Path of the Horseman

by Amy Braun

  Finally, the Vermilion troops led us out of the shops and into the lobby of the Venetian. It was immaculate, shining from the hand painted frescos on the ceiling to the golden and brown checkered floor. The pillars on either side of the hall made the lobby even more cavernous. Our footsteps could echo for hours.

  The one difference from this Venetian to the one in my implanted memories was in the middle of the hall by the front desk. There used to be a large golden globe mounted on a marble pedestal. In its place was a massive high-backed chair made of oak and blood red Victorian print.

  I had to roll my eyes at that. Only Kade would want a throne after the world ended.

  “Wait here for the Emperor,” directed our soldier/tour guide. “He’ll be with you at his earliest convenience. He’ll make sure you’re fed and looked after.”

  “What about the others that came with us?” I asked as he turned away.

  “As long as they can follow the same rules as you, they won’t be harmed,” assured the Vermilion. “You can see them when Emperor Kade allows it.”

  I scowled at the boot-licker. Not seeing Maddy or the others was making me antsy. I needed to know what they were thinking, if I could explain it in such a way that they wouldn’t freak out and lose faith in my protection over them. It had worked for my brother. Kind of.

  Kade’s subjects seemed okay, but it was impossible to miss their tiredness and fear. I didn’t want to know what Kade would do to fresh finds like the group we’d been traveling with. Especially since I hadn’t seen many beautiful women hustling and bustling through the shops.

  The Vermilion nodded to his friends and led them back the way we’d come. I watched them leave, half debating on chasing down the brownnoser and throttling him until he told me where Maddy and the others were.

  Simon’s heavy sigh stopped me.

  I turned around and found him slumped against the side of the marble pedestal. His hoodie and jeans were covered in dirt, grime, and blood, and his hair was a tangled brown mess. He pulled his knees up to his chest and scrubbed his face with both hands. I took a couple steps closer to him.

  “You okay?”

  Simon lowered his hands. “Yeah. Sure.”

  I looked down. The patches of missing skin on my chest was still raw, pinching when I moved. I shrugged off my rucksack, took off my machete, and placed my hand on my chest. There was no point in holding back now. Black smoke eased off my fingertips and coated the wound, knitting the skin together. I’d close the wound, but my human body would still gain a scar. Even now, I could feel the limits of my power. In the past, I could have healed this wound in an instant. Now it would take a couple minutes.

  “What did Ciaran tell you?” Simon asked after I was healed.

  “He wanted to know where Kade and Logan were. He’s collecting us for something. The four of us, and the humans too. He said he had something special planned.”

  “That’s it?”

  “That’s it.”

  Simon exhaled and shoved his hands through his hair. He pulled his knees closer to his chest. “So we’re fucked.”

  “We don’t know that yet,” I countered. “We don’t know what his plans are, and we escaped him.”

  “For how long? Kade’s dying to fight him. All he’s doing now is biding his time so he has something to distract him from killing every person he sees.”

  “Then we’ll have to wait and see if Ciaran makes a move,” I said.

  “If he does, you think he’s just going to put his toe in the water? Demons don’t take offense lightly, and when he comes back, he’s going to tear us to pieces.”

  “You don’t know that.”

  “No?” Simon’s voice was beginning to rise and echo though the lobby. “Then what’s your theory, genius? Ciaran practically told the humans what we were. You showed them the rest. It won’t be long before they put it all together thanks to Ciaran’s helpful theory.”

  “What the fuck do you want me to say?” I snapped. “I was trying to kill them and get us out.”

  “Use your fucking brain for once, Avery! He wasn’t doing that just for fun. Demons think big. He wanted them to see what we are, and I don’t think it’s just because he wanted to make them run for pitchforks and torches in exchange for their souls.”

  “I have no idea what he wants, Sime,” I shot. “The asshole wouldn’t have told me if I begged and let him cut off my hands. Ciaran’s going to stick behind the scenes and plot for a while, so we just have to keep Kade from losing his shit.”

  Simon scoffed. “Yeah, ‘cause that’ll be just another walking in the park.” He curled his arms around his knees, looking like a pitiful lost child. “This is a bad idea. The humans know too much now. We shouldn’t be here.”

  “Where else are we gonna go?”

  “We can see what Canada’s like. We’re not that far from the coast. Vancouver Island is on the west side. We’d have water from the ocean, who knows what else.”

  I crossed my arms. “So, what? We just ditch Kade, Logan, and the humans to be fishermen? That’s the plan?”

  Simon’s eyes flashed a deep, dangerous black. He let go of his knees and got to his feet. “It’s better than you waiting for suicide,” he shouted. “Not all of us have a wannabe-hero complex.”

