Sinful Things

26

“I’ve been influencing everyone’s dreams, as you told me, and that helped.” I hesitate and think of my quick and dirty encounter with Marcus. “I also took another lover.”

“Good.” She takes a small sip of tea. “You do know that two lovers won’t be enough though, don’t you? Especially as your powers grow.”

“Grow?”

She nods. “You’re still young and are just now coming into your powers. As you grow stronger, you’ll need to feed more. Your hunger will increase until it’s all-consuming. Don’t risk the lives of the people around you by getting to that point.”

“I understand.” I pause, staring into my tea. “What if my lovers are the sons of Archangels? Would that help?”

She arches a perfect eyebrow and smiles at me over her tea. “I did feel the lust from Uriel’s son when he led you here. Yes, that would make it easier for you, because their life force is so strong. With Archangel blood you would only need three lovers, perhaps four to be safe. But that is the bare minimum.” “How do you know?”

“I’ve fed on Archangels before, and Archdemons too. Oh, and a few fae royalty now and then.” She waves a hand. “When you’ve lived as long as I have, you get bored and want to sample a little of everything.”

“Can I ask how old you are?” I’m not sure if this is an offensive question to an immortal.

“You’ve heard of Samson and Delilah?”

My eyes widen. “That was you?”

She gives me a conspiratorial smile as she stands. “I’m sorry for the short meeting this week, but there have been rumors of attacks on angels nearby, and Baal wishes me to find out more. I’ll try to visit more often from now on though.”

“It was good to see you again,” I say.

“No, it was my pleasure.” She leans forward and gives me a quick kiss on my forehead, surprising me. I look up at her in wonder, and then she gathers her purse and is out the door.

Once she’s gone, I sit and go over her words, from the thought of taking another lover, to the news that the demons are investigating the recent attacks also. They’re probably trying to determine if it was one of their people or if it was humans, like some suspect.

Bastien opens the door and finds me still sitting there, wrapped up in my thoughts. “Come,” he says.

I obediently follow him out of the room and up the old, rickety stairs with an elaborate wooden handrail. He leads me down a hall and opens a door at the end. We step into a room that seems completely out of place in the old house—everything is black, modern, and very minimalistic, all clean lines and hard angles. It’s like someone dropped an Ikea showroom in the middle of this Victorian house. The room is sparse too, except for the large bookshelf along the wall, which is so full of books it’s a wonder it doesn’t topple over.

It takes me a second to realize this must be Bastien’s room. He lives in the dorms with Callan while he’s a student, but this is where he grew up, and where he’ll likely return after he graduates at the end of the year.

“Why did you bring me here?” I ask, spinning around to take it all in.

“I wanted to speak to you privately.”

“About what?” I sit on the edge of his charcoal gray bed.

His brow furrows, and he almost looks…nervous? That can’t be. “I’ve thought a lot about the events of the previous school year, and I regret my involvement in many of them. I was not truthful with you, and I did things I am not proud of. I should not have spied on you, or put a tracker on you, or helped Callan obtain that video—even though I am pleased with the results of those actions.”

I tilt my head at him. “What do you mean, you’re pleased with the results?”

“As an Ofanim, it is my nature to seek the truth, and you are especially good at concealing it. Though I regret my methods, I do not regret that your truth was revealed. Once we knew you were part succubus, we were able to help you with your feeding problem and could protect you better. Once we knew you were Jonah’s sister, we understood your actions. Once Callan exposed you, it allowed Gabriel to acknowledge you and for you to be your true self. The truth has a way of setting us free.”

He isn’t wrong, but I’m still confused. “I don’t understand why you’re telling me all this.”

He scowls at me, like it should be obvious. “I’m trying to ask your forgiveness, though such a thing does not come easily to me.”

My eyebrows jump. “This is your version of an apology?”

He shifts on his feet. “Something like that, yes. As I said, I regret that I acted in a way that may have caused you emotional or physical harm.”

Wow. I did not expect this when I arrived today. Bastien, apologizing? In his own way, at least? I can’t believe it.

I try to imagine everything that happened from his perspective. I arrived at Seraphim Academy as a mystery he was ordered by his father to solve, but I thwarted him at every turn. He thought I was a half-human, but discovered that was a lie. He had no reason to trust me or help me, when everything I did went against his own personal code of honor—but he did.

And he kept helping me, even after everything went south. He was there for me, every time I needed him, without question. He always made sure I was satisfied, even though that wasn’t required. He never asked me for anything in return. Our “deal” feels a lot more one-sided when I consider it from his standpoint, but he’s never complained.

That’s when it hits me. Bastien, cold, unfeeling Bastien, actually cares about me.

I stand up and take his hand. “I forgive you.”