She didn’t know how much time had passed since the attack. Had it been hours? Days? It occurred to her in her brief lucid moments that she was dying. Whatever poison had touched her on those tentacles was killing her slowly. She wasn’t sure how she knew it. It was a feeling more than anything. The creeping of decay through her veins, her organs, her blood. A slowing, an inexorable draw towards a darkness from which she would not return.
The voices grew louder over time. No longer soft and whispery, they were a constant background noise, a chatter like insects. It was the dead, speaking to her. Taunting her. If she didn’t die first, she’d go mad from it. It was so incessant that at first, when she heard the screams, she thought it was the same ever-present noise that had become her companion. But this noise was louder. It broke through the others. Snarls and roars and shrieks.
Willow lurched as Bullet spun around and she lifted her head. Moonlight again. Night had fallen. She knew that sound.
The monster. But now it was not one cry, it was many. Dozens of them, their screams splitting the night. Willow caught sight of Penelope, face stricken, a ball of green magic in her hand.
And then she saw them. They looked like the creature that had attacked her. The thing they had barely fought off when it was just one of them. But now they were surrounded.
With a final chorus of ear-shattering shrieks, the monsters charged.
Chapter Twenty-One
Felicity
Felicity felt her blood pulse hot as she watched young Delilah across the table from beneath a half-lidded gaze. The girl and her brother were interfering in her plan and they had to go. Completing the spell was all that mattered. She would get rid of the current problem by any means necessary.
A small voice inside felt shocked at the idea of harming an innocent.
But a louder, more insistent voice spoke over it. The spell is all that matters. The Riders must evolve. The world will be ours. Dynah will admire your power. She won’t be able to resist you like she did before.
And the smaller voice quieted and obeyed.
Each tick of the clock downstairs made Felicity want to jump across the table and strangle Delilah. But she restrained herself to appease Dynah. For the time being. A short time. It had been less than an hour. If the girl stayed one moment longer than that—
Liberation came an unexpected source. Well, somewhat unexpected.
“How’s it coming up here?” Mr. Highstone called as he appeared at the top of the stairs. “Has ancient Egypt released all of its secrets to you?”
Felicity felt a smirk form on her lips. If only he knew. What a simpleton.
“Yes, actually, things are going quite well,” Dynah said. “Your sister has been a delight, and a great help.”
Delilah somehow managed to blush and beam at the same time, and Dynah smiled back at her, radiant. When she turned that radiance to Mr. Highstone, he looked as if he might be knocked off his feet.
“Dinner then, shall we? I know a charming establishment not far from here.” He made a sweeping bow. “It would be my honor to dine with such esteemed researchers. Hear news of Cambridge.” He cast a brief smile to Zachariah, though his gaze was locked almost exclusively on Dynah.
“That would be so wonderful,” Dynah said. “But I’m afraid we must decline. My employer reminded me that we have another engagement this evening.”
Mr. Highstone’s smile dimmed only slightly. “Tomorrow, then?”
Felicity watched Dynah’s face. Her smile twitched a moment, and then she said, “Sounds great. We’d love to.”
Tomorrow would never come for these people. Felicity supposed she shouldn’t feel the need to crush these distractions when they were simply sad copies of humans from a time long passed. They left the library and walked back toward the townhouse. As soon as they were inside, Felicity wheeled on the other two. “We need to gather the supplies for the spell.”
Dynah strode over to one of the chairs in the sitting room. Once she had settled herself, she looked up at Felicity. Her blue eyes looked stormy. “Now that you’ve suddenly remembered how to interpret the spell, how do you propose we go about collecting the supplies?”
“Frankincense and wormwood are common ingredients that can be found at any apothecary.”
“And the crystals?”
“An alchemist should have them.”
“An alchemist? What on earth is that?” Dynah asked.
