Switch (The Forever Series, Book 7) (25 page)

“You are so dead, the next time I see you! Do you hear me?”
I yell and I hear the loud rumble coming from all over. “Such fun!” he
exclaims. “Whatever next?”

“Rah!” I make a noise of frustration and stamp my feet. I
notice the returned book to my bedside cabinet and sit heavily on the bed to
pick it up. It is completely intact and I am at least grateful for that. My
treasure is unharmed.

“Liv?” Cole ventures after what seems like an hour.

“Yes, my love?” I look up at him and he approaches me
cautiously as if I am a rabbit about to bolt.

“Are you calm now?” he asks as he sits on the bed next to
me.

I put the book carefully down and pat it. “Yes. I am
perfectly fine.”

“No, don’t use that word,” he chides me. “When you say
‘fine’ you are anything but.”

“All right then, I am perfectly calm,” I say through gritted
teeth.

He takes my hand and holds it tightly, stroking my arm with
his other. “You sure? That looked like it hurt.”

“It did,” I admit and he squeezes even tighter.

He turns to everybody else, all of them just standing
around, not daring to speak. “Leave us,” he says in a tone worthy of my sire
and they do as he asks, probably more stunned by my outburst than anything
else.

“He has taken to dressing you up as Alice?” he asks as the
door closes quietly.

“Yep.”

“Did he hurt you?”

“No. It was a perfectly civilized dream.”

“Why did you hurt yourself?” he asks me in a soothing tone,
as he would a fragile teen prone to self-harming. Christ, the man has a soft
touch. He should have been a counselor.

“It was that prickling. It got worse. It felt like a million
needles attacking me from the inside out. I wanted it to stop.”

“What prickling?”

What prickling? Did I not mention it before? I honestly
can’t remember.

“It’s nothing,” I sigh, not really wanting to explain it
now. “You are going to be late. You should go.”

“No, I’m not leaving you. Certainly not while your eyes are
all freaky and you are still dressed up as some kind of horror movie Alice.”

I look down at myself then and I look an absolute fright.
Literally. I am smeared in my own blood, all down my arm, all over my dress
where it had sprayed over me. My face is white, my hair is a mess, my eyes are
my own but now two bloodshot peepers and my dress somehow is torn. I must have
caught it with my Dragon talon thingies. I laugh, a hollow sound that makes him
flinch. “Yes, I can see why you are concerned about me. I am a mess. But really
Cole, I am fi…erm, good. Please don’t worry about me.”

“Oh, I’m worried. Especially as I am now not going to see
you for two days.”

“I promise that you don’t have to worry. CK will make sure I
am taken care of,” I say it quietly, meaning it as a reassurance but not sure
if he will see it as that.

“I know he will,” he sighs. “Liv, this isn’t working for me
anymore,” he says, standing up suddenly and pacing, running his hand through
his hair in agitation. It sticks up adorably as it is still wet from the shower
and all I want to do is run my own hand through it to flatten it, so he can do
it again. “You going off for two days, not seeing you. I can’t do it anymore.
There has to be another way.”

I shake my head. “We have already seen what the other way
is, Cole. I don’t think that I can cope with being piggy-in-the-middle while
you two duke it out over me.”

“This just isn’t working for me anymore,” he repeats
desperately and drops to his knees in front of me. “Please, Liv. We have to
find another way. Use that brilliant brain of yours to come up with another
plan. Please.”

I take his face in my hands and smile sadly at him. “I’ve
tried. Believe me, I have tried to think of alternatives. There isn’t one.” I
take this opportunity to run my fingers through his hair and he closes his
eyes.

“There is,” he says. “And I will find it.” He stands
determinedly and turns his back to me to get dressed. I watch him, wishing he
had stayed in his towel just a little bit longer. “Please change,” he mumbles.
“I can’t bear to see you so fragile.”

My heart breaks at his words and I do as he asks. I whip the
dress over my head and pull on my robe, covering up the blood stains. I check
my hand to make sure the talons have retracted and thankfully they have now.
That was quite disturbing. I tie my hair back naturally as I am loathe to use
magick at the moment. Don’t ask me why, I just need something to be normal for
a few minutes.

