“Shouldn’t you be at your father’s?” Ruthie’s voice whispered in my ear and I jumped just a bit. I leaned my head back to see her standing behind me.
I closed my eyes and shrugged. “Probably. I don’t feel much like getting my ass kicked today though. I had enough of that last night.”
The chair next to me squeaked across the floor and the weight of Ruthie’s hand fell on my knee. “You had a tough night. You got your first real battle wound and you and Pete made a mistake.”
Why did everyone feel the need to point that out? My heart sank with the reminder of guilt. I didn’t look at her, I kept my head leaned back and my eyes closed.
“But at the risk of sounding cliché, that was one battle and the war’s not over yet.” She patted my leg and removed her hand. “You need the practice and the help that your father can provide you. You don’t have time to mope around the library licking your wounds.”
I looked at her. “This is a crappy pep talk.”
“I don’t need to give you a pep talk. I’ll give you a reality check. There are thirty thousand people at the end of this week that will be infected with the plague. All of those will become casualties if we don’t get our asses in gear and find the horsemen. Thirty thousand deaths at least, Sammy.”
When she put it like that, the death of one horseman sounded very small. I scanned the library and watched the students. Some wore medical masks and others were wearing gloves as if it would protect them. All of them would die if I didn’t pull myself out of my state of guilt. Their blood would be on my hands. “I’ll go.”
“Good, I’m coming with you tonight to talk to Death about the other retired horsemen. I’m hoping he can help us with them and warn them before the Sins find them.”
I stood slowly and held my hand out. “Shall we go then?” Training wouldn’t solve my grief or my shattered confidence, but Ruthie was right.
She took my hand and I closed my eyes, focusing on taking us to Death’s realm. We appeared in the clearing that Death always met us at, but found it empty. I turned around in circles and looked at the vacant, dying field. My heart thundered against my chest and I shambled through the dying stalks trying to get eyes on him.
I paid no attention to Ruthie as my mind spun with worst-case scenarios. Images of him being struck down by Gluttony’s whip made bile rise in my throat. Death appeared on a hill in the distance and relief flooded through me. I took a few deep breaths and slowed down. Sharp stabs of pain shot through me with every new step I took. Ruthie came up to my side and put a hand on my shoulder.
“You okay?”
“I’m lamenting the fact that I don’t have instant healing abilities. And recovering from the small heart attack he just gave me.” I motioned to Death.
He turned to face us and relief crossed his face. “Sammy.”
“Hi.” I tried to smile, but it was forced and lasted only a second. “Can we stick to easier lessons today? I kind of got hurt fighting a Sin.”
His gaze turned to Ruthie. “You let her face a Sin?” He snarled. “She isn’t able to fight at that level yet. What were you thinking?”
“Pete was with her, they went to see Daniel when Gluttony showed up.” She held her hands up. “I thought wherever they went they’d be able to handle it together.”
I shrugged. “Lesson learned.”
He motioned for us to head back to the clearing. “Daniel’s soul is no longer on earth and I wasn’t called to claim it.”
“It was consumed by a shadow demon.” I limped next to him. “Pete and I were both so focused on Gluttony that neither of us protected Daniel. I’m truly sorry for the screw-up.”
He put a hand on my shoulder. “Everyone makes mistakes. Next time you and Pete won’t face a Sin alone. I assume that’s why Ruthie is here? To tell me about it?”
“I’m here to see if you can warn the other retired horsemen. Gluttony mentioned that her mission had been to kill Daniel.” She didn’t look back at us, but trudged through the dead plants.
We reached the clearing and I expected to stop, but Death nudged me forward. “I can. We should be grateful that Gluttony was on a mission or she might have also killed Pete and Sammy.”
I limped forward until we came to a house in the field. Rocks made up the siding of the house, but held a modern feel to it and not the drafty, unbalanced look of old houses made from rock and mud. A white skull had been painted on the black door and windows sat on either side of the doorway. I never imagined Death living in a tiny house.
