And yet… he had bested his father in a way. By keeping Astasiya a secret.
Maybe having his mind completely wiped had actually been a gift, granting Sethios a way to guard everyone he held dear.
He’d have to ponder that train of thought later. There would inevitably be a hole he could crawl into, one that allowed him to return to his state of self-loathing. But, for now, he allowed that benefit to empower him into action. Because wallowing wasn’t doing a damn thing for him.
“Did Issac see your nightmare?” Sethios asked.
“Yes.” Astasiya grimaced. “He woke me up when it turned too dark.”
“Too dark?”
“Consuming,” she whispered. “I couldn’t seem to swim out of the hole.”
He frowned. The imagery unnerved him. However, he wanted to see it for himself. “Where’s Issac now?”
“At the house. He would have come with me, but I wanted to mist.”
And he currently couldn’t travel via mist with her, or his control over Skye’s mind would lapse, sending her into a fit of insanity. Osiris had broken her mind entirely, compelling her to kill herself should someone take her away from him without approval. Which was exactly what Ezekiel and the others had done during Sethios’s rescue—they’d kidnapped Osiris’s prized asset—his pet seer.
“When was the last time Issac slept?” Sethios wondered out loud.
“He hasn’t,” she replied. “Not since Skye arrived.”
Because if he slept, the seer would awaken and try to take her own life. “We need to find a better solution to that problem.”
“I know. I’ve been trying to find a way to warp Osiris’s compulsion or break it, but nothing I’ve done works. He’s just too strong.”
“You’ll get there,” Sethios said, fully confident in his daughter’s abilities. “He just has a few years of experience on you, is all.”
“A few years?” She snorted. “Try ten thousand years.”
“More, actually,” Sethios murmured. “But you have something he’s never mastered, little angel.”
“Oh yeah? What’s that?”
“Heart,” Sethios replied, smiling. “You care. That’s a powerful weapon, one he will never understand.” He reached out to squeeze her shoulder, giving her his best indulgent look. “Let’s go talk to your boyfriend.” Sethios really hated that fucking word, especially when in reference to his daughter’s life. “I want to see this dream. Then perhaps you and I can give Skye’s compulsion a go together.”
The dream was as dark as Astasiya had described, the webs around her thick and complicated. He searched the visual Issac provided, finding nothing that gave away Caro’s position.
But he sensed her fear.
What’s changed? he asked her. Why are you suddenly terrified, sweet angel?
Again, nothing.
How strange. He used to adore silence. He’d even compelled her to be quiet the first time they’d met. Now he would give anything to make her speak. Even a scream would do.
He sighed, shaking his head. “I can’t hear her.” If he said those four words out loud one more time, he might lose his ever-loving shit.
How the fuck was he supposed to find her when he couldn’t even sense her?
Oh, he felt the cord tied to his heart, the frayed edges stabbing his insides like angry little thorns.
But apart from that pesky sensation, he felt nothing. And he hated feeling nothing.
“I can try to sleep again,” his daughter offered softly. “Maybe the dream will be clearer?”
“Or it could consume you again,” Issac said, sounding far too tired. Sethios could see the concern in his gaze, not for himself but for the female he clearly loved.
