I refuse to swallow against the lump in my throat, and I remind myself we’ve leveled up since Jude took that spear to the gut.
I’ve never been afraid of much. It seemed we could take on anything with each other, or face death without fear, should it come for us. But now, more than ever, it feels as though we have a lot more to lose.
My eyes flick to Paca, just as she discreetly wipes more blood away from her nose, her eyes measuring the power display.
“Surrender yourselves. You will not defeat me. You cannot.”
We all stare on as it continues to spray into the air. This is just a demonstration. It’s still not the full amount of power this thing has. It’s playing with us. Showing off. Toying with our heads.
It’s working.
Already, I find destroying the world to be a safer plan for all the souls, us, and all three planes. If this thing gets loose, it’ll likely be the end of all.
“Will all of the upstairs suffer if it’s freed, or will there just be a new universe created?” I ask quietly.
Harold is silent, either hesitant to answer, or unable to do so. When I glance in his direction, I see him staring blankly ahead.
“The pure can’t fight this thing. We had the misfortune of belatedly learning the righteous is damned upon touching it, and even with a magnificent amount of joined power, the corruption would be staggering. Angels would fall almost instantly upon facing it, balances shifting and destroying themselves in an effort to fight against it. Sin with no heart or reason is simply a monster at its very core. There is no way for us to defeat it. To the rest of your question…I don’t have an answer. I’m a fallen angel. Not even the archangels would be privy to such information. I couldn’t even hazard a guess, for I know not what lies ahead.”
It’s the most non-committal, non-answer I’ve ever heard.
“Your rides will escort you out. Don’t waste much time, or you’ll be sealed in until the battle, when the next window is available,” Harold concludes before he blurs away, racing so fast I almost lose sight of him immediately.
Paca studies the thing a little while longer, brow furrowed in concentration as she taps her chin.
“Think it’d suddenly behave better if I fed it some popcorn?” she asks, even as another drop of blood drips from her nose. “I know the pain of desperately wanting some of that light, buttery goodness and being unable to have it. The entire world could be saved if we—”
“Harold’s gone. You can stop playing pretend,” I interrupt.
“We should go. I want to peruse the nineties room after I spend some time with my favorite,” she chirps, winking at me again.
My eyes automatically dip to the very tempting blonde before me. Fucking shit, I just want her all to myself for hours on end. Maybe I’d be okay with sharing. Possibly. Since we have such little time left before this fight, I suppose it’d be selfish to keep her to myself for too long.
While I’m stuck debating time-shares in my head, Paca takes off on Fluffy, hooves pounding the ground as she heads off.
Jude rides up on my right, Gage comes up on my left, and Kai stops next to him. Lined in a row, we watch her back as she rides toward the gray horizon.
“She’s hiding something,” I note aloud.
“We’ll discuss it once that thing isn’t listening to us,” Kai states as he bolts in her direction, unable to siphon out of this section, forced to ride horses like a full-on cliché.
My own steed kicks off without waiting for my command, following behind him, and the other two ride up until we’re in a row again, striding at an even, fast pace.
Paca’s too far ahead to catch up, because Fluffy may be massive, but she’s a hell of a lot faster than she looks.
We barely catch a glimpse of her with Lamar at the edge of the no-go area, before they both disappear from sight.
“That dick,” I gripe.
“He whisks her away when she’s keeping fucking secrets,” Kai grinds out.
Idly, I spot Harold waiting off to the side.
“I don’t know what the point of bringing us out here even was,” I tell him as we slow to a stop just in front of him.
I’m still not sure how I feel about him. We wouldn’t have made it without him this long, and I hate that I feel indebted to the man who helped end our first lives by taking the one thing we all must have really fucking treasured.
“I’m not sure either. Jahl did more of a demonstration than usual, though. It’s doing its best to intimidate her,” Harold says in a nonchalant way.
I don’t want to admit the demonstration was certainly intimidating. He can create puppets even without souls.
“What do you mean you’re not sure?” Jude asks him, barely getting the words out.
It looks like he’s struggling to decide how he feels about Harold as well.
“In the days before Paca...” He lets the words trail off, visibly hesitating, as he takes a step back and keeps a wary eye on us. “The old Paca spent her final days visiting that cage during every window available for approach,” he says, changing his phrasing.
Gage cracks his neck to the side, but we all refrain from commenting.
“We’re aware she studied it. Why bring us here today? To show us what that thing can do without much effort?” I finally ask.
He shrugs. “As I said, I have no idea. Rafael requested it. He assumed it could possibly jar some of her muscle memory, maybe inspire some last minute preparation. I’m not sure why we’re even bothering at this point. Just seeing that small demonstration of power and feeling the pure, unadulterated sin so close…I don’t imagine even the five of you will survive this.”
