The Ties that Bind (The Forever series, Book Five)
Read The Ties that Bind (The Forever series, Book Five) Online
Authors: Eve Newton
The Forever Series Book Five
By Eve Newton
Edited, Produced, and Published by Writer’s Edge
Publishing 2013
All rights reserved.
© 2013 by Eve Newton.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be
reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system in any form or by any means without
the prior written permission of the publisher.
All characters in this book are fictitious, and any
resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
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)
To J: For the Fireworks
&
Far East Movement for the music muse
Halyfax, England, 1506 – Elizabeth
It had taken me nearly two days to get here. I had ridden
day and night with only a few hours’ sleep in between and a change of horses to
get us there that quickly. I wanted Devon as far away from Helsby as I could
get him before he woke up. It would be any time now. I was so excited. I could
not wait for him to wake so we could start our eternal life together. I was
still so angry that we didn’t get to complete the proper rites but I loved him
so much and we would be together regardless.
I found us an inn and procured a room in Halyfax. We were
not that far from York, which was where I wanted us to be. It was a pleasant
town, fairly quiet and unassuming. After dark I carried Devon up to our bedroom
and waited. He looked so peaceful on the bed. I knew he wanted this and even
though it wasn’t how we planned it, I knew we would be married and happy,
together forever. I waited by his side, stroking his forehead, willing him to
wake.
“When you wake, my darling boy, I will be your wife. I
will love you forever and we will have our forever after,” I whispered to him
as he slumbered.
I must have dozed off myself as I was roused by his
abrupt awakening. “Devon,” I said and kissed him. He pushed me away, uncertain.
“Drink,” I told him and offered him my neck. He looked at me, unspeaking, and I
was filled with dread that he had changed his mind about wanting this. He
soothed that dread as he dropped his new fangs and sank them into my neck,
suckling on me deeply. “Oh Elizabeth,” he whispered as he pulled away, “I want
you.”
Forgetting all about human blood, I let him take me,
pushing my skirts up above my waist he took me with abandon. I let him take his
pleasure as mine could be fulfilled later.
“Oh, yes,” he murmured against my lips as he released
himself. “I love you.”
“I love you,” I whispered back and kissed him deeply. “I
never want to be apart from you. Are you well? Do you feel this is what you
wanted?”
“Everything I ever wanted. I just want you,” he said back
to me and I was joyful, like I hadn’t been in a long time.
“Ask me again.”
“Ask you what?” he said in between kisses.
I hesitated. He should have known what I wanted. What we
had agreed on.
“Ask me,” I insisted and he looked at me perplexed.
“I need blood,” he said instead of the words I wanted him
to say.
I blinked at him, thinking perhaps his turning had
confused him somewhat. “Devon?”
“Elizabeth?”
I decided to leave it then as he was clearly not in his
right frame of mind. “Let us go and feed,” I said and his eyes lit up. “I want
to feed,” he said. “I want to…”
“Want to what, my love?”
“Kill,” he said with a wicked glint in his eye.
My eyes flashed with the same wickedness, all thoughts of
what I wanted him to say to me gone.
“Shall we?” I said, offering him my arm. He took it
without hesitation.
“Lead the way, my love. I am yours to guide.”
Mine, I thought with a shiver.
We went off into the night and embarked on a mild killing
spree with a body count that left us fleeing the town in the early hours before
dawn. Oh he was a beautiful, vicious creature. Killing without mercy. I needed
to get him inside before sunrise. We found a disused barn where I told him to
wait for me till I returned. It was time to go and perform my sire duty and get
him his protection. I knew of a place not far from there, which was why I came
this way to begin with. “I will be back before nightfall,” I said to him and he
kissed me passionately.
“I love you,” he said. “Don’t leave me.”
“I must. I must go so I can protect you, so you can be
free to roam with me.”
“Please make haste. I don’t want to be apart from you. I
love you,” he said again.
“I love you, my darling boy. I will be back soon. We will
be together now, forever.”
Las Vegas, USA, 2013 - Liv
Devon looks at Constantine in horror. “Sire her or let her
die?” he repeats in disbelief. “I can’t do that. I can’t let her die.” He takes
a step forward but I am on him in an instant.
“No, Devon. Don’t do this. Don’t do this because she forced
your hand.”
“Lizzie, I can’t let her die because of me. Because of
something I didn’t do.”
“No!” I say. I won’t let him do this. I make a decision and
step forward, saying, “I will do it then.” Devon looks at me with a mixture of
relief and horror but Constantine pulls me back.
“No, Aefre. You don’t know what will happen.”
“Well you want to know. Now is as good a time as any to find
out,” I hiss at him, agitated to the point of anger.
“You would experiment on an innocent girl?” he asks me in
disbelief. “No. This is Devon’s responsibility.” He turns to Devon and says,
“You have seconds left, my boy. Make a choice.”
“Devon…” I plead with him not to do this. He is making a
massive mistake.
He squares his shoulders, resolute, and slits his wrist
open. He leans over her and hesitates for a second before he places it to her
lips, making sure it gets into her mouth as he saw me do with Cole.
“Devon!” I scream. I am struggling in Constantine’s grip.
“It’s done,” he says and with a glance at me that breaks my
heart as I see his pain and his uncertainty, he goes to slump against the wall,
sinking to the floor in the corner, pushing his hands into his hair.
“We need to clean this mess up. Pull yourself together,
Aefre. You need to be his sire now, not his friend,” CK advises.
His words snap me into action. He’s right. What’s done is
done. I know he isn’t ready for this but he wouldn’t, couldn’t leave her to
die. Could he?
