Path of the Horseman (25 page)

“You don’t let your prisoners talk?” Josh
accused.

“Oh, I let them talk,” Kade responded.
“They’re just smart about what they say.” He tilted his head,
looking smug. “Funny thing. Whenever I asked them about their stint
in the desert, they clammed up. Something tells me it’s not the
Holy Grail you’re looking for.”

Maddy tried to appear indifferent, but I saw
the slump in her shoulders.

“We can check it out,” I blurted.

Simon and Kade looked at me. “Can we now?”
Kade said.

“What harm is it going to do?” I asked.
“Maybe the people out there need help.”

“Maybe,” parroted Kade, walking closer to me.
“Or maybe there’s something else out there that you’re looking to
nab. I assume you’re still pissed at Ciaran for spilling the beans,
and you don’t want to blame yourself, right?”

Kade stopped in front of me, every inch of
him bursting with confidence and power.

“What better way to do that than to go to
this little haven, lie in wait, and strike when he arrives?”

“No!” Maddy shouted. “Don’t go near
them!”

Kade glared. “You’re cute and all,
Goldilocks. But if you don’t close your mouth right now, I’ll cut
out your tongue. It’ll make your job for me a lot less
exciting.”

She started to protest, but Josh was faster.
“We’re not going to say yes to what you’re offering, and you don’t
need the extra help. Let both of us leave. We’ll never tell anyone
who you are, and you’ll never see us again.”

He made sure those last words were directed
at me.

“Forgive me for not trusting a human,” Kade
said snidely. “I know you meat-sacks couldn’t snuff me, but there’s
a human expression about loose lips sinking ships. When I want a
fight, I want to be the one to start it. So no, you and the tigress
don’t get to go anywhere.”

Kade turned and looked at me. “You happy now?
Can we go?”

No, I wasn’t happy. No, I didn’t want to
leave. But what choice did I have? Staying here would anger Maddy
and Josh further, and leave me feeling worse. I had to think of
something else, a better way to prove that I wanted to keep them
safe. For now, they were moderately safe in Kade’s hotel.

“Yeah,” I replied. “They won’t convert
yet.”

Kade frowned. “Pity. We could use strengths
like theirs. Most of my meat-sacks are tough as Jell-O and about as
smart.”

My brother turned and walked out of the
suite. Simon was right behind him. I followed, but stopped in the
doorway. I turned and looked back. Josh was holding Maddy again.
Her face was tight with anger and pain, tears sliding down her
cheeks. My stomach condensed.

“I’m sorry,” I offered quietly. “I just–”

“Get out, Avery,” Josh whispered furiously.
“Stay the hell away from us.”

Another time, I would have argued. I would
have faced Josh down and let him know that nothing he said could
bend me.

But seeing him standing there, a horrible
expression of fear and rage on his face as he held a shell-shocked
blonde girl, the girl I wanted to better myself for, I was subdued.
The damage was done. Hate had been sown into the deepest pockets of
their hearts.

I turned and left without another word,
wishing I hadn’t heard Maddy’s sob before the door closed.

The only thing worse than having a family
reunion with my brothers was enduring the damn dinner.

Not that Kade didn’t put out an impressive
display.

After failing to convince Josh and Maddy to
work for him, Kade decided to feed us. He picked out the biggest
table in the most exclusive restaurant in the hotel. In the past,
the Paiza Club catered to the richest of the rich. The high rollers
staying in the hotel would come here to eat tiny morsels of
extremely expensive food for bragging rights. I was surprised to
search my memories and find that the club hadn’t made any shirts
that said, “I ate at the Paiza and lost weight!” Seemed like it
could have been a good marketing ploy.

The restaurant didn’t hold the grandeur of
its old self. Yes, the rooms were expansive, the classy, modern
décor was pristine, and the fading light from the floor-to-ceiling
windows gave the room a romantic atmosphere, but walking inside
made me feel like I was dining in a haunted house.

