Path of the Horseman (33 page)

“What about the Soulless? And the radio
transmission?”

“While you were fighting the demon, I had to
make a quick trip into one of the RVs.” Logan’s eyes darkened, and
I thought about the boy that had been dragged into one of the RV’s
by a Soulless. “I found the transmission and destroyed it. No other
signals will be sent out. As for the Soulless themselves, only a
few remain alive,” he answered. “I suppose it was a good thing they
did, since we can interrogate him. I would have preferred to talk
to the demon, but…” Logan trailed off and looked at headless Bulky
by the bonfire. Maddy was standing by the body, staring at the fire
beside it.

No, wait, she’s looking at… Oh.

“We should talk to that Soulless while we
can,” I said. “It probably won’t be long before he heals himself
and scurries home to Ciaran.”

Simon grinned wickedly. “I wouldn’t worry
about that,” he said. “He’s got some pretty bad hunger pains and is
too weak to move.” His smug smirk faded. “But we shouldn’t hang
around. Ciaran and Vance escaped, and they’ll know something
happened here. And there’s still Kade to deal with.”

I was kind of wishing I’d gotten my ass
kicked harder.

“Okay, let’s talk to the hungry vampire.”

Simon and Logan walked away, moving around
the fading wall of demonfire. At least there wasn’t much around by
way of plants. I definitely had not come here to see this desert
literally turn into the Valley of Fire.

I made my way over to Maddy, who was staring
at the blackened legs of the woman in the bonfire. Her hands were
loose at her sides, like she was ready to drag the woman out of the
flames, even though it was way too late for her.

“Hey,” I said gently. “You okay?”

Stupid question, but it was a universal
phrase for humans to use when they were concerned for someone and
didn’t know how to talk to them.

“It wasn’t supposed to be like this,” Maddy
whispered. I barely heard her over the crackling flames, and had to
step closer. “I wasn’t expecting the Garden of Eden or anything,
but I thought there would be life here. Something to give me hope.
Proof we could start over.”

Maddy dropped her head and shook it. “God,
I’m such an idiot.”

My hand curled around her shoulder. “No
you’re not.”

When she didn’t respond, I used my hand to
turn her to face me. Tears lined Maddy’s cheeks, glittering like
crystals in the shadows of the dancing bonfire. She still looked
beautiful, but it was heartbreaking to see her this way. I used my
free thumb to wipe away her tears. She didn’t try to stop me.

“This was just a piece of land, Mads,
remember? Any haven you find is just going to be a piece of
cracked, dead earth. It doesn’t matter where you choose to live. If
you want to make it a home, just drop your bag and claim it as
yours.” I smiled at her. “I recommend a mansion with a beach view.
Nobody’s gonna come knocking for property taxes.”

Maddy’s laugh was short and hitched, but it
was real. I couldn’t ask for more. Though I didn’t protest when she
threw her arms around me and crushed her face into my chest. I put
my arms around her, holding her gently, and understanding why
humans enjoyed this kind of close contact.

“I’m sorry I was so hard on you,” she mumbled
into my shirt, not caring about the bloodstains and dirt on it. “I
should have gone with my instincts.”

“You had instincts about me?” I asked, my
hand stroking her soft hair, warmed by the fire at her back. “Did
they tell you to run away screaming?”

Maddy gave her hurt laugh again, then pulled
her head away. She looked at me with so much trust and sincerity it
hurt my heart. And I didn’t want the pain to stop.

“No,” she told me. “They said you’d save
us.”

I went still, not just because her statement
was painfully ironic, but because I wondered if I could do it.
Could I find the other humans Ciaran and Vance had captured, and
save them from the demons? Could I find a way to release Kade’s
stranglehold on the mortals he’d claimed? Could I really make a
difference in the lives of all the people I had ruined, knowing
they’d never forgive me if they knew the truth?

Did I deserve to?

“Hey lovebirds,” Simon called. “I’d say take
an RV and get it over with, but we have a dying Soulless to
question. Some of us have places to be, you know!”

