Osiris kicked his head. Hard. “Wait your turn, Son. I’ll get to you. Speak, child. Now.”

The world spun as Caro obeyed. “The High Council h-hereby issues the f-following b-blood edict to Osiris.”

Fuck, the words were hardly audible and sent excruciating pulses through the bond. Sethios couldn’t help trying yet again to disable his father’s control, but the Seraphim was too strong for him.

The only one who ever made me feel weak…

“Your i-immoral a-activities of l-late are in d-direct violation with y-your purpose on this p-plane. Using your gift for the afterlife to p-poison the blood of humanity has earned you an additional five millennia of s-solitude.”

A horrendous cough sounded from her lungs, yet the edict continued to spill from her mouth under his compulsion. “L-leniency may be g-granted when, and only when, y-you rid Earth of your a-abominations. Failure to do so may yield further a-actions from the council.”

She gasped, fury mingling with horror in her aura. They both knew this would hurt, but nothing could be worse than watching Osiris fuck with Astasiya in this manner.

Sethios held on to that, grasped the reminder hard, and telegraphed the resolve to Caro to bolster her energy.

“Well, that’s fascinating.” His father almost sounded amused. “It took you seven years to deliver that message? You must be the most incompetent messenger the High Council has ever seen. They’ll thank me for taking you off their hands, I’m sure.”

“I kept her,” Sethios ground out, his own throat raw and sore.

“What?”

“I kept her,” he repeated. “Compelled her to stay.” Not a lie since that’s how it all began.

“Why?”

Sethios affected the best shrug he could, given his position on the ground. “She’s a good fuck.” The statement hurt his heart more than his throat, especially when he felt Caro flinch beside him. “She could also mist,” he added, feeling stronger by the second. “Helpful when trying to escape a madman.”

“I see.” A note of cruelty underlined his tone, followed by a lethal smile. “And the bond between you was forced as well?”

Sethios froze. Caro had been certain Osiris wouldn’t be able to sense their connection.

What about Astasiya?

Could his father feel her as well?

Ice flooded his veins, cooling the remains of the fire that destroyed him only moments ago. He forced his head to lift, his eyes connecting with those so similar to his own.

“I demanded that as well.” He put every ounce of nonchalance into his voice. “It helped hide my essence from you and Ezekiel.”

“Indeed.” His father tapped his chin, considering. “A logical ploy.”

Sethios’s shoulders relaxed infinitesimally as he gathered his strength to stand. “You know I’m all about survival.”

Osiris assessed him with a flat stare. “I do, but I also know when you’re lying, and on this, you are not being truthful. You love her.”

Sethios chuckled even as his chest throbbed. “Do I?”

His father arched a condescending brow. “You deny it?”