“If you’re lucky, I might be able to name them.”
Ruthie put the palm of her hand to her head. Death sighed. “The Seven Deadly Sins are high level demons, they work closely with the Devil in causing havoc. I can promise you if the other three horsemen disappeared, they have something to do with it.”
Wasn’t that a pleasant thought. “Lust, Envy, Sloth, Gluttony, Pride, Wrath and Greed.” I muttered.
“If all seven of them get together in the same place…” Ruthie whistled. “Chaos, think about it like a frat party gone nuclear.”
I didn’t want to think about it, I was still trying to wrap my head around everything. “So how do we stop them?”
“We fight against them.” She said easily.
Sure, like the demon from yesterday. She made it sound so simple. “I’m going to need a lot of training.”
“Don’t worry, some of it comes naturally. Like the ability to know the number of souls that will be reaped. You can do that without really thinking about it, can’t you?”
“Especially if it’s a low number. But I thought everyone had freewill…how can I predict death if causes and external influences can be a factor?”
He smiled. “The number is ever changing and ever flowing. I’m sure you’ll see that when Pestilence is released again. The number of deaths from the plague will change because of that one action. Freewill makes sure that nothing is certain and that nothing is written in stone.”
I filed away the information for later. “So let’s make a plan for finding Pestilence and make sure we can save mankind?”
“Sounds about right.” Ruthie laughed. “Let’s get back and meet up with the boys, we’ll let them know what we’ve learned.”
I glanced back at Death and he nodded. “I’ll see you soon.” He turned away from us and looked back over the wasteland. He held his hand out and his scythe appeared, then he disappeared, fading into the air.
“He must have some work to do.” Ruthie put an arm around my shoulder. “That wasn’t so bad, was it?”
“I traveled by lightning bolt.” I glanced up as the sky grew dark and crackled with electricity. “And it looks like that’s how we’ll be getting home.”
She nodded and held tight to me. The lightning cracked, but this time I had enough warning to close my eyes.
We reappeared in the courtyard with rain pouring around us. I welcomed the cold droplets as we ran across the area and to the main building where the cafeteria and cafe were. We walked into the cafeteria and handed the attendee our IDs to swipe. Unlike the cafe, the cafeteria had several stations to order food from, anything from salads to pizza. It was a little less private than the cafe, but the hours were better and it used up fewer points on the meal card. I went to the salad bar and didn’t pay attention to where Ruthie went. My guess was as an angel she didn’t have to worry about what she ate, but for me, on top of monsters, scary algebra teachers, and hot guys, I worried about the freshman fifteen.
“Hey, a bit late for lunch, isn’t it?” Jared’s voice came from behind me. I spun and tried not to drop my tray.
“Had a meeting I couldn’t miss.” I said easily. “What about you?”
“Just got out of class,” He glanced at Ruthie who had her back turned to us. “I’m having a party tonight, off campus out in the desert. Do you want to come?”
I smiled. “I can’t tonight, we have our RA meeting and then a study group for one of my classes.”
“It’s the first day of class, how do you already have a study group?” He leaned forward and met my gaze.
My heart did a flip-flop thing as it pounded against my chest. My mind spun with him so close. I’d liked boys before, but this feeling was…almost out of this world. “They are old friends.” I couldn’t figure out how else to describe the boys. “They are taking the same level math class at a different time.”
He backed up a bit. “Next time?”
“Yeah, next time I’ll take you up on your offer.” And make sure to take someone with me. The parties in the deserts were whispers around the campus, the stories could be found on social media pages of students, and there were warning signs in the dorms about partying safe. I wouldn’t be going alone and there was no way I’d get shit faced. “Rain check?”
“I’ll hold you to that.” He winked and walked out towards the tables and then exited the cafeteria without food. I went back to making my salad then to the dining area, waiting for Ruthie.
She came out with her plate piled with pizza and a bowl of ice cream. “Furthest corner.” She motioned to the back of the dining area. We both walked over there and sat down in the booth, she pulled a chair from another table over. “I texted the guys. They should be here in a few minutes.”
