Sins of the Son: The Grigori Legacy Read Online Free Page A

of the Power
you
sent to hunt him. In the city where that Power’s soulmate—a soulmate you engineered—just happened to work as a homicide detective.” Seth
tsk
ed softly. “That’s an awful lot of coincidence, don’t you think?”
    The scroll revolved lazily on the desktop. Slowed. Stopped.
    “I don’t know why you did it,” Seth continued, “and personally, I don’t care. But she will. All she has to do is look into your soul, and she will know everything. And when she sees what is in here—”
    Mittron jumped as a hand reached down to flick the parchment roll toward him. He swallowed. “What do you want?”
    “I told you what I want.”
    Pushing back from the desk, Mittron rose and went to stare out the window Seth had vacated. He needed time to think, to figure out what lay behind the Appointed’s request. Was it a test of loyalty? Had Seth already showed the One the evidence, and now she placed temptation in his path tosee what he might do? For an instant, blind panic obliterated coherence. Then reason asserted itself. No, if the One knew what was in that parchment, Mittron would not be having this conversation with Seth—would never converse with another soul again.
    Which meant Seth was serious. He wanted to defy the One’s wishes. Mittron’s heart rate quickened. Despite his earlier intentions, he wavered. If he agreed to the Appointed’s proposal, Seth would become a willing participant in plans he had thought abandoned. Plans that might be resurrected, that might unleash all kinds of new potential.
    But even if he wanted to do what Seth asked,
could
he?
    Removing the Appointed’s powers, taking his immortality…it would require enormous energy and skill well beyond the normal purview of Heaven’s executive administrator. He would have to tap into Heaven itself, working fast enough to complete the transition before anyone realized what he did. The risks were enormous.
    So were the possibilities.
    A thrill of excitement whispered through him. If he managed to pull it off, if he
did
transition Seth to true mortality, it would change everything. The agreement between Lucifer and the One would be null and void, and things might yet play out the way he had planned, might yet bear the fruit he had desired for so many years.
    “An adult,” he said.
    “Yes.”
    “Fully mortal. Without power.”
    “Are you capable?”
    Mittron looked over his shoulder. “I’m capable. If you’re certain.”
    “Then we have an understanding.”
    “I’ll require a letter claiming the responsibility as your own.”
    Seth withdrew a second parchment from a sleeve and set it on the desk beside the other.
    Mittron stared at it. “And Bethiel’s notes?” he asked. “They remain unrevealed?”
    In response, the first paper’s edges curled, blackened, and caught fire. The evidence of Mittron’s transgressions drifted away in the breeze from the open window.
    “For eternity,” the Appointed agreed. “Shall we get started?”
    Brushing a bit of lint from his robes and lingering doubt from his mind, Mittron returned to the desk. He tucked Seth’s letter into a bookshelf. “I’m ready when you are.”
    The Appointed nodded and then frowned. “Before we begin, I’m curious about something. When you tried to stop me from searching the Archives, you spoke about secrets. About something being kept from me.”
    Mittron went still.
Emmanuelle.
“I remember.”
    “Is it something I need to know before I do this?”
    Mittron eyed the One’s son. Would knowing he wasn’t an only child change the Appointed’s mind about what he’d decided to do? Chances were good that Seth might simply acknowledge the information and then carry on with his plans. But there was also a possibility his conscience would kick in, sending him in search of his own replacement and perpetuating this Heavenly farce the One insisted on playing out. Mittron made himself smile. “No,” he said. “It’s nothing.”
    Seth wavered for a