Rogue Rider

This is a trick, yes? We’ll crush him in his own house.

Reseph ignored Pestilence.

“No deal, a**hole. You’ll do all of that anyway. After I crush everyone and everything you hold dear.”

Lucifer, in a massive surge of power, snared Reseph by the throat and lifted him into the air. Reseph strained in his grip, managing to strike out with his fist, but Reseph’s blows barely made the demon flinch. Lucifer squeezed, digging his fingers into Reseph’s skin so hard he heard popping noises and felt blood spurt. Pain shot down his spine—hot, molten—and he swore his muscles were peeling off the bones.

Impotent fury pounded in Reseph’s veins, and pressure constricted his lungs, filling them with fire instead of air.

“This,” Lucifer growled, “is for Lilith.”

He hurled Reseph across the clearing as easily as if he’d thrown a ball for a dog. Reseph smashed through the side of Jillian’s house and landed in a crumpled heap of pain, broken bones, and failure.

Forty-one

Reaver beat everyone to Reseph, who was lying dazed on the floor behind Jillian’s couch. “Reseph? Can you hear me?” As Jillian kneeled at Reseph’s side Reaver channeled healing power into the Horseman, and within seconds, Reseph’s bones knitted back together.

“Got my immortal ass kicked,” he muttered. He looked up and snarled. “What’s Revenant doing here?”

Reaver glared at his evil counterpart. “He showed up a minute ago.”

“I’m here to keep Reaver in line,” Revenant said. “Can’t have any broken rules now, can we?”

Outside, the chanting started again. Rising up above the chants were thunderous footsteps. Coming close. Too close, too fast.

Reaver moved from Reseph to Kynan in the blink of a human eye. Being an angel was awesome sometimes. “I need you to do something that’s going to rebel against your every instinct.”

Ky narrowed his eyes. “What?”

“Do you trust me?”

“Yeah.” Kynan inclined his head in a slow, serious nod. “There’s no one I trust more.”

Reaver prepared himself for something he never thought he’d say. Something that could put Heaven in the worst kind of danger. Something that would go down as either a brilliant strategy—or the most disastrous move in history. “Give Heofon to Reseph.”

“What?” Kynan backed up so fast he bumped into Revenant, who hissed like the bad-tempered ass he was. “Heofon won’t give him the charmed protection I have. Why would you want him to have it?”

“Heofon,” Ares rumbled. “It’s a piece of Heaven, isn’t it?”

Reaver nodded. “A couple of years ago, a fallen angel used it to try to open a gate between Sheoul and Heaven. We stopped him before that could happen, and Ky was given Heofon to guard. With it, Reseph can draw on the powers of Heaven.”

Reseph linked one hand with Jillian’s and toyed with the chain around his neck with the other. “And combined with the powers of Sheoul I’m drawing with this amulet, I’d be all but invincible.” His voice vibrated with self-loathing. “And so would Pestilence. I can’t risk it. I’m already fighting him. If he overpowers me… f**k. He’d be able to open that gate…”

“And lead a demonic invasion into Heaven,” Kynan finished.

Revenant grinned like a vampire in a blood bank.

“No.” Shaking his head, Reseph stood, backing away from Jillian and continuing his momentum until his spine cracked against the wall. “I’m not strong enough for this.”

“Yes, you are.” Jillian approached him cautiously, as if he were a flighty foal she didn’t want to startle. “I’ve seen how strong you are. I know you can do this.”

Reseph’s eyes were wild. “Can’t.”

Jillian took his hand. “I promise you, you can.”

“Reaver.” Thanatos moved forward. “What are our options if Pestilence opens a gate? Can we stop him?”

“He won’t be as strong as he was when his Seal was broken, but he’ll have a demon army behind him.”

“With no prophecy to help you pathetic losers along with this,” Revenant chimed in, “you’re kind of screwed.”

“That’s so helpful,” Limos muttered.

Reseph turned to Reaver. “What about Wormwood?”

Everyone got quiet… except Jillian. “What’s Wormwood?”

“It’s the only weapon that can kill Pestilence,” Reaver said.

“But… won’t that kill Reseph, too?” Jillian plastered herself to Reseph’s side. “No. You can’t do that.”

Turning, Reseph drove his fingers into Jillian’s hair on either side of her head and drew her close enough that their foreheads almost touched. The intimacy left Reaver touched with an odd sense of longing. Why, he wasn’t sure. He’d long ago decided bachelorhood was the best fit for him.

Then again, so had Reseph. “It might be the only way,” Reseph murmured to Jillian. “I can’t live as Pestilence again.”