Maddy looked a little guilty, and slipped out
of my arms. I turned and scowled at my brother, who merely blinked
at me. I made a mental note to punch Simon if he interrupted my
next moment with Maddy.

Resigning myself to business and not thinking
about the beautiful, hopeful girl who believed I was a savior after
all, I crossed the campground to where Simon was standing, Logan
was kneeling, and the Soulless was lying. Maddy stood off to the
side, eager to watch but not wanting to get too close to the
Soulless. Smart girl. Just because the Soulless was dying, didn’t
mean he wasn’t dangerous.

Though when I cocked my head to the side and
looked down at the Soulless, I didn’t see much of a threat. I’d
seen plenty of starved corpses in my time on this dried out rock,
but seeing an emaciated Soulless disturbed even me. The paper pale
skin clung to the man’s bones, his blue veins sticking out like
worms under his skin. The Soulless’ bloodshot eyes were wide with
pain and anger. I almost felt bad for the bastard.

Then I thought about the screams of the woman
being dragged to the bonfire, and changed my mind.

“You...” rasped the Soulless. “You killed
them all.”

“Yeah,” I agreed. “We do that. Want to tell
us what you were planning to do with the humans? Why did Ciaran
take those other ones away?”

A loud grumble came from Soulless’ stomach. I
could hear it rattling his bones. Not pleasant.

“They’re chosen for others. Reserved.” His
bloody eyes met mine with a nasty smile. “Like you and your kind
will be.”

“And just who are these ‘others’?” I asked,
hoping I seemed bored instead of tense.

The Soulless laughed, a creepy, rattling
noise that tuned into a savage coughing fit.

“You’ll know soon enough, Horseman. They’ll
pay top dollar for you. After they make their special stop.”

I didn’t get it until I heard Maddy’s sharp
intake of breath.

Oh no.

I must not have been restraining myself as
well as I thought, because the starved Soulless began laughing at
me. I wondered if Ciaran could see through his eyes, and if the
Paladin demon was getting the actual amusement from all this.

My question was answered when the Soulless
croaked, “Come back, Avery. Your brother misses you.”

Logan’s hand moved suddenly. He pressed his
fingers to the Soulless’ head, let a burst of pale smoke sink in,
and killed the man.

“We need to get back,” I said, already
turning away for the hill.

“Into the obvious trap?” Simon said to my
back. “Not a good idea.”

“It doesn’t matter. Kade’s there. We have to
help him.”

“That’s a terrible reason for your worse
idea,” argued Simon. “Kade’s probably furious with both of us, and
I’m in no rush to face him. He can take care of himself.”

I whirled on Simon, fists balled at my side.
“And how many people are going to die because we want to stay safe?
We know where Ciaran is. We can end this now.”

“I agree with Simon,” came Logan’s ice cool
voice. “This is not a wise battle to fight. War is Kade’s essence.
If anything, he’ll thrive from this.”

“That’s what you have to tell me? Really?
After you just gave me shit about draining myself? How much do you
think Kade’s going to care about that?”

My brothers didn’t say anything.

“Kade’s a sick bastard and king of the
assholes, but he’s our brother and has humans with him. Those are
the only reasons I need to go back.”

I looked at both my brothers, knowing Maddy
would come with me.

Simon shifted from side to side, as though he
were weighing the options of running away and facing his most
feared enemies and his dangerous brother. I honestly couldn’t tell
if he was willing to stand by me, or if he’d finally had
enough.

Simon sighed. “We should try getting the
horses to ride back to the car. It’s still a long drive.”

I nodded gratefully at him, then looked at
Logan. His expression caught me off guard.

When Logan saw a death coming his way, a
glassy distance filled his eyes. They didn’t glaze over and he was
aware of everything around him, but he looked like he was on
another planet. I wondered if my choice to go back to help Kade had
changed the future of someone close to me. Logan couldn’t see the
future, only get glimpses of who was going to die. He couldn’t
change the circumstances, and wouldn’t if he had the chance. Logan
caught up with everyone in the end.

