Path of the Horseman (31 page)

Cursing, I ducked down from the hilltop and
slid to where the horses were. The only one that didn’t startle or
back away from me was Orcus. But the Horse was used to being around
furious, supernatural beings.

Footsteps came down the hill behind me. I
turned and found myself facing Logan. Simon and Maddy were on their
way down, both of them too shocked to speak. I marched up to Logan
and shoved the binoculars against his chest. Logan just stared at
me.

“That trailer,” I said. “Where does it
go?”

My brother folded the binoculars up and slid
them into his trench coat. “I don’t know.”

I believed him, and knew it wasn’t his fault.
That was the only reason I didn’t lose control of my anger. Maddy
didn’t show the same restraint.

She marched up to Logan, put both hands on
his chest, and shoved him backward. He only moved back one step,
but I was still stunned she’d done that. She had pushed one of the
most dangerous creatures in the universe, and didn’t seem to
care.

“You
bastard!
” she cried. Actual tears
were streaming down her face. “You knew this was happening! Why
didn’t you do anything?”

Logan looked at her for a long time before
answering. “I couldn’t.”

That was the wrong thing to say to Maddy. She
screamed, “Liar!” and lunged at him again.

I darted forward and grabbed Maddy by the
waist, pulling her to my back and wrapping my other arm around her
chest. She was shaking, even though my arms were tight around
her.

“I could have gone down to the campground and
killed the demons and the Soulless with a single touch,” explained
Logan. “I could have liberated them all. I nearly did. But I saw
the outcome of attacking them by myself. All of the humans would
have died, whether by my indirect hand, or as a quick, final
slaughter from the Soulless. I would have been the only thing that
walked out of the campground alive.”

Maddy was still shaking and crying.

“He’s telling the truth,” I guaranteed her.
“Calm down.”

Finally, her trembling stopped, but I could
still feel the tension in her muscles. I loosened my arms, but
didn’t let go of Maddy just yet. She was teetering on the edge of
rage. If she went over, she’d forfeit her safety and do something
that would get her killed. I looked at my brother.

“Well, you’re not alone anymore,” I told
Logan. “There’s three of us.”

“And at least thirty of them,” Simon pointed
out unhelpfully from behind me. I glared at him, but it went right
over his head. Simon was used to my glares by now. “Don’t forget
the demon down there will have control over the Soulless. He can
use them to distract us, vanish, and come back with Ciaran and
Vance.”

I let go of Maddy and turned on my brother.
“So you’re saying we should just walk away? Leave all those people
to die?”

Simon hesitated, not sure how to answer this
question without getting punched in the face for it.

“Avery.”

Logan’s slow baritone caught my attention. It
was never a good sign when he used his reasoning voice.

“Did you ever consider that this was the plan
for the Second Coming all along? That Heaven found the humans
unworthy to live any more, and that we were meant to pave the way
for the demons?”

I would have been less surprised if he’d
sliced open my stomach with my own knife. “You don’t honestly
believe that,” I said, stunned.

Logan seemed resigned as he approached me.
“I’ve been thinking about it. Why were the demons able to escape
Hell so easily? Why didn’t Heaven send anyone to stop them? If they
cared about giving the humans a second chance on earth, wouldn’t
they have done something to keep the demons away from it?”

I balled my fists. “The demons got out
because they’re conniving fucks. They were just waiting for the
right chance. They could have been planning this for
centuries.”

“It’s possible,” Logan agreed. “It’s also
possible someone let them out the same day they let us out.”

I refused to believe it. I didn’t even want
to consider it. It was absurd to think that the beings who
commanded me to destroy the humans were the same ones that wanted
the demons to take their place. Demons were creatures that took
advantage whenever an opportunity presented itself. Nothing more. I
wouldn’t accept any of these lies, even if my brothers told
them.

“Shit,” Simon hissed. I noticed him running
up the hill. Chasing after Maddy.

I followed them, watching Simon grab the
human girl before she could reveal herself. She grunted and swung
her arm away from him. By that time, Logan and I were up on the
hill, though still concealed by it.

“You three can sit here and whine about the
way the world ended up if you want to,” she ranted, “but I’m going
down there to help those people.”

She turned to run again, but this time I
caught her. She glared at me, but didn’t protest.

“So am I, but we need a plan.”

She gave me her full attention. “Like
what?”

“Like a bunch of wild horses suddenly running
down the hill,” Logan offered.

Maddy looked at him with horrified eyes.
“You’re going to sacrifice the horses too?”

Logan gave her a cold smile. “They won’t be
caught. Those horses are faster than you can imagine, and Orcus is
strong enough to defend them. It will buy us some time to sneak
down the other side of the hill and surprise the Soulless.” He
looked at me. “But we need to try and take care of the demon
first.”

I nodded my agreement. The demon could screw
this entire plan if he ran home to Daddy.

“Well, if we’re about to into the monster’s
playground and start breaking things,” Simon said impatiently, “we
should find the radio transmission and stop it. Keep any other
humans from coming here.”

“Sounds good.”

While Logan and Simon went to spurn the
horses, I looked at Maddy. Logan’s warning flashed through my mind,
no matter how hard I tried to suppress it.

“Don’t suppose I can ask you to stay here and
be safe?” I asked.

Maddy gave me an exasperated look, as if she
couldn’t understand why I would ask that. It made sense to me, but
treating her like a dainty flower would only push her to become the
opposite.

“Then stay close to us.”

Maddy nodded. At least she understood that we
had a better chance of staying alive together than apart.

The horses suddenly screamed, catching our
attention. They were flying up the hill, Orcus leading the way. He
moved like a blur, far too fast for the normal horses to catch up.
Still, all four of them ran like the fiends of Hell were on their
tails. In a few moments, that’d probably be true.

