“One day I’ll tell you my story,” Osiris said. “The real one. Perhaps then you’ll understand.”
“Why not today?” Aya asked him.
“Because Elizabeth needs you, and I desire her survival.” The stoicism in his tone reminded Issac of Gabriel. It was such a practical reply, confirming Osiris truly did have Elizabeth’s best interest in mind.
At least for the moment.
“I only wished to see you for a moment,” Osiris continued. “To express my desire to teach you. As I said, we’ll need each other very soon. And I would prefer to ensure you’re prepared for when that day comes.”
“What day?” Sethios asked, his hands tucked into his pockets in the picture of ease. It didn’t appear to be an act. As the male had spent thousands of years with his father, it made sense for him to know whether or not the ancient being posed an imminent threat.
That knowledge put Issac slightly more at ease.
But he kept his hands free just in case, his arm still touching Astasiya’s.
“You’ll see soon,” Osiris said, his black wings springing to life. “I look forward to the future, Stas. Please give Elizabeth and her daughter my best.”
He disappeared without another word, causing Caro to frown. “That’s his second anticlimactic exit today.”
“Yes,” Sethios agreed, his gaze lifting to the darkening sky. “It seems his goal for now is to convince Astasiya to work with him via pleasant methods. But that will change if she proves too stubborn for his manipulative games.”
“I’m never going to work with him,” Aya said at the same time Caro replied, “It will never happen.”
The two females looked at each other then, Aya’s green eyes widening a fraction as Caro’s blue irises flared.
Mom, Aya thought, causing Issac’s heart to skip a beat at the emotion underlining that single word.
Silence fell between them, Aya just staring as Caro stared back.
And in the next second, they were in each other’s arms, hugging one another as though they feared the other wasn’t real.
Love and affection poured through Issac’s bond from Aya, followed by a deep-seated ache that was finally healing after years of agony. Visions of drowning flooded his mind, Astasiya reliving each one as she clung to her mother harder. Tears fell from her eyes, the reunion one of joy and sorrow and defined by their joint pain.
Issac cleared his throat, his own emotions rising at the sight of so much love flaring to life between a mother and her daughter. He looked at Sethios and found him in a similar state, his eyes glistening with unshed tears. They didn’t fall, but the love was there. Pride, too.
And then he looked at Issac and it all disappeared in a heartbeat.
A darkness returned to the green depths of his gaze. His lips flattened. And power raged around him.
“You stood up to my father,” he said. “Told him to choose his words carefully.”
Ah, so they’d been watching the entire exchange. That didn’t surprise Issac. They’d all known Osiris would be waiting for Astasiya, and her parents never would have allowed him to take her after all the sacrifices they’d made to keep her safe.
“Yes,” Issac confirmed, unwilling to back down. “And I’d do it again in a heartbeat.”
Sethios studied him in silence, his expression giving nothing away. Then, after a beat, he dipped his chin. “Good. Make sure it stays that way.”
Caro giggled, causing Sethios to narrow his gaze at her. But the look lacked heat, unlike when he’d scrutinized Issac.
“Are you laughing at me again, angel?”
“Yes,” she said, her eyes filled with tears from her reunion with Aya. She released her daughter just enough to hold out an arm. “Join us.”
Sethios didn’t hesitate, moving toward them and wrapping them both in his embrace. So many Ichorians believed this male lacked a heart, that he was just as cryptic and cruel as his maker. But in that moment, Issac witnessed the truth.
This man absolutely had a heart.
But it didn’t belong to him.
