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

“Get caught doing someone outside of the circle, did you?
Been there, done that. It’ll blow over. I mean, Christ, it isn’t like they can
live without you. Where you go, they follow,” she says matter-of-factly.

“Not this time,” I mutter.

“Please,” she says to my surprise. “I need you to do this,
he responds to you. God knows why.” She ruins the heartfelt plea with an
insult. Nice.

“He responds because I am what he wants. He doesn’t want a
slutty, power hungry harpy.” I borrow this from Devon and it has the desired
effect as she glares at me. “Try being nicer and more loving. Get him alone and
focus entirely on him. Forget everyone else, just let it be about him. Look
into his eyes, touch him, be interested in what he has to say.”

She frowns at me. “Huh, interesting. So like, love the one
you are with sort of thing.”

Erm, I wouldn’t put it quite like that, still sounds
insensitive, but if she gets it that way then all good. “Yes. Exactly,” I say.

“Show me,” she says. “Come back with me now and show me how
you do it. You don’t have to sleep with him this time, just let me see what it
is you do.”

What it is that I do? She makes it sound like a job. “How?”
I sigh.

“I will watch you.”

“From where? Like some kind of Peeping Tom?” I am not
comfortable with this plan.

“Just Shift into me and come with me. I’ll show you.”

Well, doesn’t look like I have a whole lot else to do and
she said I don’t have to fuck him. Only problem is he knows it won’t be her and
if she is watching she will know that too. I chew my lip. “Why don’t you see me
interact with one of my own? It’ll be real then.”

She thinks it over. “Fine. Get one of them up here.”

“It’s things like that you have to stop saying,” I grouse as
I climb out of bed. “I need a shower. Give me five minutes.”

She nods and I go off wondering how I am supposed to teach
her to be nicer.

“By the way,” I turn back to her. “Why do you live in London
and speak with an American accent?”

“Why do you live in America and speak with a British
accent?” she asks in return and, well, she has me there, so I just shrug and go
shower.

Five minutes later, I am showered and dressed and set with
my little project. I ring all of them to come up and tell her to wait in the
bathroom to observe. I still have no clue why she wants to see me but if it
helps her be a better person then I am all for that. I wait and they all arrive
at the same time, just letting themselves in. I stand and face them. “Before
any of you say anything about what happened yesterday. Please don’t. I don’t
want to talk about it and please don’t look at me like you feel sorry for me,”
I snap at Devon who adjusts his features accordingly. I smile brightly now.
“Come, sit,” I say and they all look at me suspiciously but do as I say.

“CK, can I have a word with you please, alone.”

“Of course, my love,” he beams at me and inwardly I roll my
eyes at him. I take his hand and lead him to the bedroom, and I close the door
behind us.

“Before you say anything,” he says. “I know you are hurting
and I am sorry for that, but you know the arrangement. You are mine now, end of
story.”

I sigh and take his hands. “I know. I just need a bit of
time, okay?” I say and he nods.

“Of course, my sweet,” he whispers as he pulls me to him.
“Take some time, but not too much,” he adds with his made-for-me smile. “I have
waited a long time for this, I don’t want to wait much longer.”

I nod and swallow. Shit. Is this really happening so
quickly? Oh Cole, why did you have to give up? Why couldn’t you just have had a
shit fit at me in private but stay with me?

“Sit. I need to talk to you about something,” I say,
gesturing to the bed.

He pulls me along with him and sits. “What is it?”

“Are you okay?” I ask him to his surprise.

“Yes, why do you ask?”

I take his face in my hands and stare into his eyes, hoping
that other Liv is taking all of this in. “I hurt you. I know that and I am
truly sorry. Know that I will never do it again. I promise.”

“Aefre,” he says, taking my hands again. “Don’t worry about
me, I keep telling you I am capable of looking after myself. And yes it did
hurt, but Christ knows I have hurt you worse in the past and you have the grace
and compassion to forgive me every time. You have nothing to worry about.” He
kisses me. “Besides it did work out in my favor, now didn’t it? I shall have to
thank myself if I ever get the chance.”

