The Four Horsemen

by Cheree Alsop

  “Anywhere is better than living in an alley,” Dartan said.

  “Not anywhere,” Aleric told him. “Some alleys have their charm.”

  Dr. Worthen gave him a relieved smile. “The plague victims are gone, the D wing is empty, and everyone’s safe. You did a good job.”

  “Something still bothers me, though,” Aleric said.

  “What’s that?” Dartan asked.

  Aleric was about to reply when Gregory walked into the room. The orderly grinned at the sight of Aleric. “Did you tell him, Doc?”

  “I thought I’d leave it to you,” Dr. Worthen said.

  “Tell me what?” Aleric asked.

  “I want you to help me propose to Therese. You gave so much money to my ring fund that it would only be fair.” Gregory said the words so quickly the werewolf could barely follow them. “I know you care about our relationship and it would only be fitting that you help because you’ve been such a great supporter. There’s this bridge and I think it would be perfect because Therese loves bridges. Would you help?”

  Aleric was amazed the man had said the entire thing without taking a breath. He waited for the meaning of the words to sink in.

  “Say ‘yes’, Wolfie,” Dartan whispered.

  “Uh, yes,” Aleric replied. He was a bit uncertain if he had agreed to help the orderly propose or build a bridge.

  “Thank you, Doc!” Gregory said. He threw his arms around Aleric as if he couldn’t help himself and gave the werewolf a hug. “There’s so much to get ready! So where do we start?”

  Out of the corner of his eye, Aleric saw Dr. Worthen and Dartan stand and head for the door.

  “Where do we start what?” Aleric asked.

  “The proposal! I don’t know what to say.”

  Aleric stared at the orderly. “I’ve never proposed to anyone before.”

  “But you’re good with words,” Gregory pointed out. “I saw you on the television. You always seem to know exactly what to say.” He let out a sound of desperation. “I don’t know what to say. From what I’ve seen on television, a proposal has to be perfect! I can’t mess this up or it will ruin my life forever. You’ve got to help me, Dr. Wolf, you’ve just go to!”

  “Catch you later,” Dartan said with a grin.

  “Yes, good luck,” Dr. Worthen told Aleric before he followed the vampire out the door. Aleric heard the head physician chuckle when he reached the hallway.

  The werewolf turned back to find that Gregory had procured a pen and a torn piece of paper from somewhere. The orderly waited with an expectant gaze. Aleric sat up straight and searched his mind for anything that could help with the situation. He also made a mental note to thank Dartan for throwing him under the proverbial griffin. He wondered what creatures he could fill the Dark fae wing with next.

  ***

  That evening found all of them at the Edge City North Park. Aleric tugged at the neck of the suit he wore.

  “It’s a tuxedo. It’s supposed to be uncomfortable,” Dr. Worthen said from Aleric’s left side. He tugged at his own collar. “I swear the rented ones are the worst.”

  “Quiet,” Nurse Tarli shushed them. “They’ll be here soon.” She glared at Aleric. “Try not to ruin this.”

  Aleric wanted to point out that he hadn’t ruined anything as far as he could recall, but he knew arguing with the nurse was pointless. He turned his attention to their surroundings.

  Lilian, Nurse Eastwick, and Nurse Tarli had lit candles along the entire bridge. The reflection of the flames in the water of the wide river below was captivating. White rose petals had been strewn along the walkway of the bridge, and each of them wore matching roses in their tuxedo lapels and in the girls’ hair. Aleric had found his eyes straying to Lilian frequently as they waited for the couple to arrive. She met his gaze and held it. There was a look in her eyes as though she knew just how captivating she appeared in her flowing blue dress that set off her eyes just the right way.

  “They’re here!” Dartan exclaimed, tearing Aleric’s attention back to the matter at hand.

  “Everyone be calm,” Dr. Indley said. The veterinarian’s face beamed as she stood at the vampire’s side.

  Nurse Eastwick couldn’t contain an exclamation of, “They look so adorable!”

  “What’s all this?” Aleric heard Therese ask as Gregory helped her from the car.

  “Oh, this?” he said in a forced nonchalant tone. “Really nothing. It’s nothing. Nothing at all.” He looped her arm through his. “Allow me to lead you forward.”