He turns and smiles at me. “It’s better,” he says. “Please
try and destroy that thing while you are away. I can’t stand it messing with
you anymore.”

“You and me both,” I say as I kiss him. “I am going to miss
you.”

“Don’t,” he says against my lips. “It just makes it harder
to let you go.” Which he does and steps back. “I will call you later. I’ll be
at Claridges.”

That makes me smile. “Claridges? Didn’t peg you as the posh
type,” I tease.

“When in London…” he says with his gorgeous half-smile.

“Indeed,” I say.

“I love you,” he whispers as he picks up his bag and without
waiting for me to say it back, he leaves. I just stand there for a few minutes,
unable to move.

I hear muted voices coming from the corridor and move a tiny
bit closer to the door, using my Dragon-hearing Powers to eavesdrop.

“Look after her,” Cole says gruffly.

“You know that I will,” CK says, slightly offended.

“I mean it,” Cole says more forcefully. “If anything happens
to her…”

“I won’t let it,” CK interrupts him but softens his tone as
he says, “I promise you, I will protect her with my last breath.”

There is a long pause and Cole sighs, “I know you will.”

“Don’t be concerned, my boy. Protecting her is what I do,”
CK says so softly, I almost don’t catch it.

And then there is silence and a knock at the door.

CK pushes it open without waiting to be bid, and he stares
at me.

“Don’t,” I say as he opens his mouth to speak. “I have
already had it from Cole, so just don’t, okay?”

“Okay,” he says and shuts his mouth. Now that is a first,
worthy of note. “But seeing as we are all up and about, how about you go and
get cleaned up and we can leave?”

I nod as it makes sense and I know he is eager to get this
show on the road. Well, no, eager is the wrong word, anxious is better. I have
to say my own anxiety level goes up a few notches as I get showered and
changed. This is just going to be a very weird morning and I have no idea what
to expect. I don’t think any of us do.

I step back into the bedroom to find CK sipping tea outside
with my book. When will everybody learn it isn’t for reading?

“You decided to read it?” he asks before I can snap at him
to close it and return it to me.

“No,” I say forcefully. “It was misplaced and now it goes
back where it belongs.” I take it from him.

“Misplaced?” he asks curiously.

“Long story.”

“You should read it. You can always replace it if it gets
damaged. There are other first edition copies around. I myself have one.”

“I have read the second edition. This does not get read. I
cannot replace it, it is the sentimental value.”

“Ah, I see. It is one that you acquired at the time and it
has come through the years with you.”

“Yes. I thought you knew that?”

“That was the year you left London to go to Russia. I didn’t
see you again until 1894,” he reminds me.

“Yes, I remember. How did we manage to go so long between
seeing each other?” I muse out loud. “I just couldn’t do that now. Even before
we got closer.”

He takes my hand and kisses it. “That was all you, my sweet.
Had it been up to me I would have followed you around the world.”

“Now that is a big fat lie,” I reprimand him. “I can count
on both hands and feet, how many times I asked you to come to America with us
when we left the Continent, and after.”

“If you had asked me because you wanted to be with me, I
would have come,” he says simply and I look away, not wanting to go down
heartbreak road this early in the morning.

“I suppose we should go,” I say instead and he tenses up as
he puts the cup down.

“Yes, I suppose we should.” He stands and helps me up. He
looks at me for the longest moment and says, “Aefre…” but I put a hand up to
his mouth and shake my head.

“Don’t say it. Whatever it is you want to say, leave it
until after.” He nods and I add, “There is also something I want to ask you.
Please try to remind me later.”

“Of course,” he says and escorts me back into the bedroom.

“I’ll take this down to the library and then we can go.” I
hold up the book.

“Allow me,” he says as he wraps his arms around me and
Teleports us to the library. I place the book in the empty space where it
belongs and turn as we are joined by Cade and Sebastian.

“Ready?” Sebastian says, aiming for nonchalance but failing
somewhat.

I nod briskly and he takes Cade by the arm and Teleports
them both to
Ponte
. I take CK’s arm and he hesitates. “I’m sorry,” he
whispers before he follows them with me clinging to him, not really wanting to
let go.

