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“I can’t claim to know how mate bonds work or what divine powers are making my son seem…unhinged, but they are strange things. I always wished I would find a mate of my own, but as the years drag on, it seems less and less likely.” He poured some of the dark liquid into my cup, then his own. “I always assumed it was because of my heritage that I wasn’t able to find one since I’ve also read the tales, but I’m beginning to wonder if that might not have been the case after all.”
I tried not to sigh in my frustration. Obviously, he wasn’t going to take this any more seriously than Sariel was. Or maybe he was just too old to really handle it; Sariel had mentioned that he’d started to rapidly deteriorate over the years, so maybe his mind was one of the things going.
The thought tugged at my heartstrings.
“Has Auren heard anything else about Lucy and Credence?”
Kiyomasa didn’t mind my sudden change in subject, blowing on his tea amicably while shaking his head. “Unfortunately not. I had hoped that we’d be able to find them before now, but if we can’t locate them, maybe Azazel can’t, either.”
That seemed to be the best-case scenario. Credence had made herself a home in a magical hideaway before; maybe she’d managed to run off to another one with her daughter before anyone had realized it.
“Ah! I’m sure everyone has forgotten to tell you, given the situation, but it appears your grandfather and his pack may be joining us soon,” he said cheerfully, placing his mug down with a beaming smile. “Alpha Depradine has finalized things with us; he’d apparently tried to leave before with Pack Olskin, but they’d needed to flee before they could work things out. I was going to have you alerted earlier, but then everything with Neo and Marilyn happened, and the timing has been off ever since.”
I’d almost forgotten about having another biological family member out in the world. The same complicated emotions I’d felt when Ashe had mentioned it before came rushing back.
Did Iwantto meet him? Would he even want to meet me? Tyler had been a shitshow, but he was a fallen-blood wolf, and my grandfather would be blessed-blood—from what Johnny had told me, could he evenbeupset with me if I showed up?
Questions swirled around in my head until Kiyomasa cleared his throat, where I realized he had been waiting for some kind of response.
“I’m not sure how I feel about that,” I admitted. “Obviously, if he and his pack need refuge, I wouldn't throw a fit or anything, but I just don’t know… how we would fit together.”
“Because of the late Alpha Bastille?” he wondered. My stomach jumped at the mention. “That man had lost his mind long before you came along, Aria. In his prime, he might have even loved having you around.”
I wasn’t so sure about that, but it wasn’t as if I’d actually known him. The only version I’d ever had the displeasure of running into had been trying to kill me; knowing he’d killed my real parents, hurt Auren, done worse to female blessed-bloods, and so much more had been enough to make me puke, whether that could be blamed on insanity or not.
“It just left a bad taste in my mouth, I think. I’m not sure I’m interested in reconnecting with any other long-lost relatives.”
He nodded like he understood, and the two of us finished our tea while discussing less heavy subjects. By the end, he’d told me most of his life story, and I was glad for the distraction—he seemed happier for it, too.
“Don't fret too much about Auren, Aria,” Kiyomasa chirped as he walked me to the door. “He knows his own heart.”
With that cryptic message, he waved me off, and I headed back toward my own apartment. I found that Johnny was already heading that way, too.
I grinned because of course, he was. The man loved Sariel like a brother. He was probably fretting over him just as much as I was.
“I figured I’d come and check on you two since I never heard anything else,” he said sheepishly when I sidled up to him, and I giggled.
“Thank you for looking out for us.”
I’d said that in a joking way, but my sentiment was anything but.
19
LIVE AND LET DIE
SARIEL
Iwoke from my trance feeling stiff and tired. There was paint scattered across the floor. I could feel it sticking to my fingers, too.
Blinking back the fog of disorientation, I slowly put together where I was and what had happened.
A new painting glared down at me, a dark mixture of black and gray and red that was nothing more than a blur for a moment before I was finally able to focus.
It’s a faceless figure of indeterminate gender. There are chains gripped in their pale fingers, each dripping with red as they stretched across the canvas to five other thrones. The people sitting there were faceless, as well, strapped down into their stone chairs as the nondescript figure sat on his throne of bones and gore.
Before I could panic, the bedroom door opened, and I heard a soft gasp. I realized it was Aria when her arms looped around my neck from behind.
“We’re burning it,” she said with so much certainty that I couldn’t even try to argue.
