The Four Horsemen (The Light Series) (23 page)

She
laughs harder.

Wyatt
takes my hand, gripping it almost painfully and drags me from the room. “Stop,
you are so rude. These are the people who want to help you. That’s a
friggin
’ archangel in there.”

I jerk my hand free
,
“You stop.
Don’t get moody with me, Wyatt. I don’t like the
whole mind-reading crap. If I want to think a bad thought, I want to be left
alone to do it.”

He
sighs and climbs the stairs. The ladies open the doors, and the men fetch
clothing for us and lay it on the bed.

They
leave instantly except for a lady and a man. I look at Wyatt, “You have to tip
them.”

He
laughs, “They are our dressers.”

“They
hold the clothes?”

He
covers his eyes with his hands and takes a deep breath, “They change our
clothes for us, undress, and dress.”

I
make a face, “Oh,
uhm
. None for
me,
thanks. I’m good.”

The
lady looks confused. Wyatt smiles, “We can dress each other. It’s a custom
where we are from.”

She
backs out of the room with the man. They both look lost.

Wyatt
cocks an eyebrow, “Are you being horrid on purpose or is it something else?”

I
give him a look, “You don’t think it’s funny we have an army, instantly, as we
need it? Constantine betrays us after all this time helping us?”

He
gives me a look, “It was your dream.”

I
nod, “I just think it’s meant to look—what is that word. Serendipitous.
But to me it seems too coincidental.”

He
smiles sweetly, “My pet. You are just used to being betrayed at every turn.
It’s nothing.”

I
can see the way he is speaking exactly the way Constantine does and I nod. He
wants us to play the part until he can get to the bottom of it.

He
walks to me, kissing me on the top of my head, “Let’s take a hot shower and
then curl up in the crisp sheets. That bed looks divine. I’m exhausted, you’re
exhausted, and we are both dirty. Let’s relax a little and know we are safe
here. The air witches and the angels are made of love, they want us to win.”

I
nod, letting him pull me to the shower. I can see the look in his eyes. He is
being on his best behavior. He is being
fake
as hell.
He pulls my shirt off and kisses my collarbone. I reach for the shower and turn
it on. The white room is so clean, I swear every inch squeaks. The shower is a
round tube like area with a huge nozzle above our heads. It rains down on us
when we step in. Wyatt wraps his arms around me and kisses the top of my head,
“I love you. That’s what matters. I’ve always loved you.”

I
close my eyes and let it all wash off of me.

The
whole thing is too big to sit in my brain. There has been a betrayal at every
turn and an injury or death directly behind it. In my heart I know that dream
was off. Something isn’t right about the dream. Something isn’t right about
Constantine betraying me.

I
close my eyes and let the water wash me clean. I have to have faith; that is
the thing I need to get through the rest.
Faith that God will
show me the answers when I am ready.
I need to let go of the things in
the past and move forward, and trust that God has my back in this. He wants me
to win, he believes in me. That makes me believe it too.

I
lay my head against the pillow but my eyes won’t close. I know I’m tired, but I
have never gone to sleep on my own before. I lay there, wondering if I should
count sheep.

I
get up and sip the tea the ladies have brought me. It’s weird, smells like
mint, but it tastes like oranges.
So bizarre.
I finish
the cup and walk to the tall thin windows. I can see the moon and the stars,
and I wonder if Constantine is looking at them too.

I
hear something and move closer to the window as I hear it again, “RAYNE!”

I
hear him scream my name but it’s far away. I open the window, but when he
screams again it is quieter. I turn and leave the room. In the hallway it is
loud again. I run down the hall, my bare feet slapping against the cold white
floor. I run to the voice. There is a door made of glass and a white tree in a
garden behind it. I open the door. My breath becomes frosty mist. I shiver as I
walk into the cold garden. The ground crunches under my feet.

The
white tree is beautiful, shimmering in the moonlight above. The garden is like
an open spot in the middle of the castle. The tree is the only thing there. I
touch a leaf on it.

“RAYNE!”
I hear him like he is next to me.

“WHAT?”
I whisper harshly.

“TURN
AROUND!”

I
spin quickly, seeing him in the reflection of the glass door. I scowl, “What
are you doing in there?”

“You
are in danger.”

I
nod, “I know.”

He
scowls. I can barely make out his face. “How?”

I
take a step closer to the glass door, “I figured as much when I got here and
saw the army. The angels and witches here are intense and it’s creepy the way
they all look the same.”

He
nods, “Michael made the air witches. He mated with the fae that he stole and
made children. When they matured, he mated with them again. He is the father,
grandfather, and great-grandfather of them all.”

