Blood Seeker

by Lexi C. Foss

  He knew better than to take the Seraphim at her word. She was always hiding some caveat or another.

  “I created the memory loop that Stas and Gabe have been seeing in their dreams. I also sent you the vision earlier today to get you all moving.”

  “So it was a memory loop. She’s not still drowning.” Astasiya sounded relieved, but her expression turned incredulous. “And you did this to keep us all from finding Caro.” Not a question, but a statement.

  Still, the Seraphim confirmed with a “Yes. It was the only way to ensure Gabe didn’t try to save her from the council—which was his idea, by the way. He needed to remain off their radar to keep your location hidden.”

  “Because they’ve never suspected him of helping,” Astasiya clarified.

  “Correct,” Vera agreed. “There’s never been any reason to suspect he had anything to do with your disappearance.”

  “Family loyalty isn’t a concept among Seraphim,” Leela elaborated. “We are created as a result of the Fates assigning us a fornication partner and date. It’s not necessarily romantic, nor does it foster adequate relationship building.”

  “A solid control mechanism,” Lucian inserted thoughtfully. He hadn’t moved from his position by the couch, but the other Elder had disappeared into the kitchen. He was likely still listening to every word while busying himself with something else.

  Probably food.

  If Sethios had learned anything over the last week in Gabriel’s house, it was that the Hydraians were always fucking eating.

  “As you said,” Lucian continued. “It makes forming bonds or relationships difficult when everything is dictated by a governmental structure. It ensures your loyalty remains to the hierarchy, not to anyone else. Therefore, they would have no reason to expect Gabriel to help his mother.”

  “And not reacting at all to Adriel’s news of her rehabilitation—other than to agree to it—only further confirmed his lack of involvement,” Leela agreed.

  “Why are you telling us this now?” Astasiya asked, the skepticism in her tone one Sethios knew very well because it was the same tone Caro had often used on him. “Why not a week ago?”

  “It wasn’t the right time yet,” Vera replied.

  “The right time was when we started looking for Caro last week,” Astasiya argued. “Instead, you pushed us along with visions that led my brother and father directly into Osiris’s trap.”

  Her concern warmed Sethios in a manner he’d not felt in his very long life. Having a daughter had awakened certain parts of him he never knew existed. And it seemed she wasn’t done altering his world outlook.

  I wish you were here to see her, Caro. She’s truly magnificent. Just like you, he thought, so incredibly proud despite the troubling topic at hand.

  “Perhaps, but what would you have done?” Vera countered, arching a brown brow into her dark hairline. “Gone to the council and demanded her release?”

  Astasiya didn’t reply, just narrowed her green eyes.

  She has my eyes but your fiery spirit, angel, he thought, his heart aching at the sight of his daughter’s stubborn side showing. We created a masterpiece.

  Vera snorted at Astasiya’s look. “That’s not how our society works, youngling. They need a rational reason to comply—which is something Gabriel is about to give them. If he uses the memories I supplied him with, anyway.”

  “Unless the empathy impacts him,” Balthazar said, walking in with some sort of fruity alcoholic beverage in his hand.

  “What empathy?” Vera asked.

  “The ability he imbibed from Clara,” Balthazar explained, his focus on Leela. He handed her the drink, his eyes glimmering with knowledge. “Rum and punch. Seems like something you would like.”

  The Seraphim had gone pale, her fingers wrapping around the glass as she replied, “I’m more of a wine girl.”

  “Liar,” he accused. “You like fruity concoctions. Mimosas, too, if I remember right.”

  She blanched, then glared accusingly at Vera.

  “What do you mean, he imbibed an ability?” the other woman asked, acting as though her best friend hadn’t just flashed her a murderous look.

  Right. Sethios was done with this back-and-forth game. He’d lost his patience hours ago, and he no longer had any more fucks to give. It was time for Vera to give him all the specifics and stop wasting his time with frivolous details.

