Path of the Horseman (41 page)

A dark shape peeled out of the shadows of the
right wall. A bloody knife hung in his hand. He spun it, sending
more of Maddy’s blood into the flames.

“So,” Ciaran said, his smile not matching the
rage on his face. “You decided to join us. How unfortunate.”

I wished I came up with a snarky comeback.
Spouted some shit about how I wasn’t intimidated by him. That I
wasn’t absolutely terrified of how close to death the girl hanging
by her wrists over the fire was.

“She’s a fighter,” said the Paladin, glancing
at Maddy. “Too weak to stay conscious, yet too strong to let go of
life. How adorable.”

I didn’t waste time on words. I didn’t bother
rushing him to take off his head. I searched for my power, building
it until I could make the largest swarm of locusts I’d ever–

Eight knives plunged into my ribs.

I shouted from the unexpected pain, feeling
them twist and tug in me. My vision started to swim, but I still
threw an elbow back and caught my attacker in the head. The knives
tore out of my sides, feeling just as ruthless as they had when
they stabbed into me. I dropped my machete and put my hands on the
wounds, forcing black smoke into them and knitting them closed–

A powerful kick hit me in the chest and
knocked me into the left wall. The wounds in my side throbbed
aggressively, but weren’t so grievous anymore. Warm blood still
soaked my shirt and made it cling to my body, but I wouldn’t die
from blood loss.

Maybe.

My attacker lunged at me, moving so fast I
thought he was a demon. At least I was ready for him this time. I
let his jab fly past me, hearing his knuckles cracking sharply
against the wall. I crashed my elbow into his jaw, then used my
other first to uppercut him. I kicked him in the chest to get him
away from me, then pushed off the wall. The Soulless man raised his
head, sharp teeth bared in a furious snarl.

Josh wasn’t looking very sane these days.

“Bastard,” I growled. “You’re letting Maddy
die!”

I pointed to the girl he’d cared so much
about, bleeding to death over a fire that would open Hell.

Josh didn’t even look in her direction.
Whatever had made him human had been erased.

“I told her to give in,” he shouted back.
“She didn’t have to suffer, didn’t have to become a slave. But she
didn’t listen. She never fucking listens.” Josh’s bloodshot eyes
tightened on mine. “You can’t save someone who doesn’t want to be
saved.”

That held a double meaning, since it was
obvious that Josh didn’t want to be saved. Even through the
pain-filled haze slipping into my mind, I knew there was nothing I
could do to help Josh. Whatever made him the person I knew was
gone. I hoped Maddy would forgive me for what I had to do.

“You wanted to do this, Josh,” said Ciaran.
“So make it quick. The Door is almost open.” The Paladin turned to
me. “You should remove your blades, Avery. He was hoping you’d face
him honorably.”

I scowled at that.
Honorable. Is that why
he literally stabbed me in the back and let an innocent girl
bleed?

But it was too late to argue. If I played by
Josh’s rules, maybe I could get close to Ciaran. Close enough to
use the remainder of my power to kill them both.

I unbuckled my belt and tossed it, then
pulled the machete’s empty scabbard over my head and threw it aside
too.

The weapons hadn’t even finished clattering
on the ground before Josh darted forward and aimed a kick at my
head.

I blocked him with my sore arm, forcing the
pain from my mind and throwing out a kick of my own. Josh
sidestepped to miss it and drove his knee into my stomach. I sent
my left elbow into his chin and slammed my right palm into his
chest. He staggered once and lashed out with another kick. I caught
his foot as it met my side and pulled, screwing up his balance. I
twisted in front of him and drove my elbow into his chest, dropping
his leg while using my far foot to push his balancing leg away.
Barely able to hold himself up, Josh stumbled. My knee was right
there to catch him in the temple.

