Blood Seeker

by Lexi C. Foss

  Although, no one really acknowledged it.

  The living conditions kept everyone comfortable, and comfort increased productivity.

  Which was the purpose of living within the barrier—to keep the Seraphim world thriving.

  The community was completely self-sufficient, using solar energy, water power, and a variety of other advancements to keep the world around them flourishing. Human nature had grown over the millennia, but they had yet to reach even a tenth of the potential here.

  Of course, it helped that Seraphim were ethereal beings with inherent powers. The humans were actually partly created from Seraphim genetics. Or at least influenced by them. That was why Osiris’s abominations were resurrected with enhanced talents—it all came from the bloodlines.

  Gabriel’s pocket buzzed as he landed just outside the massive coliseum dedicated to the council. Turn left, then right, the message read.

  Of course Vera would choose now to finally reply to him. She likely knew about his summons and had anticipated him arriving just outside the coliseum’s entrance.

  He narrowed his gaze in irritation, then remembered his surroundings and blanked his expression. This empathy shit was going to be a problem. The last and only time he’d inherited a power in this manner, it’d taken several hours to wear off.

  Damn it.

  Stowing his phone, he followed the directions Vera had just sent him and found her waiting outside a cafe with her vibrant navy wings fluttering around her. Her eyes were bluish green in this form, but they shifted to a glimmering silver as she turned corporeal.

  It was an uncommon trait among the Seraphim. Gabriel’s irises remained light green no matter his form. Leela’s remained turquoise during her transition. Stas’s stayed green. I wonder what pigment—

  He blinked, forcing the thoughts of colors from his mind. It was entirely irrelevant and unimportant to the situation at hand. Fuck, next he’d probably start analyzing all the possible plume hues.

  Gabriel nearly rolled his eyes, then realized that wasn’t helpful either.

  Enough.

  “Are you here to confess?” he asked, his voice flat and void of emotion just like it should be.

  She snorted. “Not exactly.” She pressed a petite palm to his cheek, and energy flared between them.

  He tried to step back to avoid the impact, but it was too late. A series of memories unfurled inside his head, each one a new explanation that left him gasping out loud.

  “Remove them. It’s the only way,” Gabriel said, his voice void of emotion. Yet he felt the ache in his heart, the pain of having to make this choice.

  She’s better off, he promised himself. At least she isn’t drowning.

  However, as the memory began to change, Gabriel wondered if they’d made a mistake. What if he found out via other means? Would he break all his oaths to rescue her?

  “The loop will help,” Vera promised. “I’ll do what I can to regulate it for you all.”

  “I know you will,” Gabriel replied. “Do what you need to do. Make me forget.”

  The council had found Caro hours after Osiris had left her at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. They’d saved her only to put her in a different sort of cage, one where they would do their best to reform her.

  But her ties to Sethios could never truly be broken.

  Even a hundred years in that reformation chamber wouldn’t be enough to destroy their bond.

  He’d bring her back.

  He’d have to. There was no other alternative.

  As the memory of his mother’s captivity slid from his mind, another came to him, the one of Vera delivering the news of the council retrieving Caro from her water prison.

  A debate had followed. To save her now could dismantle everything they were working toward, not just in regard to Osiris but also in safeguarding Astasiya. She was too young and therefore susceptible to their influence. If the Seraphim found her now, everything Sethios and Caro had given up would have been for nothing.

  No, they had to let this play out. Reformation wouldn’t hurt. It would just put Caro in a state of limbo, her mind constantly monitored for any and all signs of emotion. Another Seraphim would be there to bring her back, to reprogram her under the mentality of her true purpose—to live a life of practicality.

  She’d grown up in that environment. Then Sethios had changed everything. He would just have to do that again.

  “It was the best way,” Vera whispered now, drawing Gabriel back to her.

  Next, she showed him the memory of altering Leela’s mind as well, removing the knowledge of what the council had done, while adding in little changes that protected her from discovery.