  “I don’t really believe this is nothing,” Therese said, her eyes wide and a confused look on her face as she walked beside him. “It most definitely looks like something.”

  “Trust me, darling,” Gregory said.

  He led her past his waiting colleagues to the middle of the bridge. To Therese’s shock, he then lowered to one knee and pulled a small black box from his jacket pocket.

  “Therese Angela Varney, I’ve asked our friends to gather here to witness the profession of my love for you.”

  Therese’s hand flew to her mouth.

  “Therese, you are everything that makes my life beautiful.” Aleric mouthed the words he had helped the orderly write. “You are my sun, my moon, and my stars. You are the light of my life, my joy, my every happiness, and I can’t imagine spending another day without you by my side.”

  A smile filled Aleric’s face. He had given a few suggestions, then asked the orderly how he felt about the girl he wanted to marry. It had only taken some gentle steering to keep Gregory on the right path.

  “I feel as though I have always known you, that you have always been with me, helping me to this moment so that I can ask you to be my wife and never part from me again.” He opened the box and Therese gasp at the beautiful ring inside. “Therese, without you, I cannot breathe, I cannot smile, I cannot live. I would follow you to the ends of the earth and back just to be near you. Please say that you’ll be my wife so that I can always have the most beautiful thing in the world at my side.”

  “Oh, Greggie,” Therese said. Tears had filled her eyes, making them shine in the light of the moon and candles. “I would love to be your wife.”

  “So yes?” Gregory asked.

  “Yes, yes, a million times yes!” Therese replied. She dropped to her knees and hugged him as sobs shook her shoulders.

  “Why are you crying?” Gregory asked in alarm.

  “These are happy tears,” Therese replied.

  The hospital staff smiled at each other. Aleric couldn’t help comparing the way Lilian’s eyes sparkled compared to the beauty of the flames dancing on the water. He looked down at the candlelight and froze.

  “There’s a person in the river,” he said.

  “What?” Dartan asked.

  “Someone’s in the river!” Aleric repeated.

  He ran to the edge of the bridge and vaulted over the side. He heard the shouts and calls of surprise from his friends before he dove beneath the surface.

  Aleric realized diving into a river when he had no idea of the depth or if there were rocks along the bottom was a stupid thing to do. Fortunately, the darkness swallowed him up without dashing his brains out on a boulder hidden beneath the surface. He floundered for a second as he debated which way was up. A glance over his head showed the light of the moon. He breathed a sigh of relief for the object that had saved his life on more than once occasion and kicked toward the top.

  “Where is he?” Nurse Eastwick called as soon as his head surfaced.

  “I see him!” Dartan replied.

  “Thank goodness,” Lilian said.

  Aleric swam toward the body that had caught his attention. It floated on its side in the water. Aleric grabbed a foot and paused at the feeling of a hoof in his hand. He pulled and the body turned. Aleric stared at the still face of the faun Braum he had helped return to health and then back to Blays not long before.

  Aleric hooked an arm over the faun’s chest and beneath his arm. He
swam for shore where the entire proposal crowd gathered and was cheering him on. Aleric’s shoulder threatened to give out. His good one held onto the faun which put the strain on his left arm as he pulled them through the water.

  “I’ve got him.”

  Dartan reached Aleric and grabbed the faun from the werewolf. Together, they swam to the shore and the waiting crowd.

  “He’s not breathing,” Lilian said.

  “I’m starting CPR,” Nurse Eastwick replied. “Call the ambulance.”

  After a few tense minutes of chest compressions, the faun responded by coughing up water. The nursing staff quickly rolled Braum onto his side. The ambulance pulled up near the edge of the river. The EMTs rushed down and worked on Braum without hesitating at his fae form.

  Aleric and Dr. Worthen rode in the ambulance back to the hospital.

  “That was quick thinking back there,” the doctor said. “You may have saved his life.”

  “I’ll feel better when he wakes up,” Aleric replied.

  “Me, too,” Dr. Worthen agreed.