Constantine lifts her carefully off the bed and places her
on the floor as I strip the sheets off the bed. I grimace at the mattress. The
blood soaked through the sheets into it.
“We’ll have to scrub it,” Constantine says grimly.
“No, I may have another way,” I say and hold my hands out
over the stain and pull on the Grimoire for instruction. The blood flies up
into my palms in a reverse rainfall and is absorbed into my skin. Primarily
used for absorbing energy, I twisted it to work the same with blood. I shake my
hands as I feel a slight warming of my palms. I conjure up a fresh set of
sheets and make haste. I could have just magicked them straight onto the bed
but the few minutes of busy work keeps me from falling to pieces. Constantine
places her back on the bed and I swap her bloodied clothes for clean ones, not
wanting to take anymore of her blood by magick. It’s dark and dangerous and I
need more instruction on it. I magickally dispose of the bloody sheets and
clothes.
And then we just stare at her.
Constantine pulls me to him. “We’d better tell the others,”
he whispers quietly.
“No, not yet,” I say to him. “Let him process first.”
“No, they need to know that we are about to have a new
member to our little group. Especially as it is one so close.”
A new member: one so close. I want to throw up. I don’t want
this girl as part of my family. She isn’t welcome, especially after this stunt
she has pulled.
I nod eventually and go and sit next to Devon. He doesn’t
acknowledge my presence until I loop my arm through his, resting my hand on his
bicep. He leans his head towards me but stays silent for the longest time.
“How long do you think it will take?” he croaks.
“I don’t know, my love. Two or three days? You took less
than two, but I was stronger.” I don’t mean it as an insult, it’s just a fact.
“Christ, Liz. I don’t want this,” he says quietly.
“I know.”
“What am I going to do with her? I don’t want to marry her
or even live with her.”
I sigh and say, “You don’t need to marry her but she is
going to have to live with you, with us, for a time, anyway. You know that she
won’t survive without you. You need to be close to her. Teach her.”
“I don’t want to,” he says mutinously.
“Dev, sweetie. I will help you, okay? I will teach her. You
just need to be there.”
“You will?” he asks hopefully. “You would do that?”
“I will do anything for you. You know that.” I smile softly
at him as his eyes finally meet mine.
“Why wouldn’t Constantine let you turn her?” he asks
hesitantly. “What did he mean about experimenting?”
“We are unclear on whether I am able to sire, what with all
my new additions.” I don’t go into the whole co-siring business. That is very
much a secret I want to keep.
“Oh. Well thanks for offering, anyway,” he says ruefully,
and I hold onto the giggle that wants to come out.
“Anytime,” I say instead.
He smiles at me sadly and says, “I don’t want her sharing
our home. I don’t want to share it with her.”
Me either, I think, but say instead, “You don’t have to
share a room with her. She can have the one next to you. But you need to stay
close.” God I hate this. I don’t want to be the voice of reason. I want to tell
him to go now, run like the wind as far away as he can, but I can’t do that. He
would hate himself if he did and I am Queen now. As much as I dislike this girl
she is one of mine now. One of Devon’s. I can’t leave her to her own devices.
“I suppose I can’t expect you to come back to L.A. with
me--with us--now with Cole’s trips coming up. I will have to be responsible and
do the right thing,” Devon says.
“You aren’t going back to L.A. You are coming with us. Just
as planned,” I say, shaking my head.
“I can’t drag her halfway around the world with us. She
needs to be settled. You said that with Cole.”
“I think the best thing for her will be to drag her halfway
around the world. She will be hungry, Dev. As much as we try to control her
actions, there is no getting away from that. This whole business,” I gesture at
her lying motionless on the bed, “is far from perfect. It couldn’t have been
more incorrect if we tried. Murder is one thing; suicide is a whole other
thing. Don’t expect her to wake up and be like Cole was. She will be like you
were. Worse, even,” I say and again I don’t mean it as an insult but we are far
past any sugarcoating. “Not staying in one place for very long is a better
option than taking her back to our home before she is under control.”
He takes all that in with a look of distaste. I know he
doesn’t want to be responsible for her, so I will take up the burden for him.
“I will sort it. Okay, baby? I don’t want you to have to worry about it. Let me
do that for you. Okay?” I ask.
He nods gratefully and says, “Thank you. It’s selfish of me
to want you to take the burden, but I just don’t think I can do it. I need you,
Lizzie. I need you now to look after me.”
“I will always look after you. Not because I have to as your
sire but because I want to as the woman who loves you. You are my darling boy,”
I say hesitantly but make a decision to tell him something. Something that I
have never said out loud. Something that I haven’t even really formed into a
full thought before. I lean forward and whisper in his ear, so softly, and his
eyes pop up to mine in surprise and fill with all the love that--in spite of
Constantine’s words before--he has for me. He cups my face and kisses me. “Oh,
Lizzie,” he breathes as he leans his forehead against mine.
Everyone chooses that moment to make their appearance and we
don’t get to discuss it further, but he knows, and that is enough for now.
Lincoln is the first to reach us. He crouches in front of us
and pats Devon on the shoulder in an almost sympathetic manner. I squeeze his
hand and get to my feet. I have a bone to pick with Constantine and now is as
good a time as any. I find him in the sitting room with Sebastian and Scott,
who isn’t looking happy to be on his own with two ancient Vampires.
Constantine hands me my phone and says, “I rang Cole. Left a
voicemail. He will no doubt ring you as soon as he gets it.”
“Thanks,” I say, taking it from him. “Can I have a word?”
He nods suspiciously and I motion him over to the other side
of the room, not that we’ll get any privacy anyway. “I am so mad with you I am
itching to get my sword out,” I hiss at him.