did have meetings of his own so I don’t worry. Too
much.

Remembering also to ring CK, I dial and he answers after the
first ring.

“Took you long enough,” he says gruffly.

“Hello, to you, my love. How has your day been?” I ask
sweetly and he chuckles.

“Very good, thank you, and yours?”

“All good so far, thank you kindly. Although I am still
unbelievably mad at you for not trusting me with Cole. What did you need me
for?”

“Hm, all sorts of things,” he says in that way where I just
want to die in his arms. “I know you are, but you know the rules. Complete
acceptance or…”

“Yes, I know. No need to rehash Council rules with me,” I
say harshly.

After a moment of silence on his end I say, suddenly, “Are
you at the penthouse?” referring to his penthouse in Milan as opposed to his
castle in Tuscany, twirling my “T” charm absently.

He pauses briefly before answering, “Yes. Why?”

“No reason, I just wondered.”

“Liv? Why do you ask?”

“I miss Tuscany
,”
I whisper, “You never take me there
anymore.”

He hesitates for several seconds and clears his throat, “I
wasn’t aware that you wanted to go there. Given what it means…”

I sigh. We are hitting taboo territory here; I shouldn’t
have brought it up. “Forget I mentioned it. What did you want me for?”

“Specifically, something has… come up,” he says.

“What?” I ask only half interested.

“Where are you?” he asks instead.

“Work, why?” I ask confused.

He sighs, “This is why you should have called me straight
away, Liv. I need to see you.”

“Why?” I ask again, now intrigued.

“Go home. I will see you shortly.”

I find myself listening to the dial tone as he has hung up
on me, much to my annoyance. I gather my things, knowing it must be important
if he is coming to me here. I ring Devon on my way out of my office and tell
him to meet me at the car.

“What’s up?” he asks as we both slide into the back seat.

I shrug, “I have no idea. CK just asked me to go home. He’s
coming over.”

“Great,” he mutters, “can’t say that I will stick around for
that visit.”

“Dev, don’t start,” I admonish.

“Does this mean that Cole gets to meet him today?” he asks
then with more interest than I am comfortable with.

“I hope not. Hopefully he will come and go before Cole
arrives. Surprising him with this now… well…” I fling my hands up in the air.

He snorts, “Yeah, I get that.”

We sit the rest of the ride home in silence. As we pull into
the driveway, I ring CK to tell him we are home. He is waiting for me in my
office as we enter the house.

Closing the door behind me, I glare at him, “What’s all this
about?” I demand.

Watching me, he slowly walks over to stand in front of me.
Looking down at me he slowly lowers his mouth to mine and claims me in a soft
kiss. Pushing his tongue between my lips and against mine. Bringing his hands
up to my face, he deepens the kiss and any surprise I felt leaves me and all
that’s left is him. I cling to him, kissing him back and then suddenly he pulls
away, a wicked glint in his eye. “There, that’s better,” he smirks. “An
acceptable way to greet your sire.” I huff at him, thoroughly aroused.

“Sit,” he orders, gesturing to the chairs. “I have something
to tell you.”

Not being bothered to argue, I sit and wait. He pours us
both a scotch and hands me one. I accept with a nod of thanks. CK takes a sip.

“Well?” I snap and CK smiles at my impatience.

“
Patienta sit potissima virtutum, dulcis
.”

I snort, “Well I am not feeling very virtuous right now, so
out with it.”

CK’s eyes go darker as he is no doubt thinking about my lack
of virtue. He takes another sip and leans casually against the sideboard,
striking in his black suit and white shirt, open at the collar. My eyes focus
on the small patch of skin I can see and I feel a ripple pass through me. He
shifts as he senses the thrill running through me and I snap my focus back to
his amused expression.

“Do you remember I told you about the prophecy,” he begins
finally. “The one about the fourth Council member?”

I nod wondering what that has to do with anything.

“It dates back to the witch Corinne. As you know there were
originally four members of The Council. When Ahmed disappeared in the year AD2
and couldn’t be located, he was presumed dead. Although no one could figure out
how an Initial Vampire was killed, it was recorded in the archives as a death
in AD4.” He pauses to take a sip.

I exhale loudly in exasperation, “I know all of this CK.
What’s with the history lesson?”

He glares at me to be silent and I shut my mouth. “You only
know the bits that I have told you, I am going to fill you in on some of the
details. The battles continued for the fourth seat with no resolution, another
year passed and then one day in AD5, Corinne requested an audience with us.”

I interrupt at this point, “Corinne? AD5?”

At my confusion over the timeline, CK explains, “Ahmed
turned Corinne in 1BC, at her request. Before he drained her, she cast a spell
that would allow her to keep her witch powers once she was turned.”

Wow, this story is getting interesting now. CK smirks at me
as he sees he now has my undivided attention.

“So she’s a Vampire-Witch?” I ask and he nods.

“Are there others?”

“No, the spell was never written down and Corinne has long
since forgotten. Or so she says,” he adds dryly. “It was well known that
Corinne had special abilities as a mortal witch. These were amplified tenfold
when she was turned. She quickly became known as a ‘
Vates’
: a Seer. When
she spoke to us that day she said she’d had a vision: that a fourth member of
The Council would be chosen through a series of events and would bear
Potentia
Uno
. The Power of One.”

“The Power of One? What’s that?” I ask now riveted to his
tale.

“That part is not clear. All she saw was a symbol, like a
diamond.” He comes to perch on the edge of my desk and I instinctively turn
towards him. He smiles at my reaction to his closeness. He leans back resting
his hand behind him, his glass hanging loosely from his left hand. A very
casual pose for him. It takes my breath away to see him so relaxed.

“She said a union would occur on Holy ground and the Chosen
one would claim the fourth seat. She listed a series of numbers but couldn’t
determine their meaning.” He continues, “We had the best minds of the time work
to figure out what the numbers meant but no one was able to make head nor tail
of it. It was thought at first they were dates, or years, but it was quickly
discarded, as they didn’t make sense at the time. Anyway the years passed and
soon the prophecy was forgotten, but the battles still remained for the seat.
Corinne disappeared and Gregor, Eloise, and I were determined to keep things as
they were with just the three of us. Then a couple of days ago one of The
Council cryptographers was in the record room and happened upon an old copy of
the transcript of the prophecy. He said it just appeared in front of him as if
by magic.” He shrugs and pauses for another sip. My drink has been forgotten,
as I am engrossed in his story, as well as how much I am enjoying hearing him
speak. His lightly accented voice is like honey and I could listen to him for
hours.

“This cryptographer was intrigued of course by the
prophecy,” he continues sitting upright but still relaxed. “He ran the numbers
again through our new programs and came up with this.” He pulls a piece of
paper out of his jacket and fingers it as he stands. “The first line is the numbers
that Corinne saw in her vision. The second line is one of the sets the program
threw out. Remember your lessons, my sweet, that N stands for…”