Path of the Horseman

by Amy Braun

  Simon nodded. “Maddy got them out and told them to run to the main road and follow it. I don’t know where they’ll go or how far they’ll get, but it was all we could do for them.”

  I frowned, but didn’t protest about that either. We saved a dozen humans from demons and their Soulless minions. It was a fucking hard world to live in, but they’d either adapt, or give up and wait for Logan to pay a visit. I looked at my older brother.

  “What about the Soulless? And the radio transmission?”

  “While you were fighting the demon, I had to make a quick trip into one of the RVs.” Logan’s eyes darkened, and I thought about the boy that had been dragged into one of the RV’s by a Soulless. “I found the transmission and destroyed it. No other signals will be sent out. As for the Soulless themselves, only a few remain alive,” he answered. “I suppose it was a good thing they did, since we can interrogate him. I would have preferred to talk to the demon, but…” Logan trailed off and looked at headless Bulky by the bonfire. Maddy was standing by the body, staring at the fire beside it.

  No, wait, she’s looking at… Oh.

  “We should talk to that Soulless while we can,” I said. “It probably won’t be long before he heals himself and scurries home to Ciaran.”

  Simon grinned wickedly. “I wouldn’t worry about that,” he said. “He’s got some pretty bad hunger pains and is too weak to move.” His smug smirk faded. “But we shouldn’t hang around. Ciaran and Vance escaped, and they’ll know something happened here. And there’s still Kade to deal with.”

  I was kind of wishing I’d gotten my ass kicked harder.

  “Okay, let’s talk to the hungry vampire.”

  Simon and Logan walked away, moving around the fading wall of demonfire. At least there wasn’t much around by way of plants. I definitely had not come here to see this desert literally turn into the Valley of Fire.

  I made my way over to Maddy, who was staring at the blackened legs of the woman in the bonfire. Her hands were loose at her sides, like she was ready to drag the woman out of the flames, even though it was way too late for her.

  “Hey,” I said gently. “You okay?”

  Stupid question, but it was a universal phrase for humans to use when they were concerned for someone and didn’t know how to talk to them.

  “It wasn’t supposed to be like this,” Maddy whispered. I barely heard her over the crackling flames, and had to step closer. “I wasn’t expecting the Garden of Eden or anything, but I thought there would be life here. Something to give me hope. Proof we could start over.”

  Maddy dropped her head and shook it. “God, I’m such an idiot.”

  My hand curled around her shoulder. “No you’re not.”

  When she didn’t respond, I used my hand to turn her to face me. Tears lined Maddy’s cheeks, glittering like crystals in the shadows of the dancing bonfire. She still looked beautiful, but it was heartbreaking to see her this way. I used my free thumb to wipe away her tears. She didn’t try to stop me.

  “This was just a piece of land, Mads, remember? Any haven you find is just going to be a piece of cracked, dead earth. It doesn’t matter where you choose to live. If you want to make it a home, just drop your bag and claim it as yours.” I smiled at her. “I recommend a mansion with a beach view. Nobody’s gonna come knocking for property taxes.”

  Maddy’s laugh was short and hitched, but it was real. I couldn’t ask for more. Though I didn’t protest when she threw her arms around me and crushed her face into my chest. I put my arms around her, holding her gently, and understanding why humans enjoyed this kind of close contact.

  “I’m sorry I was so hard on you,” she mumbled into my shirt, not caring about the bloodstains and dirt on it. “I should have gone with my instincts.”

  “You had instincts about me?” I asked, my hand stroking her soft hair, warmed by the fire at her back. “Did they tell you to run away screaming?”

  Maddy gave her hurt laugh again, then pulled her head away. She looked at me with so much trust and sincerity it hurt my heart. And I didn’t want the pain to stop.

  “No,” she told me. “They said you’d save us.”

  I went still, not just because her statement was painfully ironic, but because I wondered if I could do it. Could I find the other humans Ciaran and Vance had captured, and save them from the demons? Could I find a way to release Kade’s stranglehold on the mortals he’d claimed? Could I really make a difference in the lives of all the people I had ruined, knowing they’d never forgive me if they knew the truth?

  Did I deserve to?

  “Hey lovebirds,” Simon called. “I’d say take an RV and get it over with, but we have a dying Soulless to question. Some of us have places to be, you know!”

  Maddy looked a little guilty, and slipped out of my arms. I turned and scowled at my brother, who merely blinked at me. I made a mental note to punch Simon if he interrupted my next moment with Maddy.

  Resigning myself to business and not thinking about the beautiful, hopeful girl who believed I was a savior after all, I crossed the campground to where Simon was standing, Logan was kneeling, and the Soulless was lying. Maddy stood off to the side, eager to watch but not wanting to get too close to the Soulless. Smart girl. Just because the Soulless was dying, didn’t mean he wasn’t dangerous.

