Page 113 of Gray

Going in through the door wasn’t the smartest plan, but it was the only one I had.“Can you see him?”

“Yes. He’s on the other side of the library. You should be able to sneak in unnoticed.”

As I touched the door handle, I felt a bit nauseated. I hated my dad… but I had loved him once. He had been my hero.

“You can do this, Gray,”Alastair said.“We’re all here with you.”

Before I could change my mind, I opened the door and entered the library, then shut it with a soft click. Built-in shelves stretched along one wall, filled top to bottom with books. The ornate ceiling arched, and a beam ran along the center. Candles flickered on the table closest to me, and a flash of lightning lit up the room.

It lit up something else too—the shape of my dad as he sat in an armchair in front of the marble fireplace, the logs crackling as they burned.

“Gradyn.” He turned to look at me. “I’ve been expecting you.”

He hadn’t changed at all. Same blond hair, the exact shade as mine, and his brown eyes matched mine too. I had my mother’s slender frame though—a human woman he’d had no feelings for.

“You knew I’d come?”

“I did.” As he stood from the chair, several emotions hit me at once. Sadness. Anger. But love was there too. I hated it. “Do you think I’m a fool? I sensed Wrath and Gluttony right when they crossed the front threshold. I knew you were with them.”

“Then you should also know why I’m here.”

“To kill me, I presume.” He stepped toward me, his boots heavy on the floor. It was a sound I remembered well. As a boy, I used to lie in bed and smile when I heard it. Because it had meant he was home from battle, that he was safe. “You’ve grown so much.”

“S-Stay away!” Angry tears surged in my eyes.

He stopped his approach. “No harm will come to you here, Gradyn.”

“My name’s Gray. Not Gradyn.”

Gradyn was that small, naïve boy he’d brainwashed into believing angels were the bad guys. I hadn’t been that boy in ages. He’d died long ago.

“Very well. If that’s what you prefer now.”

“It is.” I angrily wiped at my wet cheeks. I needed to stop crying so much. If Mason was there, he’d kiss away my tears. The thought only made more surface. Dammit. “You shouldn’t be so at ease. We’ve come to stop you.”

“You care for them. The other cursed sons.”

“Yes.” I took a step back, putting more space between us. “They’re my brothers. My family.”

“I’myour family.”

I shook my head and aimed my sword at his throat. “No. You’re a monster.”

A pained gleam sparked in his eyes. “Lazarus truly has turned you against me.”

“You didn’t get that memo when I tried to kill you the first time?” My body trembled with a barely suppressed anger. There was a lot of sadness too though. “And he didn’t need to turn me against you. I saw how wicked you are with my own eyes. He took me to one of the villages you destroyed. I saw all the people you killed.”

“We were at war, Gray. And war is messy. Unkind. Lives, oftentimes innocent ones, are taken on both sides.”

“You tried to kill Daman!” I said, recalling the battle in the Hoia Baciu forest. “You summoned a sword of fire and drove it through his chest.”

“So I should’ve let Envy kill me instead?”

My chin quaked uncontrollably. “You tortured Castor. Do you know what that did to him? He went somewhere dark. Real dark. The things you put into his head nearly broke him.”

“Hurting Caim’s son was unfortunate, but I did what was needed. I owe him nothing, nor do I owe anything to the other Nephilim you call brothers. They were only meant to be Lucifer’s pawns after all.”

“Pawns?”