Path of the Horseman

by Amy Braun

  Vance hung limply in Kade’s grip, his head lolled back until it was nearly touching his spine. Vance made a weird gurgling noise that made me think he was choking. Then I saw the upward curve of his lips, and knew he wasn’t choking at all.

  “Shoulda known it would happen,” Vance mumbled. “We were always gonna win. Hell was getting too crowded. Just had too wait. Earth was the best part of the deal.”

  “Deal?” I asked, stepping closer. “What deal?”

  Vance chuckled again, a fresh dribble of blood oozing out of his mouth. “Asking the wrong demon. But you made it easy. Got us new alliances. Gave us even more.” Vance smiled at Kade. “Knew you’d break one, didn’t you?” The demon slid his eyes over to me, still grinning with bloody teeth. “Thanks for giving him the push. Wasn’t sure how noble his heart really was.”

  I stared, not sure who he was talking about. But then I looked at Kade, and the pieces fell into place.

  “Josh…” Simon breathed. “He wouldn’t… He wouldn’t do that.”

  Vance laughed, coughing and hacking up flecks of blood onto Kade’s hands. My brother was too furious to notice.

  “Ask him yourself. He’s out now.”

  Kade snarled. “Bullshit. I locked him up tight. He didn’t have the strength to escape.”

  “Not alone. But I’m not the only demon here.”

  Kade lost the last slivers of his control. He placed his hands on either side of Vance’s face, and pushed his thumbs into the demon’s eyes.

  My brother’s face was like a rabid wolf’s, his lips peeled back in a ferocious snarl, wildness and savagery turning his eyes pitch black. The veins on his neck bulged as he strained his muscles, shoving his thumbs deeper into Vance’s now bleeding eyes.

  The demon screamed one moment and laughed the next, skipping between agony and mirth like a broken record. The tortured Soulless wailed around us, reminding me too much of memories I was desperately trying to forget.

  Logan couldn’t take it any more. His uncovered hand darted forward and pressed against Vance’s forehead. Pale smoke drifted out of his hand and sank into Vance, killing him instantly. Kade took his bloody hands back, snapping wildly at his brother. Logan held his stare without blinking once.

  “Get your priorities straight, Kade,” he said. “Ciaran is here.”

  My heart became a rock that plummeted into my stomach. Maddy.

  I grabbed my machete, got to my feet, and starting running before we could form a plan. I didn’t care about one. If Josh really had sold Kade and his people out to the demons, then she was in terrible danger.

  And I had sent her to it.

  Chapter 20

  Simon was shouting my name, telling me to slow down and wait, but I didn’t. I couldn’t. All I could think about were the images Kade had taunted me with a few days ago, and how they could become a reality right now.

  I shoved open the hotel entrance with no clue where to start looking. I slowed down and moved in a circle, searching for any sign of where she’d have gone. All I saw were bodies.

  Nothing had gotten past us, I was damn certain about that, but the guards inside were slabs of burnt meat nonetheless. The heavy, sickening smell of torched skin kicked in my gag reflex, stopping only when I forced myself to look away.

  Three more Vermilions lay on the floor near the entrance to the canal shops, the blood pooling under them nearly matching their crimson coats. A trail of blood led into the shops, beckoning me to come closer.

  I heard my brothers come in, and Kade let out a string of violent curses too fast for me to keep up with, but I still didn’t wait for them. I ran for the entrance to the shops, and stepped into another slaughter.

  Broken glass and bloodstains tarnished the smooth floor. The corpses of Kade’s innocent humans were strewn on the walkways, some of them even tossed into the empty canal or lying half over the bridge. I could see some Soulless had made it inside, their mouths latched onto the throats of the few humans with blood to spare. The humans weren’t protesting, because they weren’t alive.

  But not all of the bodies in the shops belonged to the dead. In the middle of the hall, across the bridge at a crossroads, stood a group of Soulless holding human captives. There were about seven survivors, and I recognized Ricardo and Laurel among them. Only one human was untouched by the Soulless.

  I knew Kade had been angry with Josh for causing a fire and attempting to escape. I knew he would punish the human after he protected his fortress. But even I was shocked that Josh looked the way he did, and was still able to breathe.

  Both of the human’s eyes were puffy and ringed in black bruises. His lip was swollen and split. Blood streamed down from a cut above his left eyebrow while a huge bruise formed over the right. Josh’s nose seemed to have been broken more than once. Distorted contusions ringed Josh’s arms, and he seemed to be favoring his right leg. Josh’s right arm was wrapped around his left side, probably to cover up the battered ribs underneath. Patches of blood seeped through his shirt, evidence of torture I couldn’t see.

  Standing confidently next to him in his long black overcoat, was Ciaran. There was blood on his clothes as well, but none of it was his, and unlike Josh, it didn’t take away from his appearance. It only made him look stronger. The Paladin had the smug look of someone who knew they had achieved a great victory, and who didn’t care about what he’d sacrificed.