  “He sliced Clara open and licked the blade, which gave him the ability to feel emotions. Or that was our observation of the results, anyway,” he replied quickly. “Now give me back my memories.”

  He didn’t word it as a request but as a compelling demand.

  “The only reason I’m not fighting you on this is because I know it’s going to hurt,” she growled, pressing her palm to his head. “Enjoy.”

  Something was happening. Caro couldn’t define it, but she felt the agony associated with the change coming from someplace deep within.

  She followed the thin strand, curious to determine the source of the intrusion. One moment, she’d been entirely fine. Floating. Alone. The next, that sting had punched through her heart and twisted her insides into a knot she couldn’t seem to untie.

  What is that? she wondered, tracing the glimmering cord. Part of her recognized that it wasn’t real. A ghostly ribbon of unknown origins. It truly wasn’t practical to follow that cord. However, she supposed ending the pain proved to be a reasonable excuse nonetheless.

  Caro swam along, searching, searching, searching.

  Such an alarming nuisance. She’d been at peace, surrounded by sunlight and nothing, just waiting to be. Then this thing in her chest had to start aching.

  She found the wispy essence, the ends intangible. Because they didn’t exist, of course. Not in a physical sense, anyway. Her spirit recognized them, not her body.

  An odd sort of experience, one that defied her logic. Which was precisely why she followed the path. It served a suitable purpose to determine the origin and report back on the bizarre sensation.

  Report back to who? she asked herself. When was the last time she even spoke to another being outside of the figments in her mind?

  She pondered the latest figment, a rich, deep baritone that constantly infiltrated her thoughts. Caro rather liked his voice, something that alarmed her slightly. Because she shouldn’t like anything. What purpose did enjoyment serve? None at all, really.

  Yet she found herself waiting for him to speak and missed him when he fell quiet. He told her strange things about their daughter.

  Daughter. She puzzled over that phrase, curious as to what that meant. She’d procreated, but the memories were fuzzy.

  Hmm. She pushed them away, chasing the pain into her core to locate the source.

  And fell headfirst into a reality that made little sense to her.

  She spun around in a circle, pausing at the heat from the fireplace. No sun. Instead, the moonlight glistened off the snow outside. Her lips parted at the sight. So beautiful, so—

  “Caro?” that deep male rumble came from behind her.

  “I’m almost done,” she heard herself say.

  She frowned, not understanding how she’d spoken without actually moving her mouth. Then she turned to see herself on the couch beside a handsome dark-haired male. He held a tiny child in his arms.

  However, it wasn’t a typical infant hold.

  He had her upside down, his big hand gently cradling the baby’s face a few inches above his thigh. Her lower half was stretched out across his lap. The child slept soundly, which was rather bizarre because that didn’t appear comfortable at all. Unless she was a stomach sleeper.

  Caro crept closer to see what the other woman was doing. Me, she thought. What I’m doing.

  How very strange to observe herself in this manner, but she was too fascinated by it to question the abnormality. Instead, she watched as the magic flared from the fingertips caressing the child’s lower back.

  A rune, she realized, her eyes widening.
I’m creating a rune.

  “You’ve turned it into a heart,” the male mused.

  “Yes, I’m disguising it,” she replied, a smile in her voice. “It seemed appropriate with her being our little heart.”

  The man’s lips pulled into a breathtaking grin, one that gave Caro momentary pause. I recognize that look. It stirred a foreign warmth inside her, one that seemed to spread heat through each of her veins.

  This was much better than the pain that lurked inside her.

  “It will still protect her against Ichorians, just like Leela’s original mark intended. But now it’ll conceal her from my familial line, too.” Has my voice always been so soft? Caro wondered, listening to herself speak. “We’ll have Vera shift our memory to only remember that part, not the concealment aspect.”

  “We’ll need to do the same for Gabriel,” the male murmured.

