Chapter 7
Seven
KELLAN
“ W hat are you?” His blade held firm at her throat.
She lay there, as still as if she’d given up already.
Pathetic.
“Shouldn’t you know that already?” Her words were laced with venom, eyes narrowed like a viper ready to strike. He’d expected more of a fight from someone with the reputation she had. For him to be dispatched, he’d expected more .
“Don’t make me ask you again.” His elbow pressed tighter into her throat and she winced as the weight of him nearly crushed her windpipe, cutting off the air she needed to breathe.
Good.
“Your little bitch henchmen seemed to know exactly who I was.” Beneath him she struggled again, but he’d put a stop to it quickly, pressing down even further. The council had been so keen to have her eliminated, yet how quickly the female had fallen.
“Henchmen?”
Her face paled, brows knit as confusion took over her face. “I don’t work with anyone.” Aside from his siblings, but that was a given. He had no followers. Didn’t need them.
“Shit.” The girl shifted once more, face laced with panic as her eyes darted into the darkness. “Shit.” She repeated, her lean body struggling beneath him.
Demitria Collins was their target. The only reason he and his siblings were sent to the god forsaken world. The fact that she’d thought he’d have underlings was alarming.
“Do you know who I am?”
“You’re no different from the other monsters that attacked my home. Why should I know who you are in particular. I don’t give a fuck what your name is.”
Her home?
“You’re human.”
The council had neglected to tell them that little piece of information. The Horsemen had been dispatched for a fucking human . Out of everyone that could have easily eliminated her, they’d chosen him. His siblings. He couldn’t decide if he should be angry or insulted.
“What else would I be?” Like a caged animal, she growled at him. “Let me go.” With wild eyes, she shoved at him in a desperate attempt to free herself. Her hands balling into fists as she hit him across his armored chest. He dropped his dagger and nudged it out of the way when she tried to claw at him like a creature fighting for its life. She was, in a way. Grabbing her small hands in one of his own, he held them above her head. He didn’t pity the human.
“Not an option.” Idiot . “We were sent to restore the balance that you so graciously destroyed.” Her body stilled for a moment as another wave of confusion crossed her face before hardening into stone once more. “Do you have any idea the beings you’ve killed?”
“Monsters. I’ve killed monsters like you to protect my home.” The girl hit him and his laughter erupted, echoing into the night. It only made her madder. He recognized the look on her face. The fire that burned beneath her stare. He’d worn it many times himself, even.
“I’ll spare you the trouble of overworking that little human brain of yours.” Slowly, he removed his elbow from her throat. She wasn’t a threat. Her strength had been nothing compared to his own, and he didn’t sense any growing power within the girl. “You have single handedly pissed off the entire High Council of Eden.” He couldn’t help but smile at how her features faltered, and continued on. “You’ve killed Demon Lords and Archangels, and the council seem to think you’re here to exterminate both.”
“If I could, I would.” Demitria snapped. “I’d kill you all in a heartbeat to save my family.” Despite being completely incapacitated, the human still had fire. He’d give her that.
“We were sent to restore the balance on Earth, and one side cannot continue without the other. You see where I’m getting at?”
Twenty yards away her horse whinnied loudly as he tried to get closer, dust kicking up at his heels. Obedient . His own mount blocked the beast at every turn he’d made. Upon his quick glance, Kellan spied the silver scars lining the sides of the creature. The horse wasn’t of this world, that much he knew.
Interesting.
“Get off!” His side burned for a moment as she embedded the dagger, breaking free from his grasp.
She’d stabbed him. The human had actually stabbed him. The blade pulled easily from his side and he stared at it for a moment, watching the crimson liquid bead to the dirt at his feet. He hardly felt the open wound, only the initial stab as it pierced through his skin, and it was nothing more than a nuisance now. He stared at the dagger again. Small, but exquisite. If he hadn’t been a Horsemen, the blow would have been deadly.
Demitria ran, sprinting into the darkness. He knew the girl had no idea where she was going as she blindly took off, but he expected her to do anything to get away from him. He gave her a few moments before beginning his pursuit.
He enjoyed the chase.
The woman sprinted toward her horse as she pulled the dark cloak over her head, trying desperately to blend in.
“I can still see you.” He taunted, chuckling as her speed increased.
The air changed when he was nearly upon her, chilling, as a spark surged through him. Something was approaching from behind, far faster than he would have liked. He could sense it was something not human. Now he was irritated.
He let the girl go. Watched as she mounted the horse and made to leave, then watched as she turned back toward him and stopped.
“Quite the surprise to see you here, War.” The angel’s voice held a sinister tone as he touched ground before the Horseman. White wings stretched wide from the males back as strong gusts of wind blew toward him with each powerful beat of the angel’s wings. Those familiar golden eyes of the male’s kind pinning him with a smile.
Noel.
Now he was both insulted and angry.
He was a revered Horseman on Eden. Had done the high councils bidding for a millennia doing their dirty work, yet here he stood. War, Horseman of the fucking Apocalypse, and they sent a god damn Archangel.
They were a different race, the angel and him. The Nephilim had been part human once, but that was long ago. Before his time. Neither human nor angel, their blood now ran pure.
It was rare for the angels and Nephilim to intermingle. While him and his siblings were the warriors of Eden, most of his kind lived along its western coastline in a forested village, Daire. It was the council who sought them out. Created out of malice and forever paying the price for the choices their ancestors made, they didn’t get a choice if chosen. The high council saw to that, threatening families if they didn’t comply. From a young age they were brought up as fighters, training most of their days.
He was really, truly angry. Noel was here for the girl. Had to be.
Pulling the sword from its sheath, he blocked the path between them. Readying the blade. He and his siblings were the ones dispatched. She’d be his kill, and no one else’s. Not even his siblings would be the ones to end her, now. Had marked vowed to be the one to kill her the moment she’d drawn his own blood.
