I’ll cut a bitch down later. I’m getting in snuggle time with my Horsemen right now.
I may want to keep them sheltered and safe, but the old me knew she couldn’t do it without them. Obviously I can’t either. I have to believe that she has all those paranoid contingency plans in effect that will keep them safe.
Just like what happened seconds ago, I’ll know what to do when it matters most.
My boys won’t fall.
Chapter 22
PACA
“I don’t understand why a short, mustache-wearing plumber gets his own game, when we’re clearly better options,” Kai says as he bites down on his tongue in concentration, wiggling the controls like that’s going to help him out of the mess he’s gotten himself in.
I’m on the couch behind him, my legs spread so he can sit on the floor between them. It’s a comfortable position that allows me to touch him a lot.
The plumber dies, and Kai’s shoulders sag in defeat, as I shake my head and run my fingers through his hair.
“You think this room holds the answers to all our questions?” Gage asks as he continues to knock on the walls as if he’ll find a false panel.
“I doubt a big golden arrow is going to appear and point at something to unveil all the old Paca’s plans. But this is the nineties room, and I need to memorize the things in here in case there are other clues she tries to send me during a really intense moment…that I don’t understand,” I explain, pointing at the Ninety-Eight Degrees poster on the wall.
“I highly doubt she predicted all that and intended for things to go just as they went,” Jude states, ever the Grinch, as he shoots me a disapproving snarl. “You just think you know what the message is, which leads to you doing something insane, and then you reason it away with the most unreasonable arguments—”
“It’s not unreasonable if the argument has merit. I mean, after all, you guys did level up,” I interrupt.
If looks could scald skin, even this hell-spawn girl would be on fire right now.
“And then you tirelessly defend it to the end,” he adds, grinding those words out as he cuts his gaze away.
He’s back to being the typical angry boy I know and love. My lips twitch as he studies the lava lamp as though it’s going to have a hidden message inside. For someone who doesn’t find my argument reasonable, he’s been quite the studious fella in the nineties room today.
Kai leans back on me, and his eyes flick up to meet mine.
“We only have a few days left. We can spend it searching for clues, or we can—”
There’s a familiar bell that rings loudly, and Kai’s hands grip my calves, as we all turn our attention to the ceiling. I forgot there was a full ceiling mural of the original Horsemen with the old me up there until this moment.
They were a fierce crew. You can see the domination and raw power brimming in their eyes.
“Why does that sound like a summoning to me?” Kai asks.
“It sounds like one to me as well,” Jude states tightly, siphoning to my side.
All four of my boys put a hand on me, as though they know what’s coming next, when I have no clue what’s going on. In the next instant, we’re in purgatory.
I stumble forward, and Ezekiel catches me effortlessly, snagging me at the waist and pulling me to his body in one swift motion.
How did we end up in Purgatory?
We look around and spot…the deceitful angel, formerly known as Harold.
“What’s going on?” Jude asks him as he takes a deliberate step in front of me.
As if I need protecting.
Oddly enough, Ezekiel does the same thing. Kai and Gage move in behind me, pressing against my body, as if preparing for the worst.
Harold/Heratio simply quirks an unimpressed eyebrow.
“As if I’d challenge The Apocalypse and her harem shortly after learning of your powers finally reawakening,” the shifty angel states in a dry tone.
“Please challenge us,” I say with some excitement. “I want to test out my new pretty fire.”
When he continues to just stare at me, I add, “Do we still call you Harold? Have I already asked this question? It seems like I have, but there’s been a lot happen in a few short weeks, so it’s hard to remember every little deta—”
The sound of some fierce, terrifying…neighing has me leaping almost out of my skin.
I whirl around, along with the guys, as a super ominous fog rolls across the ground, edging toward us.
“We’ll be traveling to see the Pure Branch today. You can’t go on foot. Only certain creatures can give the impure a means of passage,” Harold says as he moves toward the fog.
“Please let it be unicorns!” I shout as I fist pump the air. “Evil unicorns! I want to slaughter them when we’re done and see if they really do bleed like rainbows.”