While the horses shot over the hilltop toward
the campground, Maddy and I ran after my brothers. Logan was ahead
of us, apparently knowing exactly where to strike. In minutes, we
were coming around the bend of the hill, right behind the caged
humans.

The campground seemed way too open now that I
was on the ground, but at least the gigantic fire, which roared
fifty feet into the air, illuminated the open space. The horses
were running around the campground, Orcus still leading and
protecting them. The Soulless were hooting and hollering, trying to
catch the horses for reasons I didn’t want to think about. As we
snuck toward the cages, there were a couple times when I thought
the Soulless would grab one of the horses. Then Orcus would appear
and kick the Soulless away, knocking them onto the ground and
turning their cries of excitement into screams of anger. I couldn’t
see the demon, but I assumed he was behind the bonfire, watching
his minions getting their asses literally kicked by a Horse.

“We need to take out the guard first,” I
muttered, referring to the Soulless man standing in front of the
cages.

The suggestion had barely left my mouth
before Logan was on his feet, removing his gloves. He walked
gracefully around the cages, getting a few startled gasps from the
humans inside. The Soulless guard heard them and turned around. He
barely finished turning when Logan placed both hands on the
Soulless’ head. Pale grey smoke drifted out of my brother’s hands
and swirled around the Soulless’ skull. The monster’s jaw dropped
like he was going to scream, but all that came out was a dull rasp.
The Soulless man twitched violently, his pale, blue-veined skin
taking on a sickening grey. His eyes glazed over as he gasped his
final breath. Logan dropped the body and stalked toward the other
Soulless, who had given up on the horses and were beginning to see
a new challenge.

I pulled the machete off my back and rose to
my feet.

“Get them out,” I told Simon and Maddy.

I didn’t wait for them to agree or disagree.
Logan and I were the strongest fighters in the group. We had to
hold off the Soulless for as long as possible while trying to find
and kill the demon.

At first, it was easy. The four Soulless
closest to us charged at the same time, two going for Logan and two
coming at me.

These Soulless were faster than the other
ones I’d faced, becoming blurs until they were in front of me. I
barely caught a glimpse of them before they struck. All their blood
drinking had probably boosted their senses and reflexes. The one on
my left had a scar along his cheek, and the one on the right wore a
camouflage shirt.

Scar swiped his claws at my throat while Camo
went for my liver. I leaned away from Scar’s claws and dropped my
elbow so Camo couldn’t stab me with his claws. I stabbed the
machete forward, hoping it would go through Scar’s chest. The
Soulless just stepped back. Camo wasn’t as smart.

I kicked back, driving my boot into the
second Soulless’ knee. As he howled and crumpled, I twirled the
machete until the blade pointed away from my back. Then I shoved it
into Camo’s head. I felt the resistance and heard the crunch of
bone, but I knew Camo was dead. Scar didn’t even notice, too busy
lunging for me. I slammed my foot into his chest and knocked him
back, pulling the machete from Camo’s head. Scar couldn’t take a
hint, and rushed to tackle me. I swerved to the side, jerking my
knee into his stomach. His attack stopped, ending permanently when
I brought my machete down on his neck.

Two more hacks, and Scar was headless. I
glanced at Logan to make sure he was okay. My oldest brother was
dodging attacks, grey power floating down from his hands like the
trails of smoke from one of his cigarettes. All Logan had to do was
touch the bare skin of a Soulless, and he would kill them
instantly. He knew how to take care of himself, and I didn’t let
myself worry about the three new Soulless charging toward him.

I did worry about the five coming my way,
however. I rested the machete against my leg, bringing up my free
hand and drawing black smoke into it. Soulless weren’t stupid,
unfortunately. When they saw the smoke in my hand, they didn’t
charge from the same direction. They broke off from one another,
moving to surround me. I had to act fast.

I turned the smoke in my hands and shot it
out like a spear, driving the poison into the chest of the center
Soulless. She screamed and arched her back as the poison ate its
way through her. I held onto the smoke, whipping it to the side to
catch another monster in the back. My luck ran out after that.

I managed to see one of the Soulless coming
on my right from the corner of my eye. I turned with my machete,
trying to catch him in the stomach. I missed, and exposed my back.
Another Soulless pounced on me, wild red hair swinging into my
face. The Soulless hung on like a psychotic monkey, pulled my shirt
collar aside and sank her fangs into my shoulder.

She paid for her mistake instantly. She took
one drink of my venomous blood before she dropped off my back and
screamed. I ignored her and the pain in my upper arm, balling my
left fist with black smoke and punching the Soulless in front of me
square in the face.

I couldn’t kill instantly like Logan could,
but I got damn close. The blow sent the smoke into his skin, and I
commanded it to rupture every blood vessel in the Soulless’ head.
His brain burst inside his skull like a popped balloon.

There was a sharp hiss behind me. Another
Soulless, who would be on my back before I finished turning–

Except a sharp black arrow flew over my
shoulder and into his eye.

I glanced back quickly. Simon turned his bow
away from me to find another target. Maddy was rushing behind him,
using a key she must have stolen from the dead Soulless guard to
unlock the cages. About half were empty now. The humans scrambled
out, terrified and unsure of what to do. Maddy yelled directions at
them, giving up her flashlight but not her knife.

Another screech had me dropping to one knee.
I spun on the ground, dirt grinding into me. I missed the claws of
the Soulless woman over me, and swung the machete at her legs. I
put way more force than needed into the slash, and took off her
knee at the thigh She shrieked and began to collapse. I was rising,
bringing the machete up with me. The blood soaked blade sliced
through her ribs up to her shoulder, splitting her heart in two.
She was pretty much done for when she hit the ground, but I took
off her head just to be sure. You could never be too careful with
monsters that could heal themselves.