  Though when I cocked my head to the side and looked down at the Soulless, I didn’t see much of a threat. I’d seen plenty of starved corpses in my time on this dried out rock, but seeing an emaciated Soulless disturbed even me. The paper pale skin clung to the man’s bones, his blue veins sticking out like worms under his skin. The Soulless’ bloodshot eyes were wide with pain and anger. I almost felt bad for the bastard.

  Then I thought about the screams of the woman being dragged to the bonfire, and changed my mind.

  “You...” rasped the Soulless. “You killed them all.”

  “Yeah,” I agreed. “We do that. Want to tell us what you were planning to do with the humans? Why did Ciaran take those other ones away?”

  A loud grumble came from Soulless’ stomach. I could hear it rattling his bones. Not pleasant.

  “They’re chosen for others. Reserved.” His bloody eyes met mine with a nasty smile. “Like you and your kind will be.”

  “And just who are these ‘others’?” I asked, hoping I seemed bored instead of tense.

  The Soulless laughed, a creepy, rattling noise that tuned into a savage coughing fit.

  “You’ll know soon enough, Horseman. They’ll pay top dollar for you. After they make their special stop.”

  I didn’t get it until I heard Maddy’s sharp intake of breath.

  Oh no.

  I must not have been restraining myself as well as I thought, because the starved Soulless began laughing at me. I wondered if Ciaran could see through his eyes, and if the Paladin demon was getting the actual amusement from all this.

  My question was answered when the Soulless croaked, “Come back, Avery. Your brother misses you.”

  Logan’s hand moved suddenly. He pressed his fingers to the Soulless’ head, let a burst of pale smoke sink in, and killed the man.

  “We need to get back,” I said, already turning away for the hill.

  “Into the obvious trap?” Simon said to my back. “Not a good idea.”

  “It doesn’t matter. Kade’s there. We have to help him.”

  “That’s a terrible reason for your worse idea,” argued Simon. “Kade’s probably furious with both of us, and I’m in no rush to face him. He can take care of himself.”

  I whirled on Simon, fists balled at my side. “And how many people are going to die because we want to stay safe? We know where Ciaran is. We can end this now.”

  “I agree with Simon,” came Logan’s ice cool voice. “This is not a wise battle to fight. War is Kade’s essence. If anything, he’ll thrive from this.”

  “That’s what you have to tell me? Really? After you just gave me shit about draining myself? How much do
you think Kade’s going to care about that?”

  My brothers didn’t say anything.

  “Kade’s a sick bastard and king of the assholes, but he’s our brother and has humans with him. Those are the only reasons I need to go back.”

  I looked at both my brothers, knowing Maddy would come with me.

  Simon shifted from side to side, as though he were weighing the options of running away and facing his most feared enemies and his dangerous brother. I honestly couldn’t tell if he was willing to stand by me, or if he’d finally had enough.

  Simon sighed. “We should try getting the horses to ride back to the car. It’s still a long drive.”

  I nodded gratefully at him, then looked at Logan. His expression caught me off guard.

  When Logan saw a death coming his way, a glassy distance filled his eyes. They didn’t glaze over and he was aware of everything around him, but he looked like he was on another planet. I wondered if my choice to go back to help Kade had changed the future of someone close to me. Logan couldn’t see the future, only get glimpses of who was going to die. He couldn’t change the circumstances, and wouldn’t if he had the chance. Logan caught up with everyone in the end.

  My brother blinked and relaxed his shoulders.

  “I’ll call Orcus back with the horses. You three can take the car.”

  “Are you going to be able to keep up?” Maddy asked curiously.

  Logan smiled at her. It was a nice smile, but understanding what he was made it menacing to her.

  “Nothing can outrun Death,” he told her.

  Chapter 19

  Even when Simon got the car on the road and pressed the gas pedal to the floor, it still took us over an hour to get back to Las Vegas. As we made the home stretch with Logan riding Orcus a few feet behind us, Maddy, Simon, and I saw the broken hotel towers stabbing into the sky. But that wasn’t why Maddy’s breath caught, why I cursed, or why Simon drove faster.

  No, we did all those things because downtown Vegas was on fire.

  Giant plumes of smoke smothered the rising sun, blotting out any hints of color coming from the horizon. The remaining palm trees in the middle of the road were free standing torches, the trunks of the trees blackening as the fire engulfed them. Hundreds of Plagued migrated deeper onto the Strip, some primal part of their dead brains drawing them toward the bright lights and angry noises.

