Broken Angel

Chapter 10: Aging

ALEXIUS

Few things had ever irritated me. I was the relaxed brother. I was calm, cool, and collected. It was rare for anything to phase me. And when it did manage to burrow deep, it would fester.

That was all true especially when Gabi’s brother showed up with rainbows and hearts shooting out of his ass. The twins couldn’t stop talking about UnCLe cOoP and how he let them play with his bow and arrow. I mean who just gives a pointy weapon to a five-year-old.

Yeah, they were Angels, but still. f*****g Cupid with his bow and arrow and his lovey dovey bullshit and his god damn near perfect face that reminded me of Gabi. Out of all the siblings I’d met so far, they were the most similar.

I needed to vent and the only person nearby was Achilles, quite possibly the worst person to express your feelings to. It was times like this when I missed my sister, my best friend. She’d at least pretend to listen.

With a heavy sigh, I entered my brother’s office. He was sitting at his desk reviewing who knows what, with a permanent scowl etched on his face.

“I’ve been replaced by Cupid,” I huffed as I dropped myself into a chair.

My brother didn’t even bother to flinch. There was no sign that he had heard what I said as he continued to rifle through papers. This was who he was, the ever so serious brother, while Adonis was the smart one and I was considered reckless, fickle.

I sat there patiently waiting for a response. If I didn’t, he’d just ignore me until I left. But what kind of brother would I be if I didn’t annoy the f**k out of him. Finally realizing that I wasn’t going anywhere, Achilles pushed the papers away and leaned back in his chair. “What are you bitching about now?”

“Their brother showed up, and he didn’t even have to woo the twins, they just fell in love with him,” I complained.

Fuck shimmering when they could play with a bow and arrow and watch cute squirrels fall in love. Even that demon dog from Hell loved him.

“You’re jealous of Cupid,” he chuckled.

“Hell yeah, I am!” I shouted, throwing my hands in the air. “I was their favorite, now I’ve been bumped down to number two. You should too, you weren’t even close to competing.” And that was his own fault. If anything, he was at the bottom of the list. At least Adonis put in some effort.

He went back to rifling through some papers to avoid the impending topic. I knew why he was like this with the twins, but he needed to admit it to himself first. “We have the same face. I don’t really need to put in much effort when you do it for us.”

“They can still tell, especially Alec.” I shot back. “They ask for you, you know. You could at least visit them when they aren’t sleeping.”

“They just look so much like her,” he admitted. And there it was.

He refused to see them when they were awake, and would only kiss them goodnight when they were fast asleep. I didn’t blame him. At first it was difficult to look at them, but I made a promise to my sister, and I was going to keep it.

Yes, they both resembled Penelope, but they had their own personalities and mannerisms. Alec was outgoing and the sweetest little kid I’d ever met, so unlike Raz and Penelope. While Rory was afraid of her own shadow sometimes in fear of hurting someone, she loved deeply and was far more compassionate than any five-year-old was required to be.

“She’s coming back, you can’t take it out on them,” I told him.

I hadn’t told my brothers about what that asshole Zach said. Even if it were true, Aurora was not to blame for Penelope, she was only a victim of her creation. Achilles could barely see them without thinking of our sister. The last thing I needed was for him to resent the twins.

“I know that, but if what Gabi said is true, she’s not coming back the same,” my brother replied.

“Penelope is still our sister. Aurora and Alec are still our family.”

He finally acquiesced and nodded in understanding. I couldn’t blame him for how he felt, but I was never good at handling his tantrums on my own. Penelope and I were a team on that front.

A few moments of silence passed through us before I spoke again. “Are you okay?” It was a simple question that had various nuances.

“I’ve just been thinking, how much longer can we last before people start questioning why we aren’t aging?”

Well f**k, this was not where I thought this conversation was going.

I did have to admit that I have thought of this issue. We were immortal now, and that came with the perk of not aging, but how were we supposed to explain ourselves to other people?

“We’ll figure something out.” I had no clue how we were supposed to solve this problem, but we could figure something out. None of the Angels lived amongst humanity, but we couldn’t possibly be the only immortals doing so.

Achilles let out a heavy sigh. “Are we just supposed to give all this up? And start a new life every few years? How long before it gets tiring?”

“I’ll figure it out, you know I always do.”

“I’m not willing to wait for one of your half ass efforts.”

“Okay, but they always work, do they not?” I argued.

Sure, I wasn’t always as prepared as I could be, but I was adaptable. And with dear old devil on our side, we could figure something out. Yet again, Lucifer’s solution to everything was to cut and run when things got too difficult.

“Is this something you really want to gamble on? This is our lives, how we make a living. We can’t very well provide for the twins without an income.”

I was already one step ahead in that department. I may act reckless at times, but I had a contingency plan in place. While my brothers thought I was carelessly spending all my money and splurging on unnecessary things, I opened an account for the twins.

Were anything to happen to us, the twins would be taken care of financially. The problem was handling them physically and emotionally.

Aurora couldn’t touch anyone or anything living. Raz has been looking into getting her a medium, but has had no such luck. Alec on the other hand inherited Penelope’s gift, so he could be a ticking time bomb if we don’t watch him.

“I said I’d take care of it didn’t I?”

“Well, you better get to it. We’re running out of time. It’s been six years that we’ve remained the same, and a beard can only do so much. We’re close to hitting thirty,” he said while scratching his face.

“Don’t remind me,” I replied with a roll of my eyes. I wondered at what age I’d stop counting the years.