VEE

Syv twirls her mug of coffee before sipping. I lost track of the choices the barista gave me and now have a flat white. The roasted coffee bean scent mingles with the delicious smell from freshly baked breads and pastries.

I pick up the muffin in front of me and bite. “Good plan, Syv,” I say through a mouthful.

“Mmm-hmm.” She sinks her teeth into what I’d call a bacon sandwich and what the café christened something fancier. I prefer mine in white bread with tomato sauce, not sourdough and fancy tomato relish.

“I’m surprised you don’t have something stronger in that coffee.” I point at her mug.

Syv cranes her neck to look through the window. Cars cram the road as they drove at a snail’s pace. They weave in and out badly parked vehicles—and each other. Blaring car horns sound. People dodge cars as they attempt to cross roads. There’s no way I’d like to drive the LA streets—or cross many.

“And I’m surprised you don’t have your harem in hot pursuit.”

“Don’t call them that,” I protest.

“Why not? It’s what they are.” She winks at me. “You never did answer my question about who’s the best in the sack.”

Damn my heating cheeks. “And I’m never going to, Syv.”

“Boring!” Syv chuckles.

I shake my head and sip my coffee. “I expect they’ll arrive soon.”

We fall silent and eat, adding more discomfort to my day. What did I expect? A cosy girlie chat?

“Is there a reason for this coffee date?” I ask her.

“No.” She picks at the edge of her sandwich. “Yes. I wanted to check the guys are okay with me being around. I wasn’t much help.”

This isn’t the Syv I know. Unsure of herself? Well, I guess the end of the world can do that to a girl.

“I want to help, but if I’m not welcome, I’d rather be with Col. He’s happier to tolerate me.” She grins.

“I get it. You need protecting.”

She turns her eyes back to her meal. “No. I’d rather avoid being alone until this is over. But I might move on. I don’t want to be around angels.”

“Why?”

“Maybe I always knew they’d hate me. I used to dream about angels and they were mean bastards. I hated the nativity play at school.” She laughs. “One year, I was selected as an angel and I sabotaged the costume. Pulled the wings off. I had to be a shepherd instead.”

“I can picture Erzla and Leoc being unkind. They’re very… officious.”

“Yeah. Never expected to meet real ones, though. I understand if I need to leave.”

“No. We were the ones who involved you in this situation, I’ll make sure you can hang around as long as you like.”

Syv nods and her usual smile returns. “Okay, I will hang around. I need to get paid for the job I did for you all, don’t I?”

She sips her coffee.

* * *

JOSS

I pull my attention away from listening to the door close behind Vee and Syv and back to the conversation happening around me. Ewan explains his theory and Xander backs it up with enthusiasm. Our decision yesterday brought something we haven’t had for a long time: hope.

They’re silent for a minute after Ewan finishes his explanation of our plan—how we intend to spilt Orders’ energy between five and defeat Chaos with our shared power. How this makes the most sense and we’ll live. All of us.

Leoc smooths her fingers along the table and rubs her lips together before looking up to us. “I can understand why you want to do this, but it’s not possible, Ewan.”

He blinks rapidly. “Why?”

“Because you’re not the same as Vee.”

“You said we were created, the way she is. Vee took power from us and we can take it back.”

“No. That can’t happen,” replies Erzla.

Leoc sighs. “But you know you’re different to Vee.”

“Aren’t we the same? Just energy in human bodies?” asks Heath.

“No. We told you. We created the Four Horsemen to guard the portals and contain part of Order. There is more to your role, as you know.”

“Vee has our powers too,” puts in Ewan.

Erzla rubs his temples. “She wasn’t supposed to. You connected on a different level too, it seems.”

“Which is helpful, right?” I ask. “That we’re closer.”

The look he gives me raises hair on my neck. Each time I see them, I pick up displeasure at our closeness. Maybe we’re right. Did the angels expect Vee and us to go our separate ways after we gave her back Order?