“Noel.” His voice was hard, angry, as he spoke, which only made the angel smile. “What do you want?”
“Give me the girl, and there won’t be any problems.” The Angel moved closer, weapons drawn. “Hand her over, Kellan.”
“Why are you here.” Kellan asked, his hand at the ready as he gripped the hilt of his sword tighter. Clenching his fingers around it.
“I could ask you the same thing, Horseman.”
“You’re saying you didn’t know we were dispatched?” His brow rose as he eyed the Archangel, not showing an ounce of the uncertainty that threatened to take hold at the male’s arrival. As an angel for the council, there was no chance Noel wasn’t aware of the reasoning behind The Horsemen’s dispatch. If he wanted the girl, it had to have been because he wanted answers just like himself. Wanted to know why the Horsemen were dispatched to kill a human when they could have easily sent someone else. Someone like Noel.
The angel didn’t answer his question. “Be a good little dog and give me the girl, War.”
Kellan didn’t understand her importance. The council was adamant she needed to be eliminated. It was the only order given to him and his siblings. Kill Demitria Collins by all means necessary. She was not to survive if they were to restore the balance. How was a mere human causing such an uproar on Eden? In the Underworld?
The council’s lack of information had been unusual. The decision to split them up had been as well. Something didn’t add up, and if he let Noel get to her, he would never figure out what she was hiding. She had to be hiding something for everyone to be so up in arms. How else could he explain why they had sent a fucking Angel of Death on top of the famed Horsemen.
“I’m afraid I can’t do that.”
The Archangel advanced, his blades tying with Kellan’s. The gold embellishment of the Angel’s twin silver weapons held an unnatural glow as he entwined them with his, their curvature locking his sword in place.
He hated angel blades.
Noel blocked his next swing before feigning left, the top of his curved blade penetrating through the thick leather armor on Kellan’s shoulder, cutting into him, searing as it tore through flesh. He hated those fucking blades even more. With a wince, he continued on.
He was going to be so irrevocably fucked by the time they completed this mission. The Horsemen were known as the council’s guard dogs. They did the shit the council, or other angels, couldn’t bring themselves to do. To put it mildly, he should have been kissing the dirt beneath Noel’s feet. But the Horsemen were faster. Stronger. Better suited to the fight that had been instilled in them, and he hated more than anything having to bow to the lowlifes that were the Archangels.
His kind may have been classified as lowborn, but the council had treated him and his siblings kindly enough. But they were the chosen Horsemen. Warriors of Eden that never failed, and upheld all honor.
And now he was trying to kill an Archangel.
With a slight glance behind, he noted the girl still stood, poised atop her horse.
Stupid Human .
Even given the chance to flee, the girl stood there. Whether she was frozen with fear or something else he didn’t know. He didn’t quite care either, but it would make his job easier if he didn’t have to run after her. Either way, Demitria wouldn’t get far, that he was sure.
Kellan rolled out of the way of Noel’s next strike, his own blade easily tearing through the flesh near the angel’s shoulder. Had the male been wearing armor, his sword wouldn’t have struck. Cocky bastards, they were. He’d yet to meet an Angel of Death, a select group of Archangels that killed for the council, wear anything but the crisp white robes of their brethren. Their only difference were the weapons they bore.
“War! Give her to me!” Noel shouted, pulling him from his thoughts. The angels blade poised high in the air as if to strike him from above. “I want the girl!”
“You’ll have to get through me first.” Protecting her had not been part of the assignment. Far from it, yet here he was. Whether that was because of his own morbid curiosity at the council’s reasoning behind their dispatch, or his own stupid pride in not wanting someone else to take the kill from him, he couldn’t be certain.
“Very well, Horseman.” Noel lunged once more, both of them advancing on the other. But Kellan was faster. Always faster. The sword left his hands as he launched it straight forward toward the male. The throw had caught the angel off guard, the look of utter disbelief taking hold as he fell back to the dirt. The blade protruded from his chest, pinning him there from the force of Kellan’s strike. Striding toward the fallen angel, the anger radiated through him. A familiar feeling, welling inside like the deep churning sea.
“Whose side are you on, Horseman.” He coughed, blood spurting from his mouth as he spoke. Kellan knew he’d punctured the angel’s lung. If he left the angel now, he’d heal. Slowly.
“I am here to restore the balance.” Kellan didn’t blame the angel for wanting to know. In his position, he would have done the same. He would have killed to get those answers. He was killing to get them.
Noel wouldn’t have come here without being sent by the council. There was no reasoning that Kellan could see behind their choice to dispatch an Angel of Death and the Horsemen. The fact that the council thought Noel could do a better job than him, apparently, made him even angrier. The council knew something that they weren’t telling him. Telling all of them.
“I will do what is necessary to restore the balance!” His boot fell heavily on the angel’s chest. Gripping his wings in his fury, Kellan tore them clean from the angel’s body. He felt the soft feathered wings crush within his grasp as he wrenched muscle and bone from flesh. Noel’s scream ripped from his throat, echoing through the night.
He wasn’t finished.
Noel lay there, panting in a pool of his own blood. “Pathetic. You Horsemen disgust me. Your entire race disgusts me. A bunch of half breeds is all you’ll ever be.” He spat. The Horseman answered with force, pushing his sword the remainder of the way through his body. Kellan could feel it pierce down to the earth where it stuck. Noel’s body went limp.
Kellan’s breathing was heavy as he stared down at the dead angel’s body. It took a moment before he pulled the sword free, wiping the gore from the blade across Noel’s chest before returning it to its sheath. The council would be pissed. Very few Archangels did this job, and he’d murdered one of them over his own morbid curiosity.
Kellan you fucking idiot.