I glanced at Pete. “Not completely unscathed.”

  “We all almost turned on each other. The only one that didn’t seem affected was Zachariah, even Sammy was hit by his power after he was sealed away.” Ruthie wrapped her arms around herself.

  I hadn’t been aware that she’d known that, but it made sense since she was constantly aware of my emotions. “I’m assuming it’s because he’s an archangel and he’s a bit more resistant.”

  “That’s possible, they tend to be a little bit more resilient.” Death stood. “Let’s go get the others.”

  I raised a brow. “We can’t get into the city, we were kicked out for fighting.”

  “I’ll go get them.” He corrected and disappeared. I leaned my head back and took a deep breath. I could feel my ribs bruising with each passing moment, but considering it was the only wound I had from the demon, I couldn’t complain. “Wish you guys could have been there. It would have been nice to have you at my back.”

  “What happened?” Pete reached under the pew and tossed me a MRE.

  “For some reason when I went to the seal Zachariah didn’t appear with me. He left me in the room. Lucile showed up, but there was no battle, she ran off and left me with this giant spiky demon. I had to cut off his tail to make any progress. Zachariah didn’t show up until I defeated the demon. He was pretty beat up, but we still managed to break the seal.”

  Ruthie growled. “He left you to face Lucile alone?”

  “I don’t know how it happened. I asked and he stormed off. He’s grieving the loss of his angels and didn’t want to face me. Not that I can blame him. One of his angels tried to warn him how anyone that went in with me would die.” I sat down and opened my package. “Oh, this one still has jerky.” I pulled out the dried meat and opened it. “I’m starting to think that she was right.”

  Ruthie shook her head. “We’ve been to Hell and back with you, we’re all still alive.” She put a hand on my knee. “What you need is a break. You’ve been fighting non-stop, two Sins and a horseman in less than two days. You’re exhausted, body and mind.”

  “I agree. Go lay down and rest a little bit. We’ll wake you when Death gets back.”

  I held up my jerky. “Once I’m done eating.”

  25

  Footsteps against the ground woke me. Just the subtle shuffling against the wood floor of the church. I kept my body still and cracked my eyes open to see a pair of beat up sneakers right by my head.

  “Morning, sleeping beauty.” Kaleb’s voice boomed through the church. I sat up and rubbed my eyes.

  “I thought Pete was supposed to wake me up when Death got back with you guys. Not the next morning.” I stretched and pain from sore muscles wrapped around my midsection. Nice to know that even bruises didn’t fade overnight.

  “We all decided to take a bit of a rest while Death kept guard.” Pete tossed me a canteen. “Today we regroup in Death’s realm and start making a plan to capture the rest of the Sins. Death style.”

  I closed my eyes and focused. The death toll number that climbed into my head sent a strike of pain through my temples. “Well, at least a third of the world’s population is gone and it’s just going to get worse. Now that they have no real way to turn people away, because they don’t have walking dead to use, the victims of war will go up.”

  “Gluttony will be at work there, maybe Greed. We’ll plan to go after them first. Everyone ready?” Death asked, leaning on his scythe.

  I took a long drink out of the canteen and stood. “Is there real food in your realm now that you’re back?”

  “Yes, the realm will bend to my will now, because I’m back.” He grinned and raised his arms. The church crashed around us like a giant hand slammed it into the ground and the fields of dead weeds swirled around us. I took a deep breath of the air. Unlike Earth, there was no stench of rotting flesh or the feel of sickness in the air. Nothing caused goosebumps to rise over my skin and some of the stress and fear of being found or having to fight for my life flooded out of me.

  The wind wrapped around me as if welcoming me home and I couldn’t help but smile.

  “The world is starting to recognize you for what you are.” Death put his hand on my shoulder. “You may doubt everything you are but you’ll find yourself in time. You’ll learn that this is where you belong and always have.”

  I looked up at him. “You’ve been talking to Ruthie.”

  “She’s worried about you.”

