Trials (The Forever Series, Book 6) (29 page)

This is getting easier every time I do it. I am not sure if
that is a good thing or a bad thing. I look around the hotel suite, only this
time it is not empty. It is, in fact, full with everyone from this side,
including other me and now proper me as well.

“Well, hello again Lil’ Sis.” she drawls at me, hands once
again on her leather clad hips. Black this time…super kickass…I want some. “I
have been expecting you,” she says.

“You have?” I ask with a frown at her “endearment”. She
clearly thinks of me as littler and weaker than her.

“Of course. You want to know how to kill The Thirteen and I
know. There is the small matter of my payment though,” she says with a sidelong
glance at her sire that is staring longingly at me.

I close my eyes and try that thing future me did and I say
in her head as I open my eyes again, “We can’t exactly switch now can we? He is
standing right there.”

She starts momentarily at my voice in her head then she
grins and projects back, “Not a problem.”

Out loud she says, “Follow me. Alone.” I trail in her wake
to the bedroom and she closes the door and zings a spell over it to stop anyone
from listening.

“Shift to look like me and I will Shift to look like you,
then we just swap places.”

“For how long? I can’t be here very long. I have a life.”

“Stay an hour and make nice and I will give you a piece of
information in return. Come back again and you will get more. See how this
works?”

Unfortunately I do. I’m like Pavlov’s dog. A reward for good
behavior. But I am here and I need this so I Shift to look like her and I
grimace down at the far too revealing top, chiffon with zippo underneath,
feeling odd as myself but with bigger tits, longer hair, and bright green eyes.
She Shifts to me with a matching grimace and looks down at herself. “How do you
stand it?” she asks, gesturing to the halter-top.

“Stand what?”

“Having no boobs?”

“It is my, our, natural form. I don’t like to adjust it. If
I want a change, I make a proper change.”

“Huh,” she says as if that thought never even occurred to
her. “You do know that all your boys prefer bigger tits though, right? Oh,
except maybe Cole, but he doesn’t complain when he has his dick in between
them.”

I gape at her and her crass remark and she shrugs and
grumbles, “Who knew you were such a prude?”

Prude? Me? Hardly, but she is just disgusting.

“Let’s get this over with, shall we? And just so we are
clear, CK is my target, I don’t want anyone else coming near me. Make it happen
or I walk,” I add as she is about to protest.

“How? They will all think you are me?”

“I don’t care. Think of something. Oh, do you call him CK?
And your Dragon tattoo, let me look at it, make sure it’s the same.”

She turns to me, nodding respectfully at my foresight and
says, “No. I call him Constantine. Why do you call him CK? Is it the same? What
about the Demon mark?”

“Yes, both the same,” I say. “If you don’t know then I’m not
going to tell you. Now act like me. And I will try to act like you.” I shiver
in distaste as she does the same.

“I don’t do sweet.”

“And I don’t do skank,” I say as I undo her spell, well, her
magick is my magick, right? And stalk back into the sitting room, trying to act
like her.

I plonk myself next to her CK and smile winningly at him as
Devon glares at me. CK starts and stares at me before he hesitantly smiles
back. He shifts his eyes to her and the adoring look returns. Geez, this is
going to be harder than I thought.

I touch his leg, sliding my hand softly up his thigh. “She’s
staying awhile,” I say in the best New York accent I can muster. Having
listened to Devon for decades I think I manage to pull it off. I just hope she
can do mine. “Make yourself at home,” I say breezily as I reach the top of his
thigh and his eyes bug out of his head. “Can I have a word, in private?” I
murmur to him, my mouth very close to his ear.

“Erm, sure,” he says cautiously. I stand and pull him up
with me. I step towards the bedroom but Cole stops me. “Where are you going?”
he asks.

“I need a word with Constantine,” I say. “In private.”

He stares at me in suspicion, “Why?”

I glance at other me for help and she catches on. “Cole,
dahling,” she says, her British accent just slightly over the top but then
again, my American one probably is as well. “I am just dying to find out about
you. You know we are married in my world, don’t you?” She casts him a sultry
gaze as his eyes heat up and drop to her chest. Huh, she’s right. He hasn’t
looked at mine…hers…mine? Whatever. “Come and tell me all about yourself. All
of you,” she says flirtatiously, batting her eyes at all of them and I inwardly
cringe. If I come back out of here and there is a full on orgy happening with
“me” I am going to be pissed.

