The Four Horsemen (The Light Series) (4 page)

The last devil is easy
to find. They all were really. The witches had tracked them, Constantine and
his team had located them to exact places, and Wyatt smelled them down like a
hound. It is not the effort we assumed it would be. It is the only time it has
ever been easy. The combination of earth witches, Constantine, technology, and
a Van Helsing has never been used before though.

When we find him, the
last devil reeks of destruction and evil. We chase him in an SUV. He doesn’t
realize we are the ones following him through the streets of
Capetown
. He’s in the backseat of a car that is driving around
Capetown
. The men in the front seat are firing on
crowds of people, with AK-
47's
. When the car stops,
the devil stays behind, like he is sucking the evil from the car before he gets
out and walks down the alleyway.

Constantine wraps his
arm around me to mask the smell of me. We follow the devil until the crowd
thins. Then I sprint, jumping onto a barrel on the side of the road,
unsheathing my sword at the same moment my wings tear from my back. He doesn’t
even get a chance to turn as the sword separates his head from his body. He
crumples to the ground and becomes a pile of black feathers.

I turn to face Wyatt
and Constantine but a wind comes up the alley before I can get a word out. My
triumphant smile fades when I can't see past the dust blowing and mixing with
the feathers. My feet slide along the cement from the wind pulling me to the
funnel that has formed. I step back, trying to get out of the way as the
feathers suck up into the air where they're released and become black
raindrops.

My body is slammed
into the building next to me. Wyatt shakes his head, "We gotta go
now." I shudder from the pain and nausea, “We are getting handfasted
again. This is bad.”

He smiles and turns,
running down the alley. I jump, still holding his hand and lift us into the air
with my wings. They flap like a bird's would. I don’t know how I feel about
that, but as the black raindrops chase us, one lands on my wing. I wince as it
burns. We land at the car. We don’t talk, we get in and Tom drives, fast.
Stella, Mona, and Michelle are waiting for us on the jet; it's ready to go.

When we take off, I
watch from the window as dark clouds cover the city.

"This is
bad," Mona mutters.

I nod, "It
doesn’t seem to be working, me killing the devils." My eyes seek out
Constantine's. His face is stoic, but I can see the fears wandering about in
his eyes. He offers me a smile but I shake my head and from somewhere hear
Willow say the words, "We have made a big mistake, Nene." I don’t
even miss her calling me Nene. That is a bad sign.

We fly to Britain,
landing on a small airstrip outside of London. Constantine hurries to the car
waiting for us that he called for. Tom jumps in the driver's seat. We all get
in quickly. Tom speeds to the small castle that I recall the second we arrive.
My heart skips a beat for the first time in days and Ellie softly weeps inside
of my mind.

Stella looks at
Constantine with her blue daggers, "You invited the Van Helsings to our
home?"

Wyatt nods, "We
need to talk to them. They don’t stand a chance against Rayne now. The devils
are dead. None of this was the prophecy. They feel betrayed by God too."

Constantine keeps the
stoic look going, ignoring both Wyatt and his sister.

I look out the window
of the SUV as Tom parks the car.

Wyatt looks at the
rain, “We need to stay out of this rain. Everyone hurry.”

We all run inside. I
suddenly realize I have my sword in my hand and am face to face with Wyatt's
evil mother Gretel and his ex-fiancé Sarah, in the foyer of the large estate. I
don’t even recall pulling it.

Gretel laughs. I glare
at her.

She shakes her head,
"You think I can't hurt you, sin eater? You think I need the sin to weaken
you? I can kill you just fine the way you are."

I flex my back,
shooting my wings out of my back and ruining, yet again, another shirt. Her
eyes widen, "No. It's not possible."

I point my sword at
her, "Still feeling confident in your original statement?"

Her face is as pale as
my shimmering wings. Sarah stares at them in awe, "So pretty."

Gretel looks at Wyatt,
"What did you do to her? Why would you help her this way? How did she
become an angel? The world is falling apart and you are to blame for betraying
us and helping her."

I can almost feel his
anger in the room. His body is completely tight and his voice is eerily soft
when he speaks. "Want to tell me about my father, Mother?" He says
her name like it is poisonous to his tongue.

Her lips tighten.