He opened the door and motioned for us to enter. “How many Sins does that make now?”
“Three, possibly four, but we haven’t been able to test the theory on the algebra professor.”
“That leaves either three four or four left. They each probably have their own mission.” We walked in and found ourselves in a small dining room. A table sat in the middle of the room with three chairs and a kettle sitting in the middle. At each seat a teacup waited to be filled. Maybe the realm bent to our needs. I sat down and Death sat next to me, turning his chair to face me. “Let me see your leg.”
I lifted my pant leg and unwrapped the bandage. “It’s nasty looking.” I warned and he rolled his eyes.
“I’m Death, I’ve seen worse.”
He had a point. I finished unwrapping it, the flesh around the barb wounds turned a shade of green and yellow that older bruises carried. Scabs covered the gashes from the whip. It looked better than it had, but I still wished for instant healing abilities.
“You were lucky, I’ve seen her sever body parts with that whip.” Bandages appeared on the table and he picked them up. “You’ll be walking normal by the end of the week.”
I let him wrap the fresh bandages around it. “We’re going to the Devil’s Playground this weekend.”
“It’s the first on our list for looking for Pestilence.” Ruthie added. “Sammy’s abilities are starting to show, she was able to summon her scythe while her mother was in town.” She kept her voice calm, but there was still an uncertainty to it, like she was afraid he wouldn’t approve.
He straightened in his chair and started to pour tea for each of us. “So your mother knows now?”
“She told me to let you know she never meant to keep me from you.” I cupped my mug when it was filled. “She doesn’t want me to be part of this world.”
He nodded. “I wouldn’t push anyone into this war either if I could help it.” He chuckled. “You just so happened to be born into it. There’s no changing that.”
Except that statement went against the idea of freewill that everyone kept telling me we still had, despite being Children of the Apocalypse. “I fought off a demon with her there. She was also with me when I noticed that the algebra teacher had red in her eyes.”
“I don’t recall that being a sign of one of the Sins. She might just be a higher classed demon.” He sipped his tea. “I think I will join you for Devil’s Playground. You’ll need a horseman or an archangel to open the seal if he’s there.”
I raised a brow. “So what happens if they get you and lock you away? That leaves us with no active horsemen.”
“Then I go petition to have an archangel join our team and our mission. It’s up to the higher ups on when it would happen. Chances are we’d have to know where all four seals were.” Ruthie ran her finger over the edge of her cup. “So let’s hope that doesn’t happen. Or we’ll end up with a Noah’s Flood case again.”
“I don’t think it’ll come down to cleansing the earth. Besides, I don’t plan on being captured. I can easily switch between realms and they aren’t able to come here.”
Ruthie took a sip. “With all of the children there, and you, then they’d have to send more than one Sin, if not all seven of them.”
“We could use the extra help.” I agreed and sipped my tea. The sweet liquid flowed over my tongue and the warmth coated my throat. The sensation helped me relax a touch and it might have been my imagination, but warmth spread to my l
eg, easing the soreness there.
“Of course you could.” He sat back and sipped his tea. “This shouldn’t be your battle alone.”
I paused at that. “I was under the impression that this was our job.”
“Yes, but I’m not going to sit around and let all of you handle it alone. The other horsemen may be missing, but I’m not going to wait on the sidelines when I know I could tip the scale between you and the Sins.”
My lips quirked up in a smile. “Good, because I don’t think I want to face another Sin right now.”
“Your scythe can be summoned now, which will help fight off any other demons they summon, like the Shadow demons. You’ll be a little bit safer.”
That would be good to remember. “Are we going to train today?”
“Do you feel up to it?” He asked and his gaze went from me to Ruthie.
“Honestly, no, but I know it needs to happen.” I focused on my tea. “Taking a break isn’t going to help my skill level.”