Josh tumbled back onto the ground, his head
probably spinning. I balled my fists and stormed over to him, ready
to end the fight he started–

He pushed his legs up, both of his booted
feet slamming into my stomach and doubling me over. I clutched my
stomach, gasping for breath. Josh planted his hands against the
cement floor and used them as leverage to flip himself to his feet.
He yanked my head up and slammed his forearm into my chest. One of
his black clawed hands gripped my neck and forced my head up. Josh
pushed me deeper to the side of the room, his free hand rapidly
hitting my ribs.

I shot out a quick punch of my own, catching
him in the stomach and forcing him to relax his hold. I batted away
the hand that had been at my throat and jabbed him with my free
hand. Josh grabbed my fist and started to crush it, but I pulled my
captured hand back, ducking under Josh’s extended arm so it was
over my back. I straightened and wrenched his arm, making him shout
angrily. I stomped on the inside of his knee and twisted sharply,
taking his arm with me, and out of its socket.

Josh howled in pain and I let him go, driving
my boot into his stomach and sending him tumbling along the
ground.

But of course the asshole didn’t stay
there.

Oblivious to his useless arm, Josh rolled to
his feet and charged me. Seeing I was close to the wall, I stepped
back. I crouched and waited until Josh was in front of me, ready to
swing. Then I stepped to the side, grabbed his waist, and twisted
to throw him into the wall.

Or that was my plan, anyway. What happened
instead was Josh pressed his feet against the wall, keeping him
from plowing into the graffiti covered concrete. Before I could let
go of him, Josh pushed off the wall with all his strength.

It was too much for me. He was a big, strong
guy when he was human. Now he was Soulless, and much stronger. Most
Soulless weren’t fighters. They were normal humans with an extra
demonic boost to their system. But Josh had carried his fighting
skills over after the exchange. He wasn’t getting tired the way I
was.

Josh’s sudden weight against me caused me to
trip and fall onto my back. He landed on top of me, crushing the
air from my lungs. He hammered his elbow into my ribs, battering
them to the point where I was sure at least one of them cracked. I
shoved him until he rolled off me, but he made it to his feet
before I did. He planted one foot on the left side of my chest and
used the other to kick my ribs. Then he decided to stomp on me for
the hell of it.

Kick, stomp, kick, stomp, kick stomp.
It didn’t seem like it would ever end, and thanks to his previous
stab wounds, my sides felt like they were splitting open. I
couldn’t breathe, couldn’t move. I couldn’t even poison him because
every time I reached for his leg, he batted my hand away and kicked
me harder.

I didn’t know why Josh stopped or when. Maybe
he was bored. He stepped off my aching torso and slid his hand
under my arms, drawing me up to my feet. He let me go and I swayed,
unable to stop him when he jump-kicked me in the chest.

I flew back five feet, landing in a heap of
unwanted furniture. My head was almost speared by a broken metal
chair leg. I glanced at it, feeling it move as I shifted, not sure
why my instincts were kicking in like this. Then I watched Josh run
for the wall, using it as leverage for the flying kick he aimed at
my head. The one I knew would break my neck if it connected.

I let my body take control of my brain. I
forced my reflexes into overdrive, grabbing the broken chair leg
and pulling it in front of me. I twisted onto one knee, shoving the
chair leg up like it was a spear.

Josh might have seen what I was doing, but it
happened too fast for him to react. When he crashed into me, the
chair leg went straight through his chest.

He still knocked me over, but I turned at the
last second so he wouldn’t crush me again. He rolled onto his back,
the metal chair leg embedded deep in his heart. I crawled over to
him, watching his eyes stare at the ceiling without seeing it. I
left the chair leg in his chest, knowing he couldn’t heal around
it, and that his eyes would glaze over with death soon enough.

The floor shuddered underneath me, the Hell
Door refusing to be ignored. I planted my palms on the ground for
balance as the metal furniture clattered sharply behind me. I
looked up to where Maddy was hanging.

The circle of demonfire had decreased, but a
pit currently two feet wide was growing beneath Maddy’s feet. A
spiraling, churning crimson pit that looked like the ribbed,
twisted hole left in a body from a bullet wound. The smell of
sulfur wafted into the air, so intense it made my eyes water.

