A niggle of warning told Hawkyn he should shut up.Rightnow.But dammit, he liked Lilliana, his father had been a ginormous asshatrecently, and his temper was already on the verge of eruption.
Azagoth’s blooddidflow in his veins, after all.
“It’s a concern of mine when Lilliana’s been more of aparent to me than you’ve ever been,” he said.“I don’t want to see her hurt.”
Hissing, Azagoth rounded on him, and Hawk wondered what hadpissed him off more; that Lilliana had been a better parent or that Hawkyn wasaccusing Azagoth of hurting her.
“I’ve provided you food, shelter, training—”
“Congratulations on doing the bare minimum,Dad.You going to take a bow for the six seconds it took you to ensure conception?”If the crimson rage in Azagoth’s cheeks was any indication, this was a soresubject too, but Hawk was too worked up to hit the brakes.“At least my mothercarried me inside her body before she dumped me in the human realm to fend formyself.”
Azagoth went as still as an ice sculpture.“If you’re sounhappy with your circumstances, why are you here?”
Good question.Until just a couple of yearsagohe’d resided with other Memitim in a Belgian castle, oneof several “group homes” where Memitim lived and trained if they didn’t want tolive by themselves or serve Azagoth—pre-Lilliana, when he was still eviloff-the-charts.But post-Lilliana, when their fatheropeneduphis realm to them, many, if not most, had come looking for somethingthat had eludedthe majority ofthem sincebirth—belonging to a family.A real parent.Brothers and sisters.And even thoughAzagoth could be a huge asshole, life in Sheoul-gra was still better thananything else Hawk had experienced.
“I’m not unhappy,” he said.“Not here.”
“But youareunhappy.”
Hawkyn had never really thought about it like that.He’dbeen fucking great at his job, duty-bound to the point of ignoring even simplepleasures.But yeah, now that Azagoth mentioned it, he’d been increasinglydissatisfied with a lot of shit.
“I despise the bullshit Memitim rules.No alcohol besideswine.No sex.No self-gratification.Limited interaction with humans, demons,or angels who aren’t Memitim.The fact that we’re considered lesser angels,second-class citizens.I want to Ascend so I can become a Council member andchange things.Did you know that some of the Council members are angels?Regular angels who were never Memitim?What kind of shit is that?How can theymake the rules for people they don’t respect orunderstand?”
Azagoth gave him a “duh” look because of course he knewangels sat on the Memitim Council.Hawk’s mother was one of them.
“I understand your frustration,” Azagoth said as he moved tothe fully stocked bar, probably to rub Hawkyn’s nose in the fact that he wasn’tsupposed to drink the fine rum he was reaching for.“Heaven has been making therules for Sheoul-gra for thousands of years.”
“And you bend and break them all the time.”
“I know which ones can be altered.”The rum made a softgurgling sound as Azagoth poured it into a highball glass.“I know which areworth paying the price for.”
“And you don’t think allowing Aurora to stay here is worththe price.”
“Nope.”He took a swig of his drink.“Take my advice, son.Life is way too long to spend it with regrets.Send the female away and don’tlook back.”
“Like you did with us?With our mothers?”It was a cheapshot, a throwaway line borne of hundreds of years of frustration.And maybesome abandonment issues.
“You know nothing,” Azagoth growled.“I don’t owe you anexplanation.”
“Actually, I think you owe me and my siblings a lot.”
Azagoth’s eyes began to glow with an unholy blood-red light,and Hawkyn knew he’d poked the beast one too many times.“Get.Out.”
“Out of your office?”he snapped.“Or out of Sheoul-gra?”
“Your choice.”There was no hesitation.No wavering ofresolve in Azagoth’s gaze or his voice.“But either way, get out of my sight,and take the female with you.”
Hurt sliced through him.His father didn’t give a flyingfuck if he left.Well, maybe Hawk should take his advice.The one useful thingAzagoth had given him.
“No regrets, right?”He wheeled around and impulsivelysnatched the bottle of rum off Azagoth’s bar top before opening the officedoor.“Don’t look back.”
He didn’t.
But damn, ithurt.
ChapterThirteen
Aurora had to get the hell out of here.There was noway she was going to sit around and wait for Hawkyn to serve her up to Draygerlike a main course.If Drayger could, indeed, track her, she’d just keep movinguntil she could set up a trap to either kill him or bleed him.
