Switch (The Forever Series, Book 7) (33 page)

“Oh, Aefre,” he mocks. “You really never did know when to
give up, did you?” And he slashes me down the other side of me in matching
lacerations that blur my vision and have me gripping my middle where the wounds
have intersected and it feels like my insides are going to fall out.

I feel my Power stirring in me as I gasp for breath,
knitting the wounds together enough that I don’t spill out all over the floor,
but that is all I get. I let him think that he has me right where he wants me,
but he is sorely mistaken if he thinks this is the end. I gather all of my
resolve, every last ounce of Power I can grab a hold of in me and I stand up
straight. His eyes flash, a mixture of pleasure and also pain, which he quickly
squashes to leave only the pleasure. He wasn’t kidding when he said I never
wanted to see this side of him. If either one of us survive this, I hope never
to see it again. Or him, for that matter. I can feel the wind swirl around and
I know this time it is
my
Power, the lightning strikes and the thunder
claps, the rain lashing against the windows. He steps back, coiling himself for
a fight, as he knows I am going to come at him now with everything I have. The
windows burst out and splinter into a million pieces as the Power in me grows
and I know I can grab everything else I need from the storm outside, to throw
him back against the wall as I step forward. He laughs as he recovers quickly
but doesn’t move any closer to me. “Show me what you’ve got hiding under the
surface, little girl,” he sneers and I whip my hand up and the Power cuts him
viciously down his chest, throwing him back against the wall again. The tower
shakes violently and he seems mildly surprised that he doesn’t heal straight
away and then advances on me, but this time I won’t let him get his hands on
me. I throw the lightning at him again and it hits him on the chest and sends
him crashing into the wall again. I form an orb of Hellfire in my palm and
twirl it, making it grow bigger and bigger and I see the flash of fear in his
eyes that I am going to hurl it at him. He knows he won’t survive it and he
closes his eyes waiting for me to throw it at him and I cave. As much as he has
damaged me, I can’t end him. I think he probably knows that deep down as well.
In the end, I close my hand over it and instead throw another lightning bolt at
him that he dodges, but I was hoping for that and I am quicker and in the space
where I wanted him, and I have him by the throat, digging my claws into him,
wanting with every fiber of my being to rip his throat out, but again I don’t.
The rumble of my Power shakes the tower beneath our feet and bits of the roof
start to crumble and drop to the ground outside with the bits of window. His
eyes return to normal and the evil mask drops. The pain on his face rips at me
but then he smiles his made-just-for-me smile at me, whispering something I
don’t hear. He relaxes and it catches me completely off guard and I relax my
grip slightly in response. It is a rookie move and exactly what he was hoping I
would do as he suddenly tenses back up and slaps my hand away from his neck
before I can blink. His own hand at my throat, everything then seems to go in
slow motion as he takes a step towards to gaping maw where the windows used to
be, drenching us with rain before he hurls me out of the hole in the wall and I
fall the one hundred fifty feet to the ground, landing in a bone-shattering
heap on the ground. Every bone in my body is broken and not healing as the
wounds he inflicted are still wide open, ripped apart again by the fight and
slowing the healing process down. I struggle for breath as my lungs feel like
they are going to collapse and I look up towards the open hole, my eyes the
only thing in my body that can still move, going blurry as I see him standing
there staring down at me. My focus goes double and I see two of him standing
there before he Teleports out, leaving me there, broken, soaked in my own blood
with the rain lashing down on me and alone. All alone, I think, before I see
the roof collapse completely and fall down towards me, and I thank the old gods
as the sweet, black surrender of unconsciousness pulls me under before it hits
me.

Epilogue

Caen, Normandy, 1012 – Aefre

 

“You must,” he said to me as I refused for the millionth
time. “You are a Vampire, my sweet. You need to learn how to Hunt.”

“Constantine,” I pouted. “I don’t want to. Why can’t I
just feed on the willing like I have been doing?”

“Because while that is acceptable, it is not our way. The
thrill of the Hunt,” he said as he wraps his arms around me. “The fear makes
their hearts beat faster,” he placed his hand over mine before he lightly moved
it lower down, “the blood is sweet and full. Don’t you want to taste it, my
love?” he bunched his hands tightly in my skirts and I wanted him to lift them
and have his way with me. He knew I wanted this too but he dropped his hands
and stepped away from me. “You give me what I want and I will give you what you
want. And only then,” he said with a sly smile on his perfect, handsome face.

I stared at him in disbelief. “You are being cruel, sir.
You know I want to be with you, do not refuse me.”

“Do not refuse me, sweet Aefre. You will do what I want
you to do. You will always do exactly as I ask. Your only task is to please me.
Or do you wish for me to be unhappy?”

I hesitated, not wanting to make him unhappy with me but
not really wanting to learn how to Hunt people either. “Very well,” I
whispered, giving in. He was the only thing that mattered to me. He smiled at
me happy then.

“At sundown then,” he said, as he swept me off my feet in
a loving kiss, but true to his word did not give himself to me.

