The Unholy Trinity IV- The Story Continues

Chapter Seventeen

            “I’m sure he’ll get over it. Kids are like that. They think their parents can do no wrong.”

            Griffin met his gaze. “You aren’t. You still haven’t forgiven Simeon for what he did to you.”

            Lucian sucked in his breath, scrambling to hide his thoughts from Griffin. There was no way he could let his brother discover the real reason he wouldn’t forgive their father.

            “How do you know Marshall is going to accept us and forgive us?” Griffin pressed.

            “I just do,” Lucian answered.

            Seth sauntered into the dining room to take a seat at the table. “Hey.”

            While Seth dove into the plate of waffles the cook set in front of him, Lucian studied the man seated across from him. They’d known each other since they were five years old. Seth had been looking out for him since before Lucian knew that’s what he was doing.

            In fact, Seth was the first person Griffin ever felt threatened by. Lucian could still remember the way Griffin cried about it. They were just five years old, and his jealousy of Seth’s attention to Lucian had given way to fear of being abandoned by his brother.

            Despite Lucian’s assurance that no one could be more important to him than Griffin, acceptance of Seth didn’t come easy from Griffin. Instead, it was an acceptance with an ulterior motive in that Griffin found it easier to keep an eye on Seth by accepting him. Rather than fearing Seth would harm Lucian, Griffin couldn’t shake the feeling Seth would try to come between them and make himself more important to the brother he loved so desperately.

            Not understanding Seth’s true role in their lives, Griffin felt perfectly justified in his childhood resentment of Seth who was always by Lucian’s side. It wasn’t as if Griffin didn’t have any friends besides Lucian. Being identical twins meant the school never put them in any classes together, but somehow Seth always managed to end up in all of Lucian’s classes in elementary school. As if that wasn’t bad enough, he was so damned protective of Lucian. In the first week of kindergarten he even beat the shit out of a boy in their class who made fun of Lucian’s black eyes.

            It wasn’t until Lucian’s accident in the church that Simeon finally clued them in as to who Seth was and what he was doing spending so much time with them. Griffin and Lucian had always known they were the sons of Satan just as they’d always known that was a secret meant to be closely guarded. What they hadn’t known was the harm that would come to them if that knowledge got into the wrong hands. After Lucian’s accident, Griffin finally understood and appreciated Seth’s role in their lives. If it hadn’t been for that, there was no way to know how much longer their cautious friendship would’ve continued.

            Though Griffin liked Seth a lot better after that, they weren’t anywhere near as close Seth and Lucian were. That didn’t come until they were sixteen years old and Lucian spent three months in limbo while Fallon and Griffin discovered their true feelings for each other. With Lucian gone, Seth turned his attention to Griffin, serving and protecting him with same ferocity he served and protected Lucian in the early years of their friendship.

            Twenty years later they’d both come not only to accept Seth but to appreciate all he’d done for them. Like Sebastian did for their father, Seth guarded their secrets and carried out their orders without question or complaint. He was more than their servant. The way they saw it, Seth wasn’t a servant at all. He was their closest friend, which was why they hated to see what he was doing to himself.