(ZANE)
"He's waking up."
"Don't sit so close to him, Loki," another voice says, both of them unfamiliar.
"You'll scare him."
"You think he's hungry?" a deeper voice chimes in.
"I can make pancakes."
Cracking open my eyelids, I come face-to-face with a guy with wild blond curls and a silly little grin on his cute face. My vision is a little blurry, but he looks like a teenager.
"Hi," he whispers.
I jerked away from him and fumble for my glasses on the nightstand. The kid grabs them for me, and I put them on, focusing on him.
"Who are you?"
"My name's Loki."
He sits up beside me on the bed. A panda bear is on his shirt, and his pajama bottoms are blue with stars on them. Sunlight streams in through the windows. I slept through the whole night.
"Are you an angel too?" I ask.
"Ah, so Blaine's told you about that, huh? Cool. Yeah. I mean, kinda. We're Nephilim. Half angels. But close enough. How are you feeling? You were in bad shape earlier."
I've only known Loki for five seconds and can already tell he is a blabbermouth. An adorable one though. His big brown eyes remind me of an anime character.
"I feel okay," I answer, glancing at Loki and to the two men standing behind him. One has vibrant red hair and piercings, while the other has cropped black hair and muscles even bigger than Blaine's. Both stood well over six feet.
"Um. What time is it?"
"Almost three," Red-Haired guy says.
"Three? In the afternoon?"
"Yeah, you've been sleeping all day," Loki says, checking the bandage on my chest. Seeming satisfied, he nods and withdraws his hand.
"Your body needed time to heal."
I am an early riser, never sleeping past eight o'clock every morning. Sleeping the day away feels strange.
"So, you're all brothers?" I glance between the three of them.
"Not blood related," Loki says, hopping off the bed.
"More like brothers by choice. We're bonded together. All seven of us."
"Seven?"
"Yep. Did Blaine tell you about our curse?" Loki bounces over to the dark-haired giant and hangs on to his arm. Their size difference was almost comical.
"Well, I guess it's not actually a curse. Curses can be broken. Ours can't."
A curse? What kind?
"What are you doing in here?" Blaine asks, walking into the room. He is the tallest of them, and his presence demands attention.
"Talking to your human," Loki says. "He's really cute. I think he's in shock though. He keeps looking at me like this." He widened his eyes, exaggerating the action.
There is a hint of a smile on Blaine's lips as he stared at the younger man. Then, he looks at me.
"How are you?"
"Fine." I pull the cover up a little higher to cover my torso. I don't like having my shirt off in front of people. The bandage covers most of my chest, but a bit of my belly is visible. It makes me self-conscious.
"What did he mean by you guys being cursed?"
It doesn't matter." Blaine arches a brow at Loki before moving those intense gray eyes back to me.
"You don't need to know."
"He already knows about us being Nephilim, thanks to you," the red haired one says. "What's the harm in telling him the rest?"
"Do you think he can handle it?" the muscled giant with dark hair asks.
"Aren't human minds kinda… you know… simple? It might be too much for him to process."
"Not everyone is like you, Kaiser," Blaine says. "Some people actually have a brain."
Loki laughs, then presses his lips together when Kaiser shoots him a look. They seem so… human. It is hard to believe they are Nephilim or whatever. Non-humans. Other than being insanely tall and muscled— with the exception of Loki, who is shorter than me—they could've been just regular guys. Not angelic warriors who kick demon ass. Allegedly. I'm still not sure I believe it.
Do I get a say in this?" I ask.
"Because I'd really like to know."
"Later," Blaine says. "You should probably eat something first." His gaze dropped to my chest. "And get dressed."
"How much do you wanna bet Valerian's gonna hit on him?" Red mocks.
"He better not if he knows what's good for him," Blaine growls in response before ushering the three of them out of the room and closing the door behind them.
He turns to me. "I texted your employee from your phone early this morning and told him not to come in to work." "My phone?" I look around for it.
"It was in your pocket when I found you."
"Oh. Right." I blow 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 move my gaze to the wall of windows, absorbing everything I've 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 smile despite the whirlwind of insanity and confusion in my head.
"Can't say it hasn't been eventful. Crazy is more like it."
Shock hits my system then, and I started rambling like I usually do when I freaked out.
"What the hell is going on, Blaine? You say you're angels or whatever who fight demons. Loki says you're cursed. What does that mean?"
Blaine comes over to sit on the bed. The sun hits 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 nod.
"Our fathers were fallen angels," he explains. "When Zenith 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 study his hard expression. Though intense, his gray eyes hold a touch of softness. "What about them?"
"They're us."
"Wait." I hold a hand up. "What? You're telling me you guys are the literal seven deadly sins?"
"Yes." He stands and approaches the glass wall, resting his arm on it as he fixates on something outside. Daylight spills across the mountains and shines on the sea. Diamonds dance on the water's surface. "We refer to it as a curse, but as Loki said, it can't be broken. Not that we know of anyway. We are the true embodiment of 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. We are the sin, Zane."
"Why?"
"I told you why. Because of our fathers."
Yeah, but why punish you? 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," Blaine says.
"That's what I believe, anyway. His children abandoned Him. So He punished them 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."
"For what?"
"It sounds like you've had a shitty life."
Blaine holds my gaze. Says nothing. I wonder if I am the first person to ever say such a thing to him before.
I ponder his words. Nothing has ever sounded crazier. Angels? The seven deadly sins? I fear I am losing touch with reality, that this is some carefully orchestrated prank. I touch my chest, feel the ache of the wound. That is definitely real. So is the honesty shining in Blaine's eyes.
"What sin are you?" I ask, deciding to put my faith in everything he tells me. I don't really have any other choice at the moment.
"Wrath."
"Somehow that doesn't surprise me."
Blaine laughs before walking across the room and opening a door. He flips on the light and reveals a huge walk-in closet. "My clothes will be too big for you, but they'll do for now. One of us will stop by your loft this evening and grab clothes and anything else you need."
The change of subject is probably a good thing. I don't know how much more I can absorb before my brain explodes.
"What about the broken window?" I ask, remembering how the shades broke into my loft.
"I need to get it fixed, otherwise all my stuff will be ruined."
"I'll take care of it," he says from inside the closet. He exits holding a black T-shirt and tosses it to me. "Put this on."
Careful not to irritate any of my injuries, I slide out of bed and stand on shaky legs.
"Will you be able to walk?" he asks, concerned.
"I think so," I answer, putting weight on my uninjured leg.
Whatever magic they used to heal me must've been powerful. There isn't much pain at all. My chest was the worst of the three wounds, but even it doesn't hurt as bad as it should've given the severity of the injury. I slide the shirt over my head and tug it down. The thing is so long it brushes the top of my knees.
"What now?"
"Now?" Blaine places a hand at my lower back and guides me toward the door. "You meet my brothers."