Dust was everywhere, and the shadows seemed
taller in the corners. Kade had chosen a long table for us to sit
at, with him at the head of course. Servers dressed in tattered,
moth-eaten suits started off bringing us alcohol. At Kade’s
insistence, he ordered me a gin and tonic, straight whiskey for
himself, and a virgin Shirley Temple for Simon.

“Don’t give me that look, Slime,” teased
Kade. “I know you have a sweet tooth.”

Simon dropped his gaze to the table. Whether
he was annoyed, angry, or despondent, I couldn’t tell.

“We need to do something about Ciaran,” I
said, shifting the conversation away from my nervous brother. “We
should find him and stop his plan before he sets it into
motion.”

Kade picked up his glass of whiskey and
swirled it around. “Sure, we could do that. Or we could bide our
time and see what he’s doing. I have to admit, my curiosity’s
piqued.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Not all of us want to be
tortured and probably killed by a demon.”

“Not all of us are going to be,” Kade said,
staring at me over his glass as he took a long drink. “What’s the
matter, Pest? You scared of seeing Logan again? I thought you liked
him.”

“Can you take anything seriously for
once?”

“Actually, I can,” Kade proclaimed, setting
down his empty glass. He motioned to one of his Vermilion guards.
The man reached into the front of his long crimson jacket and took
out a radio.

My heartbeat sped up. Kade twisted the knob
on the top of the radio, and a familiar message began to play.

“
If you are receiving this transmission,
there is a safe haven. We are aware that not every survivor has a
working radio, so if you are listening to this, let them know they
are not alone. Leave them messages. Tell them that the Valley of
Fire RV Park near Arch Rock is filled with survivors. Professional
military personnel guard the perimeter. We have food and shelter,
and everyone is valued and cared for. Repeat. You are not alone. If
you find the Park, you will be safe.
”

As the message played, the servers began
coming out with huge platters of food and setting them on the
table. My jaw dropped at the sight of it all.

Steamed vegetables were heaped on plates with
melting butter and resting next to warm bread rolls. The mountains
of spaghetti and fried rice seemed to be the definition of comfort.
Juicy chicken breasts, seared fish, and thick steaks were placed in
front of us. Waiting on the table to our left was a collection of
dainty desserts, everything from chocolate mousses to tiramisu to
mini apple pies.

My big bastard brother obviously had a chef
in his captivity, and if he did have gardens and hunting parties,
he would have no shortage of fresh foods.

“Some of the meat-sacks had radios on them
when they came to me,” Kade said, taking the biggest steak he could
find and cutting it slowly. “That message has been playing since
the day we walked away. A little convenient, don’t you think?”

Kade bit into the piece of steak and chewed
contently. He made it a show for the poor, starving people beside
him. He stared at me and waited. I sighed and started putting food
on my own plate. Even though I wasn’t hungry, insulting Kade was
never a good idea.

“Still, I thought it was a load of horse
shit. But your feisty little humans made me think otherwise. I
never checked the place out, and now I’m thinking I should.” Kade
paused to take another bite of his steak. Simon was concentrating
on his food beside me, but I was losing my appetite fast.

Kade always teased Simon about his eating
habits, but he was no better. At least Simon was willing to share
with the humans when they came to his resort. I glanced at the
waiters patiently standing on the far side of the room, their hands
clasped behind their backs and their eyes staring hungrily at the
gigantic meal the three of us wouldn’t finish. Even the Vermilion
guards flanking Kade were all but drooling.

“What changed your mind?” I asked.

“Nothing. I just had the incredible idea that
I could use more people around here, since yours are too stuck-up
to use their brains.”

I froze. “You want to capture the humans at
the haven?”

Kade rolled his eyes. “It’s not kidnapping if
half of them want to go. Besides, you really think they stand a
chance out there in the desert?”

“It should be their choice.”

“Please,” Kade scoffed. “Humans have been
making the wrong choices since they were dropped here. That’s why
they sent us up in the first place.”