  Though the nurse’s administrations followed by the EMTs’ quick work had gotten the faun breathing again, his heartbeat was weak and his breaths were shallow. Aleric couldn’t help feeling responsible for the faun’s condition. He had no idea why Braum would have gone into the river. Fauns didn’t swim as a rule. He must have been desperate.

  “He’s stable,” Dr. Worthen told Aleric later after reviewing the faun’s examination reports. “We’ll watch the monitors and hope for signs of improvement. Only time will tell.”

  Aleric brought the faun to the Light fae side of the D Wing. He positioned Braum’s bed beneath the window that would catch the most sun when the night gave way to day. It never failed to remind him of the fairy Tranquility who had practically turned the D Wing upside-down in her need to take care of everything on the Light fae side and make it perfect. He took a seat, grateful for the friends he had found in Edge City.

  “I’m sorry about Braum,” Lilian said. She stood behind Aleric with a hand on his shoulder. “The nurses say he’s a very nice guy.”

  “He is,” Aleric agreed. “I just wish I knew how he ended up in the river. He was happy to go back to Blays.” He fell silent again.

  “Is there anything you’d like me to bring you while you wait?” she asked.

  Aleric gave her a grateful smile. “No, thank you. I think I’ll just keep an eye on him for a while. It couldn’t hurt.”

  “It couldn’t,” she agreed. “He’d be glad to know he has a friend watching over him.” When it was clear the werewolf was prepared to spend the rest of the night in vigil at Braum’s side, Lilian rose. “I’m going to talk with Vallia.”

  “Alright,” Aleric replied, his attention on the faun.

  Diablo pattered up to him and climbed up his pant leg. She settled on his knee. When he ran his fingers through her soft fur, a purr emanated from her chest. The sound never failed to bring a smile to Aleric’s face. He leaned back in the chair and let his thoughts wander in time to the steady beeping of the monitor near Braum’s head.

  A few hours later, Aleric heard familiar footsteps enter the room. A quiet hiss said the UV lights were still doing their job.

  “I forgot to ask why you put the lights back up,” Aleric said with a glance back at his friend. “It seems a bit inconvenient for you.”

  “For the fun of it,” the vampire replied. He ran a hand over his face with a grimace.

  “Looks like a blast,” Aleric said dryly at the sight of the sunburn on the vampire’s skin from the lights.

  Dartan pulled up a chair beside the werewolf. “Honestly?” he said. “Remember that day there was blood all over the E.R. from the patient who slit his wrists?”

  Aleric nodded.

  Dartan let out a breath. “It set me off. I was blood-crazy and I couldn’t think. I wanted to break you in two.”

  “I remember,” Aleric replied quietly.

  Dartan waved his elegant fingers toward the UV lights. “I put those there to help me snap out of it if that ever happens while I’m in the D Wing. I can put up with a little pain, but the thought of killing someone innocent haunts me.”

  Aleric nodded. “Putting up with a little discomfort to help others live. That’s honorable.”

  Dartan gestured to Aleric’s shoulder. The werewolf hadn’t realized he was rubbing it again. “You know what you’re talking about,” the vampire said.

  Aleric dropped his hand. “It bothers me a bit.”

  “Why do I feel like that’s an understatement?” Dartan asked.

  Silence fell between them. It was comfortable and without tension as the two friends from far difference circumstances watched the motionless form of the faun on the bed.

  “No change?” Dartan asked.

  “None,” the werewolf replied.

  Dartan crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. “What was it that was bothering you?”

  Aleric focused on the vampire. “What are you talking about?”

  “When we were in the break room before Gregory asked your help with the proposal.” A toothy grin spread across his face. “Good job by the way.”

  Aleric gave the vampire a mocking glare. “You set me up.”

  “Werewolves are hopeless romantics, remember?” Dartan replied. “You were made for proposals and all that mushy stuff.”

  “What about your ‘each day is like a century apart from love for a vampire’ lecture?” Aleric reminded him.

  “That’s beside the point,” the vampire said. “Back to the topic at hand. You said something still bothered you.”

  Aleric ran a hand across the minky’s wings. “The gorgons. That’s what’s bothering me. Why haven’t they come back? If they were supposed to bring me to the Drakathans, they should have been here by now. The Four Horsemen knew where to find me, so why not the gorgons?”

