“No, man, my money is on the pretty boy!” another added to the ruckus.
The crowd gathered around the cage chanted to fight, and Uriel laughed. “Such hungry beasts. Too bad it’s going to be over in a second.” Before Tank could get his meaning, Uriel struck from the bottom, hitting the larger man with an uppercut, sending him flying through the air. He grabbed the man by his collar before he got too far and brought him down, slamming him into the hard floor. The bloodthirsty crowd went wild, and Uriel smiled despite himself, loving the sound.
Tank coughed up blood but didn’t move. He was a werewolf, and although he was injured, he would be good as new in a few hours after rest and food. The referee who'd been missing during the fight came over and grabbed Uriel’s hand, raising it in the air.
“Winner and still champion, Little U,” the announcer yelled, and the arena became deafening with the crowd’s screams.
Uriel pulled his arm away from the referee and walked out of the cage. He grabbed his shirt, shrugging it on, and made his way to the fight event planner. Uriel shoved a piece of paper into the man’s chest.
“Send my winnings to this address, and all of it better get there. If I find out you didn’t do what you’re supposed to, I’ll come back and kick your ass.”
The event planner nodded nervously and took the paper. “Yes, sir, Mister U. I’ll make sure it gets done properly.”
“Good.”
CHAPTER TWO
Uriel walkedout ofthe back door of the club and took a deep breath, sucking in a lungful of fresh air. He walked over to a dark alley, then disappeared, leaving no trace of his presence. Uriel appeared inside the foyer of his main home hidden deep in the high mountains on the outskirts of Valleywood.
On the outside, his house appeared as a dilapidated shack, but it was quite luxurious with four floors on the inside and was surrounded by Uriel’s brand of undetected magic and wards. With four Each floor held a bedroom suite with their own magnificent view of the forest or Lake Erie. Each suite had an en suite bathroom, as well as personal study. The house also had a well-equipped kitchen that was never used by Uriel—since he didn't know how to cook—a dining room, and an in-home theater, along with other comfortable amenities that sometimes made it hard for him to leave.
When Uriel chose to build his home in the mountains, he had all three occupants' likes and dislikes in mind. Granted, his son's taste continued to change as he had grown up, but his and Orion's, who was Uriel's best friend and blood adopted brother, had somewhat remained the same. Orion was also Kristoph's manny, godfather, and bodyguard. Other than Kayne and Synder, they didn’t have many visitors, but they also didn’t live in the home year round. They often stayed at the duplex penthouse located in the center of Valleywood, close to Kristoph's school.
When he gave birth to twins a little over thirty years ago, Uriel literally ran for his life in order to save his children. During his pregnancy, Uriel had a feeling that something wasn't right with his body, but he couldn't put his finger on it. He was constantly tired, and even though he was well taken care of and had a healthy appetite, he was always uncomfortable, as if he was carrying more weight than normal. It had never crossed his mind that he was pregnant with twins, nor was the doctor aware of them. During his regular check-ups, there was only one child that could be seen.
It was on the day he gave birth when the second child made his presence known. It was also Uriel's luck that on that joyous but terrifying day, Dio was away from the heavenly realm and wasn't scheduled to be back for another day. Before his body got a chance to heal, Uriel took his children and ran to find help. Before he could leave the heavenly realm however, he was stopped by Micha, the warrior angel.
"Uriel, I cannot let you leave," Micha said.
"Micha, please let me go, I can't stay here."
"There's nowhere safe for you to run." He looked down at the bundle in Uriel's arms then back at him. "I've agreed with Lord Dio that once you have served your punishment, you and I will be joined in union."
Uriel gasped and looked at Micha as if he had lost his mind. "Micha, why would you do that? You don't love me and I don't love you. We are not evenly matched."
"Who says we have to be a matched pair? Don’t you understand what you mean to me? I care for you, Uriel,” he whispered.
That surprised Uriel. “Micha, we were once comrades at arms, I’ve never seen you as anything other than a friend,” Uriel tried to explain. He had no idea that Micha had feelings for him. Before meeting Azazel, Uriel’s focus had always been to serve Dio to the best of his abilities.
Micha moved closer to him, but stopped when Uriel took a large step back.
“Why can't you see that I'm trying to protect you?” Micha asked. “And I get that you don’t feel the same about me, but as time passes, love can be nurtured between us. All you need to do is..."
"And what of my child?" Uriel asked, purposely not letting on that he had twins. He was thankful they were healthy but small in weight, so he'd bundled them up to look like one. It was a good thing he had the foresight to place a lethargus spell on the twins, keeping them asleep until he removed the enchantment.
"I'm sorry, Uriel, you will still have to give up the child. I don’t want to raise a child that carries his blood," Micha told him. "But we can have one of our own."
"No!" Uriel said, shaking his head. "I refuse. How can you agree to do this? How can you agree with Dio on this? Think, Micha! Does that sound reasonable to you?"
"How can you fall in love with that devil when I’ve been right here waiting for you to see me? I’ve known you longer for Dio’s sake," Micha yelled.
“Of course I’ve known you longer, we grew up together, but I have no control in who I fall in love with, Micha.”
Micha sneered. "We are far more than childhood friends. Our lives are connected by our lord deeds, his laws were created for us or did you forget!"
"I did not forget, Micha," Uriel scoffed, rolling his eyes. "I’m grateful for all that Dio has done for me, I can no longer abide by his laws."
Micha sighed and seemed to calm down. "I can see that," he whispered. "Take this as a parting gift. Lord Dio had been informed that you gave birth and is on his way back. If you're going to leave, do it now." Once again he looked at the bundle in Uriel's arms and his eyes said something Uriel wasn't able to decipher before looking back to him. "You're not fully healed, so I suggest you go through the garden and collect the herbs that will help you heal faster."
