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Saying nothing, Cain took the chair opposite Abel.
“It’s been a millennia since we last saw each other. And yet, you don’t look so happy to see me. I’m offended.”
Cain remained silent, keeping his face a mask of boredom, knowing it would bug the other male that Cain didn’t give him any show of emotion. The fact that Abel was taking the time to poke at him meant he definitely wasn’t yet aware that two of his children were at Devil’s Cradle—it would otherwise have been the first thing he mentioned.
Abel lifted a brow. “Nothing to say?”
“You’re the one that requested a meeting,” said Cain, his tone flat. “What do you want?”
Abel’s eyes flared with irritation. “You and apathy are still good friends, I see.”
As were Abel and spite, evidently.
“Still, I would have expected you to take this opportunity to vent. After all, I played a part in caging you.” It was a brag. A taunt. An effort to provoke.
As if Cain would ever be so easily manipulated.
“You can waste time making immature remarks that do nothing more than cheapen you,” said Cain, forcing a note of boredom into his voice. “Or you can get down to explaining why you wished to speak with me.”
Abel’s mouth tightened. “You can’t guess?” he bit out, anger flashing in his eyes. He leaned forward in a brief but aggressive movement. “You killed my consort.” He said it much the same way a child might say “You broke my toy.” No grief laced his words, only resentment.
“You don’t look too heartbroken about it.”
“I loved her.”
Cain bit back a snort. “If that were the case, you would have been fighting right beside her during the battle. Instead, you were tucked up safe at home. Probably with one of your other consorts.”
Abel’s eyes flickered.
“I’m sure you cared for her in your way, but not enough to feel moved by her leading an army to Devil’s Cradle without your backup.” Cain would never remain behind while his witch went to war. He’d insist on being with her whether she liked it or not.
“She had Saul. He promised to protect her. And you weren’t supposed to . . .” He trailed off and then pressed his lips together.
Cain narrowed his eyes as it hit him. “Oh, I see, you didn’t believe I would harm her. More fool you, I suppose.”
“Bastard.” Abel’s hard eyes studied him, searching. “You feel no regret, do you? She was once yours. You claimed to love her.”
Cain’s inner creature jerked in surprised horror. Now that was pure bullshit. “Who told you that?”
“Lailah herself, of course.”
Cain had to smile. “She was much more ruthless than most people gave her credit for.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“She played you, Abel. Back in those days, you had no interest in her. That didn’t suit her purposes. She knew you would take her as one of your consorts if you believed she was important to me, so she made you believe exactly that. And then she got what she wanted.”
Abel gave a fast shake of his head. “You were set on owning her. So was your monster.”
“Is that what she claimed?” Cain chuckled. “Once more, she lied. Neither me nor my creature gave two fucks about her. It pissed her off, but she wasn’t torn up over it. Lailah only ever cared about one thing—status. She was hungry for power. She wanted to partner with someone who was a power. Once she realized that it was a mistake to knock on my door, she went knocking on yours. Not realizing her game, you pretended to care for her. You thought you were manipulating her. Wrong. It was the other way around.”
“Do you truly expect me to believe that?”
Cain gave a careless shrug. “Believe what you like. You always did have a habit of doing that. It’s why you clung to some idiotic notion that I’ve resented you all this time for having a woman I oh-so-desperately want. That was never the case at all.”
“If that were true, you would have said so when I first took her as my consort. You would have laughed at me for my mistake.”
Cain felt one corner of his mouth tip up. “And miss out on watching you make an idiot of yourself pathetically love-bombing a woman because you believed it would make me jealous? Azazel and I had a good chuckle over it.”
