Path of the Horseman (19 page)

Demons might be able to detect lies, but they
couldn’t do anything about sidestepping questions.

“What do you mean ‘collection’?” I asked.
“You already have thousands of Soulless. You’ve never shown any
interest in the Plagued. What do you want live humans for?”

Ciaran grinned. His teeth were white and
flawless, but his canines were pointed and sharp.

“Come now, Avery. You can’t expect me to
spoil the surprise so soon after notably avoiding my question.”

Fucking demons.

“I don’t know where they are,” I told
him.

It was true. I hadn’t seen Kade since he took
off on our last day, and Logan could be fucking invisible if he
wanted to be. Finding them would make protecting the humans
much
easier, but it wasn’t like they’d be sitting in the
desert holding signs that said “We Are Here.”

Ciaran read my expression carefully. I could
almost feel him in my head, scouring my brain looking for lies or
half-truths. Luckily, there was nothing for him to find. If there
had been, Ciaran would have found a way to get it out of me.

“I almost believe you. But almost isn’t good
enough in this situation. I need guarantees, you understand. So why
don’t we talk to the rest of your friends? Perhaps they’ll be able
to shed more light on the situation.”

Before I could tell him to fuck off and that
I wasn’t lying, a bag was being thrown over my head again.

***

My mind was running laps as they walked me
back to the basement. What had Ciaran been talking about when he
said he was looking for a live collection? For demons, humans were
only good to have around for their souls. And what about my
brothers and me? As far as I knew, we didn’t have souls. We’d be
nothing more than amusement for demonkind.

Come see the Deliverers of the Apocalypse.
Tickets are five bucks at the door. Kids get in free.

Ciaran might have caught Simon and me by
proxy because of the humans, but there was no way he’d get Kade or
Logan. They were impossible to control, and literally
untouchable.

I was starting to think Simon might have been
right when he said we should walk away.

A door creaked open and I was led down the
stairs. The conversation was cut off, but I recognized Simon and
Josh’s angry voices. Dead silence filled the muggy basement when
the large Soulless took me into the middle of the room. They held
me in place and took the bag off my head. I blinked and let my
human eyes re-adapt to the darkness. Everyone still looked fine,
untouched since I left them. Laurel’s eyes were redder than before
and Ricardo shared the same confused expression as Maddy. Josh and
Simon were red-faced from arguing.

This was not a good time for Ciaran to come
down, and the coal-eater knew it. I was turned around to look
directly at Ciaran, who was surveying the humans with scrutiny.
Vance, who was always quiet when his master called the shots, stood
behind Ciaran with a disgustingly smug look on his face.

“The woman you brought up was impressive,
Vance, but this group is better than I expected.”

“I knew you would be pleased, boss. Bringing
you that one,” he pointed to me, “was the plan, but he was on the
road when I found him. I wanted to see where he was going, and he
led me to another one,” Vance looked at Simon next. “Then the rest
showed up, and I knew it was showtime.”

“That’s when you decided to try and kill me?”
Simon snapped.

Ciaran laughed. “Oh, we never intended to
kill you. But Vance knows Avery. He knew that sending Armin to
attack you would provoke him to do a little show for the
humans.”

Simon shrank back. I went rigid. The humans
watched with confusion and attention. Ciaran noticed their
expressions and smiled. He looked at me.

“They don’t know, do they? They have no idea
what you really are.”

Vance started laughing.

“What are you talking about?”

Maddy’s voice was quiet, but she was the only
one with enough courage to speak. I forced myself not to look at
her. I wouldn’t be able to trust myself if I did.

“Tell me, my dear, how did the world
end?”

Maddy blinked at Ciaran, too bewildered by
the question to be afraid of it. “A virus. Some scientist messed up
while working for some regenerative cure, and his patient turned
into a Plagued. It attacked everyone else in the lab and turned
them, and the virus spread from there. Everybody knows that.”