  “Yes,” Caro agreed. “And Leela, too.” She sighed, the enchantment flickering as she sealed the rune with a final swipe of the branding pen. It was a tiny needlelike object that oozed skin-altering ink. She set it to the side and met the male’s gaze. “It’s done.”

  “How long will it take for her to heal?” The male’s tone held a touch of concern to it, one that sent another wave of heat through Caro’s insides.

  “A few hours at most.”

  “Should we bandage it?”

  “No. But we should keep the area clear.” She glanced at the stairs. “We should put her in the bassinet and let her sleep it off.”

  “She won’t wake until I release the compulsion,” he replied, carefully rotating the small child in his arms to cradle her properly. His green eyes smiled down at her, his pride radiating through the bond. “How is something so tiny destined for such greatness?”

  Caro followed his gaze, her heart giving a small pang of longing. She didn’t quite like the pain that little look caused. Yet she found herself creeping forward, needing to see the child more clearly.

  So beautiful, she thought.

  “Because we created her,” she heard herself say. With a frown, Caro glanced at the woman and found her staring directly at her. “She’s ours.”

  Ours?

  The memory faded away, lifting up into the bedroom, to the male stripping off the woman’s dress and laying her on the mattress while the baby slept soundly in an adjoining nursery.

  What are you doing? she asked herself, confused by the shift. Where’s the ceremonial robe? What child are you creating now?

  Because it was clear that their intention was to mate. Yet it seemed they were doing this for self-fulfillment, not for practical means.

  Why would I do such a thing?

  A moan spilled from her own lips as the male licked a path downward to the apex between her thighs. Caro’s legs clenched as though it were happening to her as well—which, she supposed, it was.

  How strange a sensation to watch something happen from outside her own body yet feel it deep inside.

  Her stomach tightened as the woman on the bed writhed, the male devouring her in a cyclone of ecstasy and strength.

  Oh, she thought, her spirit burning with the remembrance of just how that felt. Oh, I like that.

  It caused her knees to quiver, her body flaring with a yearning she hadn’t experienced in such a long time. Yes. More. She closed her eyes, pretending to be the female on the bed. With the moans and pants so familiar to her ears, she could almost be her, could almost feel his teeth against her sensitive folds and his tongue on her clit.

  Her back bowed, the rapture spilling out of her on a tidal wave of sensation.

  She screamed his name... Sethios... and climaxed so hard she swore she died.

  But as she opened her eyes, she found herself beneath him, his dark eyes swirling with adoration and sensuality as he slid inside her, taking her to new heights and forcing her to forget the impractical nature of it all.

  For just a few moments, she forgot her own existence. Stopped thinking about how this couldn’t be real. And just experienced his tenderness and love and pain.

  His teeth were in her neck, drinking from her, showering her in goose bumps and spearing through all her defenses. She cried out, tumbling headfirst into another oblivion as he drove into her, taking her with a force that hurt in a beautiful way, one that touched her very soul.

  This was her life.

  Her purpose.

  Her meaning.

  She loved this man. This Sethios. This male who had shattered all her beliefs and had broken through the harshest of her resolves.

  Caro clung to him, weeping, her time with him too short. The sacrifice they would make would change the future of the world. But what if they couldn’t come back from it?

  She would never voice that fear, the knowledge of what was to come.

  Because her mother would find her when she failed to locate Astasiya.

  Caro would endure rehabilitation.

  And she would survive.

  That was her purpose, her one secret, that she never gave up. With Sethios forever etched into her very soul, the council couldn’t separate them. They would try, and they would fail. She would return to him. Always.

  “I love you,” he whispered to her, his lips a caress against her ear. “I will forever love you.”

  “I love you, too,” she breathed. And this time it was her. Her voice. Her heart. Her body. Her soul. She’d fallen into the memory, enraptured and ensnared and never letting go.

  His eyes burned into hers. “Come back to me, Caro.”

  “I’m right here.”

  “Come back to me, angel.”

  She frowned. “I’m here.”