I picked at my salad, then leaned back in the booth. “So if the other three horsemen are missing, why isn’t Death?” I was still trying to wrap my mind around meeting my father for the first time. Even to me, my voice sounded half interested.
“My guess? He’s the oldest of this generation; he’s probably harder to pin down. Assuming that they are gone.”
“They are.” Kaleb slammed his hand on the table before he sat down next to me. I found it odd since he had blamed me earlier for the apocalypse happening. “None of us can get ahold of our parents. Not in any plane that we can access.”
“What does that mean? That you can access?”
Aeron sat next to Ruthie and another guy took the seat at the end of the table. His black hair was pulled back at the base of his neck and his skin was a sickly white. “There’s one realm that we can’t get to alone, and that’s Hell.” He glanced at me. “I’m Pete, you must be Sammy.”
I nodded. I couldn’t get to any realm alone, but I wasn’t going to point it out. “Death hasn’t disappeared. We saw him not a half hour ago.”
“Your dad is a bit more elusive than the others. He deals with souls while the others deal with physical humans. They tend to spend more time in this realm making them easier to be found.” Aeron shrugged. “What we need to figure out is where our dads are and if they are trapped where the seals are. They aren’t dead or we would have come into our powers and we could stop the apocalypse from happening.”
“Death said he’d work with Sammy to help her come into her powers and she’ll be able to help us fight what we can. That’s the only thing we can do right now. Our facade in the human world is important.” Ruthie swirled her spoon in her ice cream. “We get her into her powers and we’ll be a full team.”
I leaned back and popped a baby tomato in my mouth. All I could do was sit back and watch how they worked. I closed my eyes and concentrated. How many souls would be reaped if the apocalypse happened… I frowned as zero showed up. Impossible.
“Sammy?” Kaleb asked.
“How can zero souls be reaped if the apocalypse happens?” My brows drew together. “It’s impossible, right?”
They all looked at me with wide eyes. Ruthie put her spoon down. “Are you sure that is the number?”
“Well, no more sure than I was about the number dying of the Black Death, but you know, I’m new to all this.” I couldn’t keep the sarcasm out of my voice.
She nodded and sighed. “If Death is locked away the reaping of souls stops. Which means that death doesn’t exist. A deadly blow falls, you live, most likely with the damage and the pain that happened.”
My mind went to the demon. “Decapitation?”
“You remain conscious of the fact that you’re severed from your body. Let’s all hope it doesn’t come to that.” Pete said. “Let’s just hope the Black Death and some war is all we have to deal with.”
“So how do we want to handle this?” Ruthie asked.
Aeron glanced at me. “We give Sammy some time to learn and train. We research what we can, fight the demons that come up and hold them for information. Thanksgiving break, we go on a trip and find Pestilence.”
It sounded simple enough. “I feel like you guys have dealt with this before.”
> “This isn’t a new threat. It’s something we’ve had to make sure we are prepared for.” Kaleb nudged me. “Like Ruthie said, we’re a complete team now. The Devil herself couldn’t stop us.”
I blinked. “The Devil is a woman?”
“Yeah, the Bible got that one wrong.” Ruthie mused. “I hear she’s very pretty.”
The boys chuckled. “That’s what we hear too and that she has a harem of high class demons at her beck and call.” Pete said. “She’s failed before though, on locking the horsemen away. This time won’t be any different.”
“Were you around when that happened?” I asked.
He shook his head. “No, it’s the time that’s talked about in the book of Revelations. The translations are just all wrong.”
It explained why my mother never put too much faith in the Bible. “My mom always said the Bible translated differently for everyone. That it’s meant for everyone to get something a little different each time.”
They all nodded. “That’s one of the reasons that people turn to the Bible in a time of need and why they find what they are looking for.” Ruthie smiled. “It’s a wonderful book, just sometimes people forget that it was translated by humans.”
