Obsidian (The Horsemen Chronicles Book 2)

by D. C. Gambel

  Sitting straight up, I glanced around at the unusual fog that surrounded me. I was still in the barn but the guys had vanished. I wondered where they’d gone. It didn’t seem like Cam to just leave me here unless he planned on being back in a moment. Even though it felt as if only a moment had passed, it seemed I had been asleep for longer than I realized. A storm had moved in clouding the sun making the light vacant from the sky.

  The fog that engulfed me seemed unnatural. It was thick, but rose no higher than my elbows. It was strange to see it coating the floor of the barn. The door was open, yet it wasn’t logical for this much fog to be here.

  The barn creaked and I instantly became alert. I didn’t know why. The barn was old. It made noise, but something about this situation made my hair stand on end.

  “You’re being paranoid,” I mumbled to myself. It was probably just one of the guys coming to check on me.

  Like magic, a figure emerged out of the fog. At first it was nothing more than a shadow, but it quickly took form of a man, but not just any man.

  “Shane?” I hissed trying to get to my feet. They wouldn’t budge. My legs felt weighed down almost like they were encased in concrete. No matter my struggle they barely budged.

  “I knew I’d get to you eventually. Darling Cam must be elsewhere.” Shane slowly strolled towards me. I expected to feel like prey he was stalking, but instead he appeared casual like he was walking in the park.

  “What do you mean?” I didn’t understand what Cam being away had to do with anything. Of course he wasn’t here. That was obvious when I glanced around, but Shane seemed surprised by the notion.

  “As your soul mate he protects you from some of my gifts. You’re safer together although not entirely. This—” he gestured around to the barn that seemed gray reminding me of hell. “—is one that he could protect you from.”

  “I don’t know what you mean, but I don’t need Cam to protect me from you.”

  “Really?” he scoffed rudely making his disbelief obvious. “You can’t even stand, can you? You don’t even know why. This is a dream, Evie.”

  “It’s not real,” I sighed in relief.

  “Oh, it’s very real.” In a flash, Shane was crouched down in front of me. My pinky gripped in his hand was suddenly yanked backwards. I screamed, but before I could react further he was back in the spot he’d been just a moment before. If it wasn’t for the pain pulsating in my hand, I might have thought I imagined it. “I control this world, Evie. It may be your dream, but I’ve trained for years to learn how to manipulate this plane.”

  “What do you want, Shane?” I asked figuring he wasn’t just here to say hi.

  “You,” he stated calmly. When my eyes widened, he rolled his. “Not like that, Evie. I want what you promised me. To deny me would be unwise. You already saw how quickly I rallied the vampires to me and that was simply for avoiding my call. Imagine if you tried to renege on the deal we made. Personally I don’t believe the punishment is set for the crime, but I don’t make the rules. To go back on a deal with a demon could kill you, immortal or not.”

  “I didn’t know you were a demon when I agreed.”

  He smirked condescendingly. “Doesn’t matter. You can’t argue your way out of this. I know you thought I was human. I also know you had no intention of ever helping me. Perhaps if I could have trusted you to keep your word then I might have been a little more forthcoming about who and what I was.”

  I gaped at him. Here I was being snubbed by a demon for my morality.

  An invisible cube around us rattled. Shane glared at it offensively.

  “Seems my time is running out. Know this, Evie. You can come to me willingly and fulfill your end of the bargain to help me retrieve my girl or I can drag your ass kicking and screaming into Hell, but you will come. If you force me on this I might not be inclined to help you leave. The choice is yours.”

  Before I could open my mouth to reply, my eyes sprung open and Cam’s concerned face filled my vision.

  “You scared the hell out of me. I tried to wake you, but you wouldn’t.” he wrapped his arms around me and I could practically feel his fear encasing me with his embrace. I winced as my hand got trapped between us. “I thought you slipped into a coma or something. It was like after hell. I couldn’t wake you then either.”

  “I’m sorry, Cam. I didn’t know it could happen.”

  “Happen?” He asked pulling back so he could see my face. “What do you mean? Was it using too much power?”

