“I’m sorry too,” Day whispered.
“It will be all right,” Sariel said, his smile mournful but genuine. “We are all together, are we not? That is what matters most.”
“I have spent a very long time being sad.” Day reached out to hug them both tighter, her long tail curling around them. “I was all alone and the world was so dark. I had only the Inro and thechochin-obake… I missed my parents. I missed my family. I was angry,hungry, aching… I met a few who tried to help me, like Clancy. He was kind, yes… but he was notfamily.” She looked up at them, purring sweetly. “But here… I think I remember what it was like. To have one. I feel safe here. I’m happy here.”
“Yes.” Sariel’s smile grew. “I am happy here now as well.”
“What about before?” Day tilted her head curiously. “You had a family before, didn’t you?”
“I did, but…”
Seymour didn’t say a word. He knew Sariel could refuse to answer the question if he wanted to, but honestly, he was pretty damn curious himself. So, he waited, patiently, trying not to squirm but eager to hear anything Sariel was comfortable sharing.
“I lost them,” Sariel said at last, a slight pinch in his brow. “Or I suppose, it is more accurate to say I lost myself and they did not come looking for me.”
Seymour gave Sariel’s hand a reassuring squeeze.
“Where I am from, the Celestial, is a vast void of darkness. There is light from the stars, the galaxies, countless nebulas, and that which my kind creates by being together. It is from our songs, our laughter, our joy. We spend eons like this, letting the universe float by and basking in that light. For some time now, it was what I missed the most. Its loss hurt more than even their betrayal.”
“The light?” Seymour asked softly.
“The light.” Sariel’s wings fluttered, and his eyes dimmed. “It was all I’d known for so long, so when I first encountered darkness? True darkness? I was foolish. I was curious. I left the light to see what it was, even though my family had warned me not to. That’s when I was taken. Demons of the Celestial long for our light because they cannot create any for themselves, and they were never going to let me go.”
“Mr. Heiss,” Day murmured.
“Yes.”
“I can still eat him.”
Sariel smiled but ignored the comment. “I thought my family would bargain for me. Fight for me. Because they would miss my place in the light if nothing else. They said they loved me. They were supposed to care about me. That is what our light is, after all. It is our energy, our love for one another, and why we burn so brightly. But…” He sighed.
“They never came.” Day frowned. “Why?”
“I do not know. I used to want an answer, but I understand that it does not matter. They made a choice, and I made mine. It was when I realized they were never coming that I accepted my place with Mr. Heiss. It is the terms of our deal that binds me to him. That I am his until my family comes to claim me… Which, of course, I know they never will.” Sariel brightened back up, quite literally, as his eyes had their golden glow once more. “But I am not angry now.”
Day’s eyes narrowed. “Even though they left you with that jerk?”
“Even though they left me with that jerk, yes.” Sariel chuckled, bowing his head to kiss the tip of Day’s ear. “I found a new light.” He leaned over to kiss Seymour’s lips. “A new love. A new family. You have both become my light.”
Day purred. “I will still eat him, you know.”
“I appreciate that.”
Day and Sariel now looked to Seymour, and his heart thumped miserably. “Yeah, uh…” He swallowed hard. “Guess this means it’s my turn, right? To share my tragic backstory?”
“Only if you wish to,” Sariel soothed. “We do not have to discuss it if you do not want to.”
“Right.” Seymour let out a breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding. “So.”
He didn’t talk about his loss much.
Sharing that part of himself made him feel weak, vulnerable, stupid.
However, he had an inkling of a thought that not only would Day and Sariel not mind, but they would understand. They had both lost their families the same way Seymour had—well, notexactlythe same, but with enough similarities that he felt confident they could empathize.
Day purred quietly, smiling up at him as she laid her paws over Sariel’s and Seymour’s joined hands. Sariel’s gaze was equally loving, ever patient, and Seymour felt the hesitation still clinging to him melt away.
It was all right.
