Page 1 of Galen

Prologue

Galen

Many Years Ago

The demons swarmed like a fire carried by a strong wind, scorching everything in their path. Villages burned. People burned. Screams filled the night as flesh melted from bone and lungs inhaled thick smoke. Only then, when the flames had consumed them, did the screaming finally stop.

We were too late.

My brothers and I walked through the ashes of another destroyed village. Another place where innocent lives had been lost. Taken. The scent of burning flesh was one not easily described, for there was no comparison. It filled the senses, smelling of rot and death. Men, women, children… all slain.

“This must end,” Alastair growled. He knelt and retrieved a cloth doll from the ruins, one now without a little girl to hold it tight. My brother clenched it tightly in his fist before dropping it back to the ground. “Ithasto end.”

Ever since Lucifer began his quest for power, this had become the norm. Death and chaos, followed by even more death.

The flapping of wings filled the air as Lazarus arrived. His pure white feathers were a stark contrast to the dark night and the surrounding burning embers of the small village. Yet, his beauty had no effect on his ferocity. As leader of the celestial army, he struck down anyone who dared challenge him.

“Preparations have been made,” Lazarus said, eyeing each of us. “We must act now while we still can.”

Alastair bowed his head before releasing his wings, the feathers midnight black, just like the rest of ours.

We were the sons of the first seven fallen angels who rebelled against the celestial realm and joined forces with Lucifer. Angel blood ran through our veins, but we were half human as well. Nephilim. Yet, we were also cursed, bearing the sins of our fathers so that we’d never forget their crimes.

Each of us represented the seven vices of humanity, the evils that tainted the soul. The reasons why our fathers abandoned their brothers in the heavens and fell to earth.

I was Galen, avatar of Wrath. The anger coursing through me screamed to be released. I wanted vengeance for all the lives lost since Lucifer brought destruction to the earth.

As Lazarus flapped his wings and shot into the sky, the rest of us followed.

The time had come to stop Lucifer once and for all.

Chapter One

Galen

Present Day

Water crashed against the rocky shore as I stood on the beach. The smell of rain lingered in the air, as if the dark gray clouds above me would release a downpour at any moment. I closed my eyes, breathed it in. The air felt electric, charged.

Storms had a way of calming the chaos inside my head.

“Careful,” a smooth voice said from behind me. “If you get struck by lightning, Raiden might mistake you for a charred kabob. I’m sure he’d slather you in barbeque sauce too.”

I turned to see Alastair. His pale blond hair looked almost silver beneath the overcast sky, and his icy blue eyes reminded me of glaciers just before they broke off into the cold sea. He was the holder of Pride and possessed an unmatched arrogance.

Deep down, I saw his sadness though.

It was a sadness we all carried.

“Raiden would eat a mountain if it wouldn’t break off his teeth,” I said, returning my gaze to the stormy waters.

Raiden was the avatar of Gluttony. Food, drink, he overindulged in it all. Not that it showed. He was nothing but raw power and muscle.

“Daman and Castor disposed of a group of demons while they were out,” Alastair said, joining me by the water’s edge. “Something’s drawing them to this area. That’s the third group we’ve come across in the past week.”

“A human summoned them, perhaps?”

It wouldn’t be the first time. Humans often involved themselves with things they had no understanding of. Curiosity with Ouija boards, ancient summoning rituals some dumbass posted online that mortals tried not thinking it would work—over the years, we’d cleaned up countless of their messes.