  But I didn’t pay as much attention to them as I should have. I couldn’t. Not when he was holding Maddy.

  The human girl had been forced onto her knees with Ciaran at her back. One of his hands was stroking the side of her hair, while his other one was gripping her throat. Maddy was sporting a few new bruises on her face and was breathing hard, but at least she was breathing. Her navy blue eyes were big and wild, looking at me with fear.

  But not for herself. For me.

  Past them, I could see the anger hiding underneath her complacency. Maddy wanted to fight, but if she so much as twitched, Ciaran would kill her. Even if she did get free, the Soulless standing beside their master would subdue her. And it was clear Josh was no longer an ally.

  “I’m assuming Vance won’t be joining us,” Ciaran said casually when we crossed the bridge to stand a few feet away from him.

  “Not a fucking chance,” growled Kade. “And you’re going to be joining him soon, coal-eater.” He turned his head slightly, focusing on the humans. “Right after I deal with those two fucking traitors.”

  Ciaran chuckled. “Oh, Kade, don’t tell me you’re going to punish poor, sweet Madeline here,” he stroked the side of her face as he said her name. She cringed, and his smile widened. “She has nothing but loyalty to your brother. If you really want to point the finger at someone, simply touch your chest. It was your actions that brought this little circus into town.”

  “You dare–”

  “Spare me, Horseman,” snapped the Paladin at Kade. “You crave the pain of others. You feed on their screams. Why do you think it was so easy for me to slip inside during that Plagued attack? I saw what you were doing to this human,” Ciaran nodded in Josh’s direction. He didn’t flinch, but he edged away from the demon. “Once I saw what you’d done to him, all I had to do was offer him respite. He knows my name, because I had Vance whisper it into his ear when he was captured with your brothers. You were unconscious and none of the other humans seemed strong enough to handle my gifts. I knew it was just matter of time before he lost his temper. Having Kade torture him just made him give in quicker.” Ciaran tilted his head, considering Kade. “He’s a little less torn up than when you left him, isn’t he? Watch this.”

  Ciaran removed his hand from Maddy’s neck and reached out for Josh. The hand that had been stroking Maddy’s hair suddenly latched onto the top of her head, gripping her honey blonde hair by the root and pulling sharply. She hissed in pain, and I took a quick step forward.

  “Please, Avery,” Ciaran said impatiently. “I’m trying to make a demonstration.”

 
I froze in place, reading Maddy’s face as she relaxed. I knew it wasn’t the worst pain she could be in, but the thought of her in pain at all infuriated me to a depth I didn’t realize I had. Tearing my eyes from hers, I watched Ciaran touch Josh’s chest, right over his heart. The human betrayer flinched and suddenly screamed, arching his back as if something was being pulled out of his body.

  Which it was.

  When Josh couldn’t take the pain anymore and collapsed onto the floor, clutching his chest and gasping for air, Ciaran remained standing with something in his hand. A small, silver wisp of light.

  A soul.

  Ciaran smiled at it, then curled his hand and drew Josh’s soul over to his own body. He pressed his hand to his chest, trapping Josh’s soul against him. The silver glow began to fade as the demon absorbed the soul.

  Josh stopped gasping. He sat up like a recently reanimated corpse, staring at us with his new face. The bruises and wounds were gone, replaced with pasty, blue-veined skin. Josh’s steel blue eyes had turned bloodshot with dismal black pupils.

  “Josh,” Maddy whispered.

  He heard her with new ears and looked at her. Not with the desire and affection I’d seen before. But with something more primal.

  Hunger.

  Maddy tried to move, but Ciaran cupped her chin roughly and untangled his other hand from her hair to rest on her shoulder.

  “Shh,” the demon soothed. “It’s all right, Madeline. Josh is feeling much better now. Aren’t you, Josh?”

  A rumble came out of the newly Soulless man’s throat. It was impossible to tell if it was a warning for Ciaran to back off, or if he was fighting the urge to devour Maddy right then and there. Fresh Soulless were always starving after they gave up their essence.

  “Josh here promised me his soul in exchange for your suffering,” Ciaran explained, his body relaxed and content at the feeling of a fresh soul in him. “He wanted me to spare his little blonde darling of course,” he went on, petting Maddy like she was a well trained dog, “but after what you put him through, he wanted to erase you from existence. I have to say, I wasn’t keen on the idea. Not when you’ve done so much for us.”

  Vance’s words flickered through my mind.

  “Your dead deputy said you made a deal,” I said, grateful my voice was steadier than I felt. “What kind of deal did you make?”

  Ciaran smiled, glad I didn’t understand what he was talking about. “I’m sure it crossed at least one of your minds.” His burning coal eyes glided past me to Logan. “Perhaps your oldest brother? He’s always been the smartest one, able to see situations from more than just one angle.”