My heart speeds as a thought hits. Is that why the angels came?

We’re not following their plans.

I interrupt, “Vee has false memories of a childhood, and we have memories too. But mine are of more. The past. We’ve lived before. We’re not the original Horsemen, are we? Something happens.”

“You have a different purpose and that takes a different form. We needed someone to guard the portals, someone with power greater than humans. Angels wandering the world and taking on this task wasn’t an option.”

“Why not?” asks Ewan. “Surely angels are equal match for demons, and at least you’d be aware what was happening.”

“No way. Allowing humans and angels to mix always leads to disaster. I’m sure you know stories of Nephilim, the bastardised human-angel creatures. We needed another solution and created you for that purpose. The Order you contain, mixed with your human souls and the powers we gave you, ensured the world could stay safe until we needed to reunite the five parts.”

I step forward. “Why would we agree to take on the Four Horsemen role? We don’t even remember agreeing.”

“Because the place your souls were before we ‘employed’ you was unpleasant. We offered you a way out.”

My mouth dries and I can barely say the next words. All my other suspicions have been confirmed, why not this one too? “We were in Hell, weren’t we?” The angels look to each other. “Weren’t we?” I repeat, louder.

“Your souls were in Hell, yes. These bodies—we created them. As you know, your role as the Four Horsemen isn’t pleasant either, but we made a deal.”

“What deal?” asks Xander sharply.

“We offer a deal to souls who deserve a second chance: work with us and help protect the world they damaged in their human lives. In return, we offer redemption from an afterlife in Hell.”

“Bullshit,” mutters Ewan.

“Is that your answer to everything, Pestilence?” asks Erzla tersely. “Because in this situation you know that’s true.” He looks between us, from shocked face to the next. You remember, don’t you, Joss? Often the empathetic Famine is the first to break through the veil and see who he really is. You’ve all had visions. You will begin to remember and this weakens your abilities.”

“And?” snaps Xander. “What then?”

“When this happens to the Horsemen, we take back the souls,” says Leoc. “We fulfill our end of the deal and choose new souls to create new Horsemen.”

“Redeem and replace us?” I ask.

Heath chews on his lip as he listens and our eyes meet. He believes this. I know it. I’ve felt this veil, as they call it, breaking in their minds too—sensed the darkness Logan said he saw in Vee. Did we have darkness in our souls that we gave to her?

“You’re from Hell?” I ask. “You run the place?”

“No. Like yourselves and Ripley, the leaders of Heaven and Hell have a common interest in preventing the world’s destruction. Don’t forget both Heaven and Hell are connected. End the universe and you end us both.”

“Chaos is ending the world, not the universe,” I say.

Leoc shakes her head. “No. I think his ultimate aim is to start the creation process again. Reduce everything to the beginning.”

“Lucifer.” I clear my throat when the word is barely audible. “Does the fallen angel exist too?”

Erzla sighs. “We don’t have time to run through political history behind our society. Yes. He does. But like yourselves, he’s not what you read in the bible. Hell has a leader the way Heaven does, but the story is complicated and irrelevant to the current situation.”

“As long as he’s not wandering around too,” mutters Heath.

“No.”

I slump forward with my head in my hands as the conversation finally clicks together into a horrific picture. I squeeze my eyes closed and fight against the images trying to force their way in. Each night, the dreams intensify, and now I know the nightmares are real. Now I know they’re memories and that terrifies me. Hell. I hate myself for thinking this, but I want them to experience the memories too. To truly understand.

I told them over and over—Lucifer exists, God exists, and Ripley is a part of a bigger picture. This fallen angel is who we’re really trying to stop controlling the world. Isn’t he? I told them, Ripley is the advance party. Their denial met mine in stalemate, and now I have proof.

“We will deal with him if he escapes.”

“Excuse me?” I jerk my head up. “Escapes from where?”

“Through the portal to Hell.”

“Oh, holy fuck.” I drop my head back into my hands.

