Page 29 of Wicked Bonds

Vera groaned. “Gods, you really are your father’s son.”

“Unfortunately,” Sethios replied, his gaze on Caro. “Want to play with your new knives?”

“Against the warrior Seraphim?” Her lips twisted as she seriously pondered the question, her seraphic-like practicality on full display. “My knives won’t be very useful against them. They prefer swords.”

Sethios’s eyebrows lifted. “Swords? Why not guns?”

“Guns are mortal toys,” Vera interjected. “We are wasting time. Osiris said to go to Iceland. Skye and Ezekiel will know what to do.”

Caro and Sethios gaped at her. “Since when do you take advice from my father?” Sethios demanded.

“Since I witnessed the cause of his exile,” she retorted.

Silence fell as Caro and Sethios exchanged a glance.

Maybe this is why Balthazar doesn’t trust Vera?Aya guessed.

Maybe,he agreed, thinking through everything Vera had just said.Do you think she’s been working with Osiris?

Her commentary about Osiris telling them to go to Iceland to meet with Ezekiel and Skye suggested Vera was taking directives from him. But was that a new development, as in he’d just told her that plan upon her arrival? Or was it a command she’d accepted among others?

Do you think she could be the mole instead of Mateo?Issac wondered, hopeful. He really didn’t want to think his progeny was capable of betraying them all, even though the technology involved painted him as more than guilty.

Maybe,Aya replied, doubt underscoring that single word.

“You weren’t alive when he was exiled,” Caro finally said. “You didn’t witness it.”

“Not in person, no. But I saw it in his memories.” Her multicolored gaze landed on Issac. “I’ll share the memory once we’re safe. Issac can distribute it for me.”

Issac wasn’t sure he appreciated the crude description of his powers, but he didn’t comment. Just nodded. Because he sensed his Aya’s curiosity. And he wanted to know more about the exile as well.

“Iceland,” Vera reiterated. “That’s where we need to go.”

“No.” Sethios’s tone thrived with power, his decline vibrating through the air with a finality everyone had to feel. “I will not go where my father suggested. Especially since you seem to think Caro is the reason we were found here. That means they already know about Iceland.”

“It also doesn’t bode well that Balthazar and Leela have yet to return,” Issac added, meeting Sethios’s gaze head-on. “Balthazar isn’t the type to waste time when his loved ones are in danger. He should already be back.”

Which meant he’d found something or had become distracted by an uncertain development.

Sethios nodded. “New plan. Subdue the attacking Seraphim. Then regroup to decide where to go next.” He looked at Vera. “Search Caro for a tracker. I’m going to go learn more about these swords. And, you”—he looked at Jayson—“keep your wife and child calm.”

Sethios’s black wings appeared, the edges tipped in a dark blue that flickered in the moonlight streaming through the windows. He disappeared in the next moment, causing Vera to sigh. “He probably just went to Iceland by accident.”

Caro blinked, her gaze unsteady. Then her lips curled. “No. Montana.”

Vera rolled her eyes. “Fool.”

“Lizzie needs clothes before we can travel,” Jayson said, ignoring them. He wore a pair of jeans and no shirt. Issac couldn’t remember what he’d been wearing when Jacque had teleported him here, but imagined it hadn’t been much more than what he already had on.

“Check your dresser and closet,” Issac told him. “Skye left us all some gifts.” Or that was the theory, anyway.

Jayson nodded and disappeared back into his room as the ground shook again.

Should I go help Osiris?Aya wondered.

Maybe wait,Issac suggested.

He didn’t doubt Astasiya’s ability to fight—although, neither of them had experience with Seraphim other than Osiris—but merely wanted her to remain with him to help observe Vera.