“Oh, CK,” I say, shaking my head. “You must understand that
I am not going to get over him as quickly as you would like me to.”

His face hardens briefly. “I do know that.”

“But I love you,” I say. “I love you and we should do the
ritual again soon.”

His face lights up now. “Right now,” he says and I laugh at
his eagerness.

“Tomorrow,” I say. “When we don’t have everyone waiting for
us,” I say, pointing to the door.

“Hm, acceptable terms, my sweet.”

I kiss him tenderly and he wraps his arms around me. He
pulls back suddenly and gazes at me. “Did you meet her?” he whispers and I know
he is talking about our daughter, but I don’t want to talk about this with
other me listening. She has already learned far more than I would have liked. I
nod but say, “I will tell you all about her when we are alone.”

He nods seeing that I am resolute. “I do love you, Aefre.
Thank you for saying what you did before. It was unnecessary but it makes me
feel special,” he says shyly.

“You are, my love,” I say and kiss him again. “Will you give
me a minute to freshen up? I then should go and speak to Sebastian about what I
can only assume happened.” I stand but he pulls me back down.

“No, Aefre, leave it. He is heartbroken. He can be volatile
when such emotions overtake him,” he says seriously.

Heartbroken? What the hell did she do to him?

I frown at him. “No, I want to speak to him. I need to know
what she did and try to make it right.”

“She destroyed him,” he says, clearing his throat. “I know
you probably don’t want to talk about it yet but you could heal him.”

I shake my head. “Too soon,” I whisper and he nods grimly.

“Speak to him then, but be careful, Aefre. He isn’t in a
very forgiving mood.”

I open my mouth to say that I didn’t do anything to him, but
close it again as he shrugs, knowing what I was going to say.

We both stand again and he hugs me tightly. “I love you. You
are so strong,” he says to me quietly. “But will you let me take care of you?
You don’t need to go through everything on your own. I just want to take care
of you.”

“And I want you to,” I say truthfully as I am worn out,
weary, and heartbroken myself, and struggling just to remain standing and not
fall at his feet in tears. He beams at me adoringly and I smile back. “I’ll
just be a minute, okay?”

“Okay,” he says and leaves me as I stride into the bathroom.

“See?” I say, hands on my hips. “Easy peasey. Just be nice.”

She is staring at me in wonder and says, “How the hell do
you do it though? I saw and heard everything, but I just can’t get my head
around how easily you wrap him around your finger. I mean he wants to take care
of you? I don’t think anyone has ever said that to me, let alone him.”

“Because you are such a bitch, no one wants to,” I say
nastily and she actually flinches. “I mean that they don’t think that you need
it or want it. Show a bit of vulnerability.”

“It is a weakness,” she says.

“No, it isn’t. It makes the people you claim to love
actually know that you care about them.”

“So Cole left you did he?” she says with a cruel smirk,
wanting to get her own back, probably.

“He did. But he will return.” I cross my arms tightly in a
show of nonchalance even though I am dying inside.

She shrugs, not really interested in my sorrow. “Fine. I
will take what I learned and try it. If it doesn’t work, though, you are coming
back with me to do as we originally planned.”

“Wait. What about The Thirteen?”

“If your tactics work then I will come back.”

“They aren’t tactics, Liv,” I say with a sigh. “They are
feelings, emotions. You have to be genuine. If you want him to love you, you
have to love him first.”

“I do love him,” she whispers and it is the first time I
have seen that she actually does.

“Then stop being a cow and show him.”

She nods. “I will return later. Good luck with Sebastian,”
she says and winks at me.

“Excuse me?” I say.

“Whatever it was you have to talk to him about. Your sire
was right, he can be volatile. That Faerie temper is something else.”

“I will be fine, but thank you for your concern.”

“Just looking out for you Lil’ Sis. You have grown on me.”
She shrugs.

“Hm, can’t say the feeling is mutual,” I mutter and she
narrows her eyes at me.

“That’s not very nice.”

“Well work on your attitude and maybe you will grow on me
too,” I say and she sneers at me before she disappears.