He laughs bitterly. I
can almost feel the wounds inside of him. "I think not. Don’t you dare
tell me any of this is
mine or hers
. This one is you,
you and all the old ones. You people are disturbing. The length you have gone
to live by the oaths we swore, and yet, you are nothing but a hypocrite."

She looks defeated.
The mention of his father has pulled away her anger and made her small and weak
looking. The others inside of me scoff at that notion and remind me not to be
fooled by it. I still watch her, but lower my sword, pulling my wings back in,
using the mental distraction and relaxation Wyatt taught me. I just wish he
could touch me or kiss me without it burning and making me nauseated. I have a
longing to soothe him; it’s odd since I don’t seem to feel anything else.

Stella walks in front
of me, looking down on Gretel and Sarah. They both grow wide-eyed. Gretel tries
to mask her fear of Stella with a smug smile, "How have you been?"

Stella nods,
"Excellent. Seeing the sin eater destroy everything you have banked on has
been delightful."

Gretel swallows hard.
Constantine pushes his way between us all, "Ladies, ladies. Please. You
are all welcome guests. We have matters far more important than this to attend
to."

Gretel gives me a
sneer. God, I want to feel my hate for her. I know it's in there. She drives me
insane. Sarah can't stop looking at Wyatt and then me. Her eyes dart back and
forth.

Wyatt steps in front
of me
completely,
"We have something bigger than
any war between our kinds. The black rains came, Mother."

Her eyes grow pained
and shocked simultaneously as words leave her lips softly, "Then the Red
Horse is also upon us."

“When the Lamb opened the
second seal, I heard the second living creature say, "Come and see!"
Then another horse came out, a fiery red one. Its rider was given power to take
peace from the earth and to make men slay each other. To him was given a large
sword.”

Revelations.

The
fire is lit and we are huddled around it for heat. The castle is drafty, just
as I recall it being. Maria won't stop hugging me, and crying. Regardless of
being a vampire's servitor, she is very Catholic. Her desperation and despair
at the loss of her religion weighs heavily on her. I wish I had a way of
helping her, but I have nothing.

"You
have wings now, Miss Ellie. You are the hand of God. You must give me last
rights, in case I die. I cannot go to hell for being a servitor."

I
kiss her forehead and hug her, "I don’t even know what the words are. I'm
not Catholic."

She
cries and shakes her head until Constantine comes to her. He tilts her face, so
her eyes meet his, "You will not be afraid of the events that are taking
place. You will be loyal and strong."

Maria
releases me. She smiles, "Would anyone like tea?"

I
frown but Michelle nods, "Can I have some liquor in mine?"

Wyatt
nods, "Me too."

Mona
raises a hand from the sofa, "Here as well."

I
roll my eyes and look at Gretel, "I need you to explain it one more
time."

She
sighs, pacing in front of the massive hearth, "The four horsemen of the
apocalypse have long been believed to be a lie. A rumor. A myth. Recent events
have obviously proven that wrong. The first rider is conquest and strife.
According to legend, he looks exactly as the witness claimed him to be in
Jerusalem. Riding a white horse, wearing a crown and carrying a bow. The second
rider brings war. Where the first caused nations to segregate themselves, the next
horse brings war, nations against each other. The red horse is the destruction
of civilization by fire. We are assuming that in modern times that would be
bombs."

"What
about the other two?" Mona asks.

Gretel
shakes her head, "Let's cross that bridge when we get there. If we can
find them, we can kill them and maybe the next two won’t come. They come in
order, and they wait for the horseman before them to finish his task before
they come."

Wyatt
points at her, "No ‘we’. Don’t ‘we’ us. We are not a ‘we’. It is
us
and it is you. I am on the side of my family—this
is my family. You lost that right when you tried to kill me, two weeks
ago."

Gretel
looks hurt, actually hurt. Her cold exterior looks melted. She pleads, with not
only her words, but also her eyes, "Wyatt, we are your family. We love
you. We made a mistake, asking you to choose between Rayne and us. I see now,
we are all on the same side. I put duty before motherhood, and I have to ask
you to forgive me."

"BULLSHIT!
YOU THINK I WILL EASILY FORGET THE HATRED ON YOUR FACE AS YOU FOUGHT AGAINST
US?"

Sarah
opens her mouth but he points at her, "SHUT THAT NOW!" She closes her
mouth. He turns back to his mother, "YOU STABBED ME, YOUR OWN SON!"