My brother blinked and relaxed his
shoulders.

“I’ll call Orcus back with the horses. You
three can take the car.”

“Are you going to be able to keep up?” Maddy
asked curiously.

Logan smiled at her. It was a nice smile, but
understanding what he was made it menacing to her.

“Nothing can outrun Death,” he told
her.

Even when Simon got the car on the road and
pressed the gas pedal to the floor, it still took us over an hour
to get back to Las Vegas. As we made the home stretch with Logan
riding Orcus a few feet behind us, Maddy, Simon, and I saw the
broken hotel towers stabbing into the sky. But that wasn’t why
Maddy’s breath caught, why I cursed, or why Simon drove faster.

No, we did all those things because downtown
Vegas was on fire.

Giant plumes of smoke smothered the rising
sun, blotting out any hints of color coming from the horizon. The
remaining palm trees in the middle of the road were free standing
torches, the trunks of the trees blackening as the fire engulfed
them. Hundreds of Plagued migrated deeper onto the Strip, some
primal part of their dead brains drawing them toward the bright
lights and angry noises.

Simon cursed as we drove into the city,
swerving around the walking dead. The car jerked when he bumped
into a few of them. The Plagued turned our way with painful
slowness, but Simon had already passed them. I wasn’t worried about
Logan, who was keeping pace behind us. If he got into trouble, all
he had to do was send out a blast of pale smoke, and the Plagued
would drop from instant, permanent death.

I had to give Simon credit for getting us to
the Venetian without crashing. Then I saw that the Venetian was
almost completely overrun with not just Plagued, but Soulless as
well.

There were hundreds of them. Maybe a
thousand. The undead and demon-twisted converged on the hotel like
flies to a corpse. The Plagued clawed at the walls, dragging their
decaying fingernails along the stone and metal, not caring when
their fingertips were shredded to the bone. The Soulless used the
Plagued as stepping stones, attempting to vault the wall. Most of
them were on the bridge leading from the Strip, the same entrance
we used to come here just two days ago.

When Simon stopped the car, I bolted from the
car and jumped onto the roof to get a better view.

The crimson-clad Vermilions were scrambling
to fight the incredible horde. Harsh cracks of gunfire could be
heard against the moans and screeches of the hungry monsters.
Blasts of orange fire clashed with black and red flames. Kade was
out there, on the front lines, fighting a demon.

I didn’t wait for the others. I grabbed the
machete from my back, jumped off the car hood, and dove into the
fray.

We were fairly close to the crevice I’d
created to escape with Maddy, but it didn’t seem like the Plagued
crowding the space had gotten through. That space would be clear
enough for me to get through and run to the wall where Kade was
fighting.

I slashed my machete down, severing the spine
of the first Plagued in my way. It crumpled and I hurtled over it,
swinging at the next one. Arrows flew over my shoulder, Simon
helping me clear a path. Pale smoke slithered past me, killing any
Plagued flesh it touched. Someone was fighting behind me, wisely
staying out of range from the machete as I hacked my way through
corpses the same way I’d hacked through Logan’s creosote wall.

It only took a couple minutes to see the
crevice I had made. I shouldered between two Plagued and squeezed
through. It was fairly clear on the restaurant patio behind the
wall, so I turned back around and cut down the Plagued trying to
follow me in. Maddy, Simon, and Logan were sticking close together,
a haze of pale smoke curved around them as a protective shield,
leaving only their front exposed and killing any Plagued that got
too close.

I grabbed Maddy’s hand and pulled her to the
other side of the wall. As my brothers followed, I turned and took
on the Plagued that slipped through before us.

Using the knife I’d given her, Maddy darted
from one Plagued to the next, jamming the blade into the skulls of
any Plagued in her way. She moved quickly and efficiently, never
staying in the same place longer than she had to. By the time I
went to help her, the patio was cleared.