He cupped his hand around mine and I looked up to meet his gaze. “Neither is fighting when wounded. Today we make plans for the weekend. Tomorrow you should feel a little more up to doing at least basic forms.”
My muscles relaxed and the tension flooded out of me. “Thank you.”
Tuesday morning I found that I could move my leg with less pain and gave a sigh of relief. I had two classes this morning, then I could focus on training with Death. Ruthie hunched over her desk, her fingers pounding at the keys on her laptop. She paused in mid motion and looked at me before turning back to the furious movements.
“Did you forget about a paper again?” I asked and stretched.
She stopped and closed the laptop. “Yes, and now it’s done and e-mailed to the teacher. It wasn’t hard, they wanted an essay on the Black Death. They are trying to keep the lessons relative and are feeding off what’s in the media.”
I wrinkled my nose. “Do you get to talk about how history repeats itself and supposedly this plague will fade out too?”
“I might have said something like that, but also on how this is an anomaly and that this recent epidemic isn’t caused by poor living conditions like it was thought to be in the past.” She spun her chair around.
I raised a brow. “Thought to be in the past?”
“Pestilence decided to take a vacation, we’re pretty sure that’s where Pete comes from.” She chuckled. “It was a mess, but obviously we got it cleaned up.”
No kidding. What do Horseman do on a vacation? Besides angels… “I’m going to shower and then head to breakfast.” I slipped out of my pajamas and grabbed the fluffy robe hanging on the back of my chair.
“I’ll join you for breakfast. We can head to class and meet up for lunch? Kaleb wanted to go over some of what’s going on with the upcoming famine and I know Aeron’s been watching the possible civil war closely. They’ll want to talk about that.”
I wrapped the robe around me and secured it around my waist. “Can we not have a normal lunch?” I grabbed my shower caddy from the floor at the foot of my bed.
“We’re way past that, honey. Once things go back to normal then maybe.” She stood and arched her back, reaching her hands over her head.
I was afraid of that. I walked down the hall to the bathrooms; the only sound this early in the morning was my flip-flops hitting the floor. The idea of not having a regular conversation until the apocalypse ended weighed my mind down. I came to college to find myself. I had put as much distance between my mother and her over protectiveness as I could just to be thrown into a world of war, demons, and angels. How could someone find themselves when fighting a war? I kicked my flip-flops off outside the white tile stall and then stepped into the shower. I pulled the opaque white curtain shut and turned on the water. Droplets bounced off the walls and slid to the floor, joining the rest of the spray down the drain.
I gave it a moment to warm up and set the caddy on the ground before stepping under the water. The warmth soaked through my thick hair and dripped onto my neck as I rotated my head. Arriving at the college, my worst fear was passing my classes and finding a job. Now I had to worry about demons, plague, war, and the rise in food prices with the threat of a possible famine. I was pretty sure that wasn’t supposed to be part of the college curriculum.
I washed and got out. I dried, wrapped my robe around me, grabbed my stuff and headed back towards the dorm room.
I paused as Gypsy stepped out of her room and into the hallway. She met my gaze and her lips lifted into a smirk. I swore I saw pointed teeth, but I chalked it up to my imagination.
“Good morning, Sammy.” She crossed her arms and leaned against the wall. “I’m surprised you’re up and going. Heard you had a nasty…incident.”
I glanced down at my leg where the robe exposed some of the wound. “I’m healing well. I didn’t know demons were morning people.”
“Just me.” She picked at a manicured nail and then looked back at me. “Heard the plague is supposed to get worse, you have a lot on your plate.” She glanced up at me and threw in some sarcasm. “Don’t forget, I’m your RA, you can come to me with any of your problems and I’ll see what I can do to help. It’s my job.”
The snide tone in her voice made me want to smack her. It only added to the envy that I felt of students who were normal, those dealing with the peer pressure to drink and those who were up late studying and not learning how to fight with a scythe. I tightened my grip on my towel and caddy. “Excuse me, I have a class I need to get ready for.” I started down the hall.
