Path of the Horseman (38 page)

I jogged to the back door of the car and
slipped inside. Simon stepped on the gas the moment I dropped in
the seat, before I even closed the door. I didn’t turn my head to
look at the Venetian again, but I did look at all the other
collapsed hotels and decrepit shops as we sped by.

Not exactly the most picturesque sight Las
Vegas had to offer, but for all I knew, this could be the last time
I saw the city at all.

***

We didn’t bother trying to find the wild
horses Logan took care of when we reached the Valley of Fire a
little while later. Simon just drove along the road, following
basically the same path Logan had when he led us to the campground.
Subtlety didn’t really matter to us right now. Nobody could be
subtle if Kade was in their group.

When we reached the campground, it was
exactly as I predicted. Empty, except for the RVs, cages, and the
dead. The bonfire must have died some time during the night, though
the patch where it had been burning before looked just as blackened
as the spot where Ciaran and Vance’s underling had fought me in the
ring of flames.

Nothing had been touched since we’d been
here, except for one thing.

As soon as Simon parked the car, I launched
myself out and ran straight for the spot where the big rig had been
hoping to see the tire tracks that would lead us to Ciaran’s
base.

But nothing was there. The ground looked
untouched, as if it were sacred ground that hadn’t been disturbed
by human or demon hands.

“Fuck,” I swore loudly, pacing back and forth
as I frantically searched for something that wasn’t there.
“
Fuck!
”

Behind me, Kade snorted. “You thought Ciaran
wouldn’t cover his ass? You need to stop thinking with your dick
and use your head, Pest.”

“Shut up, Kade,” I hissed, not wanting to
think about Maddy and the others, and how they were running out of
time.

“Careful, now,” my brother warned. “Don’t let
my charming smile fool you. I’m still thinking about wringing your
neck with my bare hands after what you did to my place.”

I heard the threat, but brushed it off to
focus at the problem at hand. Ciaran could transport whomever he
wanted, whenever he wanted, wherever he wanted. He could be on the
moon for all I knew. I had no way to track him.

“Um…” came Simon’s voice. “There’s one thing
we can try.”

Kade and I looked at him.

“Actually, we should have done it a long time
ago,” Simon went on. He looked uncomfortable.

“What?” I demanded.

My brother’s graphite eyes met mine.

“We should call on our Horses.”

Even Kade was silenced by that. My heart rate
sped up a notch, thinking about where Bacillus resided inside of
me. A dormant volcano, one I never thought would explode again.
Hearing the suggestion stirred him, though. It had been a long time
since he felt the wind through his mane, the warmth of the air on
his skin.

If I let him out, I had no idea if I could
control him. I wasn’t sure that I should.

“Not a bad idea, Slime,” Kade said, almost
making turning the sentence into a compliment. “The Horses would be
able to track Ciaran’s magic, and anything else embedded in the
earth. He probably doesn’t think we’d unleash them, since he hasn’t
seen them since the Tribulation. It would take him by surprise,
give us an advantage.”

Kade grinned, slapping his hand on Simon’s
skull and shaking it back and forth. “I always knew there was a
brain buried under this mop,” Kade sneered, thinking Simon would
continue taking his abuse.

Until Simon grabbed Kade’s hand and shoved it
off his head.

“Don’t touch me,” he warned. “And if you’re
not going to call me by my real name, don’t talk to me at all.”

Kade blinked at Simon, shocked at his
reaction. I was too, but I felt a sense of pride to my brother. It
meant he was ready to actually give bravery a chance. He wouldn’t
let Kade stomp all over him anymore. Kade himself turned and looked
at me, a knowing grin on his face.

“Looks like you’ve been a good influence,
Pest. This just keeps getting more and more interesting.”

I looked away from Kade to Simon, taking a
step closer.

“Using our Horses to track Ciaran… Do you
really think that will work?”

“I don’t know,” Simon told me honestly. “But
we don’t have a choice.”

