How long had she slept in this thing?
She took a physical assessment of her atrophied muscles and prone form. It was all she needed to do to know she’d been here for a while.
Caro strived to remember her last true memory, but the past however many years or decades clouded her judgment. So she clung to the one fresh in her mind—the one where she knew this would be her fate and had done everything in her power to ensure it.
For Astasiya.
Where was she now? Was she safe? Had their plan worked?
Fuck! Sethios raged into her mind, jolting her inside her glass pod. I hate this, angel. I fucking hate this.
Hate what? she asked him, startled by his outburst.
You ignoring me.
She frowned. I’m not ignoring you. Which was fairly obvious by her replying to him now.
Then whatever the fuck this is. You talk to me for half a second and disappear. When I find you, I’m going to ensure you never stop speaking.
There’s some irony, she thought at him, snorting. If I remember correctly, you commanded me not to speak when we first met.
He fell silent at that, causing her lips to curl down even more.
Sethios?
Caro?
Where did you go?
I could ask you the same fucking question. Are you really there, or is Vera messing with my mind again?
Why would Vera...? Caro trailed off, her eyes widening as a thought nagged at her. Something about the memory manipulator being inside her mind. But she couldn’t quite identify the source of that recollection. Wait, where are you?
Hydria, he muttered, his tone indicating how he felt about that.
With the Hydraians?
Yes.
That seemed counterproductive to their goals. Why are you in Hydria?
Because our daughter is here.
Why? she asked again. Why would Astasiya go to Hydria? Unless... Is it finally time?
Are you really here?
No, I’m in a pod, she replied, confused by his question. Answer my question. Is it time? Wait, are you free from Osiris?
Her heart began to pound at the memory of what his father had done, how he’d erased her essence from Sethios’s mind right before her eyes.
You remember me? she asked, tears blurring her already darkened vision. You’re okay? Safe? Astasiya is safe, too?
Oh, angel, he breathed, his voice a caress that had her heart picking up speed and causing the beeping around her to increase in volume.
Because she was fully awake and shouldn’t be.
A Seraphim would be by soon to check on her.