Vance started laughing again. “Very clever,
Avery. You come up with that all by yourself? Very George
Romero.”

“Fuck you, coal-eater.”

He laughed even harder. “That stings. I’ll
have to start calling you Toxic Avenger to keep up.”

I built up more breath, ready to spit fire at
the sulfur-eating shitbrain, when Ciaran glided over to Maddy. She
pushed back against the wall, unable to lift her arms or escape. He
knelt down in front of her, close enough to kiss.

“A very amusing story, don’t you think? So
obvious it easily covers up the truth.”

He reached out and stroked the side of her
head, drawing out long honey-blonde strands. Maddy twisted her head
away, but her hair was still tangled in Ciaran’s grip.

“The truth is a much more interesting, and
has a far more biblical take.”

“Biblical?” Josh repeated. “How?”

The back of Ciaran’s fingers traced along
Maddy’s cheek. She winced from the overwhelming heat coming from
his skin. Demon’s veins were filled with fire instead of blood. The
stronger the demon, the more their touch felt like hot lava.

“I take it you have heard of the Four
Horsemen? The Bringers of the Tribulation, the Great
Apocalypse?”

It wasn’t the question that quieted the
humans. It was the fact that Ciaran was asking it.

“The Horsemen aren’t real,” Josh said after a
minute.

Ciaran finally stopped petting Maddy and
stood up. He answered Josh, but made sure his words addressed
everyone.

“Yet you believe a failed virus is plausible,
when so many of your science fiction and horror novels dabbled in
the subject? I believe the Horsemen were very clever in their trap.
While the virus ravaged your world, Famine slipped through the
cracks and poisoned your food. War became the greatest killer the
world has ever known. Death lurked in the shadows, cleaning up any
messes the others made.”

Ciaran looked directly at me. I wanted to run
and stop him from saying anything else, but I couldn’t move. If I
did, I would give everything away. Ciaran would win, though I was
pretty sure he was going to win if I stood in place and did
nothing.

“But it was Pestilence that destroyed the
world. He was the one who created the virus. He merely chose
something your kind was familiar with to make it easier for his
brothers. He is the true monster. He enjoyed it. All the pain and
suffering, he loved seeing it. Wouldn’t you agree, Avery?”

“I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking
about,” I said, hoping I sounded convincing. I thought I did, but
doubt was flickering on each and every human face, and Simon wasn’t
backing me up.

“Of course not. You’ve spent ages trying to
cover up the truth.”

“The truth is that you’re some crazy fucking
demon I had the misfortune of running into once. Trust me, I didn’t
think it would happen again.”

Ciaran smiled, tipping his chin. “Yes, you
did.”

Honestly, I couldn’t see the point in lying
about that. I’d been hunting for Ciaran, wanting to kill him and
take out all his Soulless in one shot. But the fucker had found me
first, and trapped me in a position I wasn’t sure I could
escape.

Shouts and hisses began to build upstairs.
All of us, even Ciaran and Vance, looked up. Vance sighed. “Fucking
useless tic,” he muttered. “Probably hungry again.” He looked at
Ciaran. “Should I feed them?”

“No,” replied the Paladin. “Go see what they
want, then silence them however you see fit.”

Vance grinned, coal eyes flashing with
excitement. Give a demon a chance to torture and mutilate
something, and he’ll be your most loyal friend.

After Vance left the room, Ciaran locked his
burning eyes on me.

“While I’m sure Vance would love to be here
for the grand reveal, why don’t you share the truth with your new
friends, Avery? Their minds are probably swimming right now.”

I set my jaw, wishing I could use my anger as
a weapon. It could have turned Ciaran inside out.

“Avery?” Maddy’s voice was softer now. She
was getting scared. “What is he accusing you of?”

I didn’t look at her. I couldn’t. The moment
I did, I would probably end up telling the truth. And then she
would hate me.

Ciaran didn’t have any qualms about that.

