Chapter 1

CHAPTER ONE

AZIEL

"You are such a disappointment."

I'd heard those words all my life. Someone might as well engrave them on my forehead at this point. I pressed my lips together to stop myself from saying something that could have me end up on a healer's bed. Just because they were my family didn't mean they wouldn't hurt me.

"You knew when we came here what we expected of you. You have failed time and time again. You're weak. Soft. Your sister has more balls than you."

My sister was a grade-A psychopath, so they probably weren't wrong. Compared to her, I was a fucking saint.

I stood unmoving as my uncle berated me, furious yet again that I'd made no effort in their war against humans. I didn't believe the same things they did. I didn't trust humans, but that didn't mean they deserved to die. It also felt wrong, attacking things so much weaker than me. That excuse didn't mean anything to my family. They wanted to rule over those weaker than them, and I put my life on the line every day that I refused to hurt random humans who'd done nothing to me and mine.

"Since you're so determined to act like a woman, you're being reassigned. My son is crossing over this evening. You will be his guardian. Full time. Should anything happen to him, your life is over. Do you understand me?"

My jaw clenched in a fight to hold back my tongue. They didn't respect me in this family, but they expected me to raise the next generation? I knew why my uncle was giving him to me. He already had three older sons. The youngest was a surprise and his mother died in childbirth. My uncle had no interest in raising a little kid. That was my job, apparently.

"Answer me, you little shit!" he bellowed.

"I understand."

My uncle sneered at me, hatred and disgust clear in his features. That expression didn't phase me anymore. He could hate me all he wanted. I still wasn't going to hurt humans for him. Humans were like ants. Why go out of my way to hurt something so insignificant?

Okay, that was a little mean. My friends' mates weren't insignificant. Callum's mate, Brandon, was a good guy. He checked in with me a lot, made sure when we met up for poker that I was comfortable. And Felix's mate, Tyler, kept the little shit distracted and off my back. He had to have a strong constitution to put up with all of that. I'd heard Mal was spending time with a human now, too. That worried me a little. One or two I could explain if my family caught wind of my friends' mates. But if they all chose humans? I was worried about the consequences of that. I was considering stepping back from them for a while, so I didn't draw attention from my family to them. They were the only people who mattered to me. I had to keep them safe.

"Aziel!"

My attention snapped back onto my uncle just in time to see him lose his temper. He snapped his fingers at my cousin, who always stood by his father's side. Iluz was about the same size as me, but he lacked any sort of compassion or kindness. He marched over to me and punched me hard in the gut, smirking when I doubled over. He was a sick fucker who got off on hurting people. He waited long enough for me to look up before punching me again, this time across the jaw. I preferred when they kept the punching to somewhere not on my face. I didn't want my friends asking questions.

It hurt, and I saw stars from the hit, but I didn't move from my spot. If I did, I'd only be asking for more pain. I straightened, masking the pain and staring at my uncle dead on.

"Go pick up my son. Fail me again and I won't be so kind. This is your final warning."

Dipping my chin once to acknowledge him, I teleported out of his office and back into the city. I never teleported directly into my apartment. I didn't want them to know where I lived and I didn't trust them not to try and track me. Instead, I teleported into an alley a few blocks away.

I was told to go to the Other Realm and pick up my cousin, but I needed a damn minute. Leaning heavily against the wall, I gripped my stomach, flexing my jaw. Not broken, luckily. Iluz had fists of stone, and I hated being his punching bag. I took a few deep breaths, waiting for the pain to pass, and ran my claws roughly through my hair.

I hated my family more than words could say. If I could walk away, I would. My friends were my true family, the ones I trusted with my life. But you didn't walk away from the Shadowwalker family. You lived by their rules or died by their hand. There was no escape, no life outside of their rule. My father tried to leave. He died for it.

Pushing away those morbid thoughts, I straightened and pulled out my phone. I was supposed to meet my friends for poker tonight, but that wasn't going to happen now. I had to get my cousin, then go around the city to get whatever he needed. My uncle wasn't caring in the slightest and probably wouldn't send the kid with more than the clothes on his back. I texted Mal, since it was his day off and he always had his phone on him, and shoved my phone away before teleporting to the transportation tunnel.

There was a line, like usual, but I avoided it, heading a few blocks south to a lesser known tear between the realms. It wasn't as safe as the tunnel, but waiting around wasn't safe either. My uncle would know if I took too long to do his bidding, and I'd suffer for the insult. The tear was tucked between a couple of boulders and looked impossible to pass through, but once you slipped past the tight squeeze at the beginning, it was bigger on the inside. I appeared on the other side and launched into the air, heading for our family home. It wasn't far. My family had been using that tear for generations, and when I landed outside the gate, my cousin was already waiting for me .

"What took you so long?" he demanded.

Dante was still just a kid. Only turned nine a few months ago. He was surly and defiant, which was pretty much expected from a kid in our family, but I saw hints of decency in him. They hadn't managed to stamp that out yet. And I could tell by his tone that he was more upset than angry.

"You ready to go?"

A flicker of emotion swept across his face. Looked like unease. He didn't want to go. But if my uncle made the decision, he had no choice in the matter. Just like I didn't.

"Come on. We've got things to do."

He scowled at me, crossing his arms over his chest. "Like what?"

"Like pick up your bed. Figured you'd want to choose for yourself."

He looked surprised. Not really a shocker, kindness was rare in our family. I wasn't like them, though, and I didn't need to punish a little kid just because my uncle demanded I care for him.

Setting my hand on his shoulder, I teleported us to the transport tunnel. I could take us through the tear, but this was Dante's first time crossing over. I preferred to do it safely until he had more control of his magic. And luckily, there was no line on this side, so he didn't have any reason to complain about me to my uncle.

Once we arrived in the human realm, I teleported Dante into the city. I needed to pick up my truck to transport everything he needed. We arrived in the alley and I led him to the sidewalk. It only took a second to realize he wasn't following me. He was glued to the opening of the alley, his eyes wide as he took everything in. I forgot how different the human world was. It was night time, so at least the sunlight did not shock him, but I'd need to remember to get him sunglasses until he got used to the light.

"Dante."

He whipped his head around, his eyes as wide as saucers. "Where are we?"

"The city. Come on. I need to grab my truck."

He hurried after me, a little trepidation showing on his features. They were slowly integrating things from the human realm into the Other Realm, like cell phones and stuff like that, but it wasn't a quick process. Five years wasn't a lot of time to do that kind of thing. Things like cars were rare in the Other Realm because the tunnel wasn't big enough to transport them. They had to realm hop to move something that big, and it required a lot of magic to do it. In the city we were in now, cars were everywhere, and Dante's head kept whipping around to follow one after another as they sped past us.

"You don't have to be scared. They stay on the road. It's the law."

I'd been trying to be supportive, but he took exception to my comment and spun around to glare at me. "I'm not scared! You're the coward in the family! Everyone says so!"

Huffing out a sigh, I willed myself to have patience. I constantly reminded myself that he was just a kid, biting my tongue when he continued to talk trash. He was only parroting what he'd heard. And really, as my uncle's son, I didn't expect any different. I didn't know how long this guardianship would last, but I hoped it'd be short. Which was stupid to even think about. When did I ever get what I wanted?