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“We are not the same boys we once were. It is unlikely the world is the same either. However, it matters not. We have a mission and mustn’t lose focus.” A mission to defeat Lucifer Morningstar.
“I believe I will be forgotten,” Kallias said. The melancholy notes lacing his tone filled my own chest with sadness. He had that effect on those around him, able to spread woe with a single spoken word. “My story will end, and with the closing of the book, my life will become nothing but a memory that fades more and more as the days pass. I’ll be like the smoke rising from those flames; here one moment and gone the next.”
OH MY GOD IM GOING TO JUMP HOW DARE U JACLYN
Kallias lowered his gaze. Shadows flickered across his face. “I only hope that before I draw my final breath… I get the chance to truly live.”
A three-cheese blend, perfectly seasoned sausage, and a sauce that made the heavens open up and angels sing. Instantly, I pictured Lazarus singing. He was more likely to strike me down with his lightning whip than sing. The sourpuss.
“Does the story you’re writing have sword fights?” I asked. “No.” “Then what’s the point?”
Phoenix might’ve been sort of a bad guy, but he was loyal to a select few: us. And he loved Bellamy, the kind of unconditional, sometimes messy, insanely strong love that said he’d burn everything down to keep that love safe and kill anyone who stood in his way. So, yeah. A villain. But a not-so-awful one?
That’s all I wanted for my brothers: their happiness. Our lives had been far from easy. So many days had been dark. Devastating. Painful. They deserved to have that heaviness lifted. They deserved to find love and be loved in turn. “You deserve it too,” Alastair said, pale eyes locked on mine.
I could’ve approached him, but just the thought made my stomach do flips. Made my palms sweat too. I didn’t know why. Best not dwell on it.
Penemuel came back inside to eat with us. Gray told him about a dream he’d had about dinosaurs that could shoot lasers from their eyes and said he should put it in a book. The fallen angel nodded as he chewed, his thoughts written all over his face. Those thoughts being “no way in hell.”
“They’re our allies.” “They have a demon with them.” “Phoenix,” I explained. “He’s mated to Lust.” “Oh.” His brows shot upward. “That’s weird.”
The morning I had finally gathered the courage to ask him out, an army of demons had attacked with me, literally, in midsentence. A divine intervention to keep me from embarrassing myself by chasing a guy who wasn’t interested? Maybe.
He sat at the patio table, munching on a granola bar. A thin shirt stretched across his wide chest, the sleeves stretched to their limit as they cut off at his bulging biceps. Fuck. He was wearing a hat on backward too, a weakness I wasn’t aware I had until him. Blood raced hotter through my veins.
“Hey,” Raiden said, flashing a dimple in his cheek as he grinned. “Hey.” “You smell like turkey.” Taken aback, I blinked. “Oh. Um.”
“So we have Lucifer in the underworld getting more powerful as the days pass. Now Asa fucking Dickwad is back from the dead?”
How could someone be so ridiculously hot, adorably innocent, a total badass during fights, and sort of ditsy at the same time? A dangerous combination. That danger being to my damn self-control.
“Why would Asa visit a botanical garden?” Bellamy asked. “Boy got a boner for plants or something?”
“Villains can enjoy nature too, sweet Bellamy. I, for one, love a good stroll along the beach under the moon.” “And I love fucking you under said moon.”
A year later and I still couldn’t forget the way his dark hair had fallen across his brow and how those sea-colored eyes sparkled under the hot sun. How his bronze skin had glistened with sweat. That morning had been the first time Titan’s face had looked so… bright.
Titan was watching me, brow drawn tight and gaze firm. That close, I saw flecks of lighter green around his pupils with a backdrop of ocean blue. I released his wrist, feeling unexpectedly… strange. My stomach was all fluttery. Maybe I’m hungry again.
“Crave. Need,” my sin whined. I realized then that it wasn’t food Gluttony wanted. It was Titan.
Sex was one thing, but feeling a genuine spark with another person—crushing on them—was about as rare as me seeing pizza and not eating it. But there was no mistaking it. I was drawn to Titan. Attracted.
“Take the cake, Raiden. I dread to think what you’ll do if that stomach of yours growls any louder. I lost one arm. I don’t need you eating my other one.”
Raiden was like a burst of color on a gray canvas. His bright, sunny personality was wholesome. His smiles were genuine, never contrived. Maybe that’s why I was so drawn to him—and why I couldn’t stay away.
Phoenix drew back and nodded to the males he’d teleported with him. “I brought a gift. He’s even wrapped too.”
“So scary,” Asa said. “I’m shivering in my boots.”
Bellamy threw a left hook, smashing his fist into Asa’s jaw. When Asa snapped his head back around, blood dripped from his lip.
“Lazarus is on his way,” Alastair said. “Oh, goodie.” Asa’s cocky attitude didn’t waver. “I can’t wait to see his smiling face again.”
