Casadin immediately turned toward Evadne and Hailey when he heard their footsteps. His face lit up as soon as he saw her.
"Princess, do you want to drink matcha milk tea?" he asked.
Evadne's eyebrow lifted for a second, but she still walked toward him, lips curving into a flirty smile.
"How do you always know what I'm craving?" she teased.
Casadin only grinned wider, smug and proud.
Evadne glanced in Michael's direction. His expression stayed mostly stoic, but she caught the faintest flicker of something unimpressed before it vanished... so quick that anyone who wasn't watching him closely would have missed it.
"Mr. Heavensblade, thank you for having us for lunch," Evadne said politely. "But we don't want to overstay. I'm sure you still have a lot to do since you just moved in. And you also have another visitor."
Her gaze shifted to the beautiful "girl" seated beside Michael, who was smiling sweetly at Evadne.
Even with that soft, pretty smile, Evadne could tell... there was nothing friendly underneath it.
"You must be Evadne Monteverde," the girl said, standing and walking gracefully toward her. "I'm Seraphyne Warriors. Pleased to meet you." She held out her hand.
Evadne matched her smile perfectly, warm and bright, and took her hand as if they were long-lost best friends.
"Nice to meet you," Evadne replied.
"I hope we can be friends now that we're neighbors," Seraphyne said.
Both Evadne and Hailey's eyebrows rose at the same time.
"Sure," Evadne said lightly. "I love having friends. Where do you live, so we can visit your house too?"
"I'll be living here as well," Seraphyne answered cheerfully.
"What?" Hailey blurted, unable to help herself. She immediately looked at Michael, who didn't even attempt to explain.
"And I'll be studying at NYE this year too," Seraphyne continued, not bothering to acknowledge Hailey's reaction. "What are the chances we'll end up in the same class?"
"That's great," Evadne said smoothly. Her tone stayed pleasant, but her mind was turning. "I don't mean to pry, but is it okay if I ask what your relationship is with Mr. Heavensblade? I'm not very familiar with families from other states... even here in New York. I really like making friends, but my parents are extremely overprotective. I can't even leave the house without a chaperone." She gave a small, conspiratorial smile. "I'll have to tell them about you, but I'd rather they don't go digging into your background without you knowing."
On the surface, it sounded like harmless curiosity. In truth, she just wanted to know exactly what role Seraphyne was playing in this little human act... for Hailey's sake. Because as much as she didn't want to admit it, Seraphyne, as an angel, was devastatingly beautiful.
Why does God make all His angels this beautiful? And then humans say God loves us? Hello? If He really loved us, why are there humans who look like monkeys? Seriously, what the hell, Evadne thought under her polite smile.
"Oh, they don't have to worry about me," Seraphyne replied sweetly. "Big Brother Michael can vouch for me. I also belong to the Heavensblade clan... the Warriors family."
"Well, if that's the case, then let's be good friends," Evadne said. "But for now, we really should go. We don't want to disturb you any more than we already have on your moving day."
"It's okay," Seraphyne said in an even sweeter voice. She stepped closer and casually wrapped an arm around Evadne's shoulders, as if they were already close. "I think we're going to be best friends. And because of that, I'll tell you a secret."
She leaned in, whispering... but pitched her voice just enough that everyone around the table could still hear her.
"I have a super power."
"Really?" Evadne asked, feigning surprised fascination.
"Yes." Seraphyne's eyes gleamed. "I can read minds. So is it okay if I read yours?"
"Wow. That's so cool," Evadne said, sounding impressed. "But I'm going to have to decline. You really don't want to know what's running through my head if you read it."
"Of course I do," Seraphyne replied, still smiling. "I want to know more about you. And what you're thinking right now."
"If you want to know what's on my mind, you can just ask me directly," Evadne said sweetly. "No need to read it. I'll tell you. Because if you really can read minds, I don't want you stumbling into my thoughts and hearing that before coming here, Casadin and I had sex while video calling my fiancé."
She smiled as she said it, like she was dropping a cute fun fact.
"Vee!!! Too much information!" Flynn yelped, nearly choking. Hailey's eyes flew wide at the confession.
For a split second, Seraphyne's smile faltered... just a flicker. But it came back almost immediately.
"Of course, I was joking," Evadne added lightly. "Or am I?" She laughed, winking at Seraphyne. "But truly, we really have to go."
She gave Michael a polite nod in farewell, and Casadin mirrored her gesture.
Then Evadne and Casadin turned and left the Dalton Villa... leaving behind a tableful of stunned faces, her last words still hanging in the air like a thrown grenade wrapped in velvet.
