The Four Horsemen

by Cheree Alsop

  Aleric didn’t want to move. He knew he needed to head back to the dumpster to phase and pull his clothes on, but the thought was nearly more than he wanted to take on. He wondered if he could just stay in wolf form for a few days until his shoulder healed. Perhaps the hospital needed a mascot or a therapy animal. He snorted at the thought and eased back to his feet.

  He bowed his head and pushed through the door to the hall at the back of the Emergency Room. He held his left paw up to keep blood from the floor and had limped three-legged halfway to the other door when the sound of familiar footsteps caught up to him.

  “I thought you looked terrible when you made it to the E.R.,” Dartan said. “Now I know for certain. Somebody should remind you that you had surgery yesterday. You should probably act like it. Come on.”

  Aleric froze at the sensation of being picked up by the vampire and carried into the Light fae section of the D Wing as though he weighed nothing. Dartan let out of hiss of pain when they passed under the UV lights. Aleric wondered vaguely who had rigged them back up after the gargoyles left.

  Just when Aleric was ready to protest being carried around like a helpless puppy, Dartan set him on one of the beds.

  “Hang on,” the vampire told him. “Knowing you, your scrubs are behind the dumpster in the parking lot. You’re getting predictable.”

  As much as Aleric wanted to argue, his shoulder hurt too much to care. He lowered onto his right side and stretched out the aching limb. The action helped to ease the pain somewhat.

  The vampire’s third intake of breath at the lights heralded his return.

  “What did I tell you? Predictable,” Dartan proclaimed. He paused when he saw Aleric. “Should I get Dr. Worthen? You look awful.”

  Aleric snorted and pushed up to a sitting position. He wished Grimma was there to tell the vampire his thoughts, then changed his mind because a child shouldn’t have to repeat such things.

  At his look, Dartan let out a chuckle and tossed the clothes he held onto the bed. “Get dressed. I’ll bring you some food on the pretense of giving you some dignity, although I should point out that you are, for all intents and purposes, completely naked right now. Wolves don’t wear clothes. Perhaps that’s natural.”

  Aleric lifted his lips in a mock snarl.

  Dartan held up his hands and backed toward the door. “Fine. Fine. Consider me gone. I’d suggest the showers. You got a lot of that elf’s blood all over you. At least by the scent, I can tell them what type to give her.” There was a tightness around the vampire’s eyes that told how the aroma of the blood was affecting him. He opened the door and ducked under the UV lights once more. Aleric heard his hiss of pain.

  The inevitable couldn’t be put off any longer. Aleric willed his body to phase. He thought of his fingers pressing a bandage to a wound, the sensation of slipping on shoes, the feeling of a shirt brushing against his bare skin. His body changed form. The phase was slow, telling how he had taxed his system. He clenched his jaw so hard when his shoulder shifted and turned outward that his teeth ground together.

  The end of phasing found him on his knees gasping for air. He held his shoulder, willing the throbbing to stop.

  “I don’t have time for this,” Aleric muttered. He pulled on his pants and was about to do the same for his shirt when he looked down and realized Dartan was right. He definitely needed a shower. Blood streaked his skin all across his back and side. Putting on the shirt would only force him to find another as soon as he got clean, and Nurse Eastwick already wasn’t thrilled about the number of shirts he had gone through since he started working at Edge City Hospital. He glanced out the door, confirmed that the hallway was clear, and hurried toward the staff locker room.

  “Can I help you?” a voice asked.

  Aleric paused at the sound. He glanced over his shoulder to meet Lilian Worthen’s blue eyes. She stood near the corner by the E.R. in a hospital gown with bandages on her arm where she had been bitten by the goblin.

  “You’re hurt!” she said.

  The sight of her made a pit form in Aleric’s stomach. He forced a smile. “No. I’m fine. This blood isn’t mine.” He tried for a joke to lighten the mood. “I suppose this is the one place you hear that all the time.”

  Lilian’s hands went to her hips and she gave him a serious look. “The elf was brought in by a big wolf, so they say.”