Felicity felt a surge of impatience. If she didn’t need Dynah, need all the Riders, for the spell, she would be sorely tempted…
“Zachariah.” She turned to the Fallen and waited until his gaze met hers. “Surely you know where we might find an apothecary and an alchemist in one of the dozens of time loops within your realm. I imagine there are many options to choose from.”
“Perhaps,” he said noncommittally.
His gaze flicked to Dynah, and Felicity felt another surge, but this time it went far past impatience. What was going on between Dynah and the Fallen?
“Well, perhaps you can come up with an answer that is actually helpful,” Felicity said, her eyes cold upon his.
“Felicity!” Dynah gasped.
“No,” she said. “I am not apologizing. Ever since he joined us, he’s been sullen and closed-off. It’s clear he cares nothing for helping us with the spell. That must mean he doesn’t care about humanity, either.”
Dynah straightened in her chair, speechless, but Zachariah turned on Felicity with a flare of anger. She could see it in his eyes, the set of his lips. She could feel it coming out of his core. She could taste it in the air.
“I didn’t ask to be a nanny, watching over you both!” he snapped. “There are other more important things at stake. You think I don’t care about humanity? The Apocalypse rages on in the outside world!” The Fallen paced back and forth, practically trailing steam. “The other Fallen are out looking for the seventh seal, but I’m stuck here with two girls.”
Dynah stood up and crossed her arms over her chest. “Do you have a problem with women, Zachariah?”
“We are not girls, and we are not women,” Felicity said, her voice low and deadly. “We are the Riders of the Apocalypse. The world spins beneath our fingertips. You should be honored to simply be in our presence. To drink the same air. In fact, you should be groveling at our feet.”
Power rushed out of her and she pressed, just a little. A flex of her pinkie finger and he was down on the ground. She heard Dynah gasp. Zachariah’s eyes widened and within those eyes she saw a flicker of fear. She inhaled, drawing it into her, letting it roll around deliciously on her tongue.
“That’s better,” she said with a smile.
And she released him and stalked out of the room.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Penelope
She’d been wandering for a day and a half when the monsters ambushed them.
After Willow had first been attacked on the plateau, Penelope tried to retrace their steps and get back across the invisible barrier at the boundary of Sahkyo’s land. She’d planned to use her ring to call Beziel and take Willow to the realm of the Fallen to heal. Even if that meant giving up on their mission. Willow’s life was more important, no question.
But even though she was one hundred percent confident she’d gone the right way, when she crested the mountain peak again, she saw only more mountains on the other side. The place had twisted itself, had morphed into something different. It was as alive and pulsing with magic as the creature had been.
She’d had no choice then but to continue deeper into Sahkyo’s mountains, hoping she either found an exit or Sahkyo herself. But neither had materialized. She’d only moved in circles, coming across the same landmarks over and over again. A gray, jagged tree trunk fallen on its side that looked like a dragon. The cabin of an old train, lying in a flat sandy area with nothing else around it. And a cave near a valley floor, which she’d thought could be Sahkyo’s lair, but was very small and held nothing but bats.
Willow flitted in and out of consciousness, and the rest of the time she dreamed. Penelope could tell because she spoke in her sleep and cried out occasionally. She was clearly delirious, and Penelope could feel her own sanity slipping as well. She’d managed to purify tiny amounts of water for her and Willow and the horses, just enough to keep them alive. But she hadn’t eaten, and she felt like she was crumbling to sand, becoming part of the ruinous terrain surrounding her.
And then the creatures had come again.
Far-off cries announced their return, and a cloud of dust arose as they approached. Penelope was out in the open, nowhere near the cave, with no defensible position. The monsters surrounded her, their reptilian fuchsia eyes wild. Hungry. The horses spun, their own eyes wide, nostrils flared. How had it come to this? Not even a full moon cycle before, she’d been a normal girl. No magic. No angels. No monsters. Terror coiled in her stomach, and a wave of longing swept through her. Was this how it ended? She really didn’t want to die out here alone, torn to pieces.
The monsters charged.
