Page 22 of Blood and War
Demitria turned around in haste, rolling her body so she was face to face with the wall of heat.
“Get your filthy hands off me before I end your life right here, right now.” Dagger pressed hard to his chest, her every word laced with venom.
The Horseman’s laugh reverberated throughout her entire body and she fought every bone that threatened to shiver at its warmth.
“This again? You couldn’t kill me if you tried.” He grinned. “You humans are so fickle. You should be thanking me for keeping you alive. You were pale and cold as ice when I looked over.” Every breath he took seemed to feather over her skin and she cringed at the closeness. “Had I not moved over when I did, I doubt you would have woken from that sleep.”
She’d like to think he’d been so generous as to keep her from perishing in the night, but she knew better. Knew he wanted something from her, but that didn’t negate the fact that he’d saved her life… again.
“You should have left me to die. Wasn’t that why we’re here? What’s ending my life that bit sooner?”
“So quick to forfeit your life, are we? Contrary to what you might think, I’m not the bloodthirsty monster you’ve conjured up in your mind. My purpose is balance, and I want to know why the council really wants you dead.”
It hadn’t taken much for him to give up his real reasoning behind keeping her alive, and the admission surprised her.
“Killing you now won’t give me the answers that I seek.”
“You are exactly what I think you are and nothing more. War, bringer of destruction.” Demitria meant for her words to bite, she could only hope they did. All of them were nothing more than monsters. She didn’t care what any of these beings said, it didn’t change how she felt.
“Kellan,” He said, “My name is Kellan. My siblings and I are the four Horsemen, but not in the sense that you humans think. I bring destruction when it is needed, but keeping the balance is what I live by.”
“OkKellan,” She emphasized his name for show. “You are nothing more than those fucking creatures that attacked my home. Remember that.”
“A thank you would suffice?”
“I have nothing to thank you for.” Sheathing her dagger, Demitria rolled her body away faster than needed before scrambling to her feet and brushing herself off.
“You have everything to thank me for.” Azure eyes brightened as he followed suit, getting to his feet far more casually than she had with that unearthly grace of all beings like him. She hated that he was right. That he’d kept her alive when he shouldn’t have.
“Thank you.” She bit out, hands curling into fists at her side. Some sick, twisted part of her felt as if she owed him something, and she hated that too.
“Was that so hard?” He laughed, turning his back to her as if he didn’t view her as a threat before sheathing the weapons that had been tossed haphazardly to the side of the small fire he’d built the night before.
She found herself angry once more.
“You are unbelievable…” Demitria clenched her jaw tight, feeling the pressure ache in her teeth as her features contorted with rage. “We should get going.” Not daring to turn even a glance at him, she pulled the cloak tight around her body before wandering to the mounts at the back.
Atlas let out a soft nicker at her approach. A smile stretched across her face. Without being able to return home, he was her rock. Her only ties to Solis. Her arms found their way around his neck as the sigh left her lips.
“What are we going to do, boy?” She said, no more than a whisper, but she knew Kellan had heard. She didn’t care. If it made her look weak, so be it. She’d lost her home—again—the day he found her. Watched it get torn away as he picked her off Atlas, pinning her to the ground. She could see it in his eyes. She’d known she wouldn’t be returning home right then and there, despite her protests. Her fighting.
Letting loose one last sigh she made quick work on readying Atlas. He stood patiently as she slipped the bridle over his large head, taking the bit with ease. The worn leather buckled easily at his cheek. Craning his neck, he looked at her expectantly, nudging her with the soft velvet of his nose. Demitria couldn’t help but stare into his soft, large brown eyes. They were kind. Soulful. She couldn’t even begin to think about the destruction he’d most likely seen. The worlds he had been to. His master had been cruel from the moment she’d set eyes upon him. The way the angel discarded him as if his life was worthless. Like he’d been nothing but a tool, despite the loyalty the horse had probably shown him.
It wasn’t her that grounded him. She didn’t think she’d ever be able to forgive herself if it was. The man who had, did not live to see his next day, an angel having slaughtered him moments later. It was brutal and gruesome when Atlas fell. His cry as he hit the ground, wings torn away as he bled out on the ground beyond Solis, was something Demitria didn’t think she’d ever be able to forget. The sound was haunting.
He was the one creature she’d ever cared for. The one being she couldn’t bring herself to hate. She wanted to hate everything about the beings and creatures that had taken over her home, yet one look into his wounded eyes had shown her everything. She knew he didn’t like the fighting any more than she did. Here, horses were peaceful creatures. Majestic. She could only assume that his kind was similar. The wings had been the biggest difference, his brain a close second. Atlas was one of the smartest creatures she had ever known. Attuned to the world around him. He acted as if he understood the words they’d speak. Sometimes she swore he even knew what she was thinking.
The day something should happen to him would be the day another little piece of her died. Demitria didn’t have much left. He and Jace were it. She was already losing Jace. Losing them both would probably kill her.
Twelve
KELLAN
They had been riding for hours once more. Something he had grown used to over the years, but he could tell the human was struggling with it. Long days was what he did, especially when out on an assignment. This particular one had been his worst, in more ways than one, by far. Kellan had never questioned the council in all his years. Had killed for them because they wished it without even a second thought. But something had felt wrong the moment he encountered his charge. Tainted. And since then, everything had just been a never-ending spiral of shit, and the only blood on his hands since arriving was an Angel of Death. Thinking this was his worst assignment to date was the biggest understatement of his life.
His gaze wandered toward the girl as she fussed with her mount, and he couldn’t help the curiosity spiking through him. So many questions about her past and why the council had to get involved. Why she seemingly shared a bond with a creature from his home that so few ever experienced. After all this time serving the council, why a human? Would she just be the first of many that they were to eliminate? Death seemed to defeat the very purpose of balance.
They’d left the canyon that had been their refuge for the night only to emerge into what was once a grove of trees. The only colors Kellan could see were charcoal, like a deep and endless sea. Gone were the branches that once teemed with life as they grew, reaching tall toward a blazing sun. They’d been ravaged into nothing more than husks. He was sure if he felt one it would crumble at his touch. A fire had blazed through there. Through the entire planet when the Underworld lay waste to these lands. But this area seemed to have been hit one of the hardest. This had been a vast ecosystem once, abundant with life. Hundreds of species, animal and plant alike, had once called this home. He remembered it from long ago. By the remains of the vast number of trees spread around them, it seemed as though not much had changed since he’d last been here. Like it had been left wild and free from the clutches of their steel buildings. At least the humans had done that right.
