“What if you cut off the mimicry’s head?” Iasked.
“Then it vanishes, but he doesn’t die. Maybe his neck hurts afterward or something; I don’t know, I didn’t ask. Astaroth was not one I spoke withoften.”
“Why not?” Baleasked.
“He’s an asshole. And I don’t mean he’s an asshole like Raphael can be an asshole. I mean, whereas Lucifer was insane, vicious, and bent on vengeance for all the wrongs he felt he’d endured, and some were valid.” Caim flicked a pointed glance at Raphael as he said this. “I mean, Astaroth was a nasty bastard even when he was in Heaven. The fall didn’t improve his already warped personality. Lucifer killed; Astaroth tortures and maims, allows healing, maims again, andsoon.”
“So he’s like the kid who enjoys pulling the legs off spiders,”Isaid.
Caim’s eyes swirled with color when they met mine. “He’s like the kid who likes to cut the legs off a spider one tiny piece at a time, before feeding the spider to the cat that he later cuts into one small piece at a time and feeds to thedog.Then—”
My stomach lurched sickeningly, and Erin’s hand flew to her mouth. “I don’t want to hear about the dog,” I interrupted and Caimnodded.
I hadn’t seen Astaroth, and I already hated him. Most of the dogs in the Wilds were now feral, but some of them would occasionally creep in to get a belly rub and a scratch behind the ears. A few of them moved around with us, offering protection and giving a warning if something approached. Many canines found their own way now, but we all remembered a time when they were our constantcompanions.
“Lucifer let Astaroth play with demons to keep him appeased and honed for battle, but he also kept him in check,” Caim continued. “Astaroth was no match for Lucifer’s strength and cunning, and he knew it, but without Lucifer tocagehim…”
“He’s free to play with everything and everyone he comes in contact with,” Corson murmured when Caim’s wordstrailedoff.
What would happen if Astaroth got his hands on Corson? What would the malicious angel dotohim?
I inhaled a tremulous breath to calm my galloping heart. I couldn’t stand to think of anyone torturing Corson, or any of those I cared about in such a way. Life out here had always been brutal and short, but the destruction of the seals and the rise of the fallen angels had uppedtheante.
Demons destroyed; angels tortured beforedecimating.
I gazed at the small group surrounding me. More demons and humans were establishing a camp nearby, but there were only fifty of us in total. And fifty against a few hundred were not odds I was willing to tempt. I fought when necessary, and I hated backing down, but I hadn’t survived this long by being stupid and staying somewhere when it wasn’t agoodidea.
“We have to come up with another plan, get in touch with the other groups and bring them in before we face the angels and craetons,”Isaid.
“That may not be enough,” Raphael said, and the tone of his voice made the hair on my neckstandup.
“Why not?” Corsondemanded.
“The horsemen have joined with theangels.”
ChapterThirty-One
Corson
“You’re shitting me,” Hawk said toRaphael.
Raphael blinked at him. “I am an angel; I donotshit.”
At any other time, I would have laughed at the look on Raphael’s face as he took Hawk’s question literally, and the way Hawk’s mouth dropped at his response. But when it came to the horsemen, there was no laughing. And to haveWrenso closetothem.
“You should have revealed that detail first!” I snarled at Raphael. “Lix, go back to where you left the others and tell them to packupnow.”
Wren didn’t edge away from me when I approached her. Standing beside her, my chest nearly brushed her shoulder as I surveyed the forest for any hint of a threat lurking within it. Lix swigged down more of his beer beforehurryingaway.
“The horsemen? As inthefour horsemen of the apocalypse?” Erin inquired as she glanced between Raphaelandme.
“No,” Raphaelreplied.
Hawk and Erin breathed a sigh ofrelief.
If only it were that easy,I thought before responding, “As in theelevenhorsemen.”
The humans and Hawk exchanged dumbfoundedlooks.