And Penelope’s terror and sadness were burned up by her rage. It flared like the sun. It consumed everything within her like a hurricane. She stretched her arms to the sky and screamed with all she had. “Sahkyo! I know you’re there!”
The creatures kept coming, their black tentacles sprouting from their throats, reaching for her—
And then she was standing somewhere else. Her and Willow and the horses.
She stood atop a butte not more than twenty feet across. But this butte rose so high it reached above the clouds. Penelope could see flashes of blue sky here and there, but mostly just wisps of silver. The air smelled of sage smoke, and she felt a wave of nostalgia.
An angel stood, facing away from her, at the edge of the butte.
Not a full angel, Penelope knew. Sahkyo’s wings were not white or gray or blue. Nor were they red like the Fallen. They looked like hawk wings, only much larger. Her skin was cinnamon, her hair long and silken. One half of it was black, and the other half snow white. Sahkyo turned then. Her face shone radiantly, one eye lavender, one eye brown. A large scar ran down one cheek, but otherwise she was flawless.
“It’s not a glamour,” Sahkyo said, and Penelope realized she could read thoughts. “It makes for a grander story if I’m depicted an ugly, crazed beast. Sorry to disappoint.”
Penelope wasn’t sure what to say. “I just—I wasn’t expecting—thank you. For bringing us here.”
Sahkyo watched her intently for several moments before answering. “I wasn’t sure until you called out whether I was going to let you live or let you die,” Sahkyo said. Her voice was soft, like a flute. The wind that blew around the butte seemed to blend with it, making a strange music. “I suppose curiosity got the best of me in the end.”
“You know who I am?” Penelope’s eyebrows rose.
“I see everything from up here.” Sahkyo turned, looked back out into the clouds. “I watch the world turn. The people fighting and screwing and killing and lying. I see the angels visiting, meddling in all of it. The other deities, too. I observe the wars, the riots, the financial markets. Dynasties come and go. Churches rise and fall. Societies ebb and flow and rust and decay.”
Penelope paused to absorb this. She tried to imagine what it was like, what Sahkyo was describing. Then, hesitantly, she said, “So, you know what I want, then?”
Sahkyo turned back around and walked away from the rock’s edge. Her eyes found Penelope again and she nodded. “Yes, Pestilence, I know.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “You think that because we share the Diné people, or perhaps because the angels are enemies to us both, that I will be interested in helping you.” She shrugged. “It’s not the worst logic ever. But still wrong.”
Penelope’s heart sunk to her ankles and she frowned. “Why?”
Sahkyo sighed, a sigh of boredom and frustration. “Because I care so little for the world anymore. It amuses me, I’ll admit, which is why I watch from afar.” She shrugged again, and a brown feather came loose from her wings and fluttered away on the wind. “I used to care, but it didn’t get me very far.”
Next to Penelope, Willow murmured in her sleep, twitching. She looked so pale. They didn’t have much longer; Willow was dying. She felt her own frustration bubble up. “Why did you bring me here, then? Why save us?”
Sahkyo was supremely unperturbed. “Would you rather go back and be eaten by my monsters?” She offered a small smile, like she was offering her some tea. She made a gesture with one hand. “I can certainly send you back.”
“I don’t want that,” Penelope said hastily. “But surely you must want something. Something I can help you with. If not revenge on Heaven, something else? You didn’t bring me here for nothing.”
“You do know I orchestrated the last Apocalypse, yes?” Sahkyo tapped one finger on her chin, her eye glittering.
Penelope’s throat felt thick. She swallowed and nodded. “I heard that might be the case.”
“So, you should realize I’m not interested in stopping the one you started. It’s actually providing some of my best entertainment in ages.” Sahkyo’s smile was resplendent, and she licked her lips like she’d tasted something particularly delicious. “The magic of the Riders spreading through this continent. Sekhmet’s blood rain and locusts terrorizing Africa and Europe. There aren’t many parts of the globe that haven’t been touched in some way. You did an excellent job.”