  “You’ve been waiting for them to attack all this time?” Dartan said, his eyebrows pulled together in surprise. “That’ll make a person tense.”

  Aleric nodded. “But they haven’t. It’s like the gorgons have forgotten about me. I’m not complaining, but how do we find them and get them out of the city if they aren’t on my trail?”

  “They d-don’t want you.”

  Aleric and Dartan stared down at the faun.

  Braum’s eyes were open, his face pale.

  “Braum! You’re awake!” Aleric exclaimed. “What happened?”

  “Important,” the faun said, his words weak. “Came to w-warn you.”

  “Warn me?” Aleric repeated. “Warn me about what? What’s worth coming all the way back here for?”

  “The egg. A-almedragon.”

  Cold rushed through Aleric so fast he was amazed his breath didn’t fog. He stood, staring from the faun to Dartan with such horror on his face that the vampire pushed up from his own chair.

  “What is it?” Dartan demanded.

  “The gorgons aren’t after me,” Aleric said with shock in his voice. “They’re after her.”

  “Who?” Dartan asked, his words colored with exasperation.

  “The vampiress, Vallia,” Aleric replied. “They want her blood to create a dragon in Edge City.”

  Dartan shook his head. “There’s no way.”

  Aleric was already running to the door.

  The vampire fell in easily beside him. “So there’s a dragon in the city. Big deal. You’ve sent gargoyles and demons home. What’s a creature the size of a horse scaring you so badly? You’ve got to explain this to me, Wolfie.”

  Aleric shoved through the doors to the Emergency Room. He spotted Gregory and Nurse Eastwick sorting through supplies.

  “Gregory, can I borrow your car?” he asked.

  “You can have anything you want. The proposal was perfect!” the orderly exclaimed. He tossed his keys and Aleric caught them. He held out Diablo for Gregory to take. The orderly accepted the minky and cuddled her close.

  “Don’t worry, I love c
ats,” he said.

  The werewolf turned to the nurse. “Nurse Eastwick, Braum’s awake. Can you see to his needs while I’m gone?”

  “I’m on my way,” the nurse replied.

  Aleric ran back down the hallway with Dartan close behind.

  “Aleric, really!” the vampire said.

  Aleric paused near the door. His heart pounded so loud he was amazed the vampire didn’t comment on it.

  “Regular dragons are born to grow the size of horses. They’re docile; they keep to themselves. But the Drakathan found that a dragon hatched in a certain type of blood became something far greater than that. I only saw one once, and that was enough. It could breathe fire, claw through brick, and soar from the skies with enough force to level a building when it landed. The Almedragon will destroy Edge City.”

  “You said a certain type of blood,” Dartan repeated.

  Aleric nodded. “The only time I saw an Almedragon, a vampiress was sacrificed for it to hatch.”

  “Vallia,” the vampire breathed. His eyes widened. “What are we waiting for?”

  They both rushed out into the night. Aleric forgot all about traffic laws as he raced through the streets of Edge City. He pulled up to the subway entrance in a screech of tires.

  “Drive like that again and I’ll tell Gregory to never let you borrow his car again,” Dartan threatened.

  “It’s still in one piece,” Aleric said as he ran down the stairs after the vampire.

  “Well I’m not,” Dartan said over his shoulder. “I’m going to have to see that cute psychiatrist at the hospital to get over your driving.”

  “It’s not that bad,” Aleric shot back as they ran into the subway tunnel. “If you need to an excuse to go flirt with her, you’d better come up with something better than that.”

  Dartan pulled on the hidden ribbon and the door opened. They tore down the stairs.

  “She’ll be here,” Dartan said.

  “She’s got to be here,” Aleric seconded.

  They both pushed on the wooden door. It swung inward and hit the wall with a bang. Aleric and Dartan stopped.

  The delicate, beautifully decorated interior of the vampiress’ lair had been torn to pieces. The fine couches, beautiful carpets, and wall decorations had been smashed, shredded, and bitten in half by the gorgons. Aleric could smell their stench from where he stood. A few drops of blood colored the white carpet near the door.