I drag CK to the bedroom and close the door. “Sit,” I say
and he remains standing. “Please,” I say with that look that I know undoes my
own sire. He sighs and sits on the bed. I go to sit next to him.

“What do you want, Liv?”

“You,” I say simply and he turns to stare at me.

“I beg your pardon?”

“I want you. I want a better relationship with you. I saw
her with other you and I want that for us. They are in love you know,” I say,
my mouth inches from his. This is actually very strange. I feel a bond with
him. It is nowhere near as strong as the bond I have to my CK but it is there
all the same.

“All of a sudden, you want to try and repair all the damage
you have caused just because of… what is it? Petty jealousy that she has
something you don’t?” he sneers.

Ouch. Okay, gonna have to try harder.

“Please, Constantine. Can we try to make it work?”

He looks into my eyes deeply and then drops his mouth to
mine. I hesitate for a second but then kiss him back. Would look odd not to
after I just told him I want him. Hope he doesn’t actually try to have sex with
me. That would be awkward.

He pulls me to him and I pull him to me, losing myself in
his kisses as it is exactly like kissing my CK. He pushes me back to the bed,
his mouth never leaving mine and I start to have a mild panic. Uh-Oh.

He lifts his mouth from mine and looks again into my eyes.
“I know it is you, Aefre. You aren’t fooling anyone,” he says with an innocent
smile.

I blink at him and then sigh, “How did you know? Did I come
on too strong?”

He laughs. “No, strong is exactly her style. Your eyes. They
may look like hers but I see in yours everything I don’t see in hers. Love,
passion, compassion, fear, guilt. She feels none of those things,” he says
bitterly.

“Oh,” I say.

“May I ask what all of this is in aid of?”

“She wants you to love her. She asked me to help make that
happen in exchange for the information I need on The Thirteen.”

“She wants me to love her? Why? She has done nothing but
push me away for a thousand years. Why now all of a sudden?”

“I think you may have been right when you said she is
jealous,” I say, feeling slightly uncomfortable as he is still lying on top of
me. “Please, can you just pretend it is working so that I get what I need?” I
ask him.

“You want me to pretend? You agreed to manipulate me and now
you want me to do you a favor?”

“I knew you would figure it out, I just hoped it would be
after she helped,” I say with a pout. Unintentional, but it works like a charm
as he stares at my bottom lip.

“A favor for a favor then,” he says. “Shift to yourself and
kiss me again and I will do as you ask.”

That is not the usual hardcore bargaining of my CK so I
agree readily and Shift back to me. His eyes darken with desire and he drops
his mouth to mine again and pushes his tongue into my mouth. I can feel his
erection pushing against me and I feel the need to put a stop to this. Having
an affair with an “other” is just too weird. Even for me. Probably not her
though, as my thoughts return to her on top of Lincoln.

He trails his hand down my side and up under my skirt,
brushing his fingers lightly over me, and he groans into my mouth. Oh crap.

“Oh, Aefre.”

“Constantine, wait.” I push on his chest, “I can’t do this.
It’s not right.”

“It’s not wrong. I can feel the bond between us. In some
strange way, you are also my charge.”

“No, I am his. Like it or not, you are different to him. All
you have to do is look at her and me to see that none of us are the same.”

“Well, I suppose that is true. I am renegotiating,” he
states.

Oh, now this is more like it and I wait for the other shoe
to drop.

“Spend the night with me, one night, and I will get you
everything you need to defeat The Thirteen.”

“No. I can’t. I’m sorry.” I shake my head.

“Your loyalty is admirable, however, those are my terms.
Agree or I go back out there and blow this little charade apart and you will
never get what you want from her.”

“Constantine. You can’t ask me to betray mine.” I push on
his chest again but he doesn’t budge.

“One night, Aefre,” he whispers as he kisses me again.

“I have to go, I have to get back.” I push again and this
time he gets up.

