Emily screamed and Eae rose with the girls in his arms. Joey jumped to his feet and pressed against Eae’s leg.
“What’s going on?” the boy asked.
“I do not know,” Eae said.
“Perhaps Samael has found us?” Insepth braced his hand on the wall when another explosion rocked the vault.
The door shuddered and we huddled together. I opened to my elements, and the shock of Earth energy next to me confirmed that Insepth had done the same.
The sound of the girls crying was awful, but Eae’s cooing voice trying to sooth them was even worse. If terrible things came through that door, Eae would have to end their lives. It would be the most merciful thing for the poor kids.
Light poured into the vault when the door swung open. I blinked, trying to see.
Two figures were outlined in the dusty light, and they were alone.
When I heard the laughter, I sagged against Insepth and Cricket ran into the light.
“You came for us!” she cried.
“We came for you,” War said, wrapping his arms around her.
Insepth held up his hand, helping me out of the vault and over the broken floor.
“It’s a good thing we found you when we did,” Conquest said, with a grave look tightening his handsome features. “Samael’s army has arrived.”
I looked around. “Where’s Death and Famine?”
“They stayed back with the Angels. They will do nothing more until instructed by the Creator,” Conquest replied.
“Will you fight with us?” I looked at the tall men, one with chestnut colored hair and beard, and the other with long platinum hair. They moved like horses and even smelled like them.
It was War who answered. “Yes, we will fight beside you against the evil that is coming.”
“What changed your mind?”
War glanced at Conquest and then said, “It is the right thing to do.”
Chapter 29
Ember
Morning sunshine blinded me when I stepped out of the building. The street was littered with body parts, overturned cars, and downed lamp posts. Wires sparked while a layer of rank smoke hung in the air. I wrinkled my nose, trying to avoid looking at the carnage. I took shallow breaths and followed the Horsemen past an Italian restaurant I’d eaten at a few years ago to celebrate Timmy and Chloe’s engagement. The front door hung on one hinge and the stained glass was broken. I caught a glimpse of green tablecloths and a chandelier in the gloomy interior. I had to look away. That had been a happy occasion with my family. Now Mom and Dad were gone, and I feared for the lives of my brother and sister-in-law.
If I still had my cell phone with me, and even if it had worked, I didn’t think there was any chance that I’d get a hold of them or anyone else. The end of the world had arrived. Cincinnati was a large city and it was all but deserted, except for the creatures that used to be its human inhabitants. Was this what all the cities across the world were like now?
My head throbbed with the craziness of it all. And I was so very tired. The only thing that kept my feet moving was the desperation that somehow I’d find my brother alive.
A droning noise filled the air overhead. The sound intensified and I stopped in the middle of the street and looked up between the tall buildings. Only a small space of blue sky was visible. There were a few puffy white clouds and a lone bird.
The noise grew and grew until two dark shapes crossed my line of vision and then were gone.
“It can’t be,” I gawked at Insepth.
His brow lifted. “The humans are making a last stand.”
An explosion shook the nearest building and Insepth grabbed my arm.
Another blast rocked the city and a cloud of dust billowed onto the road.
“I believe we’re going in the right direction,” War said, winking at Cricket.
Our eyes met. Her wide-eyed look told me she was terrified, but she didn’t say it out loud.
Emily was still crying in Eae’s arms and the other two children shuffled along with him. I wasn’t sure how he was even able to move with them attached to him like little crabs.
Eae tilted his head, listening. “Others are coming.”
Three more jets streaked by and my pulse quickened. I pulled away from Insepth and broke into a run, passing the Horsemen. I turned onto another street, dodging vehicles and broken glass. I followed the booming sounds of explosions, knowing where I was heading.
The buildings blocked out the sun and everything appeared to be abandoned. I heard the others huffing behind me as they ran, but I ignored them. One more turn and I should be almost there.