I
make a face.

He
laughs, “I know. Very creepy.”

I
narrow my gaze, “Why did the dead show me your basement full of vampires?”

He
sighs, “The dead lie, like I told you before. You never listen to me. You
always think the worst of me.”

I
scoff, “You are always the worst.”

His
eyes look pained, “I deserved that.”

I
laugh softly, “Stop changing the subject. Are there vampires in your basement?”

He
nods, “It’s full. But I didn’t put them there.”

“Stella?”

He
nods, “She and Michelle have been team bad guy for a while now. They faked
research, manipulating this to end the way Lucifer wanted. He wanted the fae
queen all along.”

“Why?”

“She
is a strong ally, not to mention, she still has some who are loyal to her in
the gates. This is a mess. You have to get away from the angels.”

I
give him a puzzled look, “Where are you?”

He
chuckles, “Boston, with the fire witches. I had to flee my castle. They came in
the night to get you—beasts. Something startled you, and as I entered
your room to warn you to fly away, you and Wyatt vanished into the painting. I
cut it and disappeared. Maria and Tom had fled already. I had a sensation
earlier. I was walking in a garden alone, it was cold, and there was a single
tree, and I was talking to you through a mirror. I came to the fire witches to
get answers. They said you had to be with the angels at the castle where the tree
of knowledge was preserved.”

I
look back at the tree, “That is the tree of knowledge?”

He
sighs, “Don’t cheat, Rayne. If God wanted you to eat from the tree, he’d grow a
piece of fruit for you. Just leave the damned thing alone. It’s better not to
know.”

“How
can I get away?”

He
smiles at me, “Look into my eyes.”

I
laugh, “No, creepy Uncle Dracula.”

“Do
it and I’ll make it so you can’t let them into your head.”

I
look at him, leaning foreword. He stares at me harshly, “You will not let
anyone read your mind without your permission. You will be a steel trap and no
thoughts will be shared without words, unless you say so. No one may enter your
mind without permission.” He sighs, “Go wake Wyatt and let me do the same
thing.”

I
shake my head, “No. If they can’t read either of our minds, we may get into
trouble. I told them to stay out of my mind, maybe they will think I am all
powerful.”

He
nods, “Okay, that works. Now I will send a message somehow, and you will flee
the moment I tell you to. You will not share this with Wyatt, you will just
bring him and make him trust you.” He scowls, “And don’t be rude to them. They
are archangels for God’s sake and we all know how you get.”

I
make a sound like I am offended, but we do all know how I get.

He
points, “Don’t be stubborn. Lila says hello and hope you have had a chance to
consummate your marriage.” He turns his face to look at someone, “What? I don’t
want to know that.” I assume he is speaking directly to Lila. I smile, “Tell
her I said hello and indeed, I am a fully-married woman.

Constantine
sneers, “Goodbye and goodnight.”

And
he is gone.

I
stand there, freezing and excited. My instincts about him were correct.

I
turn and face the tree. Something about it calls to me. I walk three steps
towards it. I can feel my hand wanting to reach out and touch it, but I don’t.
Suddenly, there are several pear-like pieces of fruit on it, but I still don’t
think I should eat it. Knowledge of the future is bad. Willow always says ‘the
unknown future is like fluid, it can change at any time and your destiny can
become something greater.’ But if you knew what your future was, you would
manifest that exact thing and freeze it there. You would be stuck with the
limits of it. I look up at the sky, “That’s tempting. Why on earth would you
have ever made one?”

I
look at it once more and then turn to walk away. Michael is standing on the
other side of the glass door staring at me.

He
gives me a weird look and opens the door, “You have found the tree of
knowledge. Did you eat from it?”

I
shake my head, “I don’t trust fruit that knows more than I do.”

He
laughs, “But the fruit is there for you. You could see your victory.”

I
nod, “I could also see my defeat, and then that is all I would ever see.”

He
narrows his gaze, “You were raised by witches, weren’t you?”

I
nod again.

He
sighs, “Such a fate to be the sin eater.”

I
shake my head, “I don’t know any other fate. This is it.”

“Do
you not wish you had known from the beginning?” he steps back so I can come
into the warmth of the castle.

I
shake my head, “No. I think it would have been harder waiting for that to start
and take over. It would have sucked to
have known
I
had a certain amount of free time. Plus, I’m terrible with secrets. I would
have told someone the world was ending.” I look back at the glass door and it
is gone.

“How
did you know it was there?”

I
shake my head, “I just had a feeling, like I should go there.”

“Did
you see anything else?”