  Logan didn’t say anything, but I noticed he turned away from me. Dread began to fill me, spiraling out of control before I could keep Ciaran from seeing it. The Paladin was smiling and stroking Maddy’s hair.

  “You didn’t really think your Heavenly masters would give humanity another chance, did you?” Ciaran said to me, like I was a child about to get a painful life lesson. “The angels knew this world would never be pure again after what the humans had done to it. They offered it to us, even before they released you. You were meant to clear the world for demons. The Second Coming belongs to me and my kind.”

  A few months ago, I would have told myself Ciaran was just doing what all demons do– lying. He was fucking with my head, taking my most precious belief and warping it into something obscene.

  But I hadn’t seen any fresh human settlements. Nothing clean grew from the dried out earth. Demons ran amok, creating Soulless whenever they could. I hadn’t heard anything from Heaven since they released me.

  I knew demons enjoyed using the truth as a weapon. I never imagined the sting would burn so deep.

  “But as you well know,” Ciaran droned on, “this earth isn’t the most entertaining place in the world. Hell has become crowded with the damned souls you’ve sent our way, and we’ve been forced to accommodate. My vassals and I were sent to establish ground work, as it were. We were to find ways to support our livelihood so the new residents would feel right at home.” Ciaran’s grin turned my blood to ice. “That means restarting the human race you so meticulously annihilated, and providing entertainment for the next tenants. And believe me when I say that all of them will pay handsomely in souls to see you four killed. Really, it was just business.”

  I was too stunned to move. I expected Ciaran’s plan to be horrible, but this… this was far beyond my worst nightmare.

  The world was a clean slate for demons. Ciaran had been collecting humans to breed for the demons he was going to invite over. My brothers and I were going to be the main event at the housewarming party where torture was the first and only party trick on the schedule.

  I did this.

  Ciaran’s easygoing laugh got through the fog of my mind somehow.

  “You’re looking pale, Avery,” he teased. “Maybe you can conjure a remedy for that. You still have time before the guests arrive. Not much, of course, but now that I have my last ingredient,” his fingers tightened around Maddy’s chin, drawing her head back, “I can start laying down the welcome mat.”

  “If you take one drop of blood from her, I’ll kill you.”

  My brothers looked at me strangely, not accustomed to the dangerous tone of my voice. Even Kade seemed surprised at my anger. I barely remembered they were standing there, sending a million warning glances my way. I didn’t fucking care. I wanted to kill Ciaran more than I ever wanted to kill anything during my supposed sacred mission.

  More like the biggest, most glorious April Fool’s Joke in history.

  “Ah, but I won’t just be taking her blood,” Ciaran assured me, before adding. “I only need one life. And I don’t suppose you’ll be willing to trade–”

  “No!” Maddy suddenly screamed. I jumped at the urgency of her voice. “Don’t do it, Avery!”

  I was so shocked to hear her again that I didn’t see what she was doing until it was too late.

  Cut off from his elaborate posturing, Ciaran was unprepared when Maddy’s hand plunged toward his leg. I saw the hilt of her knife bury deep into his bone. He barked angrily and let her go. Opening him up for my attack.

  I threw up my hands, drawing out as much power as I could. I turned it into a funnel and launched it straight at Ciaran’s chest. The demon snarled and turned up his palms. Black and red demonfire radiated from his skin, billowing into the air and consuming my black smoke. The heat was so intense it incinerated my poison, killing all the bacteria and stopping it from ever reaching him.

  That was bad. It took a powerful demon to do something like that, which meant Ciaran was moving up the ranks. He wouldn’t remain a Paladin for much longer. He would turn into a King.

  The demonfire that erased my noxious cloud started spreading out in a horizontal line, whipping in my direction. Kade’s heavy hand was suddenly on my shoulder, wrenching me back so he could bring up a wall of blood red fire. The churning ropes of crimson smoke around Kade’s arms thickened as he tried to fight off Ciaran’s demonfire. But I could see the veins in his neck bulging under strain. Kade would never admit it, but his powers were weakening as he used them to impress the humans he controlled. If Ciaran found a way to open a Hell Door and bring a major demon like Lucifer or Azazel to earth, Kade would be the first person they chose to fight.

  He would be the first one to die.

  I snuck around Kade’s right, looking for an open spot in Ciaran’s defenses to try poisoning him again. I had no idea what Simon and Logan were doing, but they were standing on Kade’s left.

  I drew a ball of black smoke into my hand, ready to throw it like a baseball. Then Josh got in my way. With Maddy.

  She’d been pulled away from Ciaran, unable to get her knife. Josh had picked her up like she weighed no more than a doll, despite her kicks and screams. Both Maddy and Josh were shouting, one screaming to be released while the other begged for calm. Maddy’s heel finally connected with Josh’s kneecap, and he wasn’t able to h
old onto her anymore. She slipped from his arms, but not out of reach. He collapsed on top of her, scrambling to grab Maddy’s wrists as she fought him like an animal.