The Hell Door was beginning to open, meaning
Maddy was out of time.
Everyone
was out of time.

Ciaran stood in front of her, a knife poised
in his hands, ready to plunge it into her chest. Once she was dead,
there would be no stopping the Hell Door from opening.

I scraped up some power as I got to my feet,
letting it mist out of my hands and condense into a few small
locusts. I shot them up to the ropes above her head, ordering them
to chew through the binds but not to touch her. While they worked,
I started running. The gap beneath her was widening, and if I
didn’t move now, I would never make it.

Everything happened at once, though to me it
seemed to occur in slow motion.

Ciaran’s knife descended toward Maddy’s heart
at the same time I leaped over the cavern. The locusts finished
chewing through the ropes, making her fall until I grabbed her in
my arms. Ciaran’s knife stabbed into my ribs just under my heart as
we fell onto the opposite side of the gap. The dying shudder of the
basement as the Hell Door collapsed and shivered closed. Ciaran’s
furious scream as I turned and landed on my back, protecting both
of us from the hard fall but doing more damage to my side.

I’d done it. Stopped the Hell Door from
opening and kept the demons trapped where they belonged. But if
Ciaran’s angry scream was any indication, the fight was far from
over.

Watching Ciaran from the corner of my vision,
I rolled Maddy to the side and put my hand on her bare skin. I
forced the clotting to accelerate and stop her bleeding. Then my
smoke dug into her bone marrow and created new blood cells,
splitting in half to find her kidneys to help stimulate the
production–

The shadow appearing over me was the only
warning Ciaran gave me.

A battle-axe shaped from demonfire dove in my
direction. I pushed Maddy away, keeping in the barest amount of my
smoke so she could be healed, and rolled away before I could be
killed. The battle-axe crashed into the cement, the black demonfire
melting away from its magic blade and slithering toward me. I felt
the flames lash my arms, burning my skin until it was blistered. I
twisted into a crouch, ducking as the black and red battle-axe
swung for my head. The edges of my hair were singed, though it felt
like my entire head had been shoved into an open stove.

Ciaran’s foot collided with my face, knocking
me onto my back. The bleeding wound in my side flooded with pain. I
couldn’t take another beating. Magic was the only weapon I had
against Ciaran, and I didn’t have much of it left.

The Paladin raised his battle-axe over me
again, bellowing a war cry as he brought it down. I forced power
out of my skin and pushed it all at Ciaran. The smoke wasn’t made
of anything really deadly. I only made it to force Ciaran back and
give me a chance to get to my feet.

The demon hacked the blazing battle-axe
through my smoke, charging toward me again. The madness in his eyes
was terrifying, the red, orange, and yellow of his pupils swirling
like dual infernos. Ciaran’s strikes were wild and brutally fast.
It was hard for me to compare this Ciaran to the casual, smooth
talker who liked to work behind the scenes to dismantle people’s
lives. I was facing the Paladin now, the demonic warrior who
tortured and killed his way through the ranks of Hell, who was
ready to create a pandemonium circus on earth.

This wasn’t someone I could beat.

Ciaran’s battle-axe made an upward arc in
front of my chest, forcing me to step back. I raised my hands to
grab on the last scraps of my smoke, when the demonfire shifted in
his hand. It coiled and twisted into a thick black whip. The lash
crashed down, burning me from the top of my right shoulder to my
left hip.

It felt like someone had stripped the skin
off my body. The agony was so excruciating I didn’t have time to
scream. I just blacked out for half a second.

That half a second was all the time Ciaran
needed to lunge forward and punch me in the ribs, exactly where
he’d stabbed me by accident.

He held his fist there, calling on more fire
and created a knife to spear me again. My insides erupted, the
blazing pain searing my nerves, snapping my tendons, and bursting
my blood vessels. Ciaran pulled the demonfire knife from my ribs
and kicked me in the chest.