  Aleric gave a half-bow that wrenched his shoulder. “At your service,” he replied.

  Her eyes widened. “You’re a werewolf?”

  “Before you believe everything you hear, I don’t have fleas,” Aleric told her. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I am in dire need of a shower.” He paused, then said, “Not because of fleas, because of the blood.”

  He pushed the door to the locker room open and ducked inside. When the door closed, he leaned against it and shook his head with a sigh. “I’m destined to never have a normal relationship with a pretty girl.”

  Chapter Two

  “I’m going with you.”

  Aleric jumped when Lilian spoke the moment he left the locker room. He hissed in a breath at the pain to his shoulder.

  “Sorry,” she apologized, crossing to him. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”

  “Werewolves are supposed to be harder to startle than that,” Aleric told her. “I must be out of practice.”

  She looked him up and down. “You clean up good.”

  Aleric fought back a smile. “Someone left a pair of clippers in there. I thought I’d trim up a bit.” He ran a hand over his jaw. “It was getting scruffy. Werewolves are scruffy, well, I guess humans get scruffy, too, I don’t know.” He realized he was babbling. Something about her presence always set him off balance. He noticed what she was wearing. “You’re not in a hospital gown anymore.”

  She smiled at his change of subject. “No, I’m not. Thanks for noticing.”

  “Well, I just, uh, those gowns get drafty and you’re probably more comfortable even though they are comfortable compared to pants because then you’re not wearing pants.” Aleric let out a breath and pushed his hair back from his forehead with his good hand. “I’ve got to go.”

  Lilian repeated what she had said before, “I’m coming with you.”

  Aleric stared at her. “There’s no way your father would approve of that.”

  She crossed her arms and gave him a straight look. “I’m an adult; I’ll make my own decisions.”

  “He said you were stubborn.” The words escaped Aleric’s mouth before he could stop them.

  Lilian lifted an eyebrow. “He said that?”

  “In a nice way,” Aleric hurriedly told her. “He was very nice.”

  “He always is,” Lilian replied. She was silent for a moment, watching him. “You’re going after the Four Horsemen.”

  “One of them.” Aleric watched her closely. “I think he’s the one spreading the plague.”

  “Then we should find out,” she said. “I have a car. I’ll drive you.”

  Aleric shook his head. “Your father would never forgive me if I let you come with me.”

  “Let me deal with my father,” Lilian replied. Her gaze shifted to his shoulder. “Your sling’s twisted.”

  Aleric reached up with his good hand. “I couldn’t get it right in the locker room and….” His words died away when she stepped behind him. The feeling of her fingers gently adjusting the straps made his breath catch in his throat.

  “Is that better?” she asked.

  Aleric tried to speak; he had to settle for a nod and a forced, “Y-yes, thanks.”

  “Your stitches.”

  Aleric stared at her, wondering what she was talking about. She pointed to his hand.

  “You’re bleeding.”

  He looked at where she indicated. His hand resting in the sling had blood along his palm where the demon had sliced it. He closed his hand before it could drip on the floor.

  “Get some gauze on that,” Lilian told him. “I’ll meet you out front with my c
ar.”

  It wasn’t until Aleric had entered the Emergency Room that he realized he had followed her orders without question.

  “What’s wrong with me?” he muttered.

  “What’s wrong with you?” Gregory repeated, appearing from one of the partitions.

  Aleric knew telling the orderly Lilian was going with him would very quickly get word back to Dr. Worthen. He opened his hand.

  “I’m bleeding.”

  “Yes, you are,” Gregory replied. “Hold on.”

  Aleric glanced to the left to see a silver car pull up outside the Emergency Room. He looked away quickly.

  The orderly returned with gauze. He put a roll of it in Aleric’s hand, then wrapped the rest of it around his palm, tying it securely when he was done.

  “That should hold things until your magical healing powers take over,” Gregory said. “I wish I could heal the way you do. Papercuts would be nothing.”

  Aleric didn’t tell him that wounds caused by silver didn’t heal due to a werewolf’s allergy to the metal. “Thanks for your help.” He glanced out the door. “I’ll be investigating the Horsemen, so I’ll be gone for a while. How’s the elf?”

