1. Chapter One

Chapter One

Rook

" D o you ever get tired of this?" Casimir asked while removing a demon's head from its body.

I looked at him, puzzled. "Dismembering?"

"Maiming?" Nox added.

"Yes. The hunting and killing. We've been doing it for millennia. Don't you want to do something different?" Casimir stabbed his blade into another low level demon trying to make its escape. Hades had sent us to infiltrate and destroy a sect who were looking to create an uprising. Days like today were supposed to be fun. I was having fun, pretty sure Nox was enjoying carving up demons if the sadistic grin on his pale face was anything to go by, but lately, Casimir had been doing a lot of this questioning thing. I found it unsettling. We only had one purpose and that was to hunt.

"We have no other purpose," Korbin said, echoing my thoughts. He was stood to one side, his purely white eyes wide with curiosity. Technically the guy was blind, but that never stopped him from beating me at pin the dagger on the demon. Fucking mystical that one. And he was mine. All mine.

To be fair, we were all mystical. The four of us were as old as dirt. Hades had created us out of a necessity to keep order among the Gods. Although, I still believed he needed us to protect him because he pissed the wrong people off. But, whatever the reason, this was all we had ever known and all we could ever hope to know. We were powered by death and our magic came from the residual energy of a soul crossing over. But we couldn't create our own power source. I couldn't go on a killing spree and then use that to fuel my magic, nope. We were dependent on other people killing but we couldn't outright influence humans either. Sometimes being a Revenant sucked balls.

Casimir wiped his blade on his cloak, cleaning off the black demon blood. "Maybe I'm just bored."

"Hey. We should go on holiday," Nox piped up from behind me. If anyone needed sunshine it was that guy. He was pale, dressed head to toe in black, with black hair and eyes that he liked to surround with a ring of thick black eyeliner. Not that he'd ever catch a tan. We weren't alive and couldn't be affected by anything like that.

"Nox, don't be an asshole. We can't go on holiday," I snorted. "Remember what happened the last time we tried?"

Nox's manic grin dropped. "Oh, yeah. Turned out to be a bit of a bloodbath, didn't it?"

And that was putting it mildly. Whilst we couldn't influence humans to kill, there were some who were naturally attuned to us. They often formed covens to worship us or some shit, but really, they were feeding off the energy we left behind in the mortal realm. An energy born of death magic. Some people use it for good, other people use it to become serial killers. Our last attempt at catching some rays ended up with a guy murdering seventeen holiday makers. Not our finest hour but we did get an epic power boost out of it, it just came with a lot of unnecessary death. Hades had been pissed and we'd been banned from holidays ever since.

"It's a Blood Moon tonight," I said giving Casimir's shoulder a squeeze. "They're always fun."

The guy brushed me off with a scowl and left the club. Guess we weren't doing clean up then. I looked around at the severed limbs and shrugged. The Ferrals would get a feast tonight. They were mindless beasts that roamed the outlands and weren't picky with what they ate. If it was meat, it was food.

The club we'd just left a massacre in was right on the edge of Infernium, the capital city of the Underworld, and it was a shit hole out here. Just dead grass and flat lands as far as the eye could see. It was the perfect place for seedy activities, gambling, and plotting coups. This latest group had started to piss Hades off because they were gaining traction. Hades was King and he did not like to be challenged. There was only one person he seemed to let get under his skin, and I hadn't quite figured out how she managed it. Some Reaper, Blue or Roux or something equally colourful. That girl had him whipped, he just didn't know it yet but boy, was he gonna be pissed when he realised. I chuckled. I really wanted to be there when he made that realisation. Shit would decimate the fucking fan.

I fell into step with Casimir. He was a bit taller than me, so I had to lengthen my stride to keep up with him. "Why don't we find something fun to do? We could drop into Tartarus. You always did like the screams of the damned."

Casimir grunted.

"Ooh, what about we go hunt some Harpies?" Nox said as he joined us, falling into place on the other side of Casimir. Harpy hunting was always entertaining. Vicious little winged creatures that liked to steal things, but I could sense from the grim set of Casimir's jaw that he wasn't in the mood to do anything with us. It worried me. Sensing my unease, Korbin fell into step next to me and threaded our fingers together. He had always been good at reading people, at reading me in particular. I could never get away with shit with this guy. We'd been together for centuries and he was the one thing that had settled me when I was going through the same thing as Casimir was now. That restlessness and unease. Maybe that's what Casimir needed. Someone to ground him again, to guide him back to where he needed to be.

"Forget I ever said anything," Casimir said sharply. "I'll see you at home later." There was a zap of energy, followed by a pop, and then he disappeared into thin air.

Nox pouted. "He didn't even say goodbye."

I huffed a laugh. "I'm sure you'll get over it."

He rolled his lip ring between his teeth, chewing his bottom lip. "Now what are we gonna do? After a hunt we always celebrate. Together. Cass pissing off has ruined the vibe."

I swear to the Gods that boy was one second away from stamping his foot. "Why don't you go skin a murderer or something? I'm sure that'll perk you up."

He shrugged a shoulder. "I guess. It's just not the same when we don't all join in."

"Here." Korbin pulled his blade from his belt. The wickedly sharp, will slice you just by looking at it, blade. "You can use this."

Nox fist pumped and let out a ridiculously high-pitched squeal. "Yes! You're the best. I'm going to enjoy this so much."

He was so easy to please. Give him something gory and violent and Nox was in his element.

"I expect it back in one piece, Nox. Or I'll skin you with it and turn you into a new pair of boots."

And there went my cock. I fucking loved it when Korbin went all dark and threatening. He was usually so calm and quiet, but ya know what they say about the quiet ones…

"Now fuck off, Nox," I practically growled. I took a step closer to Korbin and wrapped my hand around his waist. I placed my nose at the sensitive spot behind his ear and dragged a deep breath into my lungs. We didn't really need to breathe, not being alive and all we only did it to blend in, but fuck did I love smelling my man.

"Alright, you don't have to tell me twice. I'll see you at the rise of the Blood Moon." There was another pop and then nothing but the sound of Korbin's soft gasps as I made love to the side of his neck. His fingers wound through my hair, gently caressing the back of my skull.

"We don't have time for this," he said on a moan as I sucked the spot where his neck met his shoulder.

"We do. We absolutely—"

His hand tightened in my hair, and he yanked my head backwards. "Baby boy, no, we don't."

A moan tumbled from between my lips.

Korbin stared down at me sternly. His eyes narrowed, his jaw clenched, his face a picture of pure dominance. "We need to prepare for the Blood Moon."

"But the others have gone off to play. Can't we play?" I whined while trying to grind my hips against his.

"You're such a needy little thing." Korbin licked his tongue up the side of my throat. "Always wanting. Always needing."

"But only you," I gasped.

I felt his smile stretch against my skin. "We'll see. Now come, we need to head home."

What the fuck did that mean? We'll see? Korbin had the gift of foresight and often dropped little nuggets like that peachy morsel. What was I supposed to do with that information?

Korbin went to walk off but stopped when he realised that I wasn't following. His gaze was fixed on a point just above my eyes. Gods, he was gorgeous. His face was all sharp lines and angular planes. He had a straight nose and skin the colour of honey. And that hair. Soft silver waves that brushed his shoulders and caught the glimmer of the setting sun behind him, making it look like a halo. We were the furthest things from angels, but in that moment, I was ready to fall to my knees and worship.

"Come on, Rook. If you're a good boy, I'll let you fuck my face before dinner."

Aaaand that was why I was glad he wasn't an angel. That dirty mouth of his was one of my favourite things in the whole world.