  No one knew they were searching for Caro.

  Vera had orchestrated everything, morphing the loop within his mother’s mind to ensure the regular blasts went unnoticed.

  “But she keeps undoing them,” Vera muttered, stirring Gabriel from his thoughts. “Your mother is a lot more powerful than she realizes. She continues to access that back door because she sees it as a connection to her bonds. I have to shove her out every time so the others don’t notice what I’ve done.”

  “Why are you showing me this now?” Gabriel asked, his voice a rasp of sound from the electricity humming through his head, reweaving paths that had been magically altered by the Seraphim beside him.

  “Because you already know they have Caro. Adriel informed you of the council’s decision to rehabilitate her, and you agreed to it.”

  Another memory slammed into him, one showcasing his father’s golden hair and fiery red wings—both traits Gabriel had inherited from him.

  He’d arrived at Gabriel’s house in the South Pacific only hours after Gabriel had left Astasiya with the Davenports.

  And it was just minutes after Vera had flashed in to warn him about Caro’s fate.

  Adriel had flatly told him about Caro’s choice, including her bonding to Sethios, creating a life, and then hiding that life. Then he’d ended with a short “She will be rehabilitated and cured of her fractured mindset.”

  Gabriel had dully stated that it was the right course of action.

  And that was it.

  He’d sealed his own mother’s fate.

  Then Vera had returned to remove the memories—with Gabriel’s permission.

  “Use that,” she said urgently, glancing down at her wrist where a bracelet blinked with purple lights.

  Ah, a frequency jammer, he thought. So she wanted this conversation to be private.

  “We only have thirty seconds before the surveillance equipment around us resets. The audio and visual will begin to record again. You have enough to work with. Don’t let me down.”

  Gabriel stared at her. “What other memories have you altered of mine?” Because he sensed there were more. Many, many more.

  She flashed him a secret little smile. “Who says these are even real and I haven’t just made it all up?”

  Always mischievous. Not at all like a typical Seraphim. That was why she and Leela were such close friends—neither of them favored the stoic nature of their kind.

  “You pledged fealty to Astasiya.” That wasn’t something he could sense, yet he felt the truth of it inside. Likely because he now possessed the memory of watching it happen. However, it was when Astasiya was a baby, not seven. Which meant he had other holes in his mind from that period of her life.

  Unless all of this was a lie.

  He frowned.

  His sister would be able to feel the existence of a fealty pledge from Vera. Just as she would be able to feel his loyalty to her if she searched deep enough.

  Gabriel considered Vera, weighing the chances of it being a mental trick or a reality. He could ask her how the council hadn’t discovered her change of allegiance, but the same question could be tossed right back at him. They had no idea he’d pledged fealty to his sister because they hadn’t yet met her. The moment they did, they would sense the ties between them and would realize he’d given
her his loyalty, not the council.

  However, without a previous cause to investigate his behavior, no one had noticed his shift yet. That could very well be the purpose of today’s discussion.

  Given his bizarre behavior of late, they’d probably looked into his essence more and found the shift inside him. In which case, they would outlaw him from Seraphim society—a punishment he would happily accept.

  Except Vera had spent ample time around the council over the last twenty-five years. It was surprising to him that no one had noticed her lack of a loyalty pledge to the higher Seraphim.

  Unless she’d used her gifts to alter their memories of discovery.

  The only one who could confirm the pledge was Astasiya, and he didn’t have a way of asking her about it right now. Besides, she’d require coaching to even be able to sense the bond. And there just wasn’t any time left with the council requesting his presence now.

  “If it’s all just a mental trick, then my fate is decided either way,” he added. “I’ll just have to choose to trust you.”

  “A wise choice,” she replied, her irises shifting to blue-and-green orbs as her feathers sprouted around her. “Good luck, Gabe,” she whispered, her bracelet releasing a small beep before she misted out of sight.

  He swallowed, then glanced at the massive structure behind him.

