“You were with them all? Where?”
“Oui. And sweet Merri. Oh, that poor girl. She trusted me, and I unwillingly led her to her doom.”
That sounded exactly like the kind of underhanded shit the horsewomen would pull. They loved to manipulate and mastermind situations. The horsemen were far more direct than their female counterparts.
“She’s gone?”
He nodded, despondent. “She is probably dead by now. It’s all my fault. But Famine was too strong. I couldn’t fight her. Not when she whispered in Merri’s ear and sowed doubt about the horsemen, not when she lied and drew false wards of protection. I had to watch it all happen and was helpless to stop it.”
I recognized a doom spiral better than anyone, and I knew I had to stop this one before I completely lost him.
“Merri’s not dead.”
“How do you know?”
I raised a brow. “This is my realm. I’d know if she were here.”
“Right.” He blew out a heavy breath. “Well, that’s one bit of good news.”
“Where are the others? I can help them.”
He gave me a suspicious glare in response. “How can I trust you? You’re Hades. I have heard the tales of your trickery and dishonesty.”
I snorted. “Handed down by my brother, Zeus. Untrustworthy megalomaniac. I have a vested interest in keeping our worlds as they are, not ending them. The horsemen are an integral part of that.”
He studied me for several heartbeats before giving me a little nod. “I suppose it doesn’t matter much to me one way or the other. I’ll be dead regardless.”
“That’s true. But helping the horsemen means helping Merri. You could still right a wrong. Or at the very least, toss a spanner in the works of the one who killed you.”
After a long pause, the man heaved a sigh and stood, me following suit. Then he turned to me and gave me everything I needed to locate the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
I was gone between one thought and the next, appearing at the gates of a secluded château in France. Wards that should have stopped me dead in my tracks didn’t do more than tickle as I pushed through them and onto the property. Famine had laid herself a devious trap. A cursory search of the premises revealed an unfortunate truth.
They were gone.
Thankfully, I still had an ace up my sleeve. It would have been a nice change of pace for things to be easy, but I wasn’t returning empty-handed. It was impossible to know whether the horsemen planned on returning to this place, but now that I knew it existed, I could always pop by and check.
One way or the other, we would find them.
It was only a matter of time.
Chapter
Fifteen
GRIM
“He’s a real twat, you know that?” Sin’s voice filtered into the hall as I approached the billiards room where they were all waiting for me.
“You’ve made your feelings known,” Chaos muttered.
I stood outside the room, listening in just so I could let Sin have his gripe. I’d earned it.
“Don’t act all high and mighty. You two agree with me. And he’s being even twattier than usual. Admit it.”
“So what if he is? It doesn’t matter. You’re focusing on the wrong thing.” Malice’s voice joined the others. I crossed my arms, resting my shoulder against the wall as I contemplated my entrance.
I was typically the one to call these meetings, the natural leader of our group, if you will. Never had I felt less than confident about striding into a room and commanding a situation. Until now.
