The words cut off abruptly, his breath leaving him on a gasp as an array of images assaulted his mind.
“It’s okay,” he heard Issac saying from somewhere within the room.
“Shh,” Sethios hushed him, focusing on the message his angel appeared to be trying to send him.
A street.
A building.
What is that? he thought at her, trying to decipher the darkened blur phasing in and out of her visual. Feathers? Wings?
A sign obliterated the previous vision. Not a theoretical sign, but a physical one. With a street name. English. Green. American, from the looks of it. But where?
Another visual slammed into his mind, this one of a shoreline and a windmill spinning wildly in a storm.
Slow down, he told her, that sable swirl consuming the visual. I can’t see, angel.
Letters scrawled across a building, some old manufacturing plant with brick siding. Then the shore and windmill again. Followed by the street sign. All of it whirled through his mind like a tornado, her scream echoing in his ears until all of a sudden everything went silent.
He blinked, finding himself on his knees, his head in his hands.
“Show me,” a deep voice demanded. Not Issac, but Gabriel.
Several others had joined them, including Ezekiel in a towel, a pair of guns in his hands. Issac’s progeny—the Irish one—stood beside him. A Hydraian with dark skin behind them.
Names escaped Sethios, his ears ringing from the assault.
Skye remained blissfully unaware, still fast asleep beneath Issac’s spell.
It all happened so quickly, or it felt that way to him. He’d been in the middle of trying to help her. Then Caro’s screech had brought everything to a halt. She’d sounded frantic, her visuals scattered in a chaotic manner that made no sense to him.
“Slow it down,” Gabriel said.
“Slow what down?” Sethios asked, his palm against his forehead. Fuck! It felt like he’d been assaulted by a damn freight train.
“Issac’s showing us the scenes Mom shared with you,” Astasiya explained. “It reminds me of the East Coast.”
“We need to search that name, including the plant. I think she’s trying to show us her memories from when Osiris had her drowned.” Gabriel’s emotionless voice made Sethios frown.
“What was the blur?”
“Perhaps Osiris in ethereal form,” Gabriel suggested.
Sethios shook his head. “It felt… intrusive.” Like Caro had been trying to tell him something while sharing the visuals. He couldn’t say why or how he sensed that. His instincts just insisted there was something more to that scene. Something she’d been attempting to convey behind a mask of urgency.
What are you trying to tell me, angel? he asked.
But, of course, he received no response. Perhaps she’d drowned again and would reach out when she surfaced.
However, five minutes later, she still remained mute and Gabriel had already pulled up a location on his phone. Sethios recalled a time when mobiles weren’t powerful enough to hold such vast information.
“We need to scout,” Gabriel said, his light green eyes landing on Sethios. “You and me.”
“What?” While Sethios agreed that he should be the one to accompany the red-feathered Seraphim, he really wanted his head to stop spinning first.
“You need to confirm it’s the right location. You’re also bonded to her. If we get close enough, you might be able to sense her.” He looked at Astasiya. “You need to stay here.”
“Excuse me?” Her tone indicated just how she felt about that edict.
“This property needs a Seraphim on it on the off chance the council sends an emissary. Until Leela or Vera returns, you’re the only one who can speak on behalf of the island.”
“What does that even mean?”
“If the council sends a messenger, you’ll understand. Otherwise, I’ll explain it later.” Light green eyes focused on Sethios once more. “Let’s go.”
“You really need to reconsider your approach with Astasiya,” Sethios advised as he and Gabriel materialized on the shores of Maine. The actual city name had escaped Sethios on the way, his head clouded and aching from Caro’s visual attack.
He felt the wrongness in this approach even as they arrived, his stomach twisting with dread. Caro had been trying to tell him something.
Yet, as he glanced around, he recognized all the images from the ones in his head. They’d definitely found the right location.
“Recognize anything?” Gabriel asked, ignoring Sethios’s commentary on Astasiya.
Typical. The Seraphim preferred logic and practicality over emotions.
“It’s definitely the place she showed me,” Sethios replied. “But otherwise, no. I don’t recognize it. Nor do I sense her.”
The only indication Gabriel gave that he’d heard Sethios was a slight twist of his lips that served as the Seraphim’s equivalent of a frown. He walked along the shoreline, his hands loose at his sides. He had at least three guns strapped to his person, all concealed by his brown leather jacket. Sethios suspected he had a knife in his boot as well, tucked securely beneath his jeans.
Unlike Gabriel, Sethios hadn’t bothered with a single weapon. His hypnosis and manipulation abilities made such items irrelevant. He also refused to touch a knife until he had Caro back. Those were her preferred items in a fight. He wouldn’t hold one again until she stood before him. Then he’d either hand it to her as a gift or use it in another manner. Preferably the sexual kind.
“I left Astasiya behind as a protective measure,” Gabriel said without looking at him. His light blond hair practically glowed, the sun high in the sky in this area of the world. “It’s only a matter of time before the council sends someone to check in on my estate. They’ll have sensed all the immortal traffic in and out of my home.”
He turned then, his expression far more tired than Sethios had ever seen it. That appeared to be the common thing among them all at the moment.
“I don’t know how they’re going to react, Sethios. But it won’t be good.”
Sethios frowned. “Why do I feel like you brought me here for a reason, Gabriel?”
“I merely took advantage of an opportunity to have a moment alone with you,” the Seraphim admitted. “You are the only one other than Leela and Vera who understands our politics. The council isn’t going to sit by and allow me to harbor abominations.”
“So your response to that threat was to leave my daughter in charge and steal me away for a moment?”
He ran his fingers through his hair, the unruly ends touching his ears. “The council won’t touch Stas. She’s too valuable to them. But they may try to take Skye. Not to mention Elizabeth. If they find out she’s pregnant...” He trailed off, flinching at wherever his mind went. “We’re in trouble, Sethios. Hiding Owen was one thing—he kept to himself and never left. But now the Hydraians are teleporting in and out of my house like it’s a damn airport.”
“Why haven’t you said anything?”
“I have. No one listens to me.”
“So you’re hoping I can make them see reason,” Sethios translated. “And you brought me to Maine for that conversation?”