Chapter 20

I lifted my gaze and sucked in a breath. The dread I felt in that moment was almost too much to bear.

My heart crashed hard against my ribs as I stared at the person standing several feet from me. I recognised the face, the face that had smiled at me and my son so kindly the last time we had looked upon it. Bile tried to force its way up my throat as I stared at the face I knew and yet felt like it belonged to a stranger. When dealing with beings that could change who they were at a moment’s notice, I couldn’t allow hope to enter in to my mind.

No. It couldn’t be real. It would be too simple for a horseman to trick me. Too simple to give in and let myself believe that this was who he appeared to be. But it was never that simple. That was one thing I had learnt from my time with Lucius.

My sword was otherwise occupied so on instinct I imagined and created a smaller more deadly looking blade. There were ridges along one side. The sword would glide through the skin and flesh like a hot knife through butter and yet on the way out it would cause maximum damage. The time for playing was over and it was finally sinking into my thick skull that this was war - a time where I had to kill or be killed. I just hoped, as I stared at the familiar face, that my conscience could survive the lives I would have to take to win this battle.

“Savannah?”

The voice washed over me and still I refused to believe my eyes.

“Who are you? Tell me the truth.”

The huge mountain of man shifted from one foot to the other while he kept his wary eyes trained upon me and my hands which were wrapped tightly around the hilt of the sword. And then I saw movement out of the corner of my eye.

Lucius emerged from the lift behind the figure, his glowing sword firmly in his grasp. He appeared no different to the last time that I had seen him. There were only a few extra smudges of dirt to his face and hands. There was a frown on his face as he moved past Hades’ hulking form and came to stand before me.

His eyes swept the length and breadth of my form before he turned his head back to the Greek God standing no more than a few feet from him. It still felt surreal that not only did the devil exist but so did other Gods, Goddess and legends – at least in some form.

“What’s the hold up? We need to get out of here.” Lucius nudged the giant man in the side when neither of us made to move.

My instincts had me reacting to the intruders like I was in a standoff. I followed Hades’ every move feeling as twitchy and anxious as a rabbit caught in the sights of a predator. Just one wrong move and I knew that I would be fleeing for the hills or plunging the blade deep into his chest. Inside of me my nerves had wound so tight that I felt like the smallest push would make me snap.

With a shrug of his shoulders at his friend’s lack of response, Lucius turned back to me and stretched a hand out towards me. My hands trembled around my blade as I let my eyes drift to the outstretched limb.

“Come on Savannah, I’ve managed to rig this place to blow. If we can’t kill the horseman we can at least destroy their hideout.” He smiled grimly at me, his beautiful blue eyes so weary.

I met his gaze and found myself unwilling to leave the solace they brought. With just that one glance I knew that he was really Lucius. He was my Lucius. He was not a horseman in disguise.  There was no definite reason for my certainty. It was just something I felt in my soul.

“Lucius?”

A knot unfurled in my stomach as I slowly allowed myself to accept that this was him.

“I thought I wouldn’t get to see you again.”

Unable to stop myself, I threw my body into his arms and clung onto him tightly while gripping tightly on my blade. He stumbled back a step before wrapping one arm around me, his other hand maintaining his grip on his own sword.

And yet, I never forgot that Hades was only a few feet away.  Or at least it was what appeared to be Hades. The tension returned to my body as I stared at the big and bulky body that had the potential to cause me and mine harm. Lifting my head, I pressed my lips to Lucius ear while staring at the hulking man only a few feet away.

“Why is Hades here?” I murmured, struggling against my body’s natural impulse to blink. I didn’t want him out of my sight even a second. “Are you sure it is him?”

Lucius pulled away and stared into my eyes. He only gazed at me for a few long seconds before he let out a breath between his teeth. He pressed a kiss to my forehead and then forced me to look at him and only him.

“He’s here because I asked him to come.” In his agitation, Lucius lifted his sword and used the tip to sweep the hair from his face. “I couldn’t find you or Castiel and none of the other fallen can travel across country as fast as he does. Not with all this horseman magic in the air. It would be like flying through syrup.”

He shrugged his shoulders before glancing back at Hades. The God had lowered his hands and was doing his best to make himself appear small of a threat as possible. It wasn’t working well because no amount of slouching would diminish his size.

“I called the only one I knew that was neither angel nor horseman nor human.” His hand came up to stroke my face.

I winced. I had forgotten about the blow that Famine had struck but it appeared my body had not. Now that I remembered the injury, it began to throb and make itself heard.

“And I know it is him because, like you and I, Hades and I have a bond.” He laughed when he caught the expression that flashed across my face. “Not like that. Our bond is forged from sharing dominion over the underworld. We rarely utilise the bond we share but it is there nonetheless.”

I gulped and nodded my head. It all sounded so rational and completely plausible in this strange and magical world. Yet the doubts kept shouting from inside of my head.