  He’d meant what he said. His fate was already decided. If her manipulation proved to be a lie, he’d end up in a rehabilitation chamber beside his mother.

  However, if the memories were genuine, he now had a very real card to play.

  “You can’t just waltz in there, Sethios. The wards will incapacitate you, and you’ll end up defenseless on a shoreline.” Leela stood with her hands on her shapely hips, her blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail.

  Sethios had found her in Balthazar’s house doing fuck knew what since she was alone here. He hadn’t bothered to ask, his first and only question being about Caro’s location.

  Astasiya and Issac had followed him. Now they sat on the couch in the living area, watching Sethios battle with Leela’s logic.

  Battle and lose, he thought, irritated. “I can’t just sit here, Leela. We know where she is. Just mist me into her cell, and I’ll take it from there.”

  “Yes, that requires me to know her cell.” She rolled her eyes at the notion. “Oh, and as I’ve said three times now, get you past the barriers. Which is impossible. You’re not an inducted member of society. The wards will fire defensively. They may not kill you, but they will break you.”

  “Gabriel is taking care of it,” a voice chimed in as dark blue feathers appeared in his peripheral vision. “He’s meeting with the council right now,” Vera added, her body turning corporeal in an instant. “Also...” She touched Leela’s head, causing the female to jolt.

  “What are you doing?” Balthazar demanded, his gaze locking on Leela as he stepped into the house with Lucian right behind him. He started toward Vera, but she held up a hand—the one not touching Leela—to halt him. Her authoritative aura had both Elders pausing beside the couch.

  “Why didn’t you tell us the council has Caro?” Sethios asked her, spoiling for a fight. “And what the fuck are you doing here now?”

  “We told her to erase our memories of it,” Leela breathed, her blue-green eyes rimmed with tears. “Oh, Vera.”

  “Yeah, yeah. Almost done.”

  “She can manipulate memories?” Balthazar asked, his eyes narrowing.

  Vera grinned at him. “You’re not the only one who dabbles in mind play, sweetheart.”

  His brown irises swirled with suspicion as he looked at Leela. “We have met before.”

  Sethios glanced between them, his brow furrowing. Then he shook his head. “Tell me about Caro, Vera. Now.” He underlined each word with persuasion, causing the memory-manipulating Seraphim to sputter in annoyance.

  “She was born in—”

  “Tell me where she is right now,” he rephrased, not wanting a historical summary of Caro’s being, but her current location.

  “In a Seraphim rehabilitation chamber that you can’t reach, so don’t even think about trying.”

  “I could compel you to take me to her,” he growled, his patience long gone.

  She shrugged. “Fine. But it’ll kill us both.”

  “We’ll regenerate.”

  “Yes. In our own rehabilitation chambers,” she drawled, rolling her eyes in a similar fashion to Leela moments ago. “Use reason, Sethios. Let me explain. If you still feel like persuading me to take you to Caro after that, then we’ll go to war and see which of us is stronger in battle. But keep in mind, you are significantly younger than I am. And I was able to incapacitate your father long enough for your daughter to save you.”

  “I want to hear what she has to say,” Astasiya said softly before Sethios could react.

  His jaw tensed, annoyance thick in his veins.

  They’d wasted so much time while his angel suffered. Now that they knew her location, he wanted to save her. It physically hurt not to go to her. But one look at his daughter had him nodding. Because a tender part of him—one that existed only for her and Caro—understood the practicality surrounding her request.

  “Speak quickly,” Sethios gritted out through his clenched teeth.

  “Caro’s mission twenty-five years ago was to find and deliver an edict to Osiris. She failed and never reported back. The council never attempted to locate her because of her concealment line—they knew it was futile to even try—but they did meet to discuss whether or not to wake up her mother. However, the Fates’ prophecy regarding Astasiya changed that debate.”

  “So all this happened twenty-five years ago?” Sethios asked.

