"Are you sure about this, Amael?"
Belle stood beside him, arms folded.
"I am." He didn't look at her. "And you didn't have to come."
She'd taken it about as well as he expected when he told her, that he was willing to cooperate fully with Michael, with his father, to step into the role of Vessel without fighting it. That he was done running from what Samael Eveningstar's gathering of the Sins would eventually make him.
Belle's fear wasn't loud. It was quiet and deep but it was real. She didn't want to lose the son she raised to whatever thing her husband's legacy would turn him into.
"I am your mother," she said. "I go where you go."
Amael glanced at her. Something softened in his face for just a second.
"Love you, Mother."
"Love you too, sweetheart."
"What a heartwarming exchange."
Neither of them had heard him arrive.
