Page 21 of Witch's Rebirth
He met my eye and didn't back down. I had to respect him for that.
"I think I'm starting to understand the communal attitude of things around here," he replied.
I met his gaze unflinchingly. He sensed my power but didn't seem fazed by it. Being under Beelzebub's control for so long must have made him used to feeling it. That and it seemed to give him a serious dislike for authority.
"Are we talking about coffee now or something else?" I challenged, bringing a cup down from the cupboard.
"Deja's not a thing," he glowered, losing his cool temporarily.
"I know that." My temper wasn't anywhere near rising to the surface as I moved into his personal space and helped myself to the rest of the coffee pot. But Seth's anger came off him like a furnace. This guy had too many pages of Sal's book and needed a few from mine. "Weknow that. But do you?"
"I have no desire to control people," he fired back. "I wouldn't wish what I went through on my worst enemy. I'm done with the hunter's guild. However you want me to prove that, I will."
"What doyouwant?" I asked. "What is your ideal outcome out of all of this?"
That was what I had wanted to know since I first became aware of him. Lucifer knew Beelzebub had been tampering with his bloodline but we only knew recently how far he went. After being raised in Heaven, then building Hell with him, I recognized Beelzebub's aura from a mile away. Seth's aura flickered so strongly with his power but he learned to keep it well-hidden among the witches. His cloaking was no match for a true demon, however.
He let out a biting laugh and held his hands out defeatedly.
"I don't fucking know,Lord Ashtaroth," he replied through his laughter. "I've been controlled and tortured since I was a child. All I ever wanted was to be free of that. Now that I am, I don't know what's out theretowant. Maybe I'll live on a houseboat on Lake Tahoe, I don't fucking know."
"Yeah? With a woman?" I asked, almost accusingly. "Gonna settle down, raise a family?"
He shrugged and took a long swig of coffee but I could see it, even if he didn't want to admit it. It didn't matter if it was Beelzebub's influence or his own feelings, but he was completely in love with Deja. Maybe he didn't want to be, but that did nothing to change the fact that he was. And as much as I hated to admit it, she would be good for him.
This kid reminded me of Sal in a lot of ways with his pent-up anger and no true, healthy release for it. Sal still had his moments but he was a completely different person now than when he was first created. Deja healed him. She tamed the wild, bloodthirsty predator inside him until he became a big kitten eating out of her hand. She could heal Seth in a similar way. I had a feeling just from being around her, his healing process had already begun.
At the core of it, I didn't care if she took another man. She told me I came first and that was all I needed to hear. But my concern was how Seth would fit into our dynamic. Raum and Sal were created specifically for her, and they served under me. I was Beelzebub's equal. If Seth really wanted to join our happy little family, he'd have to get used to taking orders from me.
"Where is Deja, anyway?" he asked. A poor attempt at a subject change.
"Sleeping," I answered. "An old friend of hers came to visit last night and they stayed up talking."
He chewed his lip as if thinking hard and set his coffee cup down. "I need to tell her something important. Honestly, it's worth waking her up for."
"Anything you need to tell her, you can tell me." I crossed my arms, fully intending to block him from leaving the kitchen if I had to. "If you're in this with us, you'll learn we have no secrets. Even between us guys. But she's had a tough few days and deserves to rest."
He studied my stance as if actually considering getting past me, then thought better of it.
"I read Diana's shadows last night," he said. "I couldn't see anything specific. She's gotten deep into the blood magic and it's making everything murky. But I could feel her emotions and she was fuckinghappy."
I lifted an eyebrow. "Happy? That doesn't sound good for us."
"No, it doesn't," he agreed. "I mean, it was jarring and nothing makes me lose focus when I'm in there. She was downright elated about something. Like a kid on Christmas, she was that excited."
Fuck. That didn't bode well for us at all.
"That doesn't make any sense." I rubbed my beard as I stared out the kitchen window. "She just had her underling and five elite hunters killed. Plus, they haven't gotten you yet. They might know you're with us by now. The San Francisco coven must be panicking."
"So what should we do about it?"
My eyes caught his. He wouldn't like my idea and frankly, neither would Deja. But it was our chance to not only capture and kill Diana, but to see if Seth really belonged among us.
I had to know if he was willing to sacrifice himself for her the way Raum did, the way Sal and I would at the first opportunity. Then andonlythen, would I give him my total support in becoming Deja's fourth lover.
10
DEJA