No. We didn’t.

I nodded and took a step back. My brothers
distanced themselves from each other, until the three of us stood
in a wide triangle.

“Ready?” I asked them.

Kade didn’t even reply. His black eyes
flared, and almost instantly, a wave of red smoke filtered out of
his chest. It churned like a lopsided tornado in front of him,
spinning and morphing into a large, blocky shape. I could see it
beginning to settle, slowly forming a long neck, powerful legs, and
an angrily swishing tail.

Kade’s face was a stony mask of
concentration, his mouth straightened into a hard line as he balled
his fists and concentrated.

After a few minutes, he relaxed the grip he
had on his power.

A massive, red warhorse neighed and stood up
on his hind legs, kicking the smoke away with his front legs. Mars,
Kade’s Horse, was enormous. He must have been nine feet tall, and
five hundred pounds of solid muscle. His skin was smooth and the
color of dried blood. A fire-red mane and tail billowed violently
as the Horse reared. His obsidian eyes were wild and savage, the
perfect match for his master.

Kade held up his hand, soothing the beast.
Mars kicked and lashed out, but began to calm down when Kade neared
him. Even after all this time, he recognized the power he shared
with his owner. When Mars was on his feet, Kade reached out and
stroked his muzzle tenderly. My brother didn’t have a soft heart,
but if there was one thing he loved more than fighting, burning,
and killing, it was his Horse.

Mars bowed his head and snorted. Kade smiled
like an affectionate parent. He was clearly happy about bringing
Mars back.

On my left, Simon was beginning to draw out
his power, too. White smoke filtered from his chest and began to
darken as it formed the shape of his black horse, Esuries. I was
the last one to use my powers.

I sighed and relaxed my muscles, then dug
deep for my power, finding the cage I had locked Bacillus into. I
released the bars holding my Horse, and felt him tear free. It was
like he was trying to punch his way out of my chest, knocking
around my ribcage until he could slither free from my skin. I
planted my feet and balled my fists as black smoke trickled out of
me, smoothing out and transforming into a wide, stocky shape. My
smoke began to lighten, no longer a poisonous cloud of death. It
turned into raw power, hardening until the Horse was completely
formed. I felt the last of Bacillus leave me, and released my
power. It left me a bit light-headed, but I stayed on my feet.

At least until Bacillus tried to kick me in
the chest.

I stepped back and avoided his alabaster
hooves, throwing up both of my hands to settle him, but he was
wild. When I’d locked him away, he’d accepted it. But maybe I’d
held him inside of me for too long. It couldn’t have been
comfortable. Every horse, supernatural or not, needed to run. To be
free.

And I had denied that to him.

“I’m sorry,” I shouted.

Bacillus’s kicks lessened. He was willing to
hear me out. That had to count for something.

“I’m sorry,” I repeated, daring a step closer
to the Horse. “I should have let you run. You deserved it.”

I thought about touching him, but changed my
mind. I wasn’t exactly the Horse whisperer. Bacillus’ eyes were
shockingly black against the snow-white of his coat. He would be
just as willing to bite my hand off as he was to let me touch
him.

The tall Horse stood in front of me, fuelled
by the same ancient powers living in my chest. Another reminder of
things that couldn’t be changed.

“If you can’t forgive me, I… I get it. And I
don’t blame you.”

Bacillus stared at me with dark, sage eyes. I
almost couldn’t hold his stare. Then he took a step forward. And
another, and another. He bowed his long head and nudged my hand
until it was resting on his muzzle. Bacillus gave an impatient
snort, and I couldn’t help but laugh a little. It was nice to know
I had one ally willing to forgive me for the mistakes I had
made.