She was baiting her, Penelope knew that. She stifled the stabbing feeling of guilt in her gut. She had to tempt her, somehow— “Heaven betrayed you, didn’t they? Don’t you want to do something about that?”
She realized her mistake instantaneously.
Sahkyo’s magic flashed like a star exploding, her body going up in burning white flames. “They did not betray me!”
Her magic pulsed into Penelope, nearly knocking her off Domino’s back. The horses staggered, and Willow rocked in Bullet’s saddle and let out a low moan.
“We discussed the terms of our agreement, and in the end, I chose not to accept their offer.” The words were spoken through clenched teeth, the half-angel’s face alight with rage. “It was my decision.”
“Of course,” Penelope said. Her heart ricocheted in her chest and she took a breath to regain control of herself. “We, too, chose to decline Heaven’s offer. We rebelled, as you did. Struck out on our own path.”
“I already told you, don’t try to compare us,” Sahkyo said. The glow of her magic had faded and she looked calm again, as if nothing at all had happened. “I brought you here because I was bored. Don’t be boring.”
An idea sparked in Penelope’s head. “I can offer you the best show you’ve seen in a long time,” she said. Her eyes flicked to Willow, and she thought of her bravado and tried to put a bit of that into her words now. “If you think the Apocalypse has been entertaining, we’re just getting started. We’ve angered an Egyptian goddess and all the Norse legends. We’re fighting copies of ourselves that Heaven sent to kill us. And when we learn how to transform our powers, we’ll take on the angels and anyone else who gets in our way. We’ll be unstoppable.”
Sahkyo gazed on her thoughtfully, tapping her chin again. “I did find your antics on the Bifrost quite entertaining. They’re all still furious about you destroying their ice palace.”
“And that was without our full powers. Just this elemental magic we seem to have developed.” Penelope paused. “It’s funny, I never read about that in the tales of the Riders before.” She dangled the bait, praying Sahkyo would go for it.
“That’s because no Rider before has possessed such power. It’s something entirely new.” Sahkyo eyed Penelope. “I’ve watched you practicing with the night sky. I will say, that is quite an interesting puzzle, how you came to have such magic.”
“Maybe we could figure it out together,” Penelope said. “One of my clansmen says he thinks it might come from my Navajo blood, and that I shared it with the other Riders.”
“Perhaps,” Sahkyo said, cocking her head to the side.
“If we figure that out, and you teach us how to control our magic as Riders, then you can watch what happens next.” Penelope met her gaze. “You will not be bored, I can promise that.”
“It doesn’t matter if I teach you. Likely you’ll still be slaughtered. You can’t run forever, you know. And none of them will stop chasing you.” Sahkyo looked positively delighted now. “Not Heaven. Not Sekhmet. Not the Norse. Your enemies are growing faster than your friends.”
“Well, that’s a chance we have to take.” Penelope’s heart beat like wings, a strange combination of dread and exhilaration. She was almost there. She could tell Sahkyo was intrigued. “But if Willow dies here, that all ends.”
Sahkyo passed her gaze dispassionately over Willow’s prone figure, slung over Bullet’s back. “True.” She paused a moment, looking out into the clouds again. “But that would also hold its own entertainment. You are close to her. Your devastation would be…” She closed her eyes as if tasting it.
Penelope felt a flash of anger in her stomach. “Is that truly all you care for? To amuse yourself?”
“When you live as long as I do, perhaps you’ll understand.” Sahkyo locked eyes on her. “And you could live that long. Unlike War here.”
Was Sahkyo right? If she survived this ordeal, would she live on and on and on until she, too, became jaded and cruel? A husk of a body without feeling or soul? She suddenly felt sick to her stomach. She’d been foolish to come here. To think this mad half-angel would help them.
But Sahkyo wasn’t done with her. “What is it you want, Pestilence? Why do you truly want to rebel against Heaven? Most would kill for your power.”
“So we keep being reminded,” Penelope snapped.
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