Page 16 of Blood and War
She needed to get Jace out.
War. The angel had called him War, as in the Horseman. By the brutal carnage he was so easily displaying, Demitria knew her suspicions were correct. They had seemed to know each other, yet he’d still murdered him. He was a horseman of the Apocalypse, and she was in so much trouble.
Watching him tear the wings from the angel without even a second thought had been vile, and Demitria very nearly lost the contents of her stomach at the sound it made, and what she’d bared witness to. If he so easily killed his own kind, what would he do to the community?To her?
Atlas stood patient but alert as she heaved her body onto his back. He was tense beneath her. Watching intently as the events unfolded. Had they known each other? Him and the angel? Him and War? She’d only been assuming, but Atlas must have been from Eden. That was where the Horseman had said this High Council was from.
Demitria’s mind was racing, and she couldn’t make him move. The High Council of Eden. She couldn’t think about that. Couldn’t dwell on the fact that an entire council of people,creatures, wanted her dead. Not humans, monsters. And if she did nothing, they would come after her home. They would tear Solis to the ground, effectively ending the lives of everyone she cared for. Jace would not survive.
Finally, she nudged Atlas, and he ran. Ran from the bloody mess of the angel. Ran from the Horseman who’d tried to take her life. The community couldn’t afford for her to be weak or afraid. No matter how badly she wanted to leave everything behind, she’d stay for them. For Jace.
Demitria chanced a glance behind her and saw nothing but the dust cloud Atlas’s hooves kicked up. The moment she turned back, the Horseman was standing in her way. She didn’t even have time to reach before her body was in the air once again.
“You.” He snarled that predatory sound, his hand gripping into the fabric of her clothing as he wrenched her from the horse like she’d weighed nothing.
This time she went down swinging, her hands clenched into fists as they connected with the Horseman over and over again across his chest. His face. He barely seemed to flinch with each blow that landed. She kicked. Screamed even, but he still had her body splayed out in the dirt before she could do anything else. The sheath around her thigh was empty, her sword dug into her back She’d lost the dagger after stabbing him.
“Let me go!” She roared, fighting against his ironclad hold. Still screaming as she clawed at whatever fleshy spot she could. He’d thwarted everything she’d thrown at him, and it still wasn’t enough.
“You should be thanking me, human.” He seethed, pressing into her harder than before. Immobilizing every limb.
Demitria wasn’t sure how much time had passed since the initial ambush, but the world around them had become notably lighter. The Horseman was bigger than she’d initially thought, his hulking frame wide above her and she knew she truly didn’t stand a chance of getting away. “It’s because of me you’re still alive.”
“I never asked for your help.” She spat, eyes narrowing at the smug look that lit up his face. The wound to his right side, where she’d stabbed him, was stained red in his blood, yet it didn’t grow. She could have sworn she’d hit an organ with her blade. He should be bleeding everywhere, yet he held her there with ease as if he hadn’t even broken a sweat between his tangle with her and the angel. Demitria had too many questions. About him, and how he was still standing in particular. There were so many things about them that she didn’t know or understand, butwhyshe was being hunted was at the top of her list.
Why had they even come to Earth in the first place? Why had both of their kinds warred over this planet? She wanted answers.
The Horseman didn’t move as he held her to the ground. Staring, as if calculating her next movements. He held his face in an almost stone like expression that accentuated his sharp jawline. As the sky lightened even more, she could finally take in the details of his armor. The rich tones of the plain, dark brown vest buckling in the front of his chest. His shoulder pauldrons had a running horse stamped in the center, the rest studded with what looked like brass rivulets holding it together. A long-sleeved black shirt beneath. It was simple, but intricate at the same time. He wore plain dark pants and a pair of matching leather boots to the rest of his armor. He looked every bit the warrior the angel had said him to be. And if it hadn’t been so dark, Demitria was sure she would have truly knownwhathe was.
He looked deadly.
“If you’re going to kill me, do it now.” She’d tried to muster enough malice in her voice as she could. Knowing who he was… what he’d done, it didn’t take much.
She hated him. Hated everything like him. The angels, the demons… she didn’t want anything to do with them.
“You’d like me to just end it all, wouldn’t you. Take the easy way out.” The Horseman scoffed. Sneering down at her as if she was nothing but dirt under his boots.
Demitria could feel her glare intensify as he continued.
“That’s what you humans are like. Time and time again I get dispatched to this shit hole of a planet to rescue your race from destruction. To be frank, I’m getting sick of it.”
There was never anything about the Horseman coming to Earth before. Nothing in the history books or schools. Granted she hadn’t had much time in school. Just how long had he been around?
“I was sent here to kill you. To end your life where you stand. But I’m not going to let that happen just yet. NowIwant answers.” He loosened his grip only slightly. “He wasn’t supposed to be here.”
He meant the now dead angel.
“What’s that supposed to mean? What are you doing with me?” Out of habit, her fingers inched toward the sheath at her thigh, but his laughter had caught her off guard. Loud, as it boomed throughout her chest, vibrating at their closeness.
“Looking for this?” The Horseman pulled out a familiar looking dagger from a hidden sheath in his own armor, casually waving it in her face. “I might give it back. Haven’t decided yet. Now get up.” He laughed again before tucking it back away.
Her body felt like nothing more than a rag doll as he hauled her to her feet. He bound her wrists tight with a leather bind before she could protest. “What are you doing with me.” Demitria demanded once more, her voice still harboring thaticy edge. She matched the stone-cold expression he’d given her right down to the fiery glare that refused to leave her eyes.
War let out a sigh, as if her very presence annoyed him. It probably did, and she swore she could see it on his face.
“I told you, I want answers. We’re going to find my siblings.”
“I’m not going anywhere with you. Untie me.” The leather bit into her skin as she fought to free her hands. She could feel the leather warm from the friction of her protests. Rubbing against the soft flesh of her wrist, irritating it. If she kept this up, wounds would form. Wounds she couldn’t afford to have, especially out here where the risk of infection ran high. He laughed, but didn’t do as she demanded.