  Simon cursed as we drove into the city, swerving around the walking dead. The car jerked when he bumped into a few of them. The Plagued turned our way with painful slowness, but Simon had already passed them. I wasn’t worried about Logan, who was keeping pace behind us. If he got into trouble, all he had to do was send out a blast of pale smoke, and the Plagued would drop from instant, permanent death.

  I had to give Simon credit for getting us to the Venetian without crashing. Then I saw that the Venetian was almost completely overrun with not just Plagued, but Soulless as well.

  There were hundreds of them. Maybe a thousand. The undead and demon-twisted converged on the hotel like flies to a corpse. The Plagued clawed at the walls, dragging their decaying fingernails along the stone and metal, not caring when their fingertips were shredded to the bone. The Soulless used the Plagued as stepping stones, attempting to vault the wall. Most of them were on the bridge leading from the Strip, the same entrance we used to come here just two days ago.

  When Simon stopped the car, I bolted from the car and jumped onto the roof to get a better view.

  The crimson-clad Vermilions were scrambling to fight the incredible horde. Harsh cracks of gunfire could be heard against the moans and screeches of the hungry monsters. Blasts of orange fire clashed with black and red flames. Kade was out there, on the front lines, fighting a demon.

  I didn’t wait for the others. I grabbed the machete from my back, jumped off the car hood, and dove into the fray.

  We were fairly close to the crevice I’d created to escape with Maddy, but it didn’t seem like the Plagued crowding the space had gotten through. That space would be clear enough for me to get through and run to the wall where Kade was fighting.

  I slashed my machete down, severing the spine of the first Plagued in my way. It crumpled and I hurtled over it, swinging at the next one. Arrows flew over my shoulder, Simon helping me clear a path. Pale smoke slithered past me, killing any Plagued flesh it touched. Someone was fighting behind me, wisely staying out of range from the machete as I hacked my way through corpses the same way I’d hacked through Logan’s creosote wall.

  It only took a couple minutes to see the crevice I had made. I shouldered between two Plagued and squeezed through. It was fairly clear on the restaurant patio behind the wall, so I turned back around and cut down the Plagued trying to follow me in. Maddy, Simon, and Logan were sticking close together, a haze of pale smoke curved around them as a protective shield, leaving only their front exposed and killing any Plagued that got too close.

  I grabbed Maddy’s hand and pulled her to the other side of the wall. As my brothers followed, I turned and took on the Plagued that slipped through before us.

  Using the knife I’d given her, Maddy darted from one Plagued to the next, jamming the blade into the skulls of any Plagued in her way. She moved quickly and efficiently, never staying in the same place longer than she had to. By the time I went to help her, the patio was cleared.

  The four of us stood by the crevice, Logan working with his death-smoke to keep the Plagued back. I glanced over my shoulder to where the Vermilions were fighting the worst of the horde. Bright red flames whipped over Kade’s wall, blasting over the Plagued and Soulless. The enemy responded by tossing over a wave of black and red demonfire. I could hear the death-screams even from where I was standing.

  “We have to get moving,” I said.

  Logan whistled sharply, making the rest of us jump. I looked past him, seeing a fog of pale smoke sifting through the crowds, brushing against the Plagued and killing them with a single touch. But the smoke wasn’t coming from Logan.

  It was coming from Orcus, shivering off the Horse’s body and hair like a second skin. The Horse stood triumphantly in front of the crevice, stamping his feet and looking at his master. Orcus’s eyes shone like black marbles.

  Logan stared at his Horse for a moment longer, then pulled back and turned to face us. His pale face was drawn and serious, his eyes just as black as his Horse’s.

  “Orcus will stay here. He has enough magic to keep the Plagued from entering this way.”

  There was no doubting the trust in my brother’s voice when it came to his animal. And we didn’t have time to doubt it, either.

  Logan crossed the patio toward me, looking more intense than I’d seen him in a long time.

  “Avery, you must conserve your power. We can’t afford to lose you.”

  I caught a warning underneath his words, but didn’t bother to question it. All I did was nod, turn, and start to run. Not waiting for the others, but knowing they were behind me, I bolted across the other patios, turning into the side entrance of the Venetian, and running behind the pillars making up the front entrance of the hotel. It was the same path I’d used when I was chasing after Maddy, but this time it wasn’t empty.

  Dozens of wounded were resting next to the door, holding their insides in their hands or writhing from agonizing burns that blackened their skin. They were in too much shock or pain to notice us, or even see the nurses rushing to patch them up as best as they could. Kade likely deemed these people too weak to physically fight. Otherwise he would have dragged them back to the front lines.

  It seemed like just minutes before we came to a stop at the pillars behind the wall, but what we saw left us too stunned to move.