“It must be tough, your first year of college and just learning what you are. It’s a crappy age as it is. You’re an adult, but not really. You still have forces in your life controlling your every move. How are you ever to discover who you are?” Her tone hadn’t changed and she went back to picking at her nails.
Her words hit me and only added to the jealousy flooding through me. It was like she had been reading my mind earlier. I forced my feet to keep moving to my room. I opened the door and put my stuff away before yanking open drawers and snatching clothes out.
I tossed my robe down a bit too hard onto the bed.
“You okay over there?” Ruthie asked.
I didn’t turn to look at her. I needed to get my thoughts and emotions under control. I had let Gypsy’s words get to me. I needed to remember that she was a Sin and despite the thoughts and feelings being real, she just amplified them. I could control this.
I took a few deep breaths. “I’m okay. Sorry, just…”
“You saw Gypsy in the hallway.” Ruthie concluded. “You’re feeling envious of something? To the point that you’re angry?”
I glanced at her over my shoulder while I got dressed. “You can’t read minds, can you?”
“No, but I’ve seen her effects often enough. It’s okay. Take a few minutes to gather yourself and we’ll head to breakfast.” She moved a few books from her desk into her backpack.
Pulling on my clothes, I tried to focus on something else. Maybe I passed my algebra test, or maybe I failed it. Oh, it was Tuesday, I could meet with Jared in the cafe for coffee. I saw him every Tuesday when I walked back from class. I don’t think it would hurt to have a few minutes to just unwind.
“Better?” Ruthie asked when I turned around.
“Yeah, I think I might take a half hour after lunch to unwind a bit before I go see Death.” I grabbed my bag and motioned to the door.
She smiled. “That might be a wise idea. I know we took it easy yesterday. But some alone time is good.”
We walked out of the room and the empty hall greeted us. The low hum of the air conditioning echoed off the walls, giving the halls a horror movie like tone.
“Do you ever take alone time?” I walked down the hall, my steps picking up as we passed Gypsy’s room and headed to the elevator.
She shrugged. “Occasionally, when I know you’re safe and I don’t need to worry about you.”
“And what do angels do in thei
r free time?” I pressed the button on the elevator and waited.
Ruthie shifted her bag from one shoulder to the other. “I go and sing karaoke.”
“I could totally see that. I bet you rock the stages at the bars.” The ding of the elevator broke through the sounds of our voices and seemed louder than normal in the early morning halls.
We walked in and the doors swished closed behind us. “It helps me relax. I really enjoy music, if I had been human I think it would have been my passion to follow.”
“Instead you got stuck being the guardian angel to the daughter of Death.” I snorted. “Do you ever resent your job?”
She shrugged. “On occasion I watch others getting to live a mortal life, be born, go through the lessons and die to find eternal peace.” We walked out of the elevator.
“Do we get eternal peace when we die?” I crossed my arms. “I never thought about that.”
She nodded. “We do, but as an angel, I don’t get to retire. To gain eternal peace I have to be killed. When you die or no longer need me, I’ll be reassigned.”
It was morbid, but I guess that was the way things worked for angels. “And when angels fall?”
“They’ve sinned in an unforgivable way. I already told you that I don’t know your mother’s sin.”
Coughing filled the air as several students passed us. One turned and spit a wad of phlegm onto the sidewalk. The others avoided it and continued on their way. The plague would wipe us all out if we didn’t manage to keep it at bay or find Pestilence.
Ruthie took my arm and guided me to the cafeteria. An uproar of angry students echoed through the hall of the building. We picked up our pace and found the crowd in front of the cafeteria. The doors were closed blocking anyone’s entrance. The crowd swarmed around two people in biohazard suits. We joined the crowd and I tried to see over the heads of the sea of people.
Children of the Apocalypse Complete Trilogy Page 9