We land in the Grand Entrance Hall, joined by Nico and he
and Cade flit off together, heads bowed, discussing something of the utmost
importance that he doesn’t even look back. I am glad though, because now he
won’t see me disappear with Sebastian and it is one less lie I have to tell. As
they turn the corner and disappear from sight, Sebastian holds his hand out to
me. “Shall we?” he asks.

“Yeah,” I say quietly and turn back to CK who is looking as
pained as I feel. I pull him close and whisper in his ear, “Tonight, we will do
the ritual again, okay?” I want to give him something to take away from this
parting that he can look forward to, something that will take his mind off me
going off with his best friend and charge.

“Yes,” he whispers back to me as he tangles his fingers in
my hair to hold me close to him. “I am going to sweep you off your feet. It
will be the most romantic night of your life,” he adds with a smile that is all
but forced at our inside joke and I take his face in my hands.

“That is a tall order, sir. You had better get started on
your planning,” I say.

He relaxes then, a tiny bit, as he chuckles. “Lucky for you,
I have already got everything I need to please you.”

“All I need is you,” I say as I kiss him sweetly before I
pull away and step back. I turn swiftly and let Sebastian lead me away, not
wanting to look back.

As you may have come to realize by now, I am pretty good at
compartmentalizing my life. Every little piece has its own little place. A
vault, if you will. I close one and open another. It makes it easier to go from
one person to another. Cade once asked me how I do it and other Liv was also
interested to know, how I can turn my focus so intently from one to another.

He leads me down the bottom floor of the castle and turns into
the right wing. As we turn the corner I ask him, “Where exactly are we going?”

“To my bedroom,” he says as he takes my hand.

“You have a bedroom here?” I asked, surprised, but then feel
a bit foolish, because of course he does.

“Yes, don’t you?” he says with a smile.

“I have two,” I say with a laugh.

“Well one and a half,” he says and I concede that is a fair
point.

“You seem to be out in the back of nowhere,” I say as we
continue down the corridor to the back of the castle.

“Not exactly,” he says as he stops at a very recognizable,
heavy, wooden, studded door.

“Oh,” I say and freeze. “Your bedroom is in the North
Tower,” I state.

“Yes,” he says. “Is that a problem?”

“No,” I say, determined not to make it an issue.

“We can find somewhere else,” he says, sensing my
hesitation. “I understand if you…you know…towers…” he trails off, not really
knowing what to say.

“It’s fine,” I say and open the door. I ascend the stairs
slowly but steadily. I conquered this fear and I won’t let it come back to bite
me now.

He follows me silently and I reach the turret door and step
back to let him open it. Not out of wanting him to be chivalrous, but as it is
his bedroom and I am not comfortable with just making myself at home and
barging in.

He opens the door and ushers me inside. I take it all in
quite quickly, scanning my eye around the room. It is a smaller, round version
of CK’s room. Well, of what used to be CK’s room, but is now heavily influenced
by all of my stuff he brought over from New York to make it “ours.”

“Nice,” I say and step further in. My eye catches the view
from the windows and I am drawn to it. It is spectacular. I kneel on the window
seat and he joins me. “Beautiful, isn’t it?” he says.

“Yes,” I say.

He takes my hand and pulls me off the seat and leads me to
some sketches and paintings on the wall next to the windows. He points to one
that looks as old as I am and says, “This is what it used to look like.” He
points to the next one. “And this one a few centuries later, and so on.”

I study them closely and note the vast difference in the
landscape over the years. “Wow,” I say. “That is amazing. Did you do these?”

“Yes,” he says almost shyly.

“Impressive. What other talents are you hiding?” I ask, then
flush as his eyes light up mischievously.

“I am dying to show you,” he says as he brushes my hair
behind my ear. Even though I can sense his eagerness to get started, he still
says to me, “We can go at your pace. I know this is awkward for you. Especially
here and especially as he is waiting for you.”

“Yes,” I say. “It is awkward. I would rather have been here
of my own free will.” Not to mention I am just a little bit worried about the
fated baby.