“No.
Just the fruit instantly appearing for me.
Well, and
God of course.”

He
gives me a look. I smile, “I’m kidding.”

He
smiles back, “You are a strange girl.”

“I
guess so. Of course I am walking back to my room in the ivory castle with an
archangel. So maybe I’m just strange enough.”

He
laughs, “Touché, that is true.”

I
get to my room, but he leans against the doorframe and runs his hand down my
cheek, “You are so pretty.”

I
feel instantly sickened. The whole uncle, grandpa, daddy thing is still
whirling around in there.

He
opens the door for me, “Your lover is a lucky man.”

I
hold my hand up, “Married.”

He
scowls, “Not in the eyes of God.” He turns and leaves me there, feeling very
vulnerable.

I
sip into the room and close the door. I lean my back against it and take a deep
breath. He never asked me why he couldn’t read my mind. Had it worked or not?

I
climb back into the bed, curling into Wyatt. He wraps around me and I lie
there, unsure on how to fall asleep.

When
he wakes the next morning, I am exhausted. He yawns and stretches and looks at
me, “Have you slept?”

I
shake my head.

He
groans, “Rayne, you have to sleep. We’re safe.”

I
close my eyes, “I don’t know how. My whole life, the dead took me to sleep.”

He
sighs and pulls me in, “Once upon a time, there was a girl who lived at the
edge of the forest in a little cabin. She had six brothers, all older than
her…”

I
could see the picture of the little cabin, and before I knew it, I was waking
up. The room was filled with light and the last thing I recalled was Wyatt
telling me a story.

He
smiles at me from the chair in the corner. “You slept.”

I
smile, “Did you tell me the whole story?”

He
nods, “I did.”

“I
missed it. I remember her having brothers and that is all.
The
cabin by the edge of the forest.
How long did I sleep?”

He
laughs, “Seven hours. Rayne, you were exhausted.” He gets up and climbs into
the bed with me, kissing my neck. He pulls his shirt off and climbs into the
bed with me.

I
close my eyes and let him start something we probably shouldn’t finish in a
castle full of very religious angels who don’t see us as married.

But
when he pulls my nightgown off, I know we are going to finish.

We
walk down the hall an hour later, grinning at each other like idiots. We get
into the dining hall, and I am starved for every kind of food.

A
lady comes and brings us a tray of food each. We sit at a corner of one of the
massive tables. I look around at the lavish life these people live. “It’s weird
the whole world is destroyed, and they are up here living the life.”

Wyatt
scowls at
me and mutters, “Inside voice.”

I
smile and eat a grape, closing my eyes and moaning. “Oh my God, this is good.”

He
smiles at me, “I want to take this back to our room.”

“So
you can finish telling me that story and I can sleep some more?”

He
shakes his head and eats a grape, getting juice from the sweet grape all over
his lips. I lean forward, sucking his bottom lip. He kisses me back, grabbing the
back of my head and running his hands up into my hair. The kiss is interrupted
by a man’s voice.

“Good
afternoon.”

We
stop and turn to see Michael strolling towards us. He holds his hands out, “You
both look lovely. Outfits suiting you more than the pink pajamas maybe?”

Wyatt
blushes and looks down at his white dress shirt and khaki dress pants, “These
are awesome, thank you.”

I
feel less grateful for my dress. I tried to steal some of his pants, but he
made me wear the dress, customs being what they are and all.

Michael motions his hands forward
,
“We have something for you.”

I
scowl as a man is brought to me. He has on the same clothes as Wyatt and looks
like he belongs in the Nazi herd. But something is different about him.
His eyes are not bright blue
,
they are
black
. He has done something bad. I can smell it on him.

“He
has committed a terrible crime against another of our kind. We figured you
could go for a bite to eat, so to speak. God did send you here to be the
executioner.”

I
open my mouth to thank him but decline the offer, when Wyatt nods, “She would
love to.” He looks at me. I scowl but he doesn’t budge on it. I stand,
smoothing the pale-blue dress that looks like I stole it from a heritage
museum, turning to face the handsome man.

He
trembles when I step closer. I look around the room at the people about to
watch.

“Just
do it.” Wyatt says.

I
look at the man, “I’m sorry.”

He
shakes his head but doesn’t speak. I put my hands on either side of his face
and pull him down to my height. I press my lips against his. The kiss is
delicious. He tastes like something I have never had before. I moan as I pull
it from him, my hands gripping into his hair. He kisses back, his hands sliding
across my back. He lifts me into the air, and I suck, like I have never before.

It
is cut short and I am ripped away from him. The man’s eyes are blue again. He
smiles at me, “Thanks.”