Free Bittersweet Seraphim by Debra Anastasia

else’s memory.
    As Seriana thought for a moment, Jack glanced over to Dean and Jason, who appeared to be listening intently as the human launched into a spiel about his latest gardening project. Jack didn’t see a point in this line of conversation.
    Pulling her hair back and twisting it easily into a soft bun, Seriana said, “She hummed all the time. I wondered if they were songs she heard in Heaven. You know ‘Angels We Have Heard on High’? I always pictured them singing.”
    “I never heard her sing. We had such little time, and I spent most of it scaring the piss out of her.” He snapped and unsnapped the leather cuff on his wrist anxiously.
    “You know what? Ever since my brothers and I found out we were half-breeds, I couldn’t see anything good about me. I just couldn’t. I lost my mother and my normal. I love Dean and Jason, but they’re guys. They aren’t exactly sensitive to my feelings.”
    Seriana looked down for a moment. “We worked so hard to escape my grandfather—and to just exist—that moaning about the things in my head seemed worthless.” She twirled her thumbs together and waved her hands like wings. “But when she lived with us, it was like I could be a girl again. I’d talk to her about anything. She refused to give up until I believed I was a gift, not a curse. I miss her.” She shrugged, suddenly shy again.
    “That sounds like her. Can you believe I hurt her? That I designed tortures to break her? And even knowing that, after living through that—she said she loved me. Me. Of all the damn things.” Jack reached into his jacket, intent on his smokes.
    Seriana stilled his hand. “Here comes Violent. Don’t use those things.”
    The Sleep Minion hated Jack’s habit. She claimed he was polluting her beloved plants’ air, which he guessed he was. Violent had given up on humans and half-breeds, deciding instead to only love plants. She was tall, crazy, and gorgeous. Her long red hair and purple eyes made her seem like a superhero, though she was far from it. Though ridiculously strong, her lackadaisical attitude (and questionable mental state) prevented her from participating very effectively in good or evil deeds. She was only on this trip because she was all they had, she owed Jack a favor, and most importantly, because Dean evidently looked exactly like her dearly beloved and long-dead Italian lover, Giovanni.
    “This isn’t it. This is the wrong house. Be rid of the human. Best to kill him. Come, Dean, escort me to the car.” She walked through the backyard and into the house, flinging doors open as she went.
    The human looked in after her, stunned. “Um, sure, lady. Go right into my house.” The man looked from face to face and seemed to sense that something wasn’t right. “Why are you standing that way, like you’re about to pounce?” he asked the half-breeds. “And why was that woman kissing my trees? And where did she go?”
    Jack nodded toward the vehicles, sending the rest of them off. He’d make things right with the man. After all, he was the only human among the search party. As the backyard cleared, Jack shook his head. They’d visited fifteen houses like this, looking for the backyard Violent claimed was a portal to Hell. Each failure kept him from getting to Emma.
    He clicked his tongue to get the man’s attention. “Hey. That chick? She’s married to a mob boss. If I were you I wouldn’t mention this visit to anyone.” Jack turned and walked through the man’s house as well, grabbing a pack of cigarettes and lighter from an end table as he went. They weren’t the hand-rolled perfection he preferred, but they’d keep his mouth busy.
    Seriana was waiting just outside the front door. “Did you calm him down? Make it okay? You know my brothers and I have to stay hidden.”
    “Sure, pretty baby. He’s calm as a cucumber’s brother. Let’s roll.”
    Jack insisted on driving Violent’s ridiculous Ferrari. Unfortunately, the nice half-breed rode