Forever (The Forever series Book One) (8 page)

Intrigued he moves over to sit facing me again. “Incomplete?
You mean there’s more?” he asks in disbelief.

“I need another drink,” I say and signal the waiter to bring
another. Cole still assuming he’s driving declines another.

“Start talking, Liv,” he says as I hesitate, fiddling with
my bracelet, twirling my charms around rapidly just for something to do.

“I will, I just have to think where to start,” I say,
thinking so much for my analytical mind when I need it.

“Bring the bottle,” I say as the waiter appears with my
glass.

Cole snorts, “And that’s another thing. Your capacity for
alcohol is staggering and you never seem to sleep.”

Returning with the bottle and some breadsticks (subtle), the
waiter beats a hasty retreat sensing the growing atmosphere. I pick up a
breadstick and snap it in half, just for something to do with my hands. I take
a deep breath and let it out. “First off, I have been around a long time, Cole.
Been around many people and even those closest to me, with a couple of
exceptions, have never figured out as much about me as you have. In the private
sense. I find that astounding and somewhat disconcerting that you can see so
much of me. Or maybe it’s that I allow you to see so much of me.” He looks
completely baffled, but I press on, “All of these accomplishments and
achievements you speak of have been the efforts of hard work and training over
my lifetime. My very long lifetime.”  I pause for a drink and he interjects,
“Very long lifetime? What does that mean?”

“It means, Cole, that I am not twenty-six years old. I am
immortal. I am a Vampire.” There, it’s said. I look at him and the look of
confusion is replaced with a seriousness I never knew possible.

“You wanted the truth, there it is. Ironically, I brought
you here tonight to tell you this anyway, you just happened to force my hand.
It took me off guard. I meant it when I said no one has ever been as perceptive
about me as you. I knew you were special the minute I laid eyes on you,” I say
then softly.

He just stares at me like I’ve lost my mind. Well, I can’t
in all honesty say I wasn’t expecting much else. With a sigh, I stand up; I’m
not in the business of begging and pleading, if he wants me he will come and
find me. If not, so be it. Picking up my phone and purse I turn to walk away
but stop to add, “You told me you’d like to think you had an open mind.” And
with that I walk away, leaving him staring after me, mouth hanging open.

When he doesn’t follow me, I start to tremble inside. Damn
you, Devon, for being right. No good comes from the telling of this secret, I
think bitterly. I walk stiffly to the car and as I reach it I realize I don’t
have the key, Cole has it. “Fuck!” I yell as I kick the $3000 tire with my
$3000 shoe.

“Looking for these?” Cole says from behind me, holding the
keys out in front of my face.

Straightening my back in quiet resolve, I turn around. He’s
staring at me as if I just landed on earth from a faraway planet. Frustrated, I
turn away, but he grabs my arm, “Liv, please. I’m sorry I acted like an
ignorant shithead. I did say that I like to think I have an open mind. You say
that you are immortal, a… Vampire,” he tests the word out, “and I want to
believe you. I love you. Even if you do turn out delusional,” he jokes weakly.

“Yes, you did act like an ignorant shithead. This would have
gone a lot smoother had you let me talk first,” I berate him. He smiles, a
genuine smile and bends down to kiss me, chastely and swiftly on the mouth
before stepping back. I roll my eyes at him, “I’m not going to hurt you, you
know. What you think you know about Vampires is common misconception.”

He looks grave, “But you do drink human blood?”

“Yes. But I don’t kill people,” well, not anymore, I add
silently. “I survive mostly on Vampire blood,” I say as some kind of weird
reassurance.

He looks surprised and asks, “There are others?”

I snort, “Of course. Many of us, all over the world. You’ve
even met a few.”

He looks puzzled, so I say, “You want to know about my
‘batshit crazy relationship’ with my ‘friend’?” I repeat his words back to him.
“That ‘friend’ is my oldest and dearest friend in the world. He’s one of mine.”

“Of course he is,” Cole sighs. “He didn’t want you to tell
me, did he?”

I shake my head, “No, but he changed his mind.”

“What made him do that?”

“CK convinced him, sort of. It’s complicated.” I brush it
aside. “Cole, I don’t want to have this conversation in the middle of a car
park, and I don’t want to go back in there,” I say, gesturing at the
restaurant.

“Where do you want to go?”

“Home,” I say suddenly weary. “I will answer any questions
you have if you want to come with me. I understand if you don’t.”