  “It happened soon after Astasiya’s birth, when you and Caro bonded,” Leela whispered, her eyes wide with what was likely a new remembrance, thanks to Vera’s tampering. “The council realized Caro wasn’t going to bring the child back with her—which we all know was the real reason for her mission—and they met to discuss their options in locating her. Only, the prophecy changed.”

  “Yes,” Vera confirmed. “I witnessed everything and reported back to you all.”

  “Then you told Vera to remove the memories,” Leela added.

  “I what?” Yeah, that sounded like utter bullshit to him. “Why the fuck would I do that?”

  “To protect Astasiya,” Vera replied. “The council didn’t wake up Chanara to find Caro. They woke her up to locate your daughter.”

  His lips worked without words. He had no recollection of any of this. Because, apparently, he’d asked for it to be wiped from his mind.

  “You didn’t want to risk the council finding out what you both knew about Chanara,” Leela further explained. “We knew Chanara would go after Caro when she failed to find Astasiya. That’s why you played Osiris the way you did. Almost seven years after the council ordered Chanara to be woken up.”

  “The requisite time that it takes to wake up an ancient sleeping Seraphim,” Vera concluded. “You always knew Osiris would find you. It was a matter of when, not if. And we all used that to our advantage.”

  “Your sacrifice was even more powerful than you realize,” Leela whispered, awed. “The council has been trying to locate Astasiya through Caro because Chanara has continued to fail. I mean, she was able to find Caro, but never your daughter.”

  “The rune,” Lucian interjected. “It doesn’t just block Ichorian gifts.”

  “Correct.” Vera grinned at him. “Originally, it was intended to only block Ichorians because of a prophecy from Skye. But when we learned of Chanara’s awakening, Caro made a few updates to hide Stas from her own bloodline.”

  “So you removed the memories of the decision to wake up Chanara, and the subsequent plans that followed, so the council wouldn’t know about the protective rune,” Lucian translated for the rest of the room. “That’s a brilliant strategy. But how did you orchestrate Osiris finding them?”

  “Via Gabriel
and Ezekiel. As I said, we all knew it was inevitable. And he provided the perfect cover as well to essentially distract the council. Astasiya disappeared while Osiris had Caro, which left Caro unable to say what happened to her daughter that day.”

  “Because you altered her memory of Gabriel’s arrival,” Sethios said, making it a statement more than a guess. It was the natural solution. Otherwise, the Seraphim would have just discovered the affiliation during the interrogation process. If the Ichorians and Hydraians had mind readers, so did the angelic beings who had birthed all of humanity.

  “I altered all her memories of Gabriel,” she confirmed. “The council has—or rather, had—no idea he was involved in any of this. Until now.”

  “But how could they not even suspect him?” Astasiya asked, her tone riddled with confusion. “He’s my brother. Who else would have taken me that day?”

  “Because he’s never given them reason to question his loyalty,” Vera replied. “When the council informed him of their intentions to rehabilitate his mother, he gave them his consent, stating it was a necessary maneuver after everything she’d done. The member from the council—his father—didn’t suspect any other reason to question Gabriel and left him alone to continue his mission of monitoring the CRF’s developments.”

  “He purposely took that assignment so he would have an excuse to be around humans,” Leela said. “No one has paid any attention to him. He played it all perfectly.”

  “Until his cover was blown this week by having all the abominations at his house. Owen was hard enough to hide. Everyone else, well, he pretty much gave up.” Vera shrugged. “He knew the council would call him in, which they’ve now done. And I tried to return as many memories as I could, but I held back the information on Chanara. I needed him to be genuinely surprised to see her. No one ever told him about her awakening, so I had to keep it that way.”

  “So you’ve been playing with all our memories,” Sethios drawled, both amused and irritated. Mostly irritated. Sure, he’d agreed to it, or had maybe even suggested it. But that didn’t mean he had to fucking like the consequences of it. “What else have you altered, Vera?”