lucrative investment. Particularly now that the CRF labs were destroyed. It will take me decades to create another being like Elizabeth, and given the recent events, I may not have that much time left. So I need to keep her alive, as well as her progeny.”
“To prove she can carry a son for you? To replace me?”
“Well, that was my original intent, yes. But you’ve proven useful lately, particularly in the matter of procreation. Astasiya will be most valuable in our battle against the Seraphim.”
“Assuming she agrees to help you,” Sethios reminded him. “Kidnapping her best friend isn’t going to win you any favors. Or did you not hear what Gabriel told you?”
The warrior Seraphim was seriously a genius. He’d created the dialogue surrounding Astasiya’s willingness, which provided Sethios with the platform he needed to stand on and reprimand his father.
Elizabeth seems fine, Caro breathed into his mind. She’s just asleep.
He probably compelled her, Sethios thought back at her.
Probably, she agreed.
“She’ll never trust you after this,” he said out loud, his words for his father.
“I took Elizabeth somewhere safe to guard her. I also barely wounded her midwife, thereby assuring she would be fully recovered before her labor started. These are all done in the best interest of her survival. Astasiya will understand that.”
“Will she?” Sethios countered.
“Yes. You’ll ensure she does,” his father replied.
“Because you’ll compel me to?” he guessed.
“I won’t need to. You’re going to call the Hydraians as soon as I leave and allow a few of them to arrive to help Elizabeth give birth in this heavily warded home, where she won’t be found or discovered by the council. And after that, Astasiya will realize I am not the evil man she thinks I am.”
“You dumped me in the ocean and forced her father to do unspeakable acts for nearly two decades,” Caro said, her voice carrying a touch of anger in it. “You expect her to forgive you for that?”
Osiris didn’t even hesitate. “Of course I do. She’ll one day see that those trials were meant to strengthen you both, not torment you.”
Sethios huffed a humorless laugh. “Right.”
His father arched a brow. “Caro survived reformation. Do you know how many other Seraphim can claim the same? None. And do you know why she was able to survive? Because of your tormented bond. That pain you experienced the last eighteen years was what kept you glued to her. It was what made you fight for her, too. You may not see that now, but you will.”
“And sinking me to the bottom of the ocean?” Caro prompted. “You claimed that was your way of removing the threat to your life.”
“Initially, yes. But it also served as a way to strengthen my only progeny.”
“Your definition of torture differs from mine,” Sethios deadpanned.
“It tested the limits of your bond,” he continued, ignoring Sethios’s commentary. “Each day you became more resilient, remembering her faster than I could keep up with.”
“You let me remember her.”
His father smiled. “Sometimes, yes. Other times, no. You broke my compulsion through force of will.”
Sethios tried to recall those instances; however, they all blurred together in a convoluted web of anguish. His father had forced his body through unspeakable acts—all of which he couldn’t perform, and that had created an agony unlike any he’d ever felt.
“You did it as a punishment.” It didn’t matter how he tried to sugarcoat it now; Sethios knew the truth.
“When have I ever done something for one reason alone?” his father countered. “There are always multiple angles and benefits. You know that. And all of those experiences have strengthened you, not weakened you. They even helped Caro survive reformation.”
Only his father would believe that torture could amount to a strengthening exercise. However, he wasn’t necessarily wrong. The experience had empowered Sethios. It’d also enraged him. Nearly destroyed him. Made him hate his father even more. And about a dozen other results.
This is why Seraphim often slumber, Caro breathed into his mind. Living forever can alter mindsets, erasing all semblance of humanity from the thoughts.
I don’t think my father was ever humane or sane.
True, she agreed. But he’s also not wrong. Our sacrifices have strengthened us. I feel now more than I ever have before.
Sethios understood what she meant. It was as though they’d bonded all over again, on an even deeper level.
He could sense her every inhale, could almost hear the beating of her heart, and could nearly read her mind. Not each individual word, but her emotions were very much tied