Chapter 18
Chapter Eighteen
D ust and rock coalesced into a humanoid form, and Pestilence rose from the ground. Beneath them, in the place of timeless rest, War stirred. Pestilence opened their senses to the world they now inhabited. Information flooded their awareness. Eons of knowledge flashed behind their closed eyelids and filtered into their being.
As was foretold, they clothed themselves in argent and affixed to their lapel a small brooch of a bow and arrow.
For their steed, they chose that machine called Ducati and brought it into being.
Around them, Pestilence sensed living organisms in a near overwhelming array. Humanity had become numerous in the time they had rested. It nigh overran this plane in its multitudes. Life pulsed through the very earth from which Pestilence had risen. Opening their eyes, they breathed it in, absorbed it, and shaped it into purpose.
The ground shook beneath their feet as War came closer to walking beside them.
And beneath all that humanity and life, pulsed the leakage from the seals.
After throwing their leg over the bike, Pestilence rode forth. War would follow, and then Famine. Finally, would come Death and there would be no stopping them until their purpose was fulfilled.
* * *
“Sophia,” Lillian hissed. “It’s your line.”
Ancient power slammed into Sophia, disorienting her. “Eh?”
She blinked the stage back into focus.
“Your line is: ‘Oh! Not at all, Gwendolyn. I am very fond of being looked at.’” Lillian peered at her expectantly.
The theater. The Paradise Players. Sophia was in rehearsal for The Importance of Being Earnest .
“I’m sorry.” She inhaled and tried to calm the raging panic inside her. “I need to…er…the bathroom.”
A frown almost creased her smooth forehead as Lillian said, “Can’t you wait? We’re in the middle of our scene.”
“No.” Sophia managed a weak smile. By all the hosts of heaven, she hoped she was wrong and hadn’t felt what she thought she had. She needed to get away from the clueless humans and verify, breathe, get herself together. “I’m sorry. I must have eaten something bad for lunch.”
“Oh!” Lillian backed away from her, green eyes wide and mouth scrunched in distaste. “Go! You better go and deal with that.”
Lillian had no idea how right she was.
“All right, kids.” Peter stood in the auditorium and smoothed his salt and pepper Clark Kent do. “Let’s take ten. Poppet?” He leered at Lillian. “There is something I’d like to discuss with you. About the…er…scene. In private.”
“Babe,” Lillian purred. “Of course. You know I’m always available to discuss my character with you. Alone.”
They beat Sophia out the stage right exit and disappeared together down the hall.
Escaping to the greenroom, she found Chris Fellows. Her heart sank as Sophia took in his grim expression. “I felt it,” she whispered.
Chris took her elbow and guided her to one of the large leather sofas. “We all felt it. Our monitoring systems are going insane.”
“Is it…” Sophia couldn’t bring herself to say the words.
Nodding, Chris sat beside her. “Yes.”
“Shit! This is…” She couldn’t think of a word bad enough to encompass this disaster.
“Catastrophic,” Chris said.
Sophia sensed Shade approaching moments before he entered the greenroom. “They’re awake.” He shoved his hands through his caramel hair. “Pestilence is awake.”
Eddie had followed Shade in, and she glanced at the faces around her. “What happens now?”
“None of us has ever seen this. According to lore, now they ride.” Wrapping an arm around her waist, Shade drew her closer to him.
Sophia wished she had someone to comfort her. She forced words past her tight throat. “Pestilence will bring the end closer as they ride.”
“Waking the others,” Chris finished for her. “It’s a knock-on effect.”
“Pestilence?” Eddie’s gaze darted to Shade. “Does that mean what I think it does?”
Shade nodded. “Yup, people are going to get very fucking sick and die.”
Eddie went even paler. “How do we stop them?”
“We don’t.” Chris took Sophia’s hand and held it. “The horsemen will get stronger and stronger in a power spiral that will end everything.”
“I don’t accept that,” Eddie whispered. She looked at Shade, silently begging him for reassurance. “There has to be a way to stop them.”
“We’re sure as fuck going to try.” Shade tightened his hold on Eddie. He looked at Sophia over her head. “How close are the archangels to finding answers to repairing the seals?”
“Why the seals?” Eddie stared at her too.
“The deterioration of the seals is signaling the end of days.” Sophia had come into being with this knowledge, but she’d never thought it would become a reality. “If we can repair the seals, maybe the horsemen will return to rest.”
“It’s a long shot.” Chris grimaced. “From all I’ve read, once the horsemen wake, they won’t rest again until they’ve fulfilled their purpose.”
“Which is the end of all of us?” Eddie’s face reflected the fear they all felt.
“Long shot or not, it’s all we’ve got,” Shade said. “Sophia? Any progress on the seal repairs?”
“Michael has something.” Sophia drew comfort from Chris’s clasp on her hand.
Shade’s mouth tightened in a stern line. “Repairing those seals is our best hope.”
“Right.” Sophia gathered her scattered thoughts. “I’ll contact him.”
Shade stroked Eddie’s spine as he spoke to her. “Can you get hold of Wrath?”