“Let’s go then,” he says and unlocks the car and I smile
weakly, not quite willing myself to believe that things are fine just yet.

We’re both quiet on the way home, each lost in our own
thoughts.

“When you said ‘he’s one of mine’ what did you mean
exactly?” Cole’s question jolts me out of my reverie.

“Oh, I meant that I turned him. Made him a Vampire,” I say
absently.

Cole’s mouth drops open in shock.

“By his own choice!” I add loudly. Staring at me and not at
the road he stutters, “People ask you to turn them into Vampires?”

“Eyes on the road please,” I say sweetly and he snaps his
attention back.

“Sometimes. Not all who ask are turned. It’s up to the
sire.”

“Sire?”

“The one doing the turning,” I clarify.

“So you are Devon’s sire?”

“Yes.”

“Huh. And yours is?”

“CK.”

“Of course. How did he react when you told him you were
going to tell me?”

“Not happy but he accepted it.”

“Oh.”

At this point we are back home. Pulling the car up to the
front, I leap out before he cuts the engine. Restless now, I need to move.
Following me inside to the bar, Cole asks for a beer while I pour myself
another glass of wine.

“I definitely should have asked for another one at dinner,”
he jokes.

I narrow my eyes at him realizing he hasn’t eaten. “Are you
hungry?”

He shakes his head as I hand him a bottle. “Are you?” he
asks and I shake my head, “Not for food,” I mutter and he blanches.

Fortunately Devon chooses this moment to turn up. “Hey,” he
says to me, ignoring Cole.

“Hey,” I sigh. He comes round to my side of the bar and
kisses my forehead. “Everything okay?” I nod briefly. “Good.” He acknowledges
Cole then, “You’re still here,” he states. Cole nods and watches him warily.

Devon looks at me “Ah, you told him about me. And there I
was looking forward to spilling the beans.” I roll my eyes at him. “Shut up,” I
mutter.

“So where in the story are we up to?”

“Nowhere. We came back here to talk.”

“Oh, I see,” he says, but makes no move to disappear. “Have
you shown him your fangs yet?” He snickers, thoroughly enjoying my discomfort.
Cole goes pale. Paler than before even and stands abruptly.

“Devon!” I admonish. “Behave yourself.”

He just grins at me.

“Cole, ignore him, he’s an arse.”

“Oh my sire, how you wound me with your words,” he holds his
hand over his heart as he says this and I punch him in the shoulder. Hard, to
make my point.

“Ow, okay, okay, I’ll behave. No more punching. It’s not a
fair fight.”

I snort while he snickers, casting my glance at Cole who is
watching this exchange as if he can’t quite believe it. Steeling himself, he
asks, “So where does the story start?”

Devon raises an eyebrow, “You haven’t told him yet?”

“Told me what yet?” Cole asks sharply.

“I wanted to wait until we were in a more stable
environment,” I say.

“What don’t I know yet?” Cole asks again.

Looking on in anticipation, Devon settles on a bar stool and
pats the one next to him, saying to Cole, “You’d probably best sit down.” Cole
ignores him and glares at me to start talking.

Breathing in I look him square in the eye. “You said before
that you see a century's worth of accomplishments and wisdom?” He swallows and
nods, so I continue. “Well, multiply that by ten and you’d be right,” I finish
quickly.

As the math registers, his mouth drops open in shock.

“Told you to sit,” Devon says and I glare at him to shut it.

Cole sinks onto the stool staring at me in wonder. Finding
his voice, he stammers in amazement, “You’re a thousand years old?”

“This year,” Devon just can’t help himself sometimes.

I sigh, “Yes.”

“A thousand? You were born in the year 1012?” he asks
incredulously.

I shake my head and say, “No, we go by when I was turned. I
was turned in 1012. I was born in the year 996.”

And with that revelation out in the open, Cole’s eyes roll
up into the back of his head and passes out.

Quick as a cat, Devon catches him and I am at his side in
seconds. Carrying him to the sofa, he places him down.

“Get him some water, he’ll come to in a minute,” I say,
absently stroking his forehead.

Devon returns as Cole’s eyes flutter open. Foggy blue/gray
eyes land on my worried ones and I smile in reassurance asking, “You okay?”

He nods and sits up as Devon hands him the bottle of water.
“Thanks,” he says slightly embarrassed.

“No worries, you okay?”