  I held up my hand watching his brow furrow with confusion before they pinched as his eyes narrowed on my awkwardly angled pinky. “I think Shane has a power we weren’t aware of. He’s a dreamwalker.”

  Chapter 11

  The back door slammed open causing me to jump as Cam charged in. He tossed some burly man against the door leading to the basement. I was barely to my feet when Ty came in behind him. They’d been on patrol together. We’d hoped to track down Shane but the man was like a ghost. No one knew or had heard anything about him. It’d been days since he made his dream appearance, but his threat still lingered.

  Hearing the hubbub, Derek was in the kitchen a moment later. “What’s going on?” he demanded. Bringing home “people” wasn’t an unusual occurrence on patrol. Sometime we needed a place to integrate them, privately.

  Cam lifted the guy he brought while Ty opened the door leading to the basement.

  “Caught this asshole selling information to Maya’s crew,” Cam stated leading the man downstairs. I hesitated for just a moment as I contemplated following. I hadn’t been down there since I was a prisoner. Seeing my hesitation, Ty approached giving me a friendly squeeze on my shoulder. Silently, I nodded and followed the other horsemen into the basement. If I was going to keep going on about how they had to treat me the same even though I was a woman, I couldn’t let myself give in to any discomfort that I knew the guys never would.

  As my feet hit the concrete floor, Cam was shoving the guy into a cell.

  “I already told you,” he spat. “It was nothing.”

  “If it was nothing,” Cam explained slamming the door to the cell closed, “then you’d have no problem sharing with us what information you sold them.”

  The man blanched. “They’ll kill me.”

  “And you think we won’t?” War said the words without even a hint of wavier that even I believed him. “Listen…”

  “Tom,” the man offered up.

  “Tom,” Cam nodded curtly. “Tell me what I want to know and I’ll let you go. You have a better chance of surviving this way. The vampires don’t care if you spill your guts or not. They’ll kill you either way unless you disappear.”

  “Then I’m dead either way.”

  “No,” Cam stated. “You can run from them. Eventually they’ll forget. But if you don’t tell me what I need to know, then you’ll definitely die.”

  I stood beside Derek studying the man who contemplated Cam’s words. With a sigh, I watched the fight leave him. “They’re looking for an item. A rock or something.” He shrugged nonchalantly.

  “A rock or something?” Cam didn’t bother hiding the disbelief. “Tom, you gotta give me more than that if you expect to leave here.”

  Tom’s eyes widened. He looked at each of us silently pleading for help. His eyes lingered on me the longest unaware that my resolve wouldn’t waver. If he was selling information to Maya’s people then he was working against us, and that put everyone I cared about in danger. “Look. I swear it’s what they want. It’s some old ass rock back from biblical times.”

  “You know more than that, Tom. Out with it.”

  He paled worried about his next words. “They’re crazy, okay. They think the rock is the Blade of Sin.”

  “Blade of Sin?” I asked. Cam’s gaze locked on me noticing me for the first time.

  Tom nodded. “They think it was the rock Cain used to kill Abel.”

  “But you just said it was a blade.”

  Ty approached
lowering his voice. “It’s both. Cain killed Abel with a rock, true, but the rock was actually more of a shiv. He used it to stab his brother to death.”

  “Oh fuck,” Tom groaned. “You guys believe this shit?”

  “If you don’t,” Cam wondered, “then why were you working with those vampires to find it?”

  Tom glared befuddled at Cam. “The money. What do I care if they’re off their rocker believing some rock is actually the weapon used for some guy to kill some other guy.”

  Derek stepped forward eyeing the man in the cell. “You’re talking about the first murder. Not just some rock.”

  Ignoring Derek’s outburst, Cam turned the man’s attention back to him. “Did you find it? The Blade of Sin?”

  Tom eyed Cam for a moment internally debating on whether he should tell him the truth. “Yeah. Some private collector bought it a few months ago.”

  “You get a name?”

  “Just an alias. Guy called himself Asmodeus.”

  I never considered stepping foot back into Phoenix. This place had been the start of the domino effect that had become my life.