  My own temper started to rise. “Least I’m not scared to try and help people.”

  “Jesus, Avery, why the fuck do you care?! We were made to kill them all. What good is saving a handful of them going to do? You think they’ll fucking thank us now that they know you started the Plague?”

  “I didn’t think they’d leave us here!” I shouted back. “If the Bosses just opened the seal, let us do our jobs, and took us home, I wouldn’t give a shit! But they left us here, as goddamn humans, and it was for a reason! They must have known some humans would have survived, and they’d be living the Second–”

  “Don’t start that Second Coming shit again!” Simon interrupted. “You don’t know a fucking thing about it! You ever think that they’re keeping us here so we can kill off the rest of the humans? That maybe when each and every one of them is gone, we can go home?”

  “That’s not true.” I wasn’t shouting anymore, but I was tipping to the point of fury.

  “Did someone else tell you differently? Because all I remember was being told that it was time to kill all of humanity. You were the only one that believed in that redemption shit. The rest of us know the truth.”

  “Which is?”

  Simon’s eyes were blacker than I’d ever seen them. He was as close to losing control as I was.

  “That there is no Second Coming. There won’t be any redemption. Earth is going to be wiped clean in a few years, probably when Logan’s done with every living thing left. We’re going to die, and there won’t be anything left behind. It’ll be Heaven, Hell, and nothing in between.”

  I’m not sure what exactly set me off or why. I don’t even remember moving. One minute I was standing across from my older brother with my fists balled at my side. Next thing I knew, one of those fists was crashing into Simon’s cheek.

  He stumbled with the hit, lightly touching his cheek like he couldn’t believe I’d put the bruise there. Frankly, I was just as shocked, but I didn’t apologize. Maybe that was my mistake, because Simon came back swinging.

  When Simon punched me in the gut, he gave it a little extra firepower. The moment his fist drew back, I felt the worst stomach cramp of my life. I staggered back, wrapping an arm around my middle, and just barely seeing the white smoke twisting around his knuckles.

  The cramp shuddered, sending a ripple of crushing pain through me. It wasn’t so much hunger pains as it was my stomach twitching and shriveling to the size of a single fist. I drew on some of my own power, working it through my clothes to counter Simon’s magic. It worked, but the pain was still there. I looked at him with murder in my eyes.

  Before Simon could defend himself, I shot out one of my hands and sent a wall of black smoke toward his fac
e. It slammed into his chest and nearly knocked him on his ass. He twitched and shook, trying to scratch off bugs that weren’t there. I straightened up as he placed his hand on his chest and reversed my poison. By the time he stopped the dermatillomania, I was on him again.

  I clocked Simon in the side of the head, and blocked his next punch. He tried to grab my wrist and use more power, but I swept his arm around and shoved him back. Simon kicked at me, but I batted his foot down and punched him in the kidney. He winced and shuffled back, then rushed forward and tackled me again.

  I landed on my back, but rolled to keep him from getting the upper hand. Simon swung his arms wildly, wrenching away every time I thought I’d be able to catch him. I shoved my hand under his neck and pushed him down, but one of his flailing fists plowed into my chin and rocked my head back. That made it easy for Simon to throw me off of him.

  I scrambled back before he could hit me again, getting into a fighting stance and balling black smoke into my fists. Simon stood across from me, white smoke rippling from his hands while his eyes burned black with hate.

  “You won’t save anyone,” he shouted. “You’re the reason they started dying in the first place.”

  I snarled and lunged at him, not paying attention to anything else around me.

  Which is how I nearly got set on fire.

  A blast of blood-red flame shot in between Simon and me, stopping us from killing each other. We stared at the flames as they slid across the smooth floor and churned back into themselves. We both looked in the direction they had come.

  Kade was leaning against one of the pillars with a bored expression on his face. He had changed out of his Kevlar motocross suit into a black t-shirt and green army cargo pants. Old scars lined his arms as they folded over his chest, each one seeming prouder than the next. Kade didn’t have his war-hammer with him, but two thick hatchets hung on either side of his belt, hunting blades were belted to his shins, and two Bowie knives were nestled under his arms in shoulder holsters.

  “You bitches done slapping each other yet?” he asked a dull voice.

  We knew better than to say anything childish. I risked a glance at Simon, a twinge of guilt going through me as he wiped blood from his split lip.

  “I’ll take that as a yes,” Kade drawled, peeling himself away from the pillar and slowly walking toward us. “You two better not start that shit again,” he grinned, “at least not without me.”