“But you’ll die.”

“Pestilence will die. I’m just collateral damage.”

Kynan closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, they drilled into Reaver. “You sure about this?”

“I am.” Reaver looked over at Reseph. “My son is stronger than he thinks. I’ve always known that. And I suspect his brothers and sister know that, too.”

Taking his time and with the greatest of care, Kynan handed the necklace to Jillian. Reaver didn’t miss the way Revenant’s eyes glittered. No doubt the evil bastard would give his very soul to gain possession of such a powerful object.

“This is a real piece of Heaven, huh?” Jillian’s voice was barely a whisper. She turned to Reseph. “You can do this. It’s up to you now. You’ll save us. I know you will.”

He swallowed. “No pressure, right?”

“No pressure,” Jillian answered.

Reseph tugged her hard against him and kissed her. Out of respect, Reaver turned away, giving them a moment of privacy.

When Reaver had first taken the job of Watcher, Harvester had told him about Reseph’s past. Given the flighty playboy Horseman’s history, Reaver hadn’t expected to see him ever fall for any one person. But clearly, he’d found his match in Jillian. They’d healed each other.

Hopefully, Jillian would be enough of an anchor for him to fight his evil half.

He turned back to the couple as they pulled apart. Reseph ducked his head, and Jillian slipped the necklace over it.

And then all hell broke loose.

Forty-two

Reseph f**king exploded out of his armor. As if a nuclear bomb had gone off on the surface of his skin, his armor blasted off his body, blowing through the living room like shrapnel.

Fucking. Awesome.

Completely na**d, his skin glowing, Reseph looked through Pestilence’s eyes on his family, some of whom had taken damage. Ares was wrenching a shard of metal out of his thigh. Thanatos was bleeding from a gash in his cheek. Limos and Arik were untouched, as was Kynan.

Jillian!

Reseph spun to where she’d been standing, ignoring Pestilence’s cackling laughter. Blood splattered the floor, but Jillian was okay. Reaver must have shoved her behind him. The angel, on the other hand, was clutching his belly, from which a dinner plate–sized piece of metal jutted.

Funny.

Reseph wanted to help. Wanted to say he was sorry. But Pestilence had taken away his voice. He felt like a spectator as his own hand reached out in a come to Papa gesture, and suddenly, all of his armor ripped free of the walls, the furniture, from bodies, and snapped back into place.

We are so strong, Pestilence shouted. We can rule the heavens now!

First things first, Reseph reminded him. We need to destroy Lucifer.

The power-hungry demon purred his approval. And with the two amulets and Lucifer’s blood, we can break the barrier between Heaven and Sheoul.

The container that had housed Pestilence was wide open and empty. Reseph knew, without a doubt, that when the battle with Lucifer was over, the battle for freedom would begin. One of them would return to the container.

Reluctantly, Reseph let Pestilence take over. Pestilence’s pure evil vibe would give them an advantage, and they needed every extra edge they could get.

But Reseph refused to go too deep, terrified that if he buried himself too heavily under Pestilence, he’d never be able to claw his way back out.

At the living room door, Pestilence, that bastard, halted. Very slowly he turned to Jillian, and Reseph felt Pestilence’s twisted lust heat his groin.

The parking lot incident flashed through Reseph’s head—Jillian’s screams, her terror, Pestilence’s sick anticipation. The things he had planned to do to her after the Soulshredders were done…

“No!” Reseph lurched toward her, but someone shoved him outside the house, and Pestilence took over, laughing his f**king ass off.

They cut a swath through the army of demons, kicking at the ones who didn’t bow deeply enough and beheading the ones who didn’t bow at all.

Lucifer, standing atop the shallow rise at the rear of the army, grinned as they approached. “Back for more? Or are you here to surrender?”

“Neither.” The voice coming from Reseph’s mouth was smoky and harsh, singing with power, and Lucifer’s expression fell.

“Pestilence.” Lucifer narrowed his eyes. “What trick is this? I feel power around you.”

“Trick?” Pestilence’s and Reseph’s speech and thoughts were in perfect sync, and for the first time, Reseph realized how intertwined they really were. “We’re here to bleed you dry, you prick.”

Lucifer didn’t hesitate. He shed his human skin and morphed into a massive, veiny beast, its wingspan nearing thirty feet, its horns jutting out of its skull like the world’s largest bull. With a lightning-quick wave of his clawed hand, a bolt of lava-hot electricity shot through Reseph’s armor. Pain ripped through him, but it was dull, as if divided between Pestilence and him.