Osiris twined a strand of her light blonde hair around his finger and yanked sharply. Her lips parted with an Ow that didn’t grace the air.

Because Sethios had silenced her.

Bastard.

Her stay on Earth would now extend to include killing him. Surely the council would approve.

Another tug brought tears to her eyes and a smile to Osiris’s face. “You’ve silenced her.”

Sethios merely shrugged. “I may let her scream later, but I’m enjoying her obedience for now.”

We’ll see about that, she seethed.

Osiris brushed the hair-wrapped finger over her cheek and chin before letting her go. He smiled fondly at Sethios. “Well done, Son.”

“Thank you, Father,” her companion replied.

Caro’s gaze widened with the exchange.

Father and son?

She knew about the Ichorians and the Hydraians, but nothing about the Seraphim procreating. But as she studied the pair, she saw the obvious likeness. Osiris possessed an ancient air that Sethios lacked, but otherwise, they resembled twins with their matching green eyes, olive skin, and dark brown eyebrows. They even looked the same mortal age of thirty or so, though Sethios’s thick hair gave him a younger appeal than his bald father.

Oh, the council would be furious.

Sethios was a true abomination. Even worse than the offense of poisoning humanity with a tainted bloodline.

A Seraphim assassin would be sent here to destroy him.

Both beings studied her with amused expressions.

The horror they read from her features was likely misinterpreted to mean something entirely different. For she wasn’t afraid of them but disgusted by the entire situation.

“Well, it appears you have an eventful evening ahead.” Osiris winked at her before nodding to his son. “Enjoy.”

“I intend to,” Sethios murmured, hugging her closer to his sturdy chest.

She cringed, waiting for the repulsion to hit her, but something decidedly other graced her instead. Her heart fluttered, causing her breath to shorten.

An additional power? she wondered. How curious.

It worsened as he pressed his lips to her neck.

Did he feel her quickening pulse?

“Good night, Son,” Osiris murmured.

“Night,” Sethios replied from her throat. He scraped his teeth along her skin, sending more of those goose pebbles down her arms. She watched helplessly as her quarry sauntered off, hands in his pockets, with no idea as to why she had come in the first place.

The council would be displeased. Her mission was one of import and meant to be short, but the abomination beside her had ruined everything.

And why was he nibbling her neck like that? It tingled.

She squirmed, but he held her in place with the arm around her shoulder and a hand on her leg. The show of power stirred something deep inside. Not fear, because he didn’t appear to mean her harm, but something wicked.

What is this plane doing to me?

“So Seraphim do react to pleasure after all,” he whispered. “Fascinating.”

He stood and held out his hand. “Walk with me. No fighting or talking, and no going ethereal on me.”