A city bus was sideways across the street and I had to skirt around it, climbing over the debris of a collapsed store front. Insepth cussed and I heard Conquest suggest to War that they change into their horse forms, but I didn’t slow to hear War’s response.
The street dipped and I finally saw my destination. The Ohio River. I stopped to catch my breath, sucking in a gulp of air.
Cricket was beside me and dripping with sweat, but when her gaze settled on the place I was staring at, she grasped my hand and shuddered.
At the center of the river, between the pedestrian and vehicle bridges, the water was bubbling and rolling violently.
“Heaven help us.” I heard Eae say.
“I believe that ship has sailed,” Conquest replied.
“Over there!” Insepth pointed at the burning football stadium.
The jets came by for another pass, firing more missiles. One hit the stadium, blasting a gaping hole into its side, and the second one struck a roadway beside the stadium. Thousands of creatures were crowded together there, looking like spiders crawling all over each other.
My heart froze when the missile met its mark, cratering the pavement with a cloud of smoke. The screeching wails of dying creatures could be heard on the wind.
The giddiness that spread through me lasted only a few seconds. A rumbling groan was accompanied by the ground shaking. I nearly lost my balance as my focus returned to the bubbling river. Water shot into the air like geysers in a long line.
“This is bad,” Insepth said into my ear. “There isn’t much we can contribute to this madness.”
I shot him a look that made him glance away quickly. The Horsemen watched the river, and Eae tried to calm the children.
Giant waves sloshed in the river and steam rose from the bubbles. The water level rose, spilling over the banks and flooding the sidewalks and businesses that were alongside the river’s edge. A barge was dragged into the current, and began to spin. It tipped sideways into the churning water.
The ground heaved again and the river fell away, leaving behind only damp rocks and a giant chasm. Two of the fighter jets had circled back and were directly over the hole when dark objects streaked into the sky. I squinted and took a few staggering steps forward when I realized what the objects were.
Two of the Fallen Angels intercepted the jets. They produced a wall of wind that hit the jets, causing the first one to spiral out of control and crash into buildings on the Kentucky side of the river. The second jet did a complete flip and landed in the river with a fiery splash.
Hundreds more Dark Angels took flight, and Hell beasts spilled out of the hole. That’s when I spotted Samael. He was suspended in the air, his great black wings pounding furiously. The gale he created was so strong it drove the river back so that his army could pass onto land.
When I heard the other jets approaching, my head whipped toward the Horsemen. “The Angels are going to bring them down, too!”
War nodded and changed into a horse at the same time as Conquest did. The storm gathered around them and they surged into the sky.
The Hell beasts and hounds moved swiftly, charging onto shore and up the winding concrete serpentine wall that pedestrians usually strolled along. Fires flared to life everywhere they stepped. They were close enough that I could hear the chomping sound of the hounds’ mouths.
I look
ed over my shoulder at Eae. He was hugging the children so they couldn’t see what was coming. His eyes were bright and his voice cracked with fear when he shouted, “I must protect the children!”
I offered a small smile as tears slid down my cheeks. “I know,” I mouthed. I turned away and grasped Cricket’s shoulders. “Help Eae with the kids. Don’t let them suffer,” I told her.
“I want to come with you,” she argued.
My own Fire gripped my insides and anger burned inside me. I didn’t want to lose Cricket or Eae, but I had seen the little boat on the river—the same one that had been in the dream I’d had so long ago that night in Ila’s cabin. I had to go to it.
I inhaled and cleared my mind, forcing my voice into the commanding one I used on Cricket before I’d changed her into a Horsewoman—when she was just my beautiful horse. “You will do as I say. If God wills it, I’ll come back. But until then, you have to do whatever you can to stay alive—along with those kids.”
The sound of the jets’ engines roared above and the thunder and lightning of the Horsemen’s storm cracked the air. Sweat dribbled down my forehead from my inner Fire.
The world went silent when Cricket spoke. “You better come back to me.”
I touched her face and then whirled around. Insepth ran with me, and without words, we linked.
