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Not that I could blame them. They’d been alive so long that it all seemed petty and unworthy of their attention; I hoped I never lived long enough to stop caring about other peoples’ suffering.
Auren nodded as if he was expecting my answer, and I glanced at Sariel; the men were looking anywhere but directly at one another, and it made me roll my eyes. “Have you thought about what I said, Aria?”
“I have. And I want to help.”
Admittedly, it felt a bit like a betrayal when Sariel’s anger sparked again before settling on our bond.
Auren looked so relieved at the admission, and I wanted to shake Sariel to reassure his brother we would both help their cause. He’s predictably silent on the subject, though.
“I just… I don’t know how much help I’ll actually be,” I continued. “I got some training from the fae, but….”
A lot of the people we were up against were bordering on ancient, and my modicum of training and good intentions wouldn’t do much when pitted against them.
That didn’t need saying; Auren had already picked up on the direction of my thoughts when I stumbled over the words. “You’ll make up for it with raw power. It just needs to be honed some so you can direct it.”
I didn’t know what kind of power he was expecting me to have. Magic? Wings? I couldn’t even control my shift that well when my emotions ran high.
“Think of your power like… light from under a door,” he started to explain. “A little spills out when you crack it, then a little more when it’s half open, and so on and so forth. You haven’t even cracked it yet. In my experience with hybrids, they’re almost unbelievable when they actually unlock their full potential.”
My gaze settled on the kids. I wondered if they were all like me, with untapped potential.
The words weren’t exactly reassuring; it was a non-too-gentle reminder that even though part of Auren did care about people as individuals, he was also prone to weighing out their worth. I wondered if he got that from Azazel or Kiyomasa.
“If you sealed the bond, you’d be almost unstoppable,” Auren finished, and I could feel the heat on my cheeks when he turned to us again.
“We haven’t—”
Sariel interrupted me with a soft growl of irritation, and more mortification roiled through me.
“You two haven’t had sex yet?” The youngest Ambrose brother actually sounded like he was fighting laughter at the idea. “I thought Kiran was just being a dick.”
He cleared his throat, sounding entertained by it all despite his best efforts.
“No, we haven’t,” I settled on as my mate battled with the instinct to lash out. Luckily, it seemed he’d learned how to contain that response, given how often people felt entitled to address this subject with us.
“That’s insane,” Auren commented as we all watched the children running through their drills. “Why haven’t you?”
“None of your business,” Sariel snarled. For a second, my hackles raised, convinced he was seconds from a shift.
It didn’t phase his brother, though.
I stepped into Sariel’s side with a small sigh. “We’re not ready yet.”
It’s the most straightforward answer. Auren accepted it with a nod of understanding.
We all stood together, watching the kids run through their drills for a long time. When they were finally dismissed, the three of us begin walking.
“I hate to be the one to say this, but you should probably hurry up,” Auren commented yet again.
Sariel was indignant at the soft words, and I knew he was gearing up to argue when I gently elbowed him.
“That’s what everyone keeps saying,” I responded, hoping the raging angel beside me could feel the soothing vibes I was trying to send his way.
“I know.” A hand rubbed at his shaved head. His discomfort was so apparent to me that I wondered how Sariel couldn't see it. “They’re not wrong, though. If you really want to help, having two powered-up hybrids would be the best way to do it.”
“We’re done here.”
Sariel put a decisive halt to the conversation, voice a soft hiss as he tugged at me. Even though it rubbed me the wrong way, I let him, waving at Auren with a brittle smile.
