he always needed to maintain some sort of control.
At least Astasiya was safe.
“Father,” Sethios greeted, his arms still glued to his sides. “You can release me now.”
“And risk you using your new misting ability?” He tsked, that strand of power tightening around him rather than loosening. “I need you to hear me out before you take off.” He paused to study Sethios’s wings, his chin dipping in approval. “I see you mostly take after me. That hint of blue must be a marker of your bond.”
Sethios hadn’t even looked at his feathers, too consumed by the fact that his father had bested him. Again.
“What do you want to say?” he prompted, wanting to start whatever game his father intended to play. The sooner they began, the sooner it would end.
“Direct as always,” Osiris replied.
“You say that as though it surprises you.” Just as he mentioned it almost every time they met, like he expected some other outcome. Why would Sethios wish to prolong the torment? Best to rip the first layer off and get started.
“You never were a fan of my theatrics.”
Sethios just blinked at him, unable to move anything other than his eyes and mouth. Well, his chest worked, too, since he was breathing just fine.
Caro was in a similar state, her body frozen against his with her arms locked around his neck and her legs around his waist. It would have been comical if it weren’t so infuriating. His father could at least allow them to stand in a corporeal state, side by side, rather than glued together.
Fortunately, Caro didn’t appear to be tiring of having to hold herself against him in such a manner. If anything, she merely vibrated with fury at having the evil incarnate at her back.
Osiris heaved a dramatic sigh. “Fine. As you’ve probably learned by now, Skye is a Seraphim. Which makes her one of the Fates. Did she tell you why she lost her wings?”
“She refused to conform,” Sethios summarized. Technically, Ezekiel had told him, but Osiris didn’t need to know that.
“Yes. When I learned of her deflection and escape, I sought her out as a valuable asset. Now you see the gift I’ve provided by allowing you to borrow her.”
Sethios said nothing. He didn’t consider it a gift to borrow someone. However, he understood why his father would perceive it that way.
“Did she see Elizabeth’s future child?” Osiris asked.
There was no point in lying to the man since he’d been the one to ensure her genetics allowed for procreation. “Yes.”
“And she explained that if she saw the birth, then the Fates did as well?”
Sethios wondered what he was getting at, which prompted him to reply again with the truth. “Yes.”
“Excellent. You can turn corporeal now. I need your legs.” He waved a hand, an invisible band snapping and allowing Sethios to return to a wingless state.
He frowned. “Did you remove my ability to mist?” Another thought immediately followed that. “Have you hidden this ability from me through compulsion?”
His father grunted. “Misting is a useful trait. Why would I keep that from you?”
“To ground me.” Literally. Caro sent a similar thought through the bond as she slowly climbed off of Sethios and shook out her limbs.
Osiris considered the statement, then lifted a shoulder. “I suppose it is something I would do, but no. I merely threaded a command through your soul to return to me when you found your ethereal state. Skye had once predicted that it would be the same day Elizabeth went into labor. And I believe she was right.”
“She predicted I would go ethereal today?” That implied she’d voiced that prediction before Astasiya had helped free Sethios... and Skye.
“She predicts a lot of things when forced to focus on specific destinies. Obviously, your future was one I needed to know.”
“You knew I would escape,” Sethios said, voicing his thoughts.
“Of course I did,” he replied. “It afforded me an excellent opportunity to test Astasiya, who proved to be just as magnificent as Skye predicted.”
“But you didn’t know about her,” Caro interjected, her confusion palpable.
“Not until recently, no,” he admitted. “However, I’ve since learned quite a bit about her. Such as she’s the one destined to pose a threat to me and all of Seraphim kind.”
Sethios and Caro remained silent, already aware that Osiris had misunderstood Skye’s prophecy from all those years ago.
“I’ll admit, I was extremely impressed that you both kept that from me. All this time, I thought I’d nullified the threat when I removed you from the equation.