He harnessed my Earth powers and thrust it into the rocky shore that the Hell beasts were scrambling over. As Insepth caused an earthquake that collapsed the river bed at the edge of the water that Samael was holding back, I directed my Tempest into the river. The water hesitated for a brief moment, and then pushed back against the Devil’s wind.
Between the collapsing earth and the fighting water, Samael lost his hold on the river. It swooshed back into the channel, swallowing the monsters of Hell and their fires. The hounds that hadn’t made it to shore yipped in the foaming water.
A wave of creatures made it out of the channel before it flooded. They clamored up the steps of the walkway with determined speed. I threw fireballs at them while Insepth attacked them with chunks of earth that he sculpted into crude earth beings, hastily created.
The sky darkened and a jagged flash zigzagged across the angry clouds the Horsemen forged, catching my attention. The red and white horses galloped into the line of Dark Angels that waited for the jets. When their storm reached the Angels, there were sparks of lightning and crashes of thunder. The Angels couldn’t get past the Horsemen and the jets released their missiles, speeding by.
Samael barely escaped the dual detonations that struck the breach leading into Hell.
Fire streamed from my fingertips, not killing the beasts on land, but strong enough to knock them to the ground, buying some time to get around them. Insepth was still with me, but there wasn’t time to look his way. I heard his grunts as he hurled debris and brought the pedestrian bridge crashing into the river on top of dozens of enemies.
I couldn’t slow to think about the devastation around me. It was like a distant dream or a movie playing in another room. I had eyes for only one thing and one thing only—a small tug boat being batted around in the waves.
“Ember, look!” Insepth shouted.
The panic in his voice turned my head. The smoke where the missiles had struck was settling. A swarm of Hell beasts crawled out of the holes, spilling into the street.
I pushed my legs faster and was almost to the river when something hit me from behind. I was airborne for an instant, my arms flailing as I tried to break my fall. I hit the broken concrete with cracking ferocity and rolled to the edge of the water. When I looked up I was staring into the soulless eyes of one of the hound’s heads.
It was too close to do anything else. I opened myself to my Gaia, pulling it back from Insepth and diving into the beast’s mind. There was a solid wall, but wanting to drive it crazy, I punched at its mind with everything I had. It lurched forward and I rolled to the side as it dropped heavily to the ground.
Its saliva smattered my face as I scrambled to my feet. The hound’s other heads bashed into each other, biting and yowling.
I focused all my Earth energy into the hound’s minds, and with the feeling of a bursting bubble, its walls broke apart. One head went limp and the others growled as it fell over.
I swayed, pushing off from its extended paw. Insepth was surround by beasts, but I didn’t go to him. I turned back to the water and called on that element to help me.
The waves separated just enough for my feet to touch the pebbles beneath the surface. Water sloshed at my sides and I feared I’d soon be swimming. I felt Samael’s gaze before I saw him across the expanse of the river. His black eyes found me and his beating wings forced the waves against me. Water sprayed my face and a wave went over my head. My connection with the precious water was gone and I was swimming for my life.
I closed my eyes and desperately searched for ways to use my powers to control the elements that were in chaos. Wave after wave struck me, somersaulting me through the cold, churning water. I caught a breath when I finally managed to bob to the surface.
Something struck the side of my head and lights flashed beneath my eyelids.
I reached for my Tempest, but the darkness spread in my mind and I knew I was drowning.
Chapter 30
Ember
Arms closed around my wrists and I felt myself being dragged through water. I tried desperately to push away the dizziness that clouded my head. The river was cold and dark, but I saw a fuzzy light above the crashing waves and I focused on that place, kicking my legs to get there faster.
My face cleared the surface and I took a gulping breath as I bumped into the wooden side of a boat. Hands reached down and I grabbed them. Behind me, my rescuer shoved me upward and I was pulled over the railing. I slumped on the deck, coughing up water and shivering. A man-sized jacket was flung over my shoulders and I blinked, looking at the three faces that stared back at me.
