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“Yes, we don’t want them to go on the defensive,” said Cain. “I’m happy for you and me to talk with them alone. We can bring the others up to speed later.”
“They’ll understand our reasoning, though I’m sure Ishtar still won’t like that she was left out of the conversation.” Seth rolled his eyes and stood. “Come, Eve and the twins are in the piano room.”
“How have they behaved in general?”
“They’ve become more relaxed around the Keep and my hirelings,” Seth replied as they left the ledger room and began to walk along the arched hallway. “Eve is all warmth and grace, just as she always was. Noah is strong and steady; he says little, he’s more of a watcher. Rima is prickly and sassy a lot of the time, but there’s a softness to her that she mostly conceals. There’s also a great deal of tension in her—being confined is wearing on her.”
She should try being caged for a millennia. “Did you get the story of why they have so little love for Abel?”
Seth sighed. “It was a typical Abel tale. You know how he always had a taste for virgins. Their mother was young and inexperienced. He promised he’d make Bethea his consort, he seduced her, and he accidentally got her pregnant.”
Cain felt his mouth flatten. “Let me guess, he didn’t live up to his promise to make her his consort.”
“No, he didn’t. Nor did he have much to do with the twins when they were growing up. Eve visited them often, though. She was good to Bethea. Adam occasionally went to see the twins, which they disliked because he often flirted with their mother and made her uncomfortable.” Seth paused, his face hardening. “They believe there’s a chance he once caught her alone and forced himself on her.”
Cain snarled. “Bastard.”
“Agreed. And Abel, being a fellow bastard, did nothing when the twins asked him to intervene. They simply wanted him to ask Adam to leave Bethea be. But Abel deemed them dramatic and insisted that if anything sexual did occur between their mother and Adam it would have been consensual.”
Cain gave a disgusted shake of the head. “I doubt Abel truly believed that. He just wouldn’t have wanted to question or go against Adam.”
“I had the same thought. If Bethea had found a consort, perhaps he would have protected her. But Abel didn’t want other men raising his children, so he chased off any who showed interest in her. In which case, she raised the twins alone, grew old alone, and died alone. He didn’t even show up to her funeral to pay his respects and support his children.”
“That doesn’t entirely surprise me. He only really caters to Adam’s feelings.”
“Which is baffling, since it isn’t exactly a two-way street.” Reaching the piano room, Seth led the way inside. “You have a visitor,” he announced to the Aeons.
Eve peered up from the table at which she and the twins sat playing cards. Her eyes lit up when she spotted Cain. And, much like last time, he felt nothing when he looked at her.
Wynter’s words floated into his mind . . .
You can’t expect yourself to react normally to being reunited with Eve. It’s not a normal situation.
The situation was indeed as far from normal as normal could get.
“I was hoping you would come,” Eve said to him, a smile shaping her mouth.
The twins didn’t seem anywhere near as pleased to see him. They sat straighter in their seats, clearly on their guard.
In another life, Cain might have kissed Eve’s cheek or given her a brief hug. Maybe, if she was truly only here for the reasons that she’d claimed, the two of them would one day build some sort of relationship. Maybe there’d come a time when they would act like mother and son. But that time wasn’t now, so he simply nodded her way before taking a seat on the sofa. “Are you all enjoying your stay here?”
Eve placed her cards upside down on the table. “Oh, Seth’s Keep is wonderful.”
“It is impressive,” agreed Noah.
“As is the city itself, or so it would appear,” said Rima. “I’ve only seen glimpses of it through the windows. The stone wall surrounding the Keep and bailey makes it difficult to get a good look at the place. It would be nice to be able to explore the city or even the town above it.”
Like that would happen any time soon. “I’m sure you understand why we would deny you that for the time being. The situation calls for caution. Many people live there. They have been promised safety.”
“Which now includes us,” Rima pointed out.
Cain arched a brow. “And are you not safe here?”
She snapped her mouth shut.
“Let’s not go through this again, Rima,” Seth said to her as he handed Cain a tumbler of whiskey.
“We’re not a danger to anyone here,” she persisted.