I check my phone but no calls or messages from Cole. I send
him a message begging him to call me and I hope that he does. I need him to
realize that he has thrown everything away by being hasty.

“Liv?” Sebastian says from the doorway. “Constantine says
you want to talk to me?”

“Yes, I do, but not here.”

“We’ll go to my suite. I have some things I want to say to
you as well.” I gulp at his tone and his blank expression.

“I’ll just tell them I’m going.”

“I’ve already told them,” he says.

Oh.

He Teleports out without me, leaving me to follow. How rude.

I find him staring thoughtfully out of the window. “I should
have known it was too good to be true,” he states the second I get there. “I
mean why would you come to me because of me?”

“She did though,” I say.

He spins around. “I mean you, Liv. Not her,” he spits out
viciously.

“Sebastian, in her world the two of you are in love. Of
course she was going to come to you, even though it was wrong of her to pretend
to be me, I understand it. You have a connection with her, the likes of which I
have never seen or felt. You know why, don’t you?” I ask hesitantly.

He just stares at me for the longest time. “I don’t care
about them,” he says. “I don’t care about their connection.”

I frown at him. “But their connection is what ours will
become,” I say slowly.

He frowns back at me, “What are you saying?”

“When you touch me, what do you feel?” I ask instead,
stepping closer to him. He must know. He has to.

He closes his eyes and steps back. “Don’t come any closer.”

“Sebastian, tell me what you feel,” I say, stepping closer
again.

“Like it is meant to be,” he whispers, opening his eyes and
I see his sorrow and his pain. “I feel like we belong together. Which is
ridiculous because I barely know you and you belong to our sire,” he says,
losing his temper and stepping closer to me. I don’t back down though, but look
up at him.

“We do belong together,” I say quietly. “You know what I am.
I know you do. I know you feel it.” I reach out to him to touch his bare arm
and sparks fly. He flinches, staring down at me and shakes his head.

“No, it can’t be. How can that be?” he asks.

Fate? Destiny? Who knows? “I overheard them talking in the
other world. You said that we were the two people in the whole world, born
nearly two thousand years apart, who actually do belong together.”

“No,” he says. “Liv, stop this.” He walks away from me and
adds, “Why are you doing this?”

“Because I want you to know. I know you are hurting over
what happened and I just need you to know how things are.”

“Hurting?” he turns around to face me. “Hurting? You think
this is hurt? She came to me and said she wanted me, I took her into the bedroom
thinking all the time it was you and made love to her as she did to me. It was
perfect and beautiful. Just how I wanted it. Just how I have always wanted it.
I told her I loved her and she said it back. No, I told
you
that I loved
you and
she
said it back. Then I find out it wasn’t you at all but some
stranger from a different world!” He is yelling at me now and I let him vent.
“This isn’t hurt, Liv, it feels like someone has a hold of my heart and is
crushing it slowly and I can’t breathe, and you saying all these things is
making it worse. You say we belong together, that we are in love in the other
world. Are we married?” He doesn’t wait for an answer as he continues, “No, of
course we aren’t because you are married to him. I will always lose out to him
because that is the way it has always been and will always be. Here, there, the
other there. Fuck! This is all so fucked up!” He sweeps his arm across the end
table sending everything flying and crashing to the floor. “I touch you and I
want to die. Right there because nothing will ever come close to what I feel
for you and what I feel when I touch you. Tell me why that is, Liv. I want to
hear you say it because the only reason I can come up with, is not possible.”

“Because you are Aelfric’s son and I am Drake’s daughter,” I
say and he closes his eyes and sinks to his knees, shaking his head.

“The Chosen Two,” he says.

Chapter 5

“The Chosen Two?” I ask with a frown, sinking to my knees in
front of him.

“You are Drake’s only daughter?” he asks me instead.

I shrug. “I don’t know, Seb. I know very little about this.
Only what Corinne said she suspected and then the little I got from when I was
over there. You must know more?”

He shakes his head. “It’s impossible. You can’t be. You
can’t be Dark Fae. You have no Powers that I can tell and you don’t even look
like them.”

“Look like them?” I ask.

“Corinne told you he was your father?”