“Who aren’t unbiased.” Pete pointed out. “Or flawless, not that we are either. The higher power gave us all freewill.”
Which was different than anything I’d thought was true. I believed angels were flawless and free of sin, and I had never thought the Horsemen of the Apocalypse existed, never mind the children. “I feel like this is getting more and more complicated.”
“You’ll get used to it.” Aeron nodded. “Parents’ weekend is in a few weeks, I suggest you don’t tell your mother what is going on.”
“My guess is she’ll already know what you are. She warned me not to hang out with you Aeron, mentioned she knew your parents. So my guess is she at least knows what you and Ruthie are. Meaning parents weekend we’re not going to be able to hang out.” I rubbed my hands over my eyes.
Ruthie wrinkled her nose. “I can since I’m your roommate, but she knows I’m an angel. So it’ll be best if you do the normal parent things while she’s here. Like show her the classrooms, go out to dinner.”
And with any luck it would all work out and my mother would know nothing. Could I be that lucky?
I spent the rest of the day working on math homework and decided that the class had to have been made by the devil herself, because the hundred problems assigned were hell. I slammed the book closed. “What kind of teacher assigns this many problems on the first day of class? I still have the other three classes to start on.”
“Welcome to college.” Ruthie laughed. “It’s time to go to the common room. Ready?”
I groaned. “Do we have to? I think my brain has turned to mush.” I stood and did a zombie walk. “Brains, I need brains.”
Ruthie laughed and shoved me towards the door. “Let’s go.”
We walked down the hall and to the center of the building. A large room with couches separated the guys and girls side of the dorms. It was filled with everyone on our floor. Kaleb waved at us and patted the empty seats next to him. Ruthie nudged me towards him while her eyes glanced over the room. I wondered what she could see that I couldn’t.
“Have you met your RA yet?” Kaleb leaned over and asked. We both shook our heads and he leaned back. “Me either. I thought they were supposed to introduce themselves when we first moved in.”
I shrugged. “Maybe they are just crappy RAs?” I offered, but the sinking feeling in my stomach told me otherwise.
Two people walked in, side by side. The woman was tall and swayed gracefully as she stalked into the room. Her blond hair complimented her sharp face and accented her green eyes. Her slim body weaved through the small crowd gathered in the room. Her green eyes met my gaze and Ruthie put her hand on my knee and it tightened. The man cleared his throat and my attention turned to him. He towered over any one standing in the room. The way he held himself commanded attention. His slicked back black hair left his dark eyes clear. His gaze was predatory as it swept over everyone. It landed on us and Kaleb cursed. Ruthie and I both glanced at him. Kaleb nodded to Ruthie and I knew I had missed something.
The dread claimed my stomach as the two RAs made their way towards the middle of the crowd. Neither one of them took their eyes off us. I pressed my lips together and leaned back, refusing to show them fear.
“Welcome to a new year here at Mesa College. I’m Gypsy, the women’s RA on the second floor, and this is Princeton, the men’s RA.” She smiled. “We’re here to make sure you all stay safe and happy through the year. If you have any questions, please feel free to stop by our rooms and ask. We have some rules for the dorms, and if you fail to follow them it can result in you being kicked out of the housing program.”
I listened to the rules and noted they all sounded standard. No drinking, no drugs, quiet hours between ten pm and six am. They dismissed the group but Gypsy pointed at us. “You three. Stay behind.”
Ruthie gave a sweet smile. “Of course.” The venom in her voice sent shivers down my back. Kaleb glanced at me then back to Gypsy and Princeton.
“Sammy has nothing to do with this. Let her go back to the room.”
The common area emptied out except for us. I stood with the intention of listening to Kaleb and going back to the room, but energy moved over me and I knew a barrier had appeared. I crossed my arms and faced the two RAs. “Seriously?” I let out an annoyed sigh.
