Page 84 of Wicked Bonds

She nodded. She wasn’t sure what they would do either. Likely ignore it and move on, but it really depended on what the Fates had seen regarding this home and any directives from the High Council of Seraph.

He poured her a glass of water to go with the meal, then went about preparing his own bowl while she started eating. He was still wearing those gray sweatpants. She really hoped the Seraphim didn’t interrupt, because she had plans for those pants.

His chocolate eyes grinned at her as he faced her, the alluring depths filled with knowledge. But she wasn’t ashamed in the slightest. He’d probably heard all her fantasies upstairs, too.

“I did,” he confirmed, not bothering to pretend. “I look forward to re-creating them later.”

Her lips curled. “Likewise.”

He finished assembling his food and took the chair beside her. They ate in comfortable silence with him occasionally using the chopsticks on the sushi tray to feed Leela a bite before taking one for himself. It was companionable bliss, aided by his ability to read her every desire.

Maybe having him in her head wasn’t such a bad thing.

He winked at her thought, then stole some of her water since he hadn’t filled a glass for himself. She stood to fix the problem and felt his eyes on her as she moved around the kitchen.

He fed her another piece of sushi upon her return, then accepted the glass from her and took a grateful sip.

Their silent game continued until they finished, then Balthazar started cleaning up. “I should do that,” she pointed out.

“You check the wards again now that you’re feeling refreshed. I’ll do the dishes.”

“I know they’re right.”

“Prove it,” he dared. But she knew it wasn’t about proving it to him so much as herself.

She nibbled her lip for a second, then misted up into the clouds to check her handiwork. The setting sun made it easy to see the ethereal glow, allowing her to review every ward in a handful of minutes. They were all correct.

So why do I feel uneasy?she wondered, unable to shake the feeling of uncertainty as she returned to the kitchen. Balthazar was mostly done with the dishes by that point, having put the leftover soup in a container off to the side of the fridge. It was probably too hot to put inside.

“Is it Vera making you uneasy?” he asked conversationally. “The fact that she’s been working with Osiris without saying anything. And then you trusted her with your blood, yet the trackers found us faster than expected. It might not be related, but our minds piece suspicions together for a reason.”

“I trust her,” Leela stressed. However, she couldn’t argue his logic. It did make Vera appear quite suspicious. But… “She’s family to me, B. She… she’s essentially my sister. Or the one I wanted, anyway. Instead, we share Melanythos.”

Leela shuddered with the dreaded name.Melfor short. She very much took after her maternal line, which happened to be the one she shared with Vera. It was the paternal line that Leela shared with her.

“We’re essentially blood without the blood,” Leela continued, refocusing on Vera, not the horrid half sister she and Vera shared. “Anything she does, she does with a reason. Whatever she saw in Osiris’s past must have convinced her to help him. I’m sure she’ll explain it when she can.”

“Then where is she?”

“I have no idea. She disappears all the time.” Leela couldn’t help the frustration in her tone. “I’ve known her my entire life, B. Please trust me. She’s one of us. I know she is. She would never betray us, even when it seems like she could or did. Our best interests are in mind. Always.”

“Perhaps like Mateo,” B murmured, his gaze narrowing as he set the dish towel on a rack to dry. “He’s young and impressionable, but I don’t see him betraying us without good intentions. And what Luc has said implies Mateo did those things to protect us. Which could all be another lie, perhaps contrived by Osiris this time, but it’s hard to say.”

“Will, uh, Lacy, be able to tell if it’s the truth?” Leela asked. “I assume she’s a lie detector of a sort.”

“Of a sort,” Balthazar echoed. “If Mateo’s been compelled to believe the truth, then she might not be able to help.”

“Was she able to read Clara?”

“We didn’t ask her to try.” Balthazar’s expression turned grim. “We took Clara’s claims at face value, believing her duplicity without vetting it.”

Leela suspected that Balthazar would blame himself for that oversight for quite some time.

“I couldn’t sense her frustration,” he continued, his brow furrowing. “I should have delved deeper. And her thoughts were too superficial. I should have recognized the wrongness. But I was too angry to evaluate the situation properly. And my focus had been more on Luc and keeping him calm.”

He ran his fingers through his hair and leaned his hip against the counter as he faced her.

“I don’t want to make the same mistake with Mateo,” he confided in her. “We know he’s guilty. But I want to believe he did it for the right reasons. At least in his own mind.”