“Why, I’m accusing him of starting the end of
the world, my dear girl. I’m saying that he’s the one who poisoned
that patient in the science lab. He was the creator of the virus
that desolated everything you know.”

The pounding feet over our heads became the
only sound.

“No,” Maddy breathed. “Avery’s human, and he
wouldn’t…”

She trailed off when Ciaran looked at her.
“Is he? I’m assuming he told you about some disease that spared him
from that Soulless. An easy lie for him, considering he can create
any disease he wishes to create. Even retroviruses that infect and
reanimate the dead. A Pestilence, you might say.”

My heart was pounding in my chest. It should
have been easy to refute what he was saying. All I had to do was
look scared and call him crazy. But Ciaran would be one step ahead
of me, because he was telling the truth.

“The Horsemen don’t exist,” Ricardo
whispered.

Ciaran laughed. “Oh, I assure you they do.
Two of them are before you. The human skin they wear is nothing
more than a disguise. It’s nothing compared to their true form. Why
do you think I didn’t allow them to sit on the wall beside you? I
wouldn’t put such valuable human lives next to two of the
universe’s most terrifying creations.”

“You can’t prove this,” Maddy said. But I
heard the doubt in her voice.

Ciaran grinned. “Of course I can. Allow me to
demonstrate.”

Before I could say anything, before I could
even process the fucking demon’s words, Ciaran raised his right
hand. Black edged demonfire spiraled out of his palms, turning into
small spears as he spread his fingers. He clenched his hand and
released the flames, every single one of them blurring past me and
digging into Simon’s chest.

My brother screamed and collapsed onto his
back, the blistering flames eating at his clothes and into his
skin. Demonfire wasn’t like regular fire. It burned until the demon
controlling it decided to put out the blaze. Ciaran could make it
burn Simon forever if he wanted to. My brother screamed and twisted
on the ground, trying to put the flames out. I ran for him, but the
Soulless guards holding me yanked me back, one of them digging his
claws into my shoulder and searing my arm with pain.

Ciaran stood calmly, ignoring the shouts of
mercy from the humans. He twisted his hand, drawing up the smoke
from Simon’s burning skin and clothes. He manipulated it with ease,
sending it onto Simon’s mouth and nose. Simon clenched his eyes
shut and tried to cough, but the black smoke was smothering him.
Every time he opened his mouth, I saw it churning in there, like
fog over an endless abyss.

I thrashed against my captors, trying to take
Ciaran’s attention off my brother.

“As much as I want you and the rest of your
brothers, Avery, this one here is expendable.” Ciaran moved his
hand again, spreading the demonfire over Simon. My brother opened
his mouth, but nothing came out. He was starting to turn blue. The
heavy noises over us became more aggressive.

“What the fuck do you want?!” I shouted.

Ciaran’s smile was heartless when he turned
it on me.

“I want you to save him, of course. Unless
you enjoy watching him suffer.”

The smell of Simon’s burning skin filled the
air. His eyes were closed. He was barely moving anymore.

Giving in and showing my true self was what
Ciaran wanted. To save my brother meant another victory from him.
But Simon was being tortured to death.

Power surged inside me, pushing out through
my skin and twisting around my body. Someone breathed sharply and
swore. Ciaran grinned.

I stopped caring what the humans saw and
didn’t see. Let them hate me. I wouldn’t let my brother die–

A loud crack rumbled above us, sending a
violent ripple through the ceiling and shaking dust onto our heads.
No way would Ciaran let Vance break his toys, and no Soulless was
strong enough to make the floorboards shake like that.

The noise surprised even Ciaran, who looked
up from killing my brother.

I didn’t hesitate, and I let go. Power
exploded off of me, a thick black smoke peeling away and burning
into the Soulless holding me. They screamed as black smoke slipped
into their pores, hunting down their organs and twisting into them.
I filled every organ I could find, then made it explode. Blood
spewed out of the Soulless mouths, their screams turning into
horrible gurgles as they collapsed and convulsed in agony. All the
humans screamed.