  “The surgery went well,” Gregory told him. “Dr. Worthen said he’ll be sending her to the D Wing soon. Any instructions while you’re gone?”

  Aleric nodded. “She should be set up in the Light wing. Please note on her file that she isn’t to have saline I.V.’s.”

  “Already done,” Gregory answered. “Nurse Eastwick stamped it as soon as Dartan told her. We’re making a list of fae allergies at the nurse’s station. It’s an interesting one.”

  “I’ll bet,” Aleric replied. “Thank you.”

  Aleric made sure the orderly was gone before he walked out the door. The sight of Lilian waiting for him in her car was an unnerving one. He looked over his shoulder, sure he would find Dr. Worthen there. He wasn’t sure how to tell the doctor that his daughter had insisted on going with him to investigate the Horsemen. He doubted his position at the hospital would last very long once the head physician found out.

  “Where to?” Lilian asked when he slid onto the passenger seat.

  “I’m not convinced this is a good idea,” Aleric told her.

  “I’m not convinced you could walk there in your shape,” Lilian shot back. “Where to?”

  Aleric pointed.

  Silence filled the car as she followed his directions. Lilian broke it to say, “I’ve been reading about the Four Horsemen since Dad mentioned them.”

  “There’s literature about them?” Aleric asked in surprise.

  Lilian nodded. “They’re from the Bible, the symbols of the apocalypse, the harbingers of the last days.”

  “Sounds promising,” Aleric said. He wondered how the Horsemen would feel about the warnings.

  A few minutes later found them in front of Pasta-Pocalypse.

  “Cute name,” Lilian noted.

  Aleric climbed out of the car after her. “You’d think the people going in would be a little more wary.”

  To Aleric’s dismay, a line of customers waited impatiently outside. A glance in the wide front windows showed the seats filled to capacity. The sulfuric smell of the plague tingled in Aleric’s nostrils when they walked to the front of the line. Many of those waiting stared inside as though they couldn’t break their eyes away from the food being served. A few glops of purple showed on the sidewalk near the door where others had already left.

  “Wait your turn!” someone called when Aleric opened the front door.

  “We’re health inspectors,” Lilian replied.

  They were let inside without a problem. At Aleric’s stare, Lilian shrugged. A hint of red colored her cheeks. “I was hoping it would work.”

  “That was quick thinking,” he replied.

  “You are out of line.” A man with a trimmed mustache and spiked hair glared at them from his podium.

  “We’re from the Edge City Health Department,” Lilian said. She pulled out a card and held it up, then put it away before he could look at it too closely. “We’ve had complaints from this restaurant, and so we’re here to inspect it for compliance issues.”

  The man watched her for a moment, his mustache twitching as if he debated whether to believe her. He finally gave a toss of his head and twirled on his heels. “This way.”

  They followed him to the back of the restaurant. The patrons Aleric passed smelled of the same sulfuric scent. They ate their meals with blank expressions, their gazes empty as they forked pasta into their mouths, chewed, and swallowed with mechanical motions as though they didn’t taste it.

  “This is creepy,” Lilian said. She took a seat at the small table near the back wall the man showed them to. He left without a word.

  “Something’s off for sure,” Aleric replied. “Good job getting us in. That was smooth.”

  Lilian smiled and Aleric’s heart did a backflip. “I just flashed my blood donor card. I didn’t think it’d actually work.”

  A waitress appeared with two glasses of water. “I will bring you the usual,” she said.

  “We don’t get to order?” Lilian asked in surprise.

  “There is no ordering,” the waitress replied. “You get the usual.” She left without giving them a chance to protest.

  “This just keeps getting weirder,” Lilian murmured.

  She lifted the glass to her lips. Aleric noticed at the last minute and swept it out of her hand with his werewolf speed. He set it back on the table without spilling a drop.

  At her stare, he said, “I wouldn’t eat or drink anything here. Look at them all.”