I was aching with need for him as the sun set and he led
me into the forest. “Hear the heartbeat, sense the fear,” he whispered to me.
“He has a good head start on you. You should catch him before he escapes.” He
slapped me lightly on my rear and gestured for me to enter deeper into the
forest. I was afraid. Afraid of what I would do to the man if I found him, all
to please my sire. But I would please him, because he wanted me to. I picked up
the scent easily enough and followed it steadily, tracking him as I would a
deer. His fear was washing over me and I felt my fangs descend and the hunger
clawed at me. I was now close enough to him that I could hear him crashing
through the woods trying to escape, but there was no way out for him. He would
die in this forest. I found him and in a flash of speed I had him by the
throat, holding him close to me, I drank and drank. Past the limit. I felt
myself get full and stronger but I just could not do it. I let him go and he
slumped to floor still alive.

“Finish the task, Aefre,” Constantine said from behind
me. “You cannot allow him to live now that he knows about us. He will betray
us.”

“No,” I said and shook my head. “He won’t. We can make a
willing Feeder,” I added desperately.

“No, you cannot make someone be willing, my love.” He
crouched next to me. “Finish the task and I will lift your skirts and take you
right now.”

I wanted him desperately but I could not. I shook my head
and he sighed at me. “I am disappointed in you,” he said as he turned to the
prisoner and dropped his fangs. He fed from him until he lay motionless and
dead in his arms and he dropped him to the floor without a second thought. “I
shouldn’t have to clean up your mess, Aefre,” he said sternly. “This night, you
will be punished. You will stay out here with him until sunrise and then we
will try again.”

I watched him sadly as he left me alone in the forest
with a dead man, the tears fell silently down my face. My sorrow over
disappointing him and making him so angry with me gnawed at me. All through the
night I vowed to myself that in the morning when he came back, I would do
exactly as he asked.

He returned at sun up and offered me some solace in his
arms, but he was still unhappy with me. “Are you ready to try again?” he asked
and I nodded and he led me back out to the edge of the forest and let me go. I
tracked the human down quickly, but again I could not finish the task and he
was furious with me, as he had to drain the man again. Three more times we did
this. Each time I failed and he left me in the forest, all alone with the
bodies that had piled up that he had killed because I could not. Each one
brought up from the dungeons for me to Hunt and kill. On the fourth night of
being alone, I was tired and in spite of the regular feeds, I felt weak. I knew
it was because I hadn’t been near enough to my sire. I had barely seen him over
the last few days and it was affecting me. He said that it would, if I wasn’t
close to him, and yet he had still left me out there in the forest, miles from
the castle and him, all alone to punish me. He returned and led me back to our
starting point. I just wanted to cry and have him hold me and comfort me but I
knew he wouldn’t and he would think less of me for it. I straightened my back
and this time, this time I was going to complete the task and make him happy
with me again.

He found me crouched low over the prisoner, drinking
heavily, determined to do this. I felt his heart beat slow and I kept suckling until
he was dry and there was nothing left in his veins. The blood was coursing
through me now as I pushed him away and stood with a smile on my face.
Constantine was smiling back at me with pride and joy in his eyes. “There you
go,” he said. “I knew you could do it, my clever girl.”

“Are you pleased me with, sir?” I asked quietly and he
answered by kissing me deeply and sweetly as he pulled my skirts up around my
hips.

“Very,” he murmured before he resumed his kisses and nips
to my lips. “Do you want me?”

“Yes,” I whispered straightaway. “I need you.”

“Right now?” he asked as he pushed me to the ground next
to the man I had killed.

I looked into the dead, glassy eyes of the man with no
name, the human who had fed me and gave his life to help me please the man that
I loved. The man that I would love with every part of me, always and forever.
“Yes,” I said as I looked back at my sire, the man forgotten. “I want you to
take me here, now.”

He devoured me with his mouth, his hands, and his tongue.
Every inch of me was licked, nipped and kissed before he slid easily into me.
Moving inside me, he made me quiver with pleasure again and again, until the
sun rose overhead and I asked him to his delight, “Will you Hunt with me
tonight?”

 

The End

 

 

 

Reader’s
Note

 

To find out what happened to the
“Other Aefre” once Liv returned to her own world, look out for the Switch
spin-off novella. A quick, fun story from the other side about what happened
during the Switch and when she returned to her own world!

 

Other Books by Eve Newton

Forever
(The Forever Series Book One)

The Power
of One (The Forever Series Book Two)

Revelation
(The Forever Series Book Three)

Choices
(The Forever Series Book Four)

The Ties
That Bind (The Forever Series Book Five)

Trials (The
Forever Series Book Six)

If you liked this Paranormal Erotic Romance Try:

Beyond The
Mask

If you want to try another Best-selling Erotic Romance
Try:

Hidden
Depths

Strictly
Business

You Can’t
Go Home Again

About the Author

I was born in
England and grew up in South Africa. I moved back to England in 1997 and met my
husband, now separated, but we have two beautiful children: a girl and a boy.

I am currently
studying towards a BA in English Language & Literature, which is something
I have always wanted to do and never had the time before. I enjoy the finer
things in life. I love Louboutins and fast cars & my beloved Manchester
United. A perfect evening in, is good wine, candles and a good book!

I have always
loved to read, anything Paranormal catches my interest, and writing has always
been a passion of mine so I decided to take the plunge and combine the two into
a series novels. I have many more ideas churning around in my head and can’t
wait to get them down on paper!

I hope you enjoy
reading my books as much as I enjoy writing them!

Check out my website at

www.evenewton.co.uk

Twitter Updates at

@AuthorEve

You can
also find me on Goodreads

www.goodreads.com/Eve_Newton

&
Facebook

http://www.facebook.com/evenewtonforever

 

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