  I looked over the field. “I know she is. I’m fine though, I’m just still wrapping my head around my future and how the world has changed.”

  He motioned for me to walk. “You know that you can still be your own person while you take my position. You’re not stuck in this realm, you can travel the world, meet people, fall in love if you want.”

  “But I can’t carry a child unless it’s with an angel, so what about starting a family? Having a career? Finishing school?”

  “Are those all things you want, or what your mother told you that you should want?” He held his hands up before I could snap at him. “Just think about it. What do you really want out of life?”

  I opened my mouth to answer and he shook his head. “Think about it. It’s not something that has to be answered today or tomorrow, but it’s something I want you to truly think about.”

  We continued to walk in silence. The weeds brushed over my legs with a whisper. I could hear excited chatter and laughter from where we left and I knew that the others were sharing some type of stories while I was out here enjoying the solitude with my father. Maybe it was a common trait that we shared. We climbed over the crest of a hill and I saw a stable.

  “I didn’t see this when we were here before and I swear I covered every inch of this realm while we were waiting for Pete to recover.”

  My dad motioned for me to continue. “Because this world doesn’t know you as its owner, it still hides things from you. It knew that I wanted to show you this and bring you here.”

  We clambered down the steep hill to the stable. A pure white horse galloped out of the barn, the ghostly strands of its mane and tail flowing behind it giving an eerie illusion of him floating more than running. The sun reflected off the hair that covered its sleek body.

  “She is beautiful.”

  Death held his hand out and the horse came right to him, nuzzling his hand. “This is my horse. Famine, Pestilence, and War all have one as well.” He rubbed her nose lovingly. “She’ll be an ever faithful companion to you when I’m gone.”

  “You act like your time is coming soon.” I placed my hand on her nose and she shook her head with a snorting sound. “She doesn’t like me.”

  He chuckled. “She doesn’t know you. Once she does, she’ll love you and as soon as you master riding her then she’ll be yours.”

  “But not until after you die or retire.” I confirmed and met the horse’s gaze. “We’re going to have a lot to work on.”

  Death put his head against hers. “Don’t let her attitude scare you. She’s just a child.” He kissed her and rubbed the side of her neck. “Yes, once I’m gone.” He pulled back from the horse. “Everyone has their time, you shouldn’t be surprised by the fact that mine will come.”

  “I’m not...I just... I’ve already lost mom, we almost lost Pete, and in all honesty if you weren’t sealed away we probably would have lost him. I don’t want to lose you too, not since we barely know each other. I’ve only known you existed for a year, three months of that you were sealed away in Hell. Which was my fault.”

  I leaned against the wooden fence that circled the stable.

  “It’s natural to fear death, but death is also natural. Especially when there is a war.” He turned to me and the horse ran off. She disappeared behind the barn to play in the field. “I just want to make sure you’re prepared for me to go.”

  I didn’t look at him. “I’m as prepared as I’ll ever be.” I ran a hand over my hair.

  “You’re going to make a great horseman.” He turned away. “Enjoy your quiet time. I’ll see you back at the house when you’re ready.”

  I nodded and watched the horse prance through the field. As a child, I always wanted a horse, but we could never afford one nor did we live where we could keep one. I jumped over the gate and into the pen. I walked towards the barn and grabbed an apple from a bag hanging on the edge there.

  My stomach growled, but the apple wasn’t for me. I climbed up on the fence and made kissing noises. The horse stopped and stared at me for a moment.

  I held my hand out flat. “I brought you a treat.”

  She took a couple steps forward, her feet hesitating. She stopped and stomped the ground a little.

  “Yeah, I know. I’m a little odd when it comes to new people too. Here’s an apple though, maybe that’s a start?”

  She tossed her head with a loud neigh and stomped at the ground again. Her hooves kicked up dirt and I put my arm down.

  “Okay, point taken. You can stay there until you’re ready. I guess we’re both apprehensive about this.”