"How did you know?" Evadne asked once they were a safe distance from the Dalton Villa, walking hand in hand back toward the Monteverde mansion. She meant Seraphyne... how Casadin had realized so quickly that the pink-haired girl was an angel.
She'd been about to tell him herself when she sensed Seraphyne's aura, but Casadin had already used their signal for there's an angel nearby before she could even send a thought.
"That voice in my head screamed Lightbearer the moment she arrived," Casadin said, glancing down at her. "That's when I remembered what Uriel said about angels who chose the light."
Evadne let out a long, heavy sigh.
"So," Casadin added, smirking, "did you finally see what Hades and I saw?"
Evadne stopped, turned toward him... and without warning, leaned in and bit his left arm.
"Ouch," he said, more out of reflex than pain. He didn't even try to pull away. He just let her gnaw on him for a second like an angry kitten until she was satisfied.
"You shouldn't have told me," Evadne muttered once she'd had her petty revenge. Then she slid her arms around his waist and looked up at him. "Let's stay on our guard. We can't keep our distance from him anyway... he clearly intends to keep us close."
"Keep you close," Casadin corrected, which earned him an eye roll.
"Whatever. The point is, he's low-key keeping Flynn and Hailey hostage. That much is obvious to me." Her tone sharpened. "So we have to stay alert. Always. And don't you dare let your guard down around Seraphyne."
There was a faint growl in her voice as she said the angel's name.
"That angel just tried to poke around in my head using that 'innocent' little request to read my mind," Evadne continued. "Now I'm really sure... they need our permission to hear our thoughts."
"Yes, Princess," Casadin replied in a mock-obedient tone. He bent to kiss her forehead, then gently tugged her forward so they could keep walking. "Anyway, did you really have to say that out loud? About what we were doing before we went over to the Dalton Villa?"
"Yup." Evadne didn't even hesitate. "I was just marking my territory."
Casadin frowned slightly, studying her expression.
"You didn't notice how she was looking at you?" Evadne asked, using his own words from earlier. "Like she wanted to snatch you away from me?"
Casadin stared at her for a heartbeat... then his lips slowly stretched into the widest grin.
"Seriously? Is my Princess being a jealous mate?" he asked, delighted. "I love it."
"Seriously," she shot back flatly. "You didn't see it?"
"Nope," he said honestly. "I was too busy smiling in the most annoying way possible at Heavensblade, hoping he'd drop dead. I didn't spare her a glance."
Evadne just shook her head at him.
"So," he tried again, "what did you and Hailey talk about?"
"Ceasefire," Evadne said.
"Ceasefire? Were you two at war?" Casadin asked, puzzled.
"She's jealous of me because of how Michael 'treats' me," Evadne replied. "I was surprised at how cold she was today compared to my birthday, so I tapped into her thoughts. And boom... her jealousy nearly made me curse."
"See? Even Hailey noticed," Casadin said, which made Evadne groan.
"Ugh, don't remind me," she muttered. "I mean, Uriel told me during one of our sessions that angels aren't supposed to fall in love. So why is he looking at me like that?"
"Well, he's in a human vessel now," Casadin said, shrugging. "Maybe that's a factor. Human body, human emotions, human flaws."
"Whatever. Let's stop talking about him. I'm sure Uriel already gave him an earful."
"Which I'm very sure he ignored," Casadin replied dryly. "Considering he just moved in next door to you."
He paused, then added, "Princess, how about you ask Gramps to let you move out?"
Evadne looked at him as if he'd just announced the earth was flat.
"And you think they'll agree?" she asked. "They won't even let me leave the house without someone with me, and you want me to move out? Do you want my parents to have a heart attack?"
She shook her head. "And I don't think it's necessary."
"Michael is literally bringing an army to the property next to yours," Casadin said. "How is that not necessary?"
He huffed and kept going, "Besides, you can tell the Grands you'll be moving in with Hades. I'm sure that mutt would be thrilled. Then I'll move in with you too. As if I'd ever let him have you all to himself."
Evadne just sighed, but she couldn't deny he had a point.
It would be ideal to live away from her parents' constant worry, especially now that Michael had planted himself beside their estate. But not entirely ideal. Because as much as she didn't fully understand Michael's intentions, she was very sure they weren't just romantic. Yes, now she could finally see the way he looked at her... as if there was some kind of longing he didn't even understand himself. But even from where she stood, it was clear that he was either unaware of it or trying very hard to deny it.
Moving away might protect her from him, but it wouldn't protect her family. She had no idea what Michael truly wanted from her... and worse, she had no idea how far he'd be willing to go if "duty" or "orders" demanded it.
After all, even in Scripture, angels had hurt humans when they were commanded to.
And Michael was the Warrior Archangel.