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“Son,” Azazel acknowledged.
I turned with my back to the door to keep Tyler and Azazel in my line of sight. He descended a flight of stairs to the far left of the building, hands in his pockets; he was the picture of put together, unlike how he’d been at my trial or the castle. He was dressed the way he had at Ambrose Media House, in an expensive, tailored, maroon suit, complete with cufflinks and a silk pocket square.
I hated to admit how much Sariel looked like his father, but there was no mistaking that they were related.
“I’m not your son,” Sariel responded, stepping in front of me.
Azazel laughed. “Of course, of course. You’re the born-again Christ, and your mother is the Virgin Mary.” He rolled his eyes, then. “Don’t be dramatic, Sariel.”
Sariel didn’t respond. I wondered if Azazel knew that Penelope was in the Free Kingdom.
“Imagine my surprise when a correspondent at the castle let it slip that you’d escaped,” Azazel said, brows lifted as he flipped a switch on the wall at the bottom of the stairs that illuminated the space. “Now, why would you want to escape the people who seemed to have your best interest at heart?”
He hummed in faux contemplation, tapping his lip with his index finger. Then, he snapped his fingers excitedly. “Oh, I know! Maybe you got in over your head, and your only option was to run?”
Sariel tensed. A trickle of his usual disgust at being around his father slipped into his emotions.
“Poor little Sariel,” Azazel mocked. “Everyone wants to take advantage of him and his mate. He just wants to protect everyone, yet he can’t sacrifice a stupid child to ensure his mate’s safety because he’s too fucking sentimental. Poor little Sariel and his little mate and their little friends, screwed over by everyone they trust—”
“Enough!” Sariel growled. I jumped, and Azazel’s mouth snapped shut, his eyes widening as Sariel straightened to his full height. “I know you didn’t come here to mock me like a school child. What do you actually want?”
Azazel’s eyes narrowed. “Where is my wife, Sariel?”
Sariel’s muscles shifted as he cocked his head.
I stepped around him, standing at his side instead of behind him. If we were to face this monster, it would be with me supporting him, not cowering behind him. We were equals, and it was time we started acting like it.
“You don’t know?” Sariel scoffed. “Let me guess; Credence is gone, too?”
A muscle in Azazel’s cheek jumped.
Did they escape him?I theorized.
More than likely, and once Credence wants to be gone, she’s gone, he said.That means they’re safe for now.
I felt guilt slice through him. I knew it was because we’d been so caught up in everything we’d completely forgotten about them.
Hey, they wouldn’t want us worrying about them. They’d want us to focus on staying alive,I reassured him.
He nodded subtly, his eyes still trained on Azazel. “I don’t know either. And you know how Credence is when she wants to disappear.”
Azazel’s perfect visage shimmered right before our eyes, and he smiled cruelly. “That doesn’t matter. Once we getyouhome, they’ll come crawling out of whatever hole they’re in, willing to do anything to save you.”
He was right. Lucy and Credence wouldn’t stay hidden if they knew Sariel and I had been captured. Considering the last time we’d been captured—where we’d also been sentenced to a public execution—there was no chance we could convince them to stay put.
“And you intend to drag me home kicking and screaming?” Sariel deadpanned.
“It doesn’t have to be that way,” Tyler interjected, cutting Azazel off before he could respond. “You can always come willingly.”
Neo snorted, and I whipped around to glare at him.
“Do you not want to know about your family?” Tyler asked, directing his question at me. “I could answer any question you have. Especially the burning ones.”
I pressed my lips together tightly. I did have questions about my family. I did want to know about my mother and father—the biological ones.
But I could barely look at Tyler. He only reminded me that half of my family had to be a bunch of insane fallen-bloods. Or maybe a third of my family, considering my father and grandmother on that side were of sound enough mind to hide me away.
At my silence, he continued.
