Page 19 of Blood and War
“Get up.” His boot connected with her side. The audible crack loud as she yelped awake. Clutching her ribs, she staggered to her feet. “We’re leaving. Mount up.” Demitria stumbled toward the horses without a word spoken, face pale as she clutched the side he’d just wounded. The sight of her shying away, skittish, stroked something inside him and he delighted at the thought. Bloodshed was what he did. What he was known for. The Horseman War, revered for his innate ability to maim and kill things. A harbinger of war itself, and he smiled at the thought. She needed to fear him. All her kind did. It made his job a hell of a lot easier that way. Kellan strolled after her, determined to get out of the musty cave and on his way to reuniting with his siblings. He readied his mount quickly, tightening the cinch on his saddle before ushering the girl out the mouth of the cave where they mounted.
His eyes roamed the expanse of the landscape around them. Nothing but dirt and dust far beyond what his eyes could see. He’d been appalled the moment he’d returned to this planet. Kellan hadn’t been to Earth for many, many years, and the sight before him was disgusting. There was nothing outside. The world had been tossed into a state of chaos. Dead. Everything around was dead. So different from how he’d remembered it.Even if the war hadn’t happened, it was much different than he’d remembered. The cities grew vast, buildings stood taller than even the largest trees in Eden. All that remained now was nothing more than a shell of what it once was.Maybe that was for the best.Earth had once reminded him of his home. The lush greens and crystalline waters. That was what he remembered. Before they’d changed it.Ruinedit with their structures of steel. Just another reason he hated them.
She continued her silence as they rode, never so much as glancing away from the path ahead of her. He didn’t care, let her drown in those emotions. He had bigger things to worry about. Reuniting with his siblings was the first task. Because he’d fucked the assignment up royally, failing the one task given to them, he needed the input of the other Horsemen on how to proceed. If it had just been him, killing her, while slightly delayed, would have been forgivable. But an Angel of Death showing up for their same assignment?Killingthat Archangel? Kellan didn’t know if the council would punish him. It wouldn’t have been the first time. Not by a long shot. For the bloodlust that plagued him for so many years. But he always got the job done, sometimes just in an unorthodox way, and that was always cause for punishment. He knew they took pleasure in the torment. The High Council was savage and cruel on their best days.
They rode for hours under the warming sun, over an endless sea of dust. The last time Kellan had ridden through here Earth had been beautiful. Alive. He glanced over at the girl. Demitria’s face had changed, hardened into a stoic look as they eased their mounts into a slower gait. It caught him off guard when she finally spoke.
“I have something that might be of interest to you.” Voice no more than a whisper, she refused to look at him. Kellan heard her anyway.
“I doubt anything you say will be of interest,” The laughter couldn’t be helped. He took no pity on her. “But enlighten me anyway.”
“I need something in return.”
“You seem to think you have all the bargaining power here.” Pulling his mount to a halt, they both stopped. The girl turned in his direction then, the same narrowed gaze from earlier taking over the dainty features of her face. Waiting, ready to strike. She had proved to be interesting if nothing else. Intriguing—almost—by how easily she’d been able to control her emotions. Because anyone else would have broken down at his feet by now. Within minutes, really.
“I saw the confusion on your face, Horseman. You and I both know there are some things you don’t know.” He hated that she’d read it on his face.How perceptive of her.
“You’re so sure I don’t already have this information?”
“Considering you had no idea who I was talking about earlier, yes. I’m fairly confident that I have the upper hand.” Her full lips curved in a wicked smirk. She had so carefully crafted the deadly look on her face, any sign of fear had ceased to exist. Surprising, for a human.
“What do you want?” Kellan decided to indulge her.
“I want the safety of my people.” Demitria’s green-gold gaze never left his own. Piercing through him as if doing so would gain his favor.
“We already agreed on that.”
“For you, not your siblings. If I tell you this information, you and your siblings do not touch my home. My people remain free and unharmed.”
Kellan had absolutely zero plans on coming back to the hell hole once they reunited, but she didn’t need to know that. It was an easy decision for him.
“You have my word, again, that your people will remain untouched.” With a nod, he urged her to continue.
Demitria nudged her horse foreword once more, Kellan quickly following behind. “The morning you showed up, we had a run in with a demon.” She started.
Given the current state of the world, this was not news. There were demons and angels everywhere. Opening his mouth to tell her as much, she cut him off with a raise of her hand.
“She knew who I was.”
That was news. It was uncommon for demons to know humans. Their only true aspirations were to feed and follow those in command. Their orders were never anything more than destruction. Demons fed on the flesh of humans. On their souls.
“What do you mean she knew you?” His own eyes narrowed in, searching. Looking for answers in her features.
“She said someone was coming for me. For us.” The human girl sighed again, tearing her gaze away from his as she looked across the horizon. Something in her face hardened once more, like she’d slipped into a mask, devoid of her emotions. “Threatening my home. Threatening J—” She stopped mid-sentence as if having said too much. Finally, she continued after another moment of silence. “She threatened everything. Everything that I have left, and said they would burn it to the ground.”
“Why did she know you?” Kellan repeated. He hadn’t expected her to have the answer. “Who was she?”
“I don’t know.”
“Where is she?”
“Dead.” Demitria met him head on. Serious. Coiled and ready to explode. “I killed her before she could say anything more.”
“You idiot.” Had the human not realized that could have been his only lead? She had been so swept up in the turmoil of herhome, that she’d killed the only creature that could give her the information she’d wanted. That he now wanted.
Fucking useless.
A familiar rage began to bubble. With aching fingers, he gripped the pommel of the saddle. Willing it. Begging it to dissipate before he’d do something he would later regret. Killing the human would end most of his problems, but it wouldn’t answer any of the questions that had been brewing. In the years he had served the council there had never been a doubt in his mind about anything. Never a need to question the orders he’d been given, but there had never been a mission like this. Never had they sent a fucking Angel of Death to clean up after them. It hadalwaysbeen the other way around.