Xander places a palm on the table and leans forward. “Which of the six is the portal to Hell? Which continent?”

“There is a seventh.”

Xander steps back and I swear he wants to punch Erzla. “And why didn’t we know?”

“Because we know fucking nothing,” growls Heath.

“Chaos opened a gateway to Hell?”

“No. He doesn’t know where the portal is. But we need to meet there. That’s what we’ve come to talk to you about.”

“Where?” insists Ewan.

“The portal is beneath your house in England. Or where the house once stood.”

I wait for someone to retort but gaping mouths and tired confusion are our only responses, until Ewan speaks. “Under our house. Seriously? Joss detects demons, he’d know.”

“A long way beneath your house, nothing can be detected, even by Chaos.”

Leoc takes on a gentler tone. “The seventh portal needed protecting too. The most important one. You guarded this one without being aware.”

Xander turns away, hands on the back of his head and elbows at right angles.

I have no fucking clue what to say. We’ve spent the last ten years living above the gateway to Hell? Insane shit has happened recently, but this.

“The elemental,” continues Leoc. “We worried Chaos had discovered and that was his first attack, but now we’re convinced his motive was to kill Xander.”

“Chaos definitely doesn’t know?”

“As soon as he reveals himself again, we will tell him to meet us there. Now we’re satisfied Vee is strong enough, it’s time.”

Xander turns. “That’s where the prophecy ends? In our burned-out house?”

“Yes.” Leoc reaches out and touches my hand. “Joss. I sense your fear and mistrust, but we are here to help. We would never reveal this location to anybody outside Heaven unless we intended to win.”

I search her beautiful face, aware her touch sends a calm through me, as soothing as I am to others.

“Again,” growls Ewan. “Why not tell us before?”

Erzla tips his head. “And if we had? And Seth somehow discovered this information before today? We’d have no chance if he ripped open the entrance to Hell before the prophesied day.”

“It’s not because we don’t trust you,” explains Leoc. “Again, we have our instructions not to tell you until the eleventh hour.”

“Understand our dilemma,” puts in Erzla. “You five will do anything to protect each other. Seth could have discovered the information by threatening you.”

My disquiet grows. With every word these angels spoke in the last ten minutes, the further I’m pushed from trusting them.

Something is very wrong here. “No. I don’t understand your dilemma.”

“You need to trust us,” says Erzla tersely.

“Ha!” Xander gives a derisive snort. “Jury’s still out on that one. Especially now you’ve told us this story. If we’d agreed to this, why don’t we remember?”

“Because we can’t have the Horsemen walking the Earth aware. We needed you focused.”

“Following orders without question,” says Ewan. “While we try to figure out who we are. If I’d known this, I would’ve said no to this life.”

“Same,” grumbles Xander. “We’ve been manipulated and abandoned.”

“If it wasn’t for us, you’d be in Hell. You might not remember what that’s like, but I can show you.” He steps toward Xander, whose mouth parts in alarm as Erzla outstretches a hand.

“Yeah. No, thanks.” He sidesteps. “Don’t touch me.”

He shrugs and points at me. “Joss can describe to you why you agreed. He’s been there recently, in his mind. Believe me, anything unpleasant that’s happened to you in this world is nothing compared to your past.”

“Shut up,” I growl.

“Erzla,” warns Leoc.

“We’re going to do this,” says Ewan. “When you say stand with Vee, I mean we literally will.”

Xander nods. “Yes. Together. We won’t let Chaos or Order hurt Vee.”

The angels nod, but I detect something more. Picking up their emotions is impossible—do they have any? But their human forms give away subtle hints. Either they’re uncomfortable with telling us our story, or they’re worried about our plan.

“And we have our new plan remember—we can split the energy. As long as Chaos is defeated, it doesn’t matter how,” I say and wait for the answer.

None comes.

I exchange a look with Heath. We need to find Vee because a sick feeling tells me these allies are not the benevolent helpers they say they are.