  She nodded like she understood me. I tossed her the apple and she bowed down to eat it. I stayed there and just watched her run around the field.

  My body and soul started to relax as I realized I didn’t have to worry about a random attack here. We were safe for the time being, able to work on our plan to put the world back in order. I closed my eyes and listened to the wind sweep through the area and a smile crossed my lips. The world would go back into order and the chaos would be controlled once more.

  Something nudged my face and I opened my eyes to see the white one of the horse. I smiled and leaned my head against hers. “You’re safe with me too.” I put my hand on her neck and slowly moved it up and down. “We’ll start with this, eventually we’ll work up to me riding you.”

  She whinnied and ran back off. I turned around and jumped off the fence.

  I took my time going back to the cabin, still enjoying the silence around me and the open land.

  “No, Sloth is the most dangerous.”

  I heard Pete’s voice over the rest of the others. The windows of the house were open and the front door was cracked.

  I pulled it open and walked in. “I agree, Sloth needs to be taken out next. Between the poison that can kill us with a nick and the ability to trace us by putting his blood in us he’s more dangerous than the others.”

  “What about Greed?” Aeron glared at me. “She’s stronger than Wrath and you saw how that turned out. Heard you took one of Pete’s arrows.”

  “Greed is in Hell with Lucile right now. I’m doubting she’s going to come out anytime soon. We need to take care of the ones that are on Earth and are amplifying the issues of the apocalypse.”

  Ruthie pushed off the wall. “We can divide into teams.”

  “No, Sloth is too strong.” Pete met my gaze and then turned to Ruthie. “We weren’t able to take care of him alone last time. Had Sammy not been there we wouldn’t have been able to pin him to a tree. We had no idea about his ability to trace people through his blood.”

  I crossed my arms. “No more splitting up. That doesn’t give us the advantage. As it is, when I go back into Hell for the other seals, that leaves you guys one person short here.”

  “We can always retreat for a while, or go into Hell with you.” Kaleb tapped his hands on the table. “I mean it means more sacrifices, but after seeing what some of those humans were doing in the name of protection...I wouldn’t mind sacrificing some of them.”

  I didn’t want to think about sacrificing humans. “We also need to decide which horseman to free next.”

  “Famine.” Aeron and Pete said at the same time. “It’s going to be hard to save the human race when they are going to starve to death.”

  I leaned against the door. “So Sloth and then Famine.”

  “Seems like that’s the plan.” Kaleb leaned back in the chair. “Then I say Greed. With two horsemen free we might be able to drag her out of Hell.”

  I wasn’t sure about that, but I didn’t know what Lucile would do after we managed to free another horseman. “Food, water, and then we go stalk around Earth for a little bit.”

  “How do you think we’ll find him? Should we visit other cities?” Ruthie walked around the table and started to pour a cup of tea.

  I had missed out on teatime, but I wasn’t feeling particularly tea-y at the moment. “That might be a good idea. It’ll also give us an idea of what things are looking like elsewhere. Maybe Aeron can help prevent wars.”

  “I can try, but I’m not nearly as talented as my father.”

  “The Sins will know we are looking for them. I suggest we keep to the same area that we started in. Minimize the humans exposed to the horsemen and the world they shouldn’t know about.”

  I wrinkled my nose. “After this, maybe I’ll move away from Mesa.”

  “Could move back to your mom’s house.” Ruthie sipped her tea. “If it’s still standing.”

  That was the key there. Dad cleared his throat. “You could stay here.”

  I hadn’t really considered that. “I think I might.” He could teach me things I wouldn’t have learned in the human world. Things I should have learned growing up.

  “There’s a whole world to worry about first.” Aeron tapped the table. “Let’s eat and get going.”

  We reappeared back at Mesa College. What had been left of the buildings were now just piles of bricks with steel skeletons sticking out of them. Some of the beams were bent at odd angles and creaked if the wind blew just right. I sat on a pile of rubble. “I really don’t feel like walking across the state, so are we just going to wait here?”

