Page 66 of Blood Bonds
Blood bond, her soul whispered.
The urge intensified every day, but she continued to repress it. The chances Sethios would agree to an eternal bond were slim anyway. He might be besotted with her now, but they’d barely known each other two months. That was a blip in time for two immortals. He also mentioned not being the monogamous type. They agreed on here and now; the future would be determined as they went.
Caro’s soul might be on board with keeping him forever, but her heart and mind remained unconvinced.
Liar, her soul chastised.
“Enough,” she muttered, pushing off the bed and right into Gabriel’s appearing form. She bounced right back into the mattress with a grunt and shook her head. “Ow.” Her body throbbed from the unexpected impact as her heart kick-started in alarm. “I didn’t sense you.”
“I didn’t give a warning,” Gabriel murmured. “Sorry. I finally have all the information I need and returned as quickly as possible.”
“Still haven’t learned to knock, I see,” Sethios commented as he wandered in with a towel slung loosely around his hips. Water trickled down from his hair to his shoulders, shimmering in the low light of their bedroom. Again the urge to lick water from his abs hit her in the gut—something he knew, because he winked at her.
Arrogant man.
“Have you made all the arrangements to stay here?” Gabriel asked, ignoring Sethios.
“For now, yes,” Caro replied, rubbing her belly. She wasn’t exactly sitting on the bed so much as leaning heavily against it. “Sethios assembled the nursery and ordered everything we need for an infant, including several additional items. We haven’t planned for the long term, though.”
“Start planning,” Gabriel replied. “At least seven years.”
“Seven years?” Sethios pulled a maroon shirt over his head and joined them. “That’s rather specific.”
“Skye had another prophecy.”
“Another one,” Sethios mused. “Great. Do we have all the details on the first yet?” He settled beside Caro and wrapped an arm around her lower back, offering support right where she needed it.
How does he always seem to know?
“Yes,” Gabriel replied. “But it’s so much greater than that. The prophecy isn’t about you or Caro so much as your child. According to Skye, your progeny will have the strength and will to destroy Osiris and his bloodline.”
The words sat heavily between them as Caro dissected their meaning. “His bloodline,” she repeated slowly. “As in Ichorians and Hydraians.”
“Yes.” Gabriel locked gazes with Sethios. “Unless you convince the child otherwise.”
Sethios’s eyebrows rose. “You mean, use my gift for persuasion to tell her not to?”
“Her?” Gabriel glanced at Caro and she nodded, confirming the gender. She was certain they were having a girl. Motherly intuition and all that. Gabriel’s gaze brightened infinitesimally before he refocused on Sethios’s question.
“No. Your humanity is what will ground her and potentially alter her destiny.” He held up his hand to indicate he wasn’t done explaining. “Osiris has created a problem, and she is the solution, thereby making her the perfect weapon. That’s why the Seraphim want Caro to return and raise her among our kind. They wish to craft her logical frame of mind and use her to fulfill one potential future path.”
“What’s the other potential?” Caro asked, knowing various alternatives always existed. That’s why the seers played this game; they enjoyed altering the future to meet their needs.
“Osiris’s demise is prevalent in all potential outcomes, but the destruction of Ichorians and Hydraians only exists in one thus far. The one where you raise her among our kind, without Sethios’s influence.”
“I see,” Sethios replied, his arm leaving her back as he stood. “And which path do you prefer, Gabriel?”
Tension radiated between the two males, causing Caro to frown. “It’s not up to him,” she murmured. “We will decide her fate.”
“No.” Sethios took a step toward her son. “He’s already chosen. I can see it in his eyes. The question is, which path? Because we both know the only way Caro will raise our child without me is if I’m not in the picture. So what did you decide, Gabriel?”
Her son met Sethios’s gaze without flinching. “Skye’s second prophecy involves a betrayal of the worst kind, one that ends badly for both of you. And you both will suffer. Horribly.”
“Meaning you’ve chosen path one to save Caro and dispense of me, as well as all of Osiris’s bloodline.”
“It is the logical choice,” Gabriel replied, his green eyes intensifying. “Alas, no. That is not what I have chosen.”
Caro’s brow crinkled in confusion as Sethios asked, “Why?”