Jude makes some sort of disgruntled sound, and I cut my eyes to him, batting my lashes. He deliberately ignores me like the prick he is.
I thought it was funny.
The steady drumming of hooves pounding the ground returns my attention to the fog, as telling whickering announces the arrival of…four horses.
Four very creepy, somewhat spooky horses, to be more precise.
My breath catches in my throat as they fully emerge. I’ve never seen such black horses with such shiny fur. Their eyes are red, with tinges of fire streaming across the pupils. A streak of lightning crosses through the sky, almost acting as an x-ray that highlights the skeletal structure in their faces. They stomp the ground, their massive hooves seeming to singe the ground beneath them.
Their faces aren’t distorted, but they aren’t natural either. Their snouts have piercings with chains that stretch from one nostril to the next. They’re scarred and imposing, just their presence sending the underground things into a scurrying frenzy that rumbles the ground beneath our feet.
“Are those zombie horses? Because that’d be kind of cool too,” I say in a quiet tone, so as not to spook the pretty freak shows.
“Are you kidding me? We, The Four Horsemen, are about to ride actual motherfucking horses? Is this some joke?” Jude grinds out.
“I find this on-the-nose sort of thing really exciting,” I point out. “Do I get a horse too?” I ask, looking over at the suspicious fallen angel.
Harold cuts his eyes to me.
“Fluffy is too stubborn to come out on her own. You’ll have to fetch her,” he states with a straight face, though his lips do suspiciously waver just enough to notice.
It’s over so fast I can’t be sure, and I dart off into the fog, even as Jude curses and tries to grab for my hand.
I bet I get a unicorn! Only a unicorn would be named something like Fluffy. Fluffy is going to bleed a pretty rainbow for me.
Chapter 23
KAI
“Mwahahahaha!”
“Why is she doing her evil laugh?” I gripe, trying to peer through the fog, as one of the horses comes to shove at me.
I bat its massive head away, even as it neighs and bumps me again.
Gage is already mounting his, as if he’s done this sort of thing recently.
“I haven’t ridden a fucking horse since automobiles became popular.” Ezekiel’s grumbled comment earns a snicker from Gage, who is taking this all in stride a little too easily.
“Showing your age,” I point out.
“Paca, get your ass back out here!” Jude shouts into the fog, even as he stumbles back out. “I can’t see a damn thing!”
“Fluffy is shy. She always causes that fog when she’s called out,” Lamar states as he appears.
“What are you doing here, minion?” Harold sneers.
I get tired of fending off the horse that apparently finds me familiar, and I climb atop it with remembered ease.
“Someone had to retrieve their pets. I merely wanted to ensure they all arrived,” Lamar tells him as he picks a piece of lint off his lapel.
“Oh, Fluffy! Come out, come out wherever you are, little unicorn! I won’t kill you…yet!” Paca chants into the fog.
“Is Fluffy a unicorn?” I decide to ask, glancing over to Lamar.
“The world is going to be saved by these five? We’re all dead,” comes Cain’s voice.
Harold actually startles, whirling around as the devil spawn shakes his head and disappears from sight, as though he’s seen all he needs to see.
“Her siblings are terrible for morale,” Gage notes, still a little too easygoing.
“Oh, Fluffy! Come to Paca!” Paca says in a singsong voice, as though she’s trying to coax out the unnamed fog spewer.
“This is a sanctioned meeting. I strongly advise you leave,” Harold tells Lamar.
“I strongly advise you to hold your tongue until I ensure Paca has retrieved Fluffy. Only then will I go. It’s a reunion I think I’ll enjoy—”
A sharp gasp from within the fog causes Lamar to stop talking, and we all jerk our gazes in the direction where it came.
“Paca! Paca, answer me!” Jude gripes, heading back into the fog.
“I found Fluffy! She’s not a unicorn! I don’t have to kill her! Can I keep her?” she asks with an alarming amount of excitement.
There’s silence after that.
“Paca?” I call out, wondering why the hell it’s so quiet. Did Fluffy try to eat her?