I stroked Bacillus a couple more times to
assure myself he wouldn’t kick me, then fisted his mane and swung
myself onto his back. He didn’t flinch or buck me off, so that was
one problem easily solved. Too bad the other ones wouldn’t be so
painless. I tugged on Bacillus’s mane and nudged him in the
direction of my brothers. Kade was still seated on Mars, both of
them eager for the next move. Simon whispered to his thinner, jet
black Horse. The animal looked starved, but I knew when he was
pushed, he was faster than both Bacillus and Mars combined.

Turning again, I dug my heels into Bacillus’
side and eased him into a trot. We stopped at the spot where the
big rig had parked, and I put my hand on Bacillus’s neck. Some of
my black smoke leaked into his skin, but it didn’t hurt him.
Instead, it opened up my connection to him, allowing us to see and
think as one.

Find the demons,
I asked my Horse.

He snorted in reply, and lowered his nose to
the ground. Our Horses weren’t exactly bloodhounds, but they
reacted to signatures of supernatural power. Telling him to look
for demonic magic would narrow things down considerably.

After a minute, Bacillus jerked his head up
and brayed sharply. He had the scent, and was already turning in
its direction. He took off without me needing to command him. I
think he just wanted to run again.

I couldn’t say I blamed him, especially since
he was leading me to my enemies.

***

For an hour, I enjoyed the ride on my Horse.
I didn’t know where he was leading us, but I wasn’t in a hurry to
care. Riding the wild horses Logan had offered us had been fun, but
it was nothing compared to the speed and power of a Horse of the
Apocalypse. It was like riding a fighter jet. You moved at a
breakneck speed, watching the world blur as you kicked up dust and
left it all behind. I imagined this would be how a bullet felt when
it left the barrel of a gun, spinning and flying through the air
until it slammed into its target.

We were riding so fast I barely felt Bacillus
moving beneath me. I didn’t bother trying to connect with him
again. He was having too much fun, and so was I.

This was probably the last fun thing I would
do before I died. Other than take Ciaran’s head, of course.

Too soon, my Horse began to slow down. I
watched the streaking world beside me settle into tangible shapes.
Thick, navy blue lines on the horizon became jagged, bumpy
mountains. Dark splotches on the ground turned into sparse, dying
brush. Heat from the unforgiving sun beat down on my head, forcing
sweat to trickle down the back of my neck. My skin felt parched and
dry, matching the cracks in the desert floor under us.

Ciaran would of course choose a place with a
significant name, intent on making sure that name was lived up to.
Why else would he choose Death Valley as his home?

In the middle of the open, uninhabited desert
stood a single concrete building. It looked like an old air hangar
with a carefully shaped dome of netted barbed wire draped over
it.

Probably to keep out the
thousands
of
Plagued surrounding the place.

They pushed against the barbwire net, not
caring if the metal shredded their flesh. Some of them were even
trying to climb the net, dragging their bellies across the spires
and letting their insides spill onto the sand. They didn’t get very
far, but I had to respect their efforts, moronic as they were.

We were on a small hilltop about two hundred
feet away from them, so the Plagued hadn’t seen us yet. But when
they did, we would be drowning in them.

But if we spaced them out, drew them away
from the base, getting inside would possibly be less difficult.

Possibly.

“We need to make an open path to get inside,”
I said. I looked at Kade. “How many do you think you can take
out?”

Kade laughed. Without hesitation, he kicked
Mars in the side. The Horse reared and bolted down the hill like
fire tracing down gasoline. He would clash with the Plagued in
seconds.

Simon and I glanced at each other, nodding
and saying nothing. We didn’t know what would happen down there.
This could be one of the last times I would see him.

Knowing that didn’t stop me from drawing the
machete from my back, and forcing Bacillus to charge down the hill
toward the legion of dead.

As Kade entered the mass of walking corpses,
Mars began trailing fire.

Kade was wrapped in red smoke, sharing power
with his Horse until the animal burst into blood red flames. The
inferno wouldn’t hurt him, but it made him look truly frightening.
He was the image of everything that made up his name– his
true
name.