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Sighing, Cain headed straight to the manor, but he didn’t immediately go to the blue parlor. He wished to speak with Azazel first so, knowing that the Ancients would head to the manor, he waited in the grand hallway for Azazel to arrive. Seth and Dantalion appeared first, but Azazel came soon after.
“Did Saul have anything of value to say?” Cain asked the latter Ancient.
“A few things,” Azazel replied. “I think we may have underestimated just how much Abel hates you. Apparently, every single female at Aeon you had so much as kissed later met untimely, mysterious deaths—no one could prove that Abel was behind them, but it’s commonly believed that he’s the culprit. Particularly since he’d once declared that those women couldn’t be trusted due to their prior association with a traitor. That being you.”
“Jesus,” breathed Seth.
Azazel grunted. “Also, there’s a male Aeon who bears the slightest resemblance to you despite that he’s no blood relation,” he told Cain. “He inexplicably vanished. Or so people believe. According to Saul, the man is a prisoner in Abel’s cellar where he’s routinely tortured in lieu of you.”
Dantalion sighed. “I can’t even say I find it hard to believe. Abel always had a mean streak. It was magnified by a thousand when it came to you, Cain.”
Very true. “Did Saul explain why it is that Aeon apparently can’t afford to fall?”
Azazel shook his head. “He merely kept repeating that we’d one day regret not handing Wynter over to the Aeons, but I’ll keep working on him. There is something else, though. Abel has allegedly been campaigning for years to have our cages and everything in it crushed. Adam refused to okay it—he prefers that we’re alive and imprisoned. Abel always backs down when reminded that Cain’s not the only brother he has here.”
Seth frowned. “Then why was Lailah allowed to declare war on us?”
“She wasn’t,” Azazel replied. “She acted against Adam’s wishes. Lucky for her, there were plenty of people who shared her view that we should be eliminated. She and Saul rounded them up and brought them here to fight alongside them.”
Cain felt his lips part in surprise. “I would not have guessed that.”
“Get this,” Azazel went on. “Abel knew that she meant to come here and wipe us out. He wasn’t willing to go against his father so he didn’t accompany her, but he didn’t report her intentions either.”
Cain scraped his hand over his jaw. “That is no small thing for Abel. I’ve never known him to risk his father’s displeasure.”
Seth nodded hard. “He didn’t fear Adam, but he feared disappointing him. With this new knowledge in mind, I’m thinking that, if given the chance, Abel would do exactly what we want and bring a battle to our land.”
“I agree,” said Cain. “But if we’re to make him finally rebel and go against Adam’s wishes, we need to really step up our game, because it so far hasn’t driven Abel to do exactly that. My pushing his buttons won’t be enough.” As a thought occurred to him, Cain turned fully to face Seth. “I think you should attend the meeting with me.”
Seth’s eyes widened slightly. “Me? Why?”
“As you know, Abel spoke of you during the last two times I met with him via a conduit. He’s still exceptionally bitter that you sided with the Ancients—even going as far as to sell your soul to one. More, he still chooses to believe that I brainwashed you into turning against him.”
“You want me to piss him off by showing him just how wrong he is,” Seth guessed.
Cain dipped his chin. “He doesn’t want to kill you. Let’s change that.”
Seth shrugged. “I’m up for it. Playing ‘bad cop,’ as they call it, could be fun.”
Dantalion looked over his shoulder as the other Ancients came into view. He switched his gaze back to Cain. “Azazel and I will explain everything to the others; you and Seth go on ahead.”
So that was what they did.
The conduit, Griff, didn’t seem keen on the idea of letting Cain spring the surprise appearance of his brother on the Aeons, but he kept any objections to himself.
Cain appeared in the psychic space first, finding Abel and Adam sitting side by side just as they were last time. Both men were the image of smug superiority. Until Seth materialized beside Cain.
Shock rippled across Adam’s face, and his entire body stiffened.
Abel’s jaw dropped—right along with his guard. A boyish vulnerability took over his features as he stared at Seth, his eyes dull with grief.
Seth flicked his gaze from one Aeon to the other, his expression closed over.
After a few moments, Abel cleared his throat and quickly wiped all emotion away from his face. “Seth, it has been a while.” He sliced his gaze to Cain. “Wanted to have some moral support, did you?”
“You talk about him so often I thought you might like to say hello,” Cain told him, “thinking” another chair into view. He and Seth then sat.
Adam studied Seth carefully, a predatory gleam in his eyes that said he was looking for a weakness to manipulate. But Seth met those eyes boldly, making it clear that Adam was wasting his time.
