(BLAINE)
Lockwood Mansion sits on a hill beside the sea, the stone turrets rising high into the night sky. Kian and I land on the roof, our wings ruffling in the wind before folding back into our bodies. We thought it best to visit the place the box had come from to see if we could find answers as to its purpose.
"Do you feel that?" Kian asks, placing his hand on the rooftop.
"Powerful warding protects the home. We can't get inside."
"You think the woman was a witch?" I ask, dropping down from the roof to a balcony that overlooks the water.
I approach the glass door and get repelled. My body won't allow me any closer, as if a force field is blocking me.
"A powerful one." Kian comes to stand beside me. "Witches have allied with demons in the past, so I fail to understand why this one warded them off. Us too, for that matter. She wanted to keep all of us away. We need to know what's inside that box."
"I'll ask Zane to open it for us in the morning," I say.
When I went to see him again earlier, he'd been asleep. Loki was sprawled on the bed beside him, on top of the covers. I had picked Loki up and carried him to his own bed, deciding to let Zane rest. He was still healing and needed to take it easy. Plus, I hadn't been ready to speak to him yet.
Our argument had irritated me, and the last thing I wanted to do was snap at him when he was confused and scared.
"Perhaps we can bring Zane here too." Kian glares at the balcony door we can't touch.
"Not everything in the house was sold. I'm sure there's something inside that will give us answers."
"You want him to break in? No. He's going through too much already. We can't ask him to add burglary on top of that."
"Why not? What's the point of keeping him around if he can't help us?" Kian curses under his breath and turned toward the sea.
Moonlight catches the pale blond strands of his hair. "You need to cast aside whatever weakness you have for this human."
"I have no weakness for him."
"Do not lie to me, Wrath." Icy blue eyes regard me. "I see the way you are with him. Fucking humans is one thing. Falling for them is another."
"Says the one who is currently in love with one."
"And look where it's gotten me," he says, his voice rougher than before as emotion seeps through. "Joseph is dying, and there's not a damn thing I can do to stop it." He averts his gaze to the railing beneath his hands. His knuckles turn white as he grips it tighter.
"I forgot how painful it is, watching part of your heart wither away."
Kian has witnessed too many lovers die. Long ago, I vowed to never fall in love again. The few years with them by my side wasn't worth the soul-shattering pain of losing them. Better to avoid attachment altogether.
I moved my gaze to the sea, staring at the lighthouse in the distance. The light beams bright before fading, shining elsewhere.
Kian is mistaken. Other than a physical attraction, I feel nothing for Zane. How can I? I have barely spoken to him. Not to mention he is stubborn as hell and asks too many questions.
Do I want to protect him? Yes. But only because I feel responsible for him nearly dying.
Fucking him isn't entirely out of the question though.
Zane has an amazing body. Soft and warm. I want to bury myself in him, lick him all over, inhale his intoxicating scent and listen to his moans as I fill his ass. "
Don't make me puke," Kian says.
"Get out of my head, then."
"You damn well know we can't control it sometimes," he counters. "Especially with you standing so close."
It happened a lot with the two of us. I share a close bond with all my brothers; however, the bond between Kian and me goes even deeper. We butt heads a lot, but I will lay down my life for his without a second thought.
"Lovely night, isn't it?" someone says from behind us.
I fling around to see an auburn-haired demon flashing a wicked smile.
"Godric," I growl, reaching for my dagger.
"None of that now," he says, wagging a finger at me. "I only came to chat, so do try to be civil." With his porcelain skin, dark brown eyes, and stylish way of dress, he can almost pass for being human. His stench gives him away though.
"We have nothing to talk about," I step forward.
"Easy, brother." Kian places a hand on my chest, keeping his eyes on Godric.
"What do you want, demon?"
"You have something of mine," Godric says. The infuriating curve of his lips makes me want to drive my dagger into his throat even more than I already did.
"A box that came from this mansion. Hand it over and I'll call off my beasties. You wouldn't want another precious human to be harmed, would you?"
He's referring to Zane. That means it wasn't a random attack. He ordered the shades to kill him. I see litera red. "Fuck you, you goddamn—"
"How about you call them off anyway?" Kian says, talking over me. "And we might let you live." Out of the two of us, he is better at keeping a level head.
"How arrogant you are. Thinking you can defeat me." Godric barrs his teeth. At least his stupid smirk is gone.
"I'm doing you a favor, you Nephilim swine. You have no idea what power you're dealing with here." He takes a step closer. "You think you're safe in your little haven behind the veil? Cute." "Is that a threat?" I ask, shoving past Kian and approaching the demon.
Godric glances around me to Kian. "Call off your angry mutt before I put a muzzle on him."
I lurched toward him, and he vanishes. My dagger slices nothing but air. He reappears on the railing at the opposite end of the balcony, leaning against a column. Goddamn demons.
I hate their ability to do that shit.
"Kian," Godric says, leg propped behind him. "Think on my offer. The item in that box is of no use to you. Allow me to take it off your hands, and you have my word that I'll back off. The humans will be spared, blah, blah. But if you refuse me…"
That wicked grin from earlier returns, and red flashes in his eyes. "I'll order my beautiful little pets to attack this entire godforsaken town, killing every human they come across. The streets will run red with their blood, and it'll be all your fault."
"How about you go fuck yourself?" I say, tightening the grip on my dagger and wondering if I can throw it quickly enough to lodge it in his chest before he vanishes.
"You should really do something about that filthy mouth of yours," Godric addresses me. "By the way, say hello to sweet Zane for me. When I paid him a visit, he refused to tell me who took the box. But I smelled your filth all over him. I smelled something else too. It piqued my interest more than anything else."
"What are you talking about?"