Gretel
rolls up her sleeve, revealing a massive burn, "I never knew she could do
this. She has never done it before. She has never had wings before. The dead
fought for her. Rayne has released the first two of the four horsemen. She is
the hand of God, and I believe you that we must help her end her parents. You know
what Fitz saw her as, he always did. The churches are wrong, not you. She is
the answer, not the problem. It took me nearly dying, nearly losing my son for
my beliefs, and nearly plotting with the Catholic Church, to see it. This is
the right way. This bizarre group of people you are part of is the answer. I
think this strange combination is the answer. We have spent so many years
fighting against the Dracula family that we have never considered we were all
made for a purpose." She takes a step forward, “And you, my special son,
you too were born for a reason.”

Her
hateful eyes turn on me, she drops to her knee. I don’t know who looks more
shocked,
me or Sarah,
but she bows her head, "I
swear by my sword and my heart, I will die protecting you." I can hear her
choking the words out. I almost choke and Mona snorts.

My
eyes dart to Constantine. He twitches a no.
I look at Wyatt
,
he does the same
. I smile, the smile Willow taught me
to use when I wanted to tell someone to
eff
off.
"Thank you. I accept your help."

She
rises, smiling. She looks at Sarah, "I cannot tell you what to choose, but
what more proof do you and your family need?"

Sarah
nods, "I agree. I will fight to help you, Rayne." Her, I actually
believe. There is no production with her, and unlike Gretel, I see no demons in
her eyes.

Constantine
clasps his hands together, "Not that I don’t enjoy seeing you on your
knees, Gretel, but let's see if the TV has any idea of the wars starting."
Wyatt’s eyes dart open and Michelle and Stella burst out laughing. It takes me
a second to realize what he has said.

When
he realizes the comment he has made Constantine’s lips struggle with the
sinister grin he wants so badly to let loose. Instead, he turns on the TV and
instantly we see it.
Massacres of tourists in every country,
bombings and hate everywhere.

I
walk to Mona and sit on the couch next to her. She looks tired and rests her
head on my shoulder, "You smell."

I
nod, "I need to take a shower, but I'm scared I might get murdered."

She
scoffs, "You so will. His mom is gonna roast your ass, the minute she gets
a chance."

"Can
you believe this?"

Her
dark eyes water and her glossy lips tremble when she whispers, "No, and I
can't reach my dad or my mom. She isn’t answering and his phone isn’t even
ringing."

I
don’t have anything for that. What do I say? I hug her to me, "I bet
They’re safe. They probably have places for people to go. The US is a strong
country. We'll be fine."

Constantine
comes over to us. He kneels in front of us, "If you reach her, tell her to
go to Montana. I have a house there; I've sent you the text with the
address."

I
start to laugh, "How is it you are more savvy with technology than I am
and you're old, like scary old?"

He
sighs, "Technically, you're older." My mouth drops open, “Look at you
and all the zingers tonight.”

"Is
the US getting bombed yet?" Mona asks.

He
nodded, "There are bombings. She might be at the university. I know
someone there; I will see if I can reach her."

Mona
looks frozen, scared to move and feel. She sniffles back her tears,
"Thanks."

He
smiles, "We have to make a plan, Rayne. Your mother is in Ireland or
Scotland, if the legends and the sea witches are to be believed. What shall we
do?"

I
shake my head, "I don’t know. I'm more concerned about my father. Why
didn’t he try to help them?"

Constantine
frowns, "Who?"

Gretel
must have heard. She walks over, "Yes, why didn’t Lucifer assist the
devils as you slew them? One would think he almost wanted you to kill
them."

I
nod, not liking that I am agreeing with her. I still really want to stab her in
the eye. I remember Wyatt's father, the angel John. He is always confused as
the Book of John. People never realized he was an angel, not a man.
The angel of truth and wisdom.
I remember when Gretel
betrayed him, letting him die. I remember this, and yet, Wyatt is so young. He
does not look old enough to be the son of John, but I know he is.

Wyatt
sits, "What if it is as the book says it will be? What if the seven seals
have to be opened to make the world new and take the spirits of the penitent to
God?"

Gretel
scoffs, "That is a very inaccurate description of the end of world,
firstly. Secondly, that would mean the antichrist and lamb have been
born." Her eyes dart to
me,
"You must be the
antichrist this time."

And
there it is, his asshole mom calls me Satan.
So much for
being on my side.
Bitch.