Eddie nodded.
“He’ll have felt it already,” Shade said. “As will the other hell princes, but we need everyone on this. Now.”
“What has Michael found out?” Eddie looked at her.
“He was looking for any mention of the seals.” Sophia needed to pull herself together. Panicking wouldn’t help. “He found a passage that spoke about how they could be repaired.”
“Fuck.” Shade glared at her. “And you’re only telling us about this now?”
“Don’t speak to her like that.” Chris stood and faced Shade. “None of this is her fault. In fact, if we’re looking to cast blame, then Ramiel needs to take responsibility for sending Haziel to the horsemen’s resting place. The power they drained from her could very well have sped up their waking.”
“It’s fine.” Sophia rose and put her hand on his arm. “I understand Shade’s frustration. None of us are very good at working together.”
Taking a deep breath, Eddie squared her shoulders. “We’re going to have to learn how to be, and quickly.”
“Quite right.” Chris gave Eddie an approving nod. He turned back to Sophia, eyes kind. “Do you know anything more about what Michael found?”
“He’s being very cagey about it.” And wasn’t that part of the problem with them all learning to work together. “He needs to verify his findings, but Nephilim are the key.”
Eddie scoffed. “Oh, so now we’re useful.”
She raised an excellent point, as archangels and hell princes had been systematically destroying any and all Nephilim they discovered. “Michael says he’s found references to angelically sired Nephilim.” She ignored the incredulous look on Shade’s face. He wouldn’t stay quiet long with the bomb she’d dropped. “When Eddie repaired Wrath’s seal, you said the missing element was heaven. Michael believes that angelic Nephilim are the missing piece to repair the seals.”
“Angelic Nephilim.” Shade raised a brow. “As far as we’ve been led to believe, they don’t exist.”
Sophia tried to play it cool. “That may not be entirely true, but Michael is still verifying.”
“May not?” Shade’s stare could have stripped paint from the walls.
“As in probably isn’t the truth.” She’d come this far, she may as well finish her bomb drop. “There is evidence that there are, indeed, angelic Nephilim.”
“Meaning?” Eddie glanced between them.
“Meaning.” Shade gloated. “Archangels have been getting freaky with humans and covering it up.” He took Eddie’s hand and led her out of the greenroom. “Let’s contact Wrath.”
As much as Shade’s smugness annoyed her, Sophia had to acknowledge he had just cause. Archangels had spent millennia lording their moral superiority over hell princes.
The archangel’s recent response to Wrath siring Eddie had been exactly the reaction she’d expected from the heaven contingent. She wasn’t surprised Michael had been tight lipped about his latest discovery.
Sophia heaved a sigh. Secrets and evasions were only aggravating the situation. She was well aware that if there were angelic Nephilim, they didn’t belong to her, and that’s about all she could say for sure.
“That’s a big sigh,” Chris said.
Not wanting to get into the political maneuvering between archangels and hell princes, she shifted the conversation to a personal concern. “I think I should withdraw from acting.”
“Why?” Chris looked genuinely confused as he spread his arm over the back of the sofa.
It didn’t need a genius to put this together. “Because there is a creation ending crisis happening. My energy and efforts are required elsewhere.”
Cocking his head, Chris studied her. “Where?”
“The horsemen.” She didn’t think it necessary to spell this out for him.
“Both your people and my people are monitoring them closely,” Chris said. “And the last time an angel got near them…” He raised an eyebrow.
Sophia didn’t need him to finish that sentence. The archangel Ramiel had sent Haziel, a seraph and his second, to check on the horsemen. They’d locked on her power and used it to speed up their rising.
“As I see it,” Chris said. “Until we know how to get near them without feeding them, the best thing we can do is monitor them from a distance.”
He had a point. “Someone should track Pestilence’s movements.”
“Agreed.” Chris nodded. “I’ve got my people on it.”
“That’s dangerous.” Wherever Pestilence went, they would spread disease. All humans were susceptible.
Chris smirked. “We have a few tricks up our sleeves to keep our people safe.” He shrugged. “If any of you or the hell princes get near them, they’re only going to use you as a massive turbo boost.”
“It seems wrong to be doing nothing.” And even worse to be indulging her whim and newest passion.
“You are doing something,” Chris said. “You’re here to protect those baby witches.” His face darkened. “If the rebels get their hands on them, they’re only going to kill them making more amulets.”
Raphael had brought them the news of all those dead witches.
“And giving the rebels access to power is as much an option as feeding the horsemen.” Chris stood and straightened his slacks.
Fear fastened tight claws around Sophia’s throat. Not only for herself but for the billions of humans who would die if the horsemen all rose. “We have to stop this.”
“Yes, we do.” Chris put a hand on her shoulder. “And your part in doing that is minding this hell gate and protecting those children.” He looked intently at her. “It makes no difference whether you act while you’re doing that or not.” Removing his hand, he shrugged. “And take it from someone who does the same thing. No one of us can fix this on their own. We’re going to have to rely on each other, or we’ll never make it.”