  “I miss you.”

  It didn’t make any sense. How could he miss her? He was inside her. Making love to her. Only, everything began to blur, the memory slipping from her fingers and surrounding her in a cage of literal glass.

  She frowned. Where am I?

  Wires hooked into her arms, legs, around her chest. A soft beeping sound echoed outside her chamber. The room was dark. Cold. Smelled of antiseptics and sterility.

  Caro shivered. This wasn’t where she wanted to be. She desired the warmth of Sethios’s body. His touch. His tongue. His voice.

  She closed her eyes, striving to return to him, but the ice of her surroundings infiltrated her mind, suffocating her beneath a wave of harsh reality.

  Reformation.

  That was what this glass pod meant.

  There was no sun here. No peace. It’d all been a figment in her mind, a ruse meant to lull her into a false sense of calmness while they reprogrammed her from the inside.

  But a memory had awakened her, one so powerful it had shattered the chains locked around her mind and shoved her into full awareness.

  How long had she slept in this thing?

  She took a physical assessment of her atrophied muscles and prone form. It was all she needed to do to know she’d been here for a while.

  Caro strived to remember her last true memory, but the past however many years or decades clouded her judgment. So she clung to the one fresh in her mind—the one where she knew this would be her fate and had done everything in her power to ensure it.

  For Astasiya.

  Where was she now? Was she safe? Had their plan worked?

  Fuck! Sethios raged into her mind, jolting her inside her glass pod. I hate this, angel. I fucking hate this.

  Hate what? she asked him, startled by his outburst.

  You ignoring me.

  She frowned. I’m not ignoring you. Which was fairly obvious by her replying to him now.

  Then whatever the fuck this is. You talk to me for half a second and disappear. When I find you, I’m going to ensure you never stop speaking.

  There’s some irony, she thought at him, snorting. If I remember correctly, you commanded me not to speak when we first met.

  He fell silent at that, causing her lips to curl down even more.

  Sethios?

  Caro?

 
; Where did you go?

  I could ask you the same fucking question. Are you really there, or is Vera messing with my mind again?

  Why would Vera...? Caro trailed off, her eyes widening as a thought nagged at her. Something about the memory manipulator being inside her mind. But she couldn’t quite identify the source of that recollection. Wait, where are you?

  Hydria, he muttered, his tone indicating how he felt about that.

  With the Hydraians?

  Yes.

  That seemed counterproductive to their goals. Why are you in Hydria?

  Because our daughter is here.

  Why? she asked again. Why would Astasiya go to Hydria? Unless... Is it finally time?

  Are you really here?

  No, I’m in a pod, she replied, confused by his question. Answer my question. Is it time? Wait, are you free from Osiris?

  Her heart began to pound at the memory of what his father had done, how he’d erased her essence from Sethios’s mind right before her eyes.

  You remember me? she asked, tears blurring her already darkened vision. You’re okay? Safe? Astasiya is safe, too?

  Oh, angel, he breathed, his voice a caress that had her heart picking up speed and causing the beeping around her to increase in volume.

  Because she was fully awake and shouldn’t be.

  A Seraphim would be by soon to check on her.

  Oh, no... they’ll put me back in stasis! She didn’t have time for an emotional reunion. She needed to think. But wait... Tell me if it’s time. Because if it was, then she’d prepare herself for a fight. If not, she’d—Caro swallowed—she’d allow them to return her to rehabilitation.

  It’s past time, angel. I’ve been looking for you all week.

  She frowned. That’s not a very long time, Sethios.

  You have no idea.

  Rather than correct him, she focused on what his words meant. I can free myself. She didn’t need to go back.

  You can?

  She didn’t understand his question until she realized what she’d said. I mean, I’m allowed to free myself.

  So she needed to work on her strength, which was a problem in this pod. Her limbs were thin and unused, her body incapable of misting with all the enchantments surrounding her in this equivocal tomb.