He opened his arms for her, offering a hug that felt right yet foreign at the same time. If she noticed, she didn’t mention it, just returned the gesture before following his gaze upward into the stars.
“Your mother and I used to enjoy nights like this,” he explained softly. “There was very little light around Seeley Lake. It provided us a sense of peace and security.”
A false security, of course.
They’d never been truly safe, just as they weren’t safe here either. Not with the Seraphim residing so close by and his father trying to hunt them down.
The two of them stood in silence for a long moment, his arm around her shoulders, their gazes on the sky.
Serenity surrounded him for an instant, his heart reveling in the choices he and Caro had made. Their separation hurt, but in the end, they’d done the right thing.
After a few more minutes, he released Astasiya and took a step away to face her fully. She hadn’t come here to stargaze. He could see the resolve in her green eyes, so similar to his own. However, the rest of her was all Caro—athletic with feminine curves, long blonde hair, soft yet elegant features, ethereal and beautiful.
It almost hurt to look at her.
And yet, he found himself grinning.
“What?” Astasiya asked.
“You just remind me so much of your mother,” he admitted softly. Something he’d mentioned before yet felt the need to say again. Because it was so very true. “Although, your emotions are a bit more impressive than hers. I suspect you get that from me.”
“If you’re talking about earlier, well, Stark deserved it.”
Sethios’s lips twitched. “Can’t deny that,” he agreed, amused.
Astasiya was nowhere near ready to forgive her brother for his choices over the last two decades. While Sethios understood many of the Seraphim’s decisions, he had to admit that Gabriel Stark had royally fucked up a few details. One of those decisions had even led to Astasiya being buried alive, which was unacceptable to all parties involved.
“You know he meant well,” Sethios offered as a consolatory statement. “But I agree he could have handled it a little better.”
“A little better?” she repeated, incredulous. “He let me think I was toxic to Issac. Not to mention the whole death incident. Oh, and letting us all think he was working with John.” She scrunched her nose, reminding him of her favorite stubborn expression from childhood. “The memory manipulation thing sucked, too.”
He chuckled under his breath, saying, “Yeah. As I said, he could have handled it better.”
“You said ‘a little better,’ ” she replied. “He could have handled it a lot better.”
“He’s young and learning.” Not necessarily an excuse so much as a fact. “And his experience with non-Seraphim beings is sorely lacking.”
She grunted. “No shit.” She considered that for a moment. “Is Mom…?” She trailed off.
“Similar to Gabriel?” Sethios asked.
Astasiya nodded.
“At one time, yes,” he murmured, recalling how he first met Caro at the Arcadia in New York City.
His lips twitched fondly with the memory. She’d shown up in her regal Seraphim form, wanting to deliver an edict to his father. Only, Sethios hadn’t allowed her to utter that message to the intended source. Instead, he’d persuaded her to remain silent, then he’d taken her home for some fun.
“She learned how to feel,” he summarized, not wanting to provide his daughter with the details of how she was created. Something told him she wouldn’t be interested in hearing the story about how he’d used her mother’s favorite knives in the bedroom.
Do you remember that night, angel? he thought at Caro. How I fucked you up against the glass? Then taunted you with your blades the next morning? You came all over the steel edge before I fucked you to oblivion and back.
A spike of heat caressed his heart, there and gone in a second, causing him to frown.
Is that what you need, angel? Visuals of our past? He would send her thousands if that was what it took. His mind contained an arsenal to last a lifetime. Even with a child running around, they found time to indulge in his dark depravities. Mostly because there was just so much he’d needed to teach Caro.
Which drew him back to Astasiya and her questions regarding her mother’s emotions. “She’s much more in tune than your brother,” he said.
“I think everyone is more ‘in tune’ than Stark,” she muttered.
Sethios couldn’t argue with that. Even Leela and Vera appeared to be more emotionally inclined than the