  Lilian followed his gaze to the next table. The plates of the patrons were cleaned of all pasta and they stared ahead as though they didn’t see anything. A white film covered their eyes and purple drool showed at the corners of their mouths. A moment later, a waiter ushered the barely responsive patrons out of the restaurant and four more took their seats.

  “This is straight out of a horror movie,” Lilian said.

  The waitress returned and placed two bowls of salad and two plates of spaghetti in front of them. The sulfuric smell mingled with a mouth-watering odor that tempted Aleric to try the food.

  “Smells delicious,” Lilian said. She poked at the spaghetti with her fork. “This did that?”

  Aleric nodded. “By the smell of it, yes.” He pushed back from the table and stood. “We need to see what’s going on in the kitchen. You might need your health inspector’s card.”

  The smile she shot him made his breath catch in his throat. Perhaps braving Dr. Worthen’s wrath had been completely worth it.

  Aleric led the way through the swinging door and paused at the sight in the kitchen. A man in a white long coat stood behind the lengthy, flat cooking stove. He glowed an other-worldly white from the top of his top hat to his waist; the rest of him was hidden behind the counter. A wreath of glowing green leaves was wrapped around his top hat; by the scent, they were cilantro.

  The Horseman looked up at their entrance and his icy blue eyes locked on Aleric. An inadvertent chill ran through Aleric’s body. He held the Horseman’s gaze for a moment, fighting against the demand of his instincts that told him to attack the threat.

  “Dr. Wolf,” Lilian whispered. Fear filled her voice and her hand slipped into Aleric’s. Warmth combated the cold that had filled his limbs.

  The Horseman cleared his throat. His icy gaze narrowed. He opened his mouth, and a hearty laugh escaped him.

  “Aleric Bayne! I heard you were here!”

  Aleric grinned and met the Horseman halfway across the kitchen. “Perry, it’s been a long time.” He shook the Horseman’s hand.

  “Way too long,” Perry replied. He looked over Aleric’s shoulder at Lilian. A smile spread across his face at her shocked expression. “I know. Horsemen and werewolves don’t usually get along, but this is a rare case.”

  Aleric turned. “Lilian, this is Perry, the First Horseman.”
/>   She held out her hand hesitantly. The Horseman shook it. “You’re as beautiful as I’m sure Aleric would have told me if we’d spoken. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

  “T-thank you,” she said. She looked from the Horseman to Aleric. “I didn’t know you knew each other.”

  Aleric lifted one shoulder. “I may have forgotten to mention that. It’s been a crazy past few days.”

  “You said it,” Perry told them both. “Crazy things have been happening! One minute we’re riding through Drake City and the next thing you know, we’re falling down some dark hole. Buffy was terrified when we landed. It took me forever to calm him down.”

  “Buffy is Perry’s horse,” Aleric said to Lilian. He turned back to the Horseman. “Where is Buffy?”

  “In the back,” Perry said. “He doesn’t like pasta.”

  Aleric looked at the pots boiling on the stove. “Speaking of which, there’s a few problems with the food you’re feeding here, Perry.”

  The Horseman’s eyes widened. “Like what?”

  Aleric decided to just tell him straightforward. “Perry, you’re spreading the plague.”

  A hand flew to the Horseman’s throat. “What? No! Not here. Aleric, not here. I promise. I would never do anything like that!” His eyes filled with gigantic blue tears. “All I want to do is cook. Is that too much to ask? Yet any time I find a way to fulfill my dreams, something always happens to destroy them.” He paused, his mouth open and gaze distant for a moment. His mouth closed with a snap and he dashed the tears from his cheeks. “Fabien.”

  “What’s that?” Lilian asked in an undertone to Aleric.

  “Perry’s brother,” he replied quietly. “The Horseman of Famine.” He raised his voice. “You think Fabien had something to do with this?”

  “He must,” Perry replied. He rushed to the kitchen door and pushed it open. “Look at them! Don’t they look like they’re starving even though they’re eating as if they relish every bite?” He sighed. “And here I thought the line out the door meant they truly loved my food. It’s all Fabien’s fault.”