Again he nods and says, “I’m fine. A bit overwhelmed I
guess.” He clears his throat.

“That’s to be expected. This is a lot to take in, and you
haven’t eaten tonight. Devon, go get him something to eat,” I order and he does
as he’s told for once.

I put my hand on his leg and he flinches. Hurt, I quickly
remove it and put it in my lap. He looks at me apologetically. “Sorry,” he mumbles
and takes my hand in his. I relax a teeny bit.

Alone for the time being, I look at him intently, trying to
gauge his reaction to recent revelations.

He feels my eyes on him and turns to me, meeting my gaze.

“Hey,” he smiles softly

“Hey.” I smile back. “Quite a day huh?”

“You could say that. You ever have anyone pass out on you
before?” he asks wryly.

I frown and say, “No, but then you are the first person I
have told that I am a millennium old.” I shrug; not even Scott knows my true
age, having been vague in that explanation.

His eyes widen in surprise.

I elaborate, “The last person to know my true age was in
1745. I was only 733 then. Doesn’t sound so bad I guess.” I shrug.

“How did they take it?” he asks, genuinely interested.

“
He
did not take it well at first,” I say, thinking
of Fraser’s thunderous expression as he caught me snacking on the innkeeper. I
push his image from my mind and smile sadly. “He came around though, after I
killed a Sassenach soldier who tried to slit his throat.”

Cole’s eyes are wide and he’s listening intently. “Wow.
That’s… you killed someone?” he finishes, sounding concerned.

Devon returns then before I can answer with a tray of
sandwiches and snacks. “Esther insisted on feeding the five thousand as usual,”
he says, dumping the tray down and flopping onto the opposite couch.

“Well? How far did you get?”

“I haven’t, yet.”

My phone buzzes at that point, I check the ID; it’s CK. “I
have to take this, I’ll be one minute and then I’ll tell you my story,” I say
reluctantly. Letting go of Cole, I answer. “
Ciao
, my love,” I say, as I
wander out to the terrace.

“
Ciao
,
bella
,” he says smoothly and my heart
sings. “I’ll take it as a good sign that you are not staked?” He says it in a
tone that I can’t quite place.

“Indeed. It’s going fairly well, considering. He’s
interested to learn more. I’m just about to tell him my story.”

“That’s good my love. I am glad that he understands. I’ll
let the cleaning crew know they can stand down.”

My mouth drops open in horror, “What?”

“You know the deal, Liv,” he sighs, “We have to protect
ourselves.”

Fuck me! He had a cleaning crew on standby to off the man I
love in case he didn’t accept me? I am shocked and outraged. Unfortunately also
speechless, so no words come out when I open my mouth to blast him.

“I’m sorry,” he adds quietly at my silence, “Your safety is
the most important thing to me. I love you.”

I want to cry in frustration and yell at him for being such
an obnoxious dick. “I’m disappointed that you didn’t trust me to handle this on
my own,” I say just as quietly. Fury is lost on him, he sees it as a weakness
and dismisses it. Calm and controlled gets better results.

“I do trust you. I don’t trust him,” he says
matter-of-factly.

“You don’t know him,” I say weakly.

“Precisely. Now go and tell him your story, and be sure to
make me the hero.” He hangs up on me before I can say anything else. Maddening
brute.

I return to the den.

“Everything okay with the old man?” Devon asks in typical
Devon fashion.

“Perfect, thank you.” I say a little too brightly. No way am
I revealing the contents of that particular conversation to either one of them.

Cole finishes a sandwich and turns to me, saying, “Liv, I am
burning with curiosity about you. Tell me your story. I want to know how on
earth you became a Vampire a thousand years ago. Christ, I can’t believe that
sentence just came out of my mouth.” He says this in awe and Devon snickers.

“Wait!” Cole exclaims suddenly. “How do you move about in
the sun? Or is that Legend as well?”

Devon and I exchange looks and hold up our left hands,
thumbs sticking out.

“The ring? That allows you to walk in daylight?”

I nod.

“I knew it was unusual,” he says almost to himself.

Not wanting to get into that particular story just yet, I
carry on: “So the story goes… as I said it was back in 1012 in London,
England.” I proceed to tell the story of us in the barn, pausing briefly to
take a sip of wine. I elaborate further to events after the barn to the day I
woke up turned. I provided the PG-13 version for Cole though as he may not want
to hear all the gory details.