“Are you trying to talk us out of it?” Kai asks incredulously.
Harold’s jaw tics, and he glances away. “That woman is pure evil to have ever designed you all to land in my area for my path to redemption. She purposely made it so I’d have no choice but to take you under my wing. Unfortunately, it means I’ve come to care for you as a byproduct of all that concern.”
His gaze returns to us.
“It’s what’s stopping my ascension. At least now I understand why my balance never fully purified, even after all I’ve done.” He glances down at his feet. “I’m happy where I am. Being neutral suits me best. However, the more I’m stuck mulling over this mess, the less certain I am you’ll survive. What’s the point in any of it if you’re underdeveloped and unable to defeat it?”
“If this is your idea of a pep talk, you’re severely lacking in motivational speaking,” Gage states dryly.
I nod in agreement, as I lean up on my horse, itching to go after Paca, but desperate for any information we can pry out of this stingy network of angels and devils.
“We’re fighting a battle Lucifer protests, while refusing to pass along much information in the way of helping us out. We’re fighting a battle even a fallen angel doubts we can win. We’re fighting a battle Heaven’s trained champion fell under quickly. Yet, we know very little about our opponent,” I add, sighing heavily as I begin massaging my temples.
It’s starting to press in on all of us too heavily to deny it anymore.
“Because we don’t know enough to share any more information. If there were more, trust me, we would share it. Lucifer is just as limited, and what he does know wouldn’t help you. Jahl won’t hold back, and none of us are truly sure what it is truly capable of. Not even the prophets.”
He takes another step back, exhaling harshly.
“I must take my leave. I’m limited to the amount of time I can spend in Purgatory without disrupting my balance. Take care, Horsemen. As much as it pains me to say, I’d rather if these versions of you continued to exist.” He turns, gradually fading from sight in a slow, deliberate siphon. “The old ones were pretty fucking terrible,” he adds just as he fully disappears, his voice lingering in his wake.
We’re all quiet for a minute, taking the moment to collect ourselves. We don’t exactly do emotion very well, and it’s been a tense few months since Paca landed back in our lives.
“What did that fucked up riddle mean?” Jude asks quietly.
“You’ll need answers to the puzzle you’ve laid. To seek such, refer to all things from your favorite decade,” Kai states almost automatically, his eyes widening. “It’s supposedly the answer to all those stupid fucking riddles, right?”
“She wants to check the nineties room for a reason. We’ll search it for any clues,” I say in quiet agreement.
“Unless she’s already there and getting the fucking clue she needs to solve this particular puzzle she’ll likely hide from us like the sneaky shit she is,” Jude bites out.
In the next instant, he’s gone, leaving the horse behind, as he siphons out.
“While he’s off to intercept our shifty girlfriend, does anyone know what the hell we’re going to do with four massive horses?” Kai asks, sighing as he scrubs a hand over his face. “Or how we’re going to defeat that thing, keep our girl and ourselves alive, and not stress out about all of this happening too damn fast to keep up?” he adds.
“I’ll tend to the horses,” comes Lamar’s voice from behind us. As I turn around to spot him smiling tightly, he adds, “Though, you should learn their names, since they’re about to do battle with you.”
I start to argue that, but decide I’d rather chase after Paca, so I siphon away instead, leaving that discussion to Kai and Gage. However, they land in the nineties room with me, where…Jude has Paca caged against the wall.
I can see it in her eyes she’s hiding something, but then…she does something I’m not expecting.
She grabs the back of his neck and jerks him down until his lips crash to hers. The man who is made of iron will surrenders too damn easily, one of his hands fisting her hair as he kisses her back. His free hand fists on the wall, and though I expect him to pull back, he ends up lifting her up instead.
“For right this moment, I just need you to be my favorite,” she whispers across his lips, breaking the kiss long enough to say those words.
“Pretty sure it’s supposed to be my turn to be the favorite,” I dutifully inform her, glaring a little at Death, who needs to fuck off.
She breaks the kiss and gives me a sly smile, as Jude walks her toward me. Twisting in his arms, she reaches over, fingers going into my hair, as she gives me a gentle tug.
I come willingly, but she stops just short of kissing me, her gaze piercing mine. “You’re my favorite too,” she murmurs before her lips move to mine.
I forget what we’re even talking about, as her devilish tongue slips between my lips and drowns any thoughts away, replacing them with an unyielding need to have her under me, over me…and any other position I can get her in.
“She’s trying to distract us,” Kai says, even as his voice grows shaky.