Timmy squatted beside me and pulled me into a tight hug. He was soaking wet and taking rasping breaths. It was Preston’s jacket on my shoulders, and Maddie’s hands on my knees.
“You found us!” Maddie exclaimed. Her brown eyes glinted with the same light I’d seen in her grandfather’s gaze.
I swallowed. “I was looking for my brother and his wife. I didn’t think I’d find the two of you with him.”
“Maddie had a dream last night. He showed her the way,” Preston said.
My brows rose. “He?” I asked carefully.
Maddie nodded. The light in her eyes brightened even more. “I prayed for guidance and this is where we were led to.”
An explosion ripped the sky above us.
Timmy leaned back, but held onto my hand. “We were trying to get down river to escape those things, but the water drove us back.” His eyes were wild and my heart stuttered at the sight of his fear. I’d had months to prepare for this moment. I’d seen monsters and dragons and knew magic existed. My poor brother was in shock, and he didn’t know what to do.
My insides trembled when the sky lit up again. Dark Angels dashed through the clouds and I caught a glimpse of the silhouette of a horse rearing. The city was burning and smoke choked the air. My nightmare had come true and the day I’d dreaded was here.
“Where’s Chloe?” I asked, my eyes darting around the small deck that was covered with puddles and pieces of broken wood.
Timmy’s face paled and his focus shifted to the cabin. The door was ajar. “It doesn’t look good.” He stood and pulled me up beside him.
Preston looked away and Maddie frowned. My heart hammered as I stepped into the tiny dark space. Chloe sat on a cushion in the corner. I dropped in front of her, picking up her cold hands. There was bright red blood on the blanket covering her legs. The last time I’d seen my sister-in-law, she hadn’t even looked pregnant. Now, her stomach bulged.
Her eyes rounded when she recognized me, and tears ran down her face. “Oh, Ember, I didn’t think we’d ever see you again.”
/> The boat rocked harshly and I spread my knees to keep from tipping over. Chloe groaned.
“She’s two months early, Ember.” Timmy’s voice cracked. “Her water broke and she began bleeding.” He ran his hand through his wet hair. “If your friends hadn’t showed up and helped us into the boat, we—” the boat dipped and he grabbed the doorframe “—wouldn’t have made it.”
“It’s started, hasn’t it?” Chloe breathed. “The end of the world—and we’re all going die. Even my little girl.”
Samael had said I was going to have a niece, but hearing Chloe actually say it, spurred my movement. I placed my palms on her belly and let my Gaia flow through me into Chloe.
Closing my eyes, I saw the baby floating in the womb. Her little finger was in her mouth and she was sucking it. He eyes were sealed shut and she kicked out with her feet. And there were pockets of blood drifting in the fluid. She was too small to be born—her lungs weren’t fully developed. But my Gaia knew what to do and I let it go. The power drained from me, flowing into Chloe’s womb, embracing my little niece.
“It’s going to be all right,” I told Chloe.
“Ember is special, Chloe. She can help you and the baby.” Timmy sounded confident and I didn’t want to dash his hopes. Even if I managed to save the baby, I couldn’t stop what was happening beyond the boat.
A wave sprayed over the railing and I heard Maddie scream. We hit something and the boat creaked. A splintering noise rang out.
“Ember, I think you need to come out here!” Preston shouted.
But I ignored his plea. My Gaia had done the only thing that might save my niece’s life, and now sweat poured down my face from the use of power. I met Chloe’s terrified look. “She’s coming. You have to push.”
“It’s too soon!” Chloe squealed as a contraction convulsed her body. Through the healing connection, I felt the same pain and I doubled over, gritting my teeth until the awful cramping passed.
“Trust me, Chloe. Do as I say,” I found my voice and ordered.
Timmy squeezed in behind Chloe and pressed her head back against his chest. “You can do this,” he told her.