“I know but the horseman can change their faces and bodies like they were nothing more than a cheap mask to be disposed of at a moment’s notice. “ I shuddered as the vision of my doppelganger acting like a raving lunatic flashed within my mind. It all felt like a bad dream. I knew that it wasn’t me and yet it was imprinted in my mind. I hoped that Lucius never got to meet my doppleganger.

“I know.”

I pulled away and shoved a hand through my hair. I paced from side to side as I tried to formulate my thoughts. I glanced over my shoulder at the body on the floor.

“No you don’t.” I retorted, waving a hand at the beaten pulp lying just a few feet away. “Castiel never came back to us in London. He’s been here the entire time. They’ve had him all along.”

Lucius moved past me, a cuss escaping his lips as he knelt down beside his battered and bruised comrade.

“You know what this means, don’t you?” I spoke the words no more than a whisper but he nodded his head, his unruly hair falling to cover his eyes.

“It means that they know everything about us. They know all of our plans. They know all about the other Halflings. They’ve been spying on us and we didn’t even know it.”

He spoke softly but I shivered at the barely restrained fury beneath his tone.

Lifting one of Castiel’s arms, he wrapped it around his neck before sliding his arm around the injured angel’s waist. He pulled them both to their feet with ease. He nodded to us both and without any further words we all turned and headed back towards the lift.

Hades moved with the agility of a warrior as he scoped out the way ahead of us. I had only ever seen him as the mountain man who ruled hell with Lucius but in this moment I truly realised that there was more to this mane than a strong man. He was a god – even if he did look human.

We all stepped in the lift and kept ourselves on guard even as the doors to the lift closed. I couldn’t help but feel relief. We were leaving this palace of death and cruelty behind. The war wasn’t won but this battle was nearly over.

The progress down through the building was smooth. There was no hint that the world was going to hell outside. That most of the hotel staff had been murdered. The lift doors opened up to the lobby opened and I was again reminded at how untouched this building was from the sickness that had infected the city. Holding my sword before me, I stepped into the lobby while my gaze swept from side to side. The room was still. My breath hissed out from between my teeth as I lead the way forwards. The lobby doors were still propped open so I pushed my shoulder against the door to make the gap wider so that both Lucius and Castiel could pass through.

I sucked in a deep breath of the outside air, expecting the choking smog and stench of destruction but there was no smoke to be seen and the air was sweet. I breathed in deeply relishing the freshness.

Lucius took a deep breath from beside me, a furrow forming between his brows. The buildings were still crumbled all around, tinged with soot from the fires which has been raging hours before. The skies however were completely clear. Sun shone brightly upon the city. The fires had been put out and the black lined clouds were all but gone.

“How?”

I didn’t really expect an answer but a single dove came down from above, dropping onto my shoulder and offering me a small branch.

“It’s an olive branch.”

I frowned at Hades as he stroked the head of the bird with the back of his large forefinger, his head dipping to bow at the small white bird.

“Do you not know your bible stories Miss Holmes? It is a message that the storm is over.” He laughed at my befuddled expression.

“It means that the horsemen have left – for now.”

I breathed out a sigh and rested my cheek against the bird’s wing, drawing comfort from the symbol of momentary peace.

“So what do we do now? Do we just wait for the horsemen to attack us again or do we regroup and try to create a new plan. Everything we have come up with so far has not worked. Not that we actually believed it would.”

The dove rubbed its beak against my cheek and I was sure that it was an offer of comfort from Him. My entire being flooded with warmth at the simple touch.

“We take Castiel home so that he can heal. When he regains consciousness he can tell us everything he knows about the horsemen.  He’s been around them for longer than any of us.” He shifted the limp angel’s dead weight against his body.

The dove cooed softly in my ear, stroking my cheek once more before beating its wings and lifting its body into the sky. It cooed softly once more, circling above our heads before flying towards the sun so that our eyes were unable to follow its path. The warmth and comfort that it offered continued to linger even with its disappearance.

Hades patted my shoulder and nudged me forward into the street. He glanced around. Then, once he was satisfied that there was no one else around, Hades waved his hand through the air. His palm glowed, lit by an unseen light, and then the air shimmered before him.  Sucking in a sharp breath, I stepped closer as curiosity took hold of me.

I could see it there through the haze. Hell.

I knew from my last visit that it was more than a pit of fire and torment I had been told about as a child but it still shocked me to see the fully functioning city based within the underworld.

“How did you do that?” I whispered as he took my hand and pulled me through the shimmering portal. My next step found me in the one place that many people had nightmares about but I secretly loved.

Hades shook his blonde hair which had grown past his shoulder and laughed.

“Now a god can’t reveal all of his secrets. Even Lucius does not know how to open the door to hell from anywhere in the world. I was created at the same time as the underworld. I know all of its secrets.”