  “I still think going to another city would have been a great idea.” Ruthie summoned her staff and used it to hit a rock across the cracking walkway.

  I stopped it with my foot and then kicked it back towards her. She smiled and stopped it with her staff.

  “I know and it would keep us from sitting around, but you don’t want more humans thinking that something else is up.” Death perched himself on a concrete slab. “Besides, conserve your energy and let your enemy come to you.”

  Aeron summoned a staff and blocked Ruthie from hitting the stone back. “It’s a tactic of war. A defensive stance that will give us the advantage of having all of our energy to use during a fight.”

  “So what, we're going to sit here and play hockey with a rock?” Ruthie shouldered Aeron out of her way, taking the rock with her.

  I summoned my scythe and flipped it to use the blade like a hockey stick. Ruthie passed the rock to me and I moved past Aeron and hit it into a hole between two fallen doors.

  “Score!” I held one fist up in the air and Pete laughed. Kaleb jumped up from his spot. “Ruthie, summon me a staff?”

  The angel did as he asked and then tossed it to him. “I guess two on one isn’t fair.”

  Aeron fished the stone out of the hole and passed it to Kaleb. “Score is one to zero, Pete can keep score.”

  I moved to block Kaleb, but he managed to dodge and move around me, hitting the rock back and forth with his stick as he moved. He passed it to Aeron, but Ruthie intercepted with a graceful half dive. Her staff knocked the stick out of Aeron’s reach and near Death’s foot.

  He kicked it towards me with a wink and I dribbled it before passing to Ruthie as Kaleb came to block me.

  The game continued until we were all sitting on the ground out of breath and laughing. I leaned against Ruthie’s back. “That was a nice break.”

  “Sometimes it’s just nice to laugh.” She leaned her head against mine. “And it does wonderful things for your mood.”

  I snorted, but didn’t say anything. It’d been a while since I had played any sport. “Shame we didn’t have a soccer ball. Then Pete could have kicked all of our asses.”

  “We’ll find one and then I’ll be able to teach you how to really play. As it is, you and Ruthie whipped these boys into shape when it came to field hockey.”

  The ground rumbled, bouncing up any little rubble with vibration... we all jumped to our feet and summoned our weapons. Aeron jumped up onto a pile of rubble with a bow and arrow, next to Pete. My gaze scanned over the area, looking for anything out of the ordinary. Nothing moved, but the ground still shook.

  The vibration faded, but my heartbeat still tried to tell my mind and body that there was danger around. “Was that an earthquake?”

  “I don’t know. I had thought it was a demon, but there’s not one around.” Ruthie dropped her defensive stance. “It’s possible that it was an earthquake. They are rare around here, but I don’t think I’d doubt anything at this point.”

  Laughter could be heard in the distance. “You four have always been such a pain in the ass.”

  I knew the voice, it twisted my gut and dragged my heart into my stomach. Gypsy, our RA, or better known as Envy. She’d been best buddies with Pride and she’d tried to cloud my mind with thoughts of jealousy and pining after the normal life I’d never had. She was never able to outright attack us. Not until we’d gotten to Hell and then she’d almost killed Ruthie and I.

  “Oh and Death, isn’t that a surprise.” She appeared in a swirl of dust and green smoke. She came close enough that I could see the snakes moving in her irises. “I didn’t get a chance to finish you in Hell, but today that changes. Death is back and that means you can die again.”

  I twisted my hands on my scythe. She needed to make a move, but she stood there, just out of reach of us all, smiling.

  “I would love to stand around and chat, but I’m just passing through. The walled city is in need of a new official and I plan on taking that spot. I think that the world needs a little more envy.”

  She disappeared again with a laugh. I threw my hands up, letting the scythe disappear. “Really? She just wanted to come and say hi?”

  “That’s what it seems like. I don’t know what the purpose of that was.” Ruthie looked to Aeron.