I looked at the sad, hungry servers staring
at us.

“I’m guessing the Emperor’s leftovers don’t
go to his subjects,” I muttered.

Kade smiled at me like I was an impatient
child. “What’s the point of having a personal chef if he doesn’t
cook exclusively for you?”

Kade snapped his fingers. Almost instantly, a
pretty young brunette scurried to Kade’s side with a bottle of
Glenlivet, bending at the waist to pour him another long drink. She
was wearing the shortest black skirt I’d ever seen, and her tank
top was cut so low I could almost see her navel. Kade stared at her
with dark, greedy eyes, rubbing his hand along her back and moving
lower.

“How can you be like this?”

Kade picked up his full glass of whiskey and
sipped it, still stroking the girl’s ass.

“Because I’m better than them. We all are.”
His dark eyes went between my brother and me. “We all have theories
about why we’re stuck on this piece of shit. Mine is that we were
left to tend the flock. Humans can’t rule themselves. If someone
strong takes them over, they play along for a while, then they
overthrow that leader and wind up slaughtering themselves for
another one. They can only be controlled by something that isn’t
human. We fit the bill, brothers.”

“You sound like Ciaran,” Simon pointed out
tentatively.

Kade shot him a harsh glance, and Simon went
back to eating. “The difference between me and that asswipe is that
I don’t need to steal souls to rule. These people come to me, and I
provide for them. I worked my ass off to clean out this city of the
dead, so I deserve to be praised. They treated me like a god when I
saved their sorry lives, so why shouldn’t I act like one?” He
locked eyes with me. I watched his eyes turn blacker than the
deepest voids in space. “That’s how you two should be acting. You
saved that group of humans, and what did they do? Two of them
ditched to serve under me, and the other two would kill you if they
had the chance. And how’d you respond, Avery? Like a fucking kicked
dog. You tucked tail and ran when you should’ve torn their fucking
throats out.”

Power rolled in me. I clenched my fists
around the steak knife and fork in my hand. “How is that supposed
to help anything? How is that supposed to make the Second
Coming–”

“Jesus fucking Christ!” Kade erupted, shoving
the girl away so hard that she tripped. “Enough with the Second
Coming bullshit! I am so goddamn tired of you always falling back
on that like it’ll make a fucking difference!”

Kade rose from his chair, placing both hands
on the table. Simon scooted back in his seat. The guards and
servers moved as far away as they could.

“You’re hoping that Paradise is just around
the bend, that God and his angels will cast some kind of beacon and
show you the new breed of humans living in some fucking cave. That
isn’t going to happen, brother. We killed the human race. We’re the
ones who have to look after this newly fucked up world. We’re
goddamn royalty. Start acting like it.”

I stood up, never breaking eye contact with
Kade.

“No,” I told him flatly. “I’m not going to
abuse my power. I’m not going to become a monster.”

Kade grinned maliciously, though his eyes
were filled with murder. “Newsflash, Pest. You already are.”

I balled my fists at my side. “Yeah, and my
powers are fading. Soon I won’t have any. None of us will. Know
what’s going to happen then, Kade? All these humans you’ve been
stepping on will remember their history lessons. You’ll just be one
more asshole they want to kick off the throne.”

I knew it was coming, but Kade’s attack still
hurt. The blast of blood-red fire smacked me full in the chest and
knocked me onto the ground. Simon’s chair clattered and a woman
screamed. No one moved to help me, even as I used my smoke to swat
away Kade’s fire. My chest was raw and blistered, some of the burns
spreading to my neck and chin. I had just gotten the fire out when
Kade stormed over to me and hauled me up by the scruff of my neck.
I grabbed his arms and tried to force a disease into him, but he
punched me in the side of the head and screwed up my focus. Kade
hit me twice more before he lifted me up and slammed me onto the
top of a table. It cracked beneath my weight, leaving me bruised
and dazed. Kade whirled around and looked at the people who’d
watched me get my ass kicked.