“Two children of the Apocalypse and an angel. What on earth could be going on here? Death’s… Daughter? Famine’s son?” Gypsy laughed and clapped her hands together. “Oh, we all seemed to have picked the same college searching for the same thing.” Her eyes landed on me. “Where’s your father, dear?”
I shrugged. “I have no idea.” It wasn’t a lie as I didn’t know what plane of existence he lived on. “If you find him, tell him I say hi.” I gave a half smile.
Ruthie snorted. “Are we really going to do this here in the middle of the dorms? Witnesses or not, we all know we’re evenly matched. Your boss would be pissed if you blew your cover.”
We all stared at each other for a moment. My muscles tensed as Gypsy crossed her arms. I wanted nothing more than to wipe the smirk off her face.
“We have other things to focus on anyways. You three just make sure you stay out of our way.” She spun around and walked away.
The barrier faded and I turned to Kaleb and Ruthie. “Friends of yours?”
“You just met the personifications of Envy and Pride.” Ruthie shook her head. “Two of the Seven Deadly Sins. Makes me wonder where the other five are.” She glanced around the room as if expecting them to appear.
I let out a huff of breath. “I could be walking by demons and angels all day long and I’d never know.”
“Pretty much, welcome to being a human.” Kaleb patted me on the shoulder. “The abilities will come, and if they don’t…maybe it’s because you’re a woman.”
The glare Ruthie shot him should have killed him. “It is not because she’s a woman. It’s because she’s never been exposed to our world before.” She rubbed her eyes. “This changes things a little bit. We thought the lower level demon was after you, but finding the daughter of Death isn’t a job that should be passed to higher demons.”
I paused and replayed the scene. “They don’t know where Death is, that’s why they are here.” I frowned. “Death doesn’t appear physically in this plane often?”
“He shows up to reap, but even then most of the time it’s a projection of himself.” Ruthie glanced at me. “I think you’re right.”
“This area is about to have one of the highest death tolls from the Black Death the state has seen. The news stated that the epidemic is originating here and spreading.” I shook my head. “I hate that I know this, but my guess is that they are hoping they can catch him here.”
We all took a moment to consider it. “Talk to him about it wh
en you see him.” Ruthie finally said. “If he knows about it than he can avoid them for longer.”
Kaleb sighed. “Let’s hope that we get a handle on this and figure it out. I’ll see you two tomorrow.” He walked towards the men’s side of the dorm.
Ruthie and I headed towards our room. “We’re in trouble if all seven of them are here. Have you seen any demons running around?”
I glared at her. “I can’t see the difference yet. Remember?”
She grumbled and opened our door. She shut the door and paced the room. “I hope you’re up for this.”
I lay on the bed and stared at the ceiling. “So do I.”
3
I slammed my math book shut. Two weeks of class and the homework was trying to bring me down. My teacher seemed to have it out for me and the only thing that kept me from dropping the class was Jared. He helped tutor me when he could, despite my claims of having a study group already. It wasn’t a matter of not understanding the material, but that the professor wanted me to fail. I knew it. I glanced at the clock. “I have to go meet with Death before I pick my mom up tonight. What are you and the boys up to this weekend?”
“Kaleb plans on spending the entire weekend in the library and the rest of us plan on going to different events to make sure you and your mom stay safe, without blowing your cover.”
We weren’t sure why mom didn’t know I was Death’s daughter, but we assumed blissful ignorance. She didn’t want to see it, therefore she didn’t. Everyone else seemed to know at the mere sight of me. None of my abilities had shown up yet. My skills with a Bo staff improved from the first day, but Death had yet to let me have a scythe, mostly because I couldn’t summon my own yet. In a fight, Ruthie would be able to throw me one of her staffs, but nothing more. I needed to learn to use what I’d have.
I nodded and put my book away. “That completes all my homework for the weekend. I’m looking forward to a weekend of fun.”
“Just keep your eyes peeled and try not to step on any demon toes while you’re out.” She grinned. “We’ll see you around and I’ll try to stay out of your way.”
Children of the Apocalypse Complete Trilogy Page 4