  Kade stopped next to us, putting us in an uncomfortable Mexican standoff. He scrutinized us both for a long time, daring us to make a move against him or each other. Kade wouldn’t fight us unless we provoked him, and I sure as hell wasn’t in the mood for another scuffle. Not when I knew that Kade would take me apart without even trying.

  “So what sparked the hissy fit?” our brother finally asked. “Was it the pets you brought along?”

  Thinking about them made my blood pound just a little bit harder. I couldn’t seem to kill this overprotective streak when it came to that group of humans. We had lost two already. I wouldn’t forgive myself if we lost more.

  “We need to keep them alive,” I blurted. To my amazement, Kade didn’t immediately insult me. “Ciaran is planning something for them, and us. He wanted me to find you and Logan, and he tried to kill Simon.”

  “If he wanted to find us, why’d he try to kill him?”

  “He said something about us being part of a collection, but he made it sound like Simon wasn’t as valuable.”

  I looked at the brother I’d just attacked. He was frowning intently at the ground, not sure whether to be relieved or insulted that a demon didn’t want very much to do with him.

  “Slime’s got his tricks, but he’s never been more than a magician. You make it sound like Ciaran is looking for tougher game.” Kade clapped Simon on the shoulder and shook him roughly. “That’s okay, Slime. Some people just don’t have the skills that matter.”

  “This is serious, Kade.”

  “No it isn’t,” he argued, shoving Simon away. “Ciaran hunting us is a challenge, and a damn good one. He’s been hiding underground for too long. I want him to come out and take a shot at me.”

  “Why, so he can knock you off your stolen throne?”

  Simon flinched and backed away. Kade turned and started walking closer to me.

  “Oh, ye of little faith,” rumbled my brother. “The only place that sulfuric shit-bag is going is back to Hell in pieces. No one takes what belongs to me.”

  While Simon’s eyes were starting to return to their usual nervous graphite shade, Kade’s were almost always pitch black. One more disrespecting word and he would break me like a twig.

  “There’s a bigger picture here,” I reasoned. “If the humans die, we’ll have failed our mission.”

  Kade stared at me. “So? They’re weak. Cowards and brownnosers that’ll do anything to survive. Watch.”

  Kade turned around and looked past the pillars leading to the rest of the hotel. Polishing silently in the corner was the scrappiest man I’d ever seen. He looked like a skeleton wearing a beef jerky suit and a rag coat. I had no idea how long he’d been there, or if he’d been the one to tell Kade about my fight with Simon, but he had been invisible to me.

  “Hey,” Kade called, pointing to the thin, dirty man. “Come here.”

  The man obeyed, stepping out of from the shelter of the pillars to the middle of the lobby with us, but he looked terrified. He hobbled quickly until he stood in front of Kade. The man stared at his feet, too scared to look Kade in the eye.

  “What can I do for you, my Emperor?”

  Kade smiled. He was a man who loved his title.

  “So glad you asked,” sneered Kade. “My boots need polishing. Lick them.”

  The man almost looked up, then thought better of it.

  “Kade, come on,” Simon groaned.

  Our brother glared impatiently. “Slime, I’m trying to teach a lesson here. Shut the fuck up.”

  Kade was the only person I knew who could make a casual threat sound utterly lethal. Simon wisely shifted on his feet, shoved his hands in his jean pockets and looked away. Kade turned back to the ragged man, crossing his arms over his gigantic chest.

  “Well, what are you waiting for, bones? I don’t have all day.”

  The man hesitated again, but soon bent his knees until they pressed onto the cold, hard floor in front of Kade’s legs. Then he went lower. I don’t know what made me sicker– watching Kade debase this innocent, weary man, or that the man was willing to be debased.

  He bent his head, tentatively sticking his tongue out to Kade’s boot.

  “God, you’re slow,” Kade grumbled.

  He snapped his boot up, kicking the man viciously in the chin. The man yelped as his head was wrenched back. Blood spewed from his mouth and splattered onto the tile. I could see a little chunk of bitten off tongue lying on the floor. Kade kicked him in the ribs. The man groaned and curled into himself.

  I glared at Kade, hating him even more than I had before.

  He turned around and faced me, the smallest flicker of triumph on his face.

  “See? They’re scared shitless of us, Pest. And why shouldn’t they be? We’re the stuff of nightmares. At least the demons are more fun to draw out. Plagued are good to experiment on, but they don’t have the brain matter to fight back, thanks to you. And the humans just flocked to me the moment I gave them something to aspire to. I took the strongest ones, made them better fighters than they ever dreamed they could be. The rest work on getting us food, water, and any other shit I say we need. That’s how governments work.”