I
sigh, "I'm not the antichrist, Gretel. I am born of angels,
archangels."

She
shakes her head, "You have opened the seals, killing the devils must have
opened the first five, and we are slowly seeing the end of days. Tribulation is
at hand."

I
give Constantine a look. He makes a duck face, making Mona laugh, "She
calls Rayne Satan and you make a duck face?"

He
scowls, "I'm thinking. That’s my thinking face. I made it before ducks
existed. It should be called a
Basarab
face.” He
sighs, “She might be right."

Wyatt
throws his hands up into the air, "I've heard enough." He grabs my
hand, making me instantly sick and drags me through the massive castle. I pull
my hand from his, gagging slightly. "Where are we going?"

He
gives me that cocky grin, the one that started it all, "A bedroom."

I
laugh, "I'll probably die if we have sex now."

He
laughs, "I wish."

I
gasp, "Ass."

He
puts his hands up, "I wish we could have sex, not that you would die.
Anyway, that was awkward. My mom and the whole speech—she’s full of it. I
need a shower and you need a shower, and I don’t trust my mom. So, we shower
together, for safety. You know safety in numbers."

I
laugh, "You do wish. No. You can sit on the toilet with my sword while I
shower."

He
smiles wider, "Sounds good." He turns to walk, but I point the other
way, "The bedrooms are over here."

He
looks confused, "You remember this place?" A naughty smile plasters
itself across my face, "I do, actually."

He
winces, "Oh God, I don’t want to know."

"I
wasn’t going to tell you."

He
gives me a sideways glance as we round the corner to the guest quarters,
"You like torturing me."

I
smile, "I really do. I really, really do." We get into a room, one I
don’t recall. I strip down in the bathroom, "Okay, you can come in."
I jump in the shower before he can see me, but then realize the doors are
glass. Apparently, Constantine has done some updating. Why couldn’t he update
the drafty front room?

The
steam and water make the glass hard to see through, but I can still see Wyatt
watching me.

"Look
the other way."

"No.
Come out and make me."

I
laugh, "I'm going to kill you, one of these days."

He
laughs too, "Can it be during sex? Please."

I
roll my eyes and savor the hot water, "Do you think I'm the
antichrist?"

"No.
I asked Fitz before he died and he thought you were the lamb; now I do too. He
always did though."

His
words spin in my head, the lamb.
The equivalency to Jesus?
No way. I pour the lemon balm shampoo into my hand and try desperately to find
the answers inside of myself. As I scrub it through my scalp, Willow’s words
run through my head.

“You’ll
always find your answers in your own heart.”

“Nene,
the world is a huge place and the only spot you can worry about is your own garden.”

“There
is no sense in worrying about things you don’t truly want to change. If you
did, you would have done it already.”

“Eat
live enzymes to keep your body’s good bacteria healthy, and don’t eat meat or
have sex. They waste your chi.”

I
tilt my head back, rinsing it off and nodding. The whole sex thing might have
been good advice. I hear the glass door close and I open my eyes. Wyatt is
standing across from me, completely naked. I can see the thing I have always
sort of been curious about in my peripheral, but I don’t look below sea level.

“Why
are you in my shower?”

He
gives me the charming smile that normally feels like he is using it to undress
me,
only I’m naked already.
Very naked.
“I just thought, why not? You can’t touch me and I can’t touch you, not without
you being very sick. So why not?” He steps a little closer across the tiles,
smiling down on me. “Why not just take a good,” he steps closer, “hard,” and
closer, “look at what we can’t have?”

My
body is trembling. I can feel something I didn’t know I had in me. It’s a fire,
something fierce. I look down, finally letting myself look at him. The water
pours down on us. It feels cool compared to my skin. I swear I can hear a
subtle sizzle as each drop lands on my skin. I step back, pressing my back
against the wall of tile. He steps into the water, closing his eyes and tilting
his head back. I have a filthy want to drag my hands down his chest, feeling
his muscles.

He
runs his hands through his dark hair, and I can’t take another second of it. I grab
his face, fighting the instant wave of sickness and pain. My lips touch his
desperately. His hands roughly grab me, pulling me up into him. His body
against mine is too much. I cry out into his soft lips, backing away.

His
eyes are dark and tormented and he false starts several times. My hands do the
same but neither of us move or get closer.