Page 2 of Galen
“No.” Alastair shook his head. “This feels different.”
“Has Lazarus said anything?” The angel oversaw us. Gave us orders. And we followed them without question.
“He’ll come to me if he thinks it necessary,” Alastair said.
Lightning flashed in the sky, followed by rolling thunder. We turned and walked toward the house as rain started to fall.
My six brothers and I shared a home. The three-story mansion had a dozen bedrooms, along with a game room, a gym, home theater, massive kitchen, and anything else we could want or need. A magical veil prevented anyone from finding our mansion by the sea. Protective runes also concealed us from demons.
It should’ve been a haven, but many days it felt more like a prison.
Spices and cooking meat reached my nose as I entered the kitchen. Raiden stood over the stove, his wide, muscled chest on display as he stirred whatever he was cooking in the skillet.
“Hungry?” he asked me, a grin upturning the edge of his mouth. He always smiled when around food. His black hair was cropped in a military style, and long dark lashes surrounded his blue-gray eyes. Standing at six foot seven, he was the second tallest of us, being an inch shorter than me.
“Italian again?” I responded. “I’ll pass.”
“You’re such a grump,” Bellamy said, entering the kitchen. “You need to get laid.”
Bellamy was perhaps the most beautiful of us with golden, wavy hair, hazel eyes that shifted color depending on who beheld him, and an aura that screamed sex. Well, he was the personification of Lust, after all.
“Getting laid is your thing. Not mine.”
“Hey, sex is universal.” Bellamy smirked. “Have some rough sex. Release some tension. You’ll feel better.”
“How about I just punch you instead? That’d make me feel loads better.”
“You wouldn’t harm this pretty face.”
“Try me.”
“Enough,” Alastair said, silencing us instantly.
His father had been Azazel, Lucifer’s closest companion during the Fall. We believed that was why he was given Pride, what many refer to as the first deadly sin. All other sins derived from it. Thus, it was ingrained in us to follow his command, like a pack of wolves followed their alpha.
“How ’bout we all sit down and eat?” Raiden said, grabbing plates from the cabinet. “Nothing lifts the spirits like carbs.”
Biting back a snippy retort, I left the kitchen. I loved my brothers, but I tended to lose my temper around them if I wasn’t careful. Just one of the perks of being the avatar of Wrath. Any little thing could set me off.
I headed toward the gym at the end of the long hallway. Once inside, I tugged off my shirt and bumped up the speed on the treadmill. Cardio helped loosen me up, and then I focused all my pent-up aggression on the punching bag, one specifically designed to withstand my powerful blows.
Throughout my lifetime, I’d seen civilizations rise and fall. I’d seen war, famine, and the evils of man. I’d seen other things as well. Kindness, humility, and love. I understood why the Supreme Being loved His mortal creations so greatly. They were flawed, yet not without redemption. It was our duty to protect them.
Lazarus had snatched us from our mother’s arms when we were children and raised us to be fierce warriors so that we’d someday be strong enough to defeat Lucifer and his army. And we had.
The night we defeated Lucifer was still fresh in my mind. We hadn’t been able to kill him. He was too powerful. But we’d locked him away, deep within the confines of the earth, so that he’d never see the light of day again. The ritual had needed the blood of each of my brothers, the blood of the cursed.
We were the warriors of earth, the heroes of old. Our sole purpose was to protect humanity by crushing demonic threats whenever they arose.
After working out, I jumped in the shower to wash off, tilting my head back as the water crashed down on my skin. Remembering Bellamy’s suggestion for me to find someone to fuck made my cock twitch.
It had been a while since I’d sunk into a warm, inviting body. Since I’d allowed anyone to touch me.
I tried to keep my interactions with humans to a bare minimum, but there were moments when the temptation was too great. Times when the need to fuck hard slammed into me. That’s when I headed to the club and picked up the first interested male I came across. No names. Nothing but rough sex to get my rocks off—his too because while I was an angry bastard, I wasn’t selfish—and then I’d return home.
That was my life.
Rough sex, fighting demons, trying not to kill my brothers when they pissed me off. Repeat.