  Wearing a red skintight dress that hugged my every curve and my thigh high boots so I could sneak a weapon in, I stood beside Cam who wore a charcoal gray suit and black dress shirt. His blazer hid one of the three weapons he was concealing. When we approached the door, the bouncer refused to let us in but we wouldn’t be deterred. After a quick call, he announced, begrudgingly, that we were all to enter. I had suspected a similar situation as before, but then we had been invited for a purpose that served the demon who ran the club.

  Cam offered me his arm and we casual strolled inside with Ty and Derek behind us. Eyes flickered to us in much the same way as the first time we’d arrived together. Only this time we were both watched with equal suspicion and envy. Our world knew who I was now. Not only was I Death, but I was also the woman who tamed the mighty War. Little did they know Cam wasn’t tame by any extent. I just accepted him for who he was.

  “War,” a barely dressed woman approached. I recognized her from the first visit, but couldn’t remember her name.

  “Danika,” he acknowledged her, but never let his gaze even glance her way. “You remember my fellow horsemen, Derek, Ty and Evie.” His arm slid around my hip tugging me until I molded against his side. It was his way of not making me appear weak by claiming me as his girlfriend but also a clear indication that I was his nonetheless.

  “Of course,” she acknowledged each of the men before her gaze settled on me where she hissed, “Death.”

  “Where are my manors,” I berated myself holding my bare hand out to her with a wicked smirk. She eyed it with distain. “You know it’s rude not to shake someone’s hand.” Ty bit back a chuckle from behind me.

  If looks could killed, the glare she shot me would have incinerated me. She returned her focus back to Cam dismissing me. I could see the smirk tugging at his mouth over my display. “Asmodeus is expecting you.” She spun expecting us to follow.

  “As entertaining as that was,” he whispered causing chills to flutter down my spin making my nipple come to attention, “please don’t kill the demons without a just cause.”

  “The bitch started it,” I stated not attempting to lower my voice. Danika’s head glanced over her shoulder with a scowl.

  She led us to the office where Cam and I had concluded our meeting our previous visit. Opening the door, she ushered us in, but didn’t follow. Instead she closed the door leaving us standing in a room filled with demons. It was strange to be back here with Ty and Derek at our sides, especially when I thought of the kiss I shared with Cam, like they’d somehow see this room and know that here was where it all started for Cam and I.

  “War. Death,” Asmodeus stood from behind his desk, his arms outstretched like we were friends ignoring Ty and Derek verbally, but gave them each a quick glance and a smirk. “I had heard of rumors of your flourishing romance. I like to give myself a pat on the back in shoving you two in the right direction. I have to say, after the chemistry I witnessed, it wasn’t much of a surprise. Sodales? Now that was a shock.”

  Asmodeus took on the form of any attractive Latin man. I didn’t know if it was a vessel he wore or, as a prince of hell, the form was his alone. His black hair hung in loose waves to his shoulders while his midnight eyes sparkled with delight noticing Cam tense at his revelation.

  Cam bristled. “How the fuck did you hear that?”

  The Demon of Lust just smiled, but made no attempt to reply to Cam. Instead he straightened the lapels on his beige suit. “I take it you’re here for Atropos’ blade.”

  “For what?” I wondered.

  The demon turned eyeing me. “No?” he shrugged thinking he got his information wrong. “I’d assumed you’d put those pieces together after the vampire’s procurer lead them here then mysteriously vanished. Was that not your handiwork?”

  “We’re here to talk about the Blade of Sin.”

  “Atropos’ blade,” he reiterated. “They’re the same.”

  “Atropos?” Derek asked quizzically. “You’re talking about the Fates.”

  “I thought it was shears?” I questioned out loud.

  Asmodeus sighed. With a wave of his hand, many of the demons departed leaving just a few staggered around the room for his protection. “It is one in the same. Cain’s actions the day he killed his brother were the beginning of all curses. It was inevitable, of course. God has a plan that must be followed.” He pointed to Cam and I. “You two are proof of that in more ways than one.”

  He lifted a bottle and filled three tumblers with its amber liquid before setting two down before us. I moved to grab mine to be polite but Cam left his on the demon’s desk intentionally snubbing his offer.

