Page 54 of Beyond the Storm
“Great.” Castor continued to twirl his dagger. “Anyone want to take bets on who can kill the most demons?”
Galen’s gray eyes landed on him. “How many do you intend to kill with such a small blade? It would be better used to pick at my teeth once I’ve killed them all and crushed their bones.”
“Careful of your words, Wrath.” Castor smirked. “Or better yet, continue mocking this small blade. It will provide greater enjoyment for when it bests you in a fight.”
Galen snarled.
“Enough. Both of you.” Alastair stepped over to the window and peered out. “The sun is setting. We will wait until the cover of darkness before leaving.”
The dark helped conceal us when we flew, hiding us from sight. It was one of our powers as Nephilim. We had other powers too. Healing. Strength. Flying, too, of course. And powers unique to each of us.
Alastair had the ability to persuade others to do whatever he told them, using their sense of pride against them. Galen possessed the strength of a hundred men. I hadn’t yet mastered my own power. Melancholy could send out waves of sadness that immobilized the enemy by taking away their will to fight. I had improved but still had much more to learn.
Where I excelled? Combat. Armed with a xiphos and a dory spear, I was lethal even without my Nephilim abilities.
Gradyn curled up on the bed and shut his eyes. “Wake me when it’s time to leave.”
I grabbed the blanket folded at the foot of the bed and draped it over him. He smiled and snuggled into it. Sloth required him to sleep several times a day. Not doing so caused Gradyn to collapse from exhaustion. He had the ability to absorb other people’s energy, however, and used that power when necessary. Oftentimes, it resulted in the person’s death, so he only targeted enemies.
Bellamy and Daman sat on the floor against the wall, talking amongst themselves. Galen stared out the window, hand fisted at his side. It had been a while since he’d released his pent-up rage. Wrath was restless inside his chest, itching for a taste of blood.
Castor walked over and placed a hand on his arm, leaning in to whisper something. Galen growled low at whatever it was before jerking from his hold. Castor chuckled under his breath.
“They are insufferable,” Alastair said from beside me. “Why they ever believed bedding each other was a good idea, I’ll never know. Well, Idoknow. Galen enjoys rough sex, and Castor enjoys receiving it. But still… the two of them are now on the verge of killing each other while we prepare to face an actual enemy.”
It had been somewhat of a shock to us all when we’d learned of their intimate relations. However, it didn’t last long. Merely a passing fancy, as though they had only been curious and once that curiosity had been appeased, they’d gone their separate ways.
“Perhaps I’ll find a warm body to sink into before we fly into battle,” Bellamy said as he stood up. He grinned down at Daman. “Unless you wish to indulge me?”
Daman scoffed. “I’d rather die.”
Bellamy laughed before leaving the room. The tavern below the inn bustled with patrons, so he would have no trouble finding a lover.
Pleasures of the flesh was a thing I’d never experienced for myself. After Lazarus allowed us to leave the barrier of the training grounds, my brothers had sought the pleasures of the world. Drink, food, and sex. Mostly sex. Even Alastair partook in it—after courting the person for a while. He viewed himself as a prize to be won, and only those worthy could indulge in his body.
Yet, I hadn’t taken a lover. My desires were nonexistent. Nothing excited me. I felt too empty. I treated food as fuel for my body and nothing more. I didn’t indulge in it like Raiden did, nor did I drink to excess like Castor. I lacked interest in all things.
Bellamy had offered to use Lust to awaken my desires, but I had declined. Any pleasure brought from that wouldn’t be real. And gods, I wanted to feel something real.
“Do not lose hope, Kallias ,” Alastair said in a gentle tone.
“You heard my thoughts.”
“Yes, though it wasn’t my intention. They were so loud.” His face was impassive. Like the angel who trained us, Alastair often hid his emotions. “Our sins do not control us. You decide your own fate. One day, this war will be behind us, and we’ll be free to live and love on our own terms.”
“Do you truly believe that?”
He didn’t respond. Which was a response in and of itself. But his Pride prevented him from admitting it aloud.
The sun dropped below the horizon, but the darkening sky still remained light in some areas. Laughter spilled up from the ground below as humans exited the tavern. A man walked between two giggling women, his arms slung around both of them. Another man stumbled outside and slowly walked down the path toward the life he’d drank to escape from, if only for a short while.
I’d once dreamed of escaping too. But I hadn’t found that escape at the bottom of a tankard of ale. I’d found it in a small room surrounded by curious boys whose faces would lose that youthful roundness and whose presence would come to mean more than I ever thought.
“There is one thing I do feel,” I said, bringing a hand to my chest. When I closed my eyes, I saw each of their life forces represented as a different colored thread. Gradyn’s looked like a clear blue sky, and Castor’s was the sun within that sky. Galen’s was a deep crimson, like blood. “My bond with all of you. For as much grief as it’s brought me, I do not resent the curse in my veins. It led me to my brothers. And that is all I need in this life.”
A faint smile touched Alastair’s lips. “For someone who claims to have no soul, you certainly have a gentle one, Kallias.”
Words failed me, as they so often did. I moved my gaze back to the window and watched as the sky continued to darken. It was then I fully understood the significance of the coming battle.
