Page 9 of Galen

Not surprising that Alastair sensed my unease. He knew me better than anyone.

“The power was dark. Familiar.”

“Familiar how?”

“I haven’t felt anything like it since Lucifer.”

Silence.

I had to be wrong. Lucifer was locked away, shackled beneath the earth where no one could find him. Darkness was his only companion. It was impossible for him to rise again.

“I’ll wait to speak with Lazarus until we know more,”Alastair finally said.

Wise decision.

Lazarus had trained us since we were young, but he had no love for any of us. He never failed to remind us that the only reason he allowed us to live was because we were useful to him. Take that usefulness away and we were done. One wrong move and he’d take off our heads. Better to figure out what we were dealing with first before bothering him. Because if it turned out to be nothing, he might very well make good on that threat.

“So.” Castor leaned against the tree trunk, arms crossing. “Did you see anything good in there?”

“In the antique shop?”

“No.” He rolled his eyes. “In Alastair’s ass when you were kissing it.”

I shoved him. “Don’t make me hurt you, Greed.”

“Oh yeah. Hit me harder, Daddy.”

“You’re not my type.” I dropped my hand from his chest.

Castor grinned and flicked his lip ring with his tongue. “Since when?”

I called him and the others my brothers, but we weren’t related by blood. Our fathers were created, not born. Once upon a time, Castor and Ihadfucked. I liked it rough, and he liked getting it rough. Perfect match. But not really. We butted heads too much. It had only lasted for a few weeks before we nearly killed each other. Literally.

Ignoring him, I returned my attention to the antique shop. The sun would set in another hour or so.

“I was serious about the shop,” Castor said. He wiggled his pinky finger. “I could use another ring. Something unique and shiny. Expensive.”

The seven of us did our best to fight the worst of our sins’ urges. Me with my vengeful anger. Castor with his pursuit of material goods. Bellamy with his insatiable sexual appetite. But those sins were part of us and could never be fully overcome.

“I didn’t see anything you’d like,” I told him.

“I’ll be the judge of that.”

“Just don’t forget why we’re here. The item is priority.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

At nightfall, the Asian male who’d been working left the shop. He put on a neon green bike helmet before jumping on a crotch rocket and driving toward the cluster of buildings downtown.

“Nice bike,” Castor said. “A Kawasaki Ninja H2R. That shit isn’t street legal. Naughty little boy. How did you get your hands on that?”

“Focus, Cas.”

The shop owner locked the front door, then shut off the light.

“We’ll wait a little longer,” I said. “I’d rather the human be gone when we break in.”

I tuned in to my surroundings, searching for a demonic presence. I caught a faint stench of a shade, but it seemed to be farther away, perhaps down by the docks again. Raiden and Bellamy were patrolling other areas of town and would dispose of it soon.