  “Cain is said to be the first demon. It was believed humans were immortal once, until he took his brother’s life. The event set off a reaction. The item he used, the blade, now ends all lives as it is wielded by the Fates.”

  “Do you have it?” Cam asked ignoring the demon’s history lesson. Asmodeus was an upper level prince of hell. I wasn’t sure if he could lie, but after my last visit, I did know that if he made a bargain then he was forced to keep his word.

  “Now where would be the fun in telling you that?”

  “A bargain?” I offered. Cam blue eyes turned icy when he glared at me. That hadn’t been a part of the plan.

  The demon leaned back in his chair; the creak of leather was the only noise as he studied me tapping his index finger against his pursed lips. “Not sure what there is you could offer me.”

  “I could kiss Cam?” I offered hopeful, but his chuckle made my stomach sink. He waved his hand dismissively through the air.

  “That no longer interests me. Before, you two were so at odds with your desire for one another that it was entertaining to me to give you a gentle nudge. Now, after all you shared—there is no entertainment there short of him bending you over this desk.” When my eyes widened his laughed once more. “Do not worry yourself, Genevieve. Your virginity may be gone, but I know your innocence is still very much intact. Although I doubt it would please you to know that War has paid that price once before.”

  My head snapped to the side so quick locking my eyes on Cam who stared straight ahead glaring at Asmodeus. Had he really had sex with someone on the demon’s desk? “But I think a kiss will be fine in exchange of knowing whether I have the blade.”

  “But you just…”

  “I said not with Cam.” His eyes flicked to someone behind me. Reluctantly, I turned feeling my heart sink at Derek who was gritting his teeth.

  “No,” he stated, but his gaze never waivered from the demon before him.

  “You can’t deny your lust to me Horseman of Famine. It is an aroma that I am very much familiar with. Lie to yourself, and to the girl who holds your heart, but you cannot lie to me.”

  Hesitantly, I turned to Cam who was gripping the back of the chair where he stood so hard that I cold h
ear the metal groan.

  “But if your answer is no then I hope you are content with our meeting ending here. I’ll have Danika see you out.” He reached for his phone.

  “Wait,” I called out without thought. It couldn’t end here. We had no other leads. Feeling all eyes in the room now on me and me tensing, but only one set matter. Cam’s oceanic blue gaze bore into me. I could see the fear that was being masked by jealousy. “We need to know and it’s just a kiss.” I didn’t want to mention that it wasn’t something that hadn’t been done before. “You don’t have to stay.”

  “Oh indeed he does,” Asmodeus chimed in. “That is the point. Who knew that something would get to the mighty War? I plan to exploit it.”

  Cam closed his eyes feeling the weight of the demon’s words.

  “What is wrong with you?” I spat at Asmodeus.

  He shrugged. “I didn’t hear you complaining darling Genevieve, when it benefited you. Now,” he clasped his hands together eagerly, “are we doing this or is Danika escorting you all out?”

  I watched the internal debate going on within Cam. If he said no, I wouldn’t press it even if our lead died here. Kissing Derek wasn’t something I desired, regardless of the knowledge it would grant over the blade. Cam was the only one I wanted to be kissing and I didn’t want to do anything that would hurt him.

  “No,” Derek stated.

  Closing his eyes once more, Cam let out a heavy breath. “Yes.”

  “Cam,” Derek tried.

  “Evie’s right. We need the information. It’s just a kiss.” His eyes settled on Famine. “It’s nothing that hasn’t been done before.”

  “Yeah, and you punched me in the face.”

  “I can’t promise it won’t happen this time either.”

  Asmodeus pressed his palms against his desk leaning over it. “So we have an accord?”

  Cam turned his glare to the Demon of Lust. “First of all, you will not only tell us if you have the blade, but who wants it and who has it.”

  “For that,” Asmodeus smiled flicking his glance between he three of us, Ty practically forgotten, “the kiss must be with feeling.” His deep brown eyes settled on me. “I suggest if Famine doesn’t get a rise out of you for you to think of War.”