Famine spins his scythe and he looks like he has the upper hand when, out of nowhere, Thanatos lunges forward. I don’t even see him swing his sword, it happens that fast. In one fell stroke Death cleaves off Famine’s arm.
I bite back my scream as the horseman’s severed appendage flops onto the ground.
Jesus.
Famine bellows, and then he’s on his brother in an instant.
Swords clash and blood sprays.
The earth beneath us bucks violently, throwing me to the ground. Outside, I see the sky flash as rain continues to pelt down from the heavens.
The floorboards beneath me groan ominously. Seconds later, they begin to splinter apart, and mutant plants rise from the ground, growing by the second. Just as quickly, they die, but more are coming and the earth is shaking, and I swear I hear the distant boom of thunder.
My eyes return to Death. His cheekbones seem as sharp as blades, his wings tense behind him. He looks unearthly and he moves with supernatural speed. I have fought this man many times, and never did it look like this. Only now am I seeing the truth.
He went easy on me.
“You hit like a pussy, brother,” the Reaper says. His face, however, is pinched with pain.
“Still can’t control your emotions or the weather, can you, Famine?”
They goad each other as they chop one another up.
I think they’ve forgotten almost entirely about me.
Now’s your chance, Lazarus.
For a second, I hesitate.
The three horsemen wanted my help, and Lord knows it would feel good to make Thanatos pay for abducting me. But Famine was this close to killing me. All so that he could act on some personal vendetta.
Fucker can fight this battle on his own.
I crawl across the room as the house continues to groan and crack, and I’m sure that at any moment Death is going to notice me.
But the fighting doesn’t stop. I creep across the open doorway and ever so silently rise to my feet.
Outside, the wind howls as it whips my hair and rain pounds against my skin. In the short time these two horsemen have been fighting, vines have grown up and around much of the house. The building is splintering apart as even more plants force their way out of the ground and up through the frame of the house.
I hurry down the front yard, skirting around the rusted junk as lightning slices through the sky. A memory of Death’s skeletal features flash behind my eyes.
Got to get away.
I nearly trip over a scattered pile of supplies. Fruit, bread, jugs of water, blankets and more, all of it getting sodden out here in the storm. It wasn’t here when I exited the house an hour earlier.
Death hadn’t left me to kill some town. He’d left to bring me supplies. I mean, he probably did kill the town he got them from, but that’s kind of a given with him.
My heart hammers in my chest as I stare at it all.
Behind me, I hear Famine bellow and the house shriek as beams break in earnest. Death’s velvety voice drifts out, and whatever he’s saying, it isn’t English. The sound of it raises the hair on my arms.
My gaze moves up to the opening in the thicket.
Run girl run.
And that’s exactly what I do. I flee for my life.
Chapter 28
Pleasanton, Texas
January, Year 27 of the Horsemen
I run for miles and miles, my wet clothing sticking to my skin. Every square inch of me is wet, from the top of my head to the bottom of my icy feet. With every pounding footfall, water squishes between my toes.
My breath is ragged, and the cold air is burning my lungs with every breath I take. The rain seems to follow me the entire time.
Get away. Get away. Get away.
That’s the only thought that echoes in my mind. Away from all the horsemen and their violence.
My legs have nearly given out when I stumble into Pleasanton’s city center. It’s a hiccup of a place. Blink and you’d miss it. But the dead lay scattered like freshly fallen snow, and my skin pricks like it can feel Death’s power even now.
I slow to a walk, pressing the back of my hand against my mouth as I pick my way through the streets, ignoring the rain still battering against me.
Now that I’ve burned through my adrenaline, exhaustion is setting in. I don’t know how I made it this far. I’m beyond hungry and thirsty and everything hurts. I glance around me, noticing the houses that line the street.
I need to grab some supplies and find a place to eat and rest in. For whatever reason, the buildings here have been left standing, but I fear that if Death comes looking for me, he’ll start obliterating them one by one. I don’t want to be inside when he does that.