I was astounded how someone could be so fucking hot and endearing at the same time. I wanted to both cuddle Raiden like the precious male he was and bend him over a flat surface and fuck him hard.
“Do you have somewhere we can lock him up until Lazarus gets here?” “The wine cellar?” Baxter suggested. “We could chain him to the wall. But if he breaks any of my bottles, I’m breaking his face.”
“Son of the Morningstar.” “White-winged vermin,” Asa responded.
Asa held a fraction of each of our sins. It was kind of complicated for me to wrap my head around, but basically, Asa was the ninth Nephilim ever born. The eight of us cursed sons came before him. As he drew his first breath, a piece of our curse flowed into him as well. Only a fraction, but it was enough for our blood to recognize Asa. Enough for the curses in us to recognize the one in him.
“You’re so pretty when you talk smart.” Bellamy grabbed one of Phoenix’s horns and dipped his face to his collar, biting at it. “Pretty and all mine.”
Titan prepared the dish so carefully, his movements precise and smooth. It was amazing to watch. My gaze trailed from the food to another possible meal that sat round and bitable right at his backside. Gods. He had a nice ass.
“Do you feel like that a lot?” I asked. “A crushing loneliness?” “Don’t we all? When you live for as long as we do, it’s inevitable.” I blew out a breath and stood back up, quickly adjusting myself. The chub monster had gone down a bit, so that was good.
“You’re nothing but a softie.” “I’ll show you soft.” Phoenix swatted him with his tail. He then pushed Bellamy into the pool.
My fave microtrope is pushing people into pools as a sign of affection
I cooked pizza for dinner. One was sausage, while the other was a Mediterranean flatbread with grilled chicken, feta cheese, and sauteed spinach, topped with fresh tomatoes and a drizzle of olive oil.
GIMME THE PIZZA FFS
“You wanted a milkshake, yeah?” I grinned. “Yep. Want me to help?” “Nope. Just sit your ass down and let someone take care of you for once.” Take care of me? Was that what he wanted to do? Tingles invaded my bloodstream. They ran along my skin too, warming me. I sat at the table and—not so discreetly—checked out his ass as he bent down to grab a blender from the bottom cabinet.
I had the sudden urge to wrap myself around him. To press my face to his neck and breathe him in. Gluttony stirred in my chest. “More.” “More? But we just ate.” “Yes. More. Need.”
His lips slanted over mine before he softly kissed me. The contact was staggering. A blast of electricity slammed into my chest and radiated through my entire body. “Need,” Gluttony whined. “Need more.”
I was forever starving. For food. For intimacy. For this moment right now.
“I’m a big boy with a big appetite. For food and cuddles.”
“I was traveling through Athens, alone, when I found him slouched in an alleyway, so drunk he could barely stand. He kept saying, ‘He left me. He really left me.’ I didn’t know who ‘he’ was, but I took Baxter back to my hotel room and cleaned him up. I recognized his energy and knew he was like me. A Nephilim.”
“He had just been dumped and kicked out by a man he thought he’d spend his life with, and I was a loner who hadn’t stayed anywhere long enough to put down roots. Hard to settle down when you never aged. Humans wouldn’t understand. Baxter wanted to create a place where Nephilim could live freely among our own kind. Where we wouldn’t be alone or have to live in fear.”
Alastair lightly tapped a finger on the tabletop. Thinking. Or talking himself down from killing our brother. One or the other.
“Yay. October is my favorite month,” she said. “It makes me want to bake and do all kinds of witchy shit.” “Because your powers are stronger with the thinning veil?” “That… and because of the atmosphere. Crisp air, leaves changing, sweaters. The smells. It’s peaceful.”
“I like it ’cause it’s when all the spooky stuff comes out,” Gray said before yawning. “I’m gonna have to scare Simon again. It’s funny when he screams.” Gray loved Simon. He loved tormenting him too with pranks and scare attacks. For someone so small and cute, Gray had a mischievous side. “I’m standing right here,” Simon told him. Gray gave him a sleepy grin.
“It’s hard for me to express myself too. My words get all tied up and then come out wrong.” “They’re coming out fine to me.”
“Where are we goin’? That ice cream parlor?” “No.” Titan shook a bit with a quiet laugh. “But if you want some later, I can take you.” “I’ll never say no to ice cream.”
Nothing could keep soul mates apart. Soul mates. Two hearts marked by fate. How did you know when you found your person? It was all so confusing.
“We’re at war, Raiden,” Titan said, voice soft as he caressed the side of my neck. “That should be our sole focus. But.” His other hand lifted to the back of my head, his metal fingers threading through the short strands of my hair. “I’ve fought this for so long. I thought pursuing you was pointless. Because even if you shared my feelings, how could this ever last? But whether it lasts for one day or a thousand, I think I’m finally willing to take that chance.”