“Just tell me you will,” he says, taking my hand. “Tell me
you will come back and be with me.”

“I can’t give you a night, there is no way I can do that.
I’m sorry.”

“A couple of hours then. An hour. Please,” he all but begs
me.

“Why?” I ask. “Why is it so important to you? If you want
your charge, she is right outside, looking like me.”

“I don’t want her, I want you. You are everything I wanted
her to be, everything I thought she would be.”

“You don’t know me.”

“But I do. I feel it.”

I sigh, “Can I think about it?”

He frowns, “How will I know if you accept?”

“I will come back,” I say and he nods.

“Very well. I suppose it is that attitude that makes me want
you. Your thoughtfulness for those you love.”

Thoughtful? Well can’t say I have been called that much.
Especially as of late.

I nod and Shift back to that dreadful woman with a moue of
distaste which doesn’t go unnoticed. He laughs and it lights up his face. “I
happen to agree.” He stands and takes my hand. “I will go along for now, but
you know my terms.”

I open the door and we stroll out hand-in-hand, which in
turn does not go unnoticed by everyone in the room. Mostly Devon and other me.
I am sure I don’t need to tell you which one looks like they are about to blow
a gasket?

“Lizzie,” Devon steps away from other me and pulls me away
from Constantine. I don’t think of him as CK now, it is not right. “What is
going on here?”

“I am mending fences,” I say, hoping that sounds like
something she would do. She shakes her head imperceptibly and I bring my hands
up to my hips and adopt her trademark sneer. “Problem?”

He narrows his eyes at me and takes my hand, pulling me further
away. He looks at other me and says, “I think it is time for you to go.”

She stands gracefully and steps away from the boys who have
her surrounded. Well, I guess I am kind of a novelty. She must have been doing
a better job at being me than I was of her. “May I have a word before I go?”
she asks me.

“Sure,” I drawl and she rolls her eyes at me. I smile
prettily at Constantine who smiles knowingly back and she pulls me back to the
bedroom.

“Well?” she says. “It seems to be working.”

“For now. I am not a very good you,” I say dryly.

“I am a really good you,” she boasts. “And man, they are
eating it up. They love you. I think I might have you come back later and take
them all for a test drive.”

“Don’t you dare!” I snap. “You will not trick them by using
me.”

“Oh please, what’s it to you?”

“I don’t want them thinking I am like you,” I say haughtily
and she laughs.

“Oh whatever,” she waves her hand dismissively.

“Tell me what I want to know.”

“Have you earned it?” she asks slyly.

“I told him I want him, that I want us to have a better
relationship. He kissed me, tried to have sex with me and asked me to make time
for him,” I say, which is all true.

She raises her eyebrows at me, “Wow. You managed all of that
in five minutes? Very good.”

“Now tell me what I want to know.”

“There will be a test, a trial personal to you I can only
imagine and you can only defeat it in the Spirit Realm.”

Again with the trials. I wait expectantly but there is no
more.

“That’s it? That’s all I get for everything I just did? I
already know most all of that.” Not the part about defeating it in the Spirit
Realms though. That’s new and useful. And I know I didn’t exactly do much to
help her but she doesn’t know that.

“I told you, bits at a time. Now do you think that I should
go and be with him or should you come back and do it? Maybe make it more
believable the first time?”

“What? I am not coming back here to sleep with him!”

“Do it and I will tell you everything,” she says with a mean
gleam to her eyes.

“Do you love him?” I ask, needing to know. “Or do you just
want what I have with my sire?”

“I love him,” she says, not all that convincingly.

“Then how can you ask me to come back here and fuck him for
you?”

“Because he wants you,” she snarls and I take a step back
from her hostility. “Whatever it is about you that he wants, I don’t have. Do
this and you will get everything you need to defeat your Thirteen. And believe
me, you need it.”

“I don’t know when I can return,” I say in a small voice
because as much as I hate to admit it, she has me exactly where she wants me.

“Find a way. I will know when you are here. It’s like a pop.
We aren’t supposed to be occupying the same space.”

“But as from tomorrow I will be in Miami and then on to
Europe.”