Page 25 of Galen

Gray laughed, then pressed his lips together when Raiden shot him a look.

They seemed so… human. It was hard to believe they were Nephilim or whatever. Non-humans. Other than being insanely tall and muscled—with the exception of Gray, who was shorter than me—they could’ve been just regular guys. Not angelic warriors who kicked demon ass.

Allegedly. I still wasn’t sure I believed it.

“Do I get a say in this?” I asked. “Because I’d really like to know.”

“Later,” Galen answered. “You should probably eat something first.” His gaze dropped to my chest. “And get dressed.”

“How much do you wanna bet Bellamy’s gonna hit on him?” Red asked.

“He better not if he knows what’s good for him,” Galen growled in response before ushering the three of them out of the room and closing the door behind them. He turned to me. “I texted your employee from your phone early this morning and told him not to come in to work.”

“My phone?” I looked around for it.

“It was in your pocket when I found you.”

“Oh. Right.” I blew out a breath. “I forgot about that. Thank you for texting him for me.”

“You’ve dealt with a lot in a short amount of time. I’m sure this is a lot to take in.”

“Yeah. It’s a bit overwhelming.” I moved my gaze to the wall of windows, absorbing everything I’d heard and seen over the past twenty-four hours. “Yesterday, I was just a normal guy running an antique shop. And now I’m in a seaside mansion with seven, allegedly cursed, warriors, thrown into the middle of some war between angels and demons over a stupid ring I found in a creepy box.”

“One hell of a week. And it’s only Tuesday.”

I smiled despite the whirlwind of insanity and confusion in my head. “Can’t say it hasn’t been eventful. Crazy is more like it.” Shock hit my system then, and I started rambling like I did when I freaked out. “What the hell is going on, Galen? You say you’re angels or whatever who fight demons. Gray says you’re cursed. What does that mean?”

Galen came over to sit on the bed. The sun hit his brown hair, bringing out amber highlights I didn’t notice before. “I’d rather spare you the details, but if you really want to hear it, I’ll tell you. It’s the only way for you to truly understand who we are.”

I nodded.

“Our fathers were fallen angels,” he explained. “When Lucifer rebelled against the Supreme Being, they followed him to Earth and became his generals. A betrayal of that degree caused a curse to be placed upon their bloodline. As punishment for their crimes, their firstborn sons became the personification of their depravities.”

“How so?”

“Have you ever heard of the seven deadly sins?”

“Yeah.” I studied his hard expression. Though intense, his gray eyes held a touch of softness. “What about them?”

“They’re us.”

“Wait.” I held a hand up. “What? You’re telling me you guys are the literal seven deadly sins?”

“Yes.” He stood and approached the glass wall, resting his arm on it as he fixated on something outside. Daylight spilled across the mountains and shone on the sea. Diamonds danced on the water’s surface. “We refer to it as a curse, but as Gray said, it can’t be broken. Not that we know of anyway. We are the true embodiment of the sin. It is just as much a part of us as anything else.”

“I don’t think I’m following.”

“We aren’t merely cursed. Wearethe sin, Simon.”

“Why?”

“I told you why. Because of our fathers.”

“Yeah, but why punishyou? None of you did anything wrong. You were just innocent babies. That seems pretty fucked-up if you ask me. Why would God, or the Supreme Being or whatever you called him, let that happen?”

“Anger,” Galen responded. “That’s what I believe, anyway. His children abandoned Him. So He punished theirs in response. The other angels, the ones who didn’t fall, wanted to kill us. We were abominations to them. Instead, we were torn from our mother’s arms and trained as warriors. Our blood is powerful, you see. Rare. And it makes us strong.”

Sadness gripped my heart. “I’m sorry.”