My hands fisted as I stared at the night pressing against the windows high up on two of the concrete walls. It would be difficult for anything to scamper up the outside of the building and into the small, rectangle openings, but not impossible. However, we should be able to kill anything that tried before it got too far inside. Above the windows, spider webs hung from the metal, dust-coated beams running across the ceiling. The air held the musty odor of mildew, decay, and something I couldn’t quiteidentify.
We’d first entered the school through the large room attached to this one. The numerous, rusted metal doors within that room had kept me close to Wren as I waited for something to spring out of one andattackus.
“It’s a locker room,” Wren said before Icouldask.
“It has too many hiding spots,” I’dreplied.
She’d stopped at a sink and used some of the water from her bag to scrub the demon blood from her hands, before washing her face and rinsing her hair. I’d cleaned myself too, but my attention remained more focused on her as she scrubbed her flesh until it was raw. Setting my jug of water down, I’d clasped her hands in mine. She’d allowed me to hold her for a moment before she’d removed her hands from mine and walked away withoutanotherword.
After entering the gym, we’d chained the door to the locker room shut. Two other doors led out of the gym; four demons guarded each of them, two inside and twooutside.
“I have a riddle for you, my dear,” Lix said from behind me. I turned to watch as he settled onto the groundbesideErin.
“Let’s hear it,” she replied as she pulled apart her small piece ofbread.
“I am the one true horseman of the apocalypse. I destroy more than war, as I continue without life. I am more patient than famine, as I have eternity to ride. I silence more than death, as all will be still. And I spread farther than pestilence, as I act across the universe. What am I?” Lixinquired.
Erin rolled a piece of bread between her fingers as she contemplated his words. “Entropy,” she said and popped the small ball of food into hermouth.
Lix didn’t cheer with his usual enthusiasm when she answered one right. Instead, he patted her leg before rising. “Very good, dear. Very good indeed. One of these days, one of us willstumpyou.”
Erin smiled sadly at him. “I look forwardtoit.”
Lix’s bony feet clicked against the floor as he walked over to stand beside me. “The fucking horsemen,” I muttered and ran a hand through my hair to tug at the endsofit.
“And I bet you thought your biggest problem today was going to be a mortal Chosen who goes out of her way to avoid you,” Magnus purred frombehindme.
I shot him a quelling look over my shoulder, and Bale’s hand tightened on the handle of her sword. I’d happily knock Magnus out, but Bale would take immense joy in severing his head from his shoulders. The two of them hadn’t gotten along before Magnus retreated from the war in Hell to work on strengthening his ability to weave illusions, hundreds of years ago. Their animosity had only increased since Magnus rejoined us to fightLucifer.
Most of the time, I barely noticed their antagonism toward each other. Now, I was not in the mood to deal with theirbullshit.
It didn’t help that Magnus wasright.
I looked at Wren on the other side of the school gymnasium. She sat near the bottom of the wooden stairs that unfolded from the wall. Her damp hair tumbled around her shoulders as she idly tapped her blade against the bottom of her boot while watching the humans moving through the food line. She had to be hungry, yet shewaited.
For the first time, I became acutely aware of the passing of time. One more day had passed, which meant there was one less day Wren hadtolive.
How do humans deal with this constant knowledge of time slipping away?I wanted to stick Wren in a protective bubble where nothing could ever shorten her time further, or better yet, make her animmortal.
While both options were tempting, Wren would hate me for doing either to her. Worse than the knowledge of her death was the possibility of her coming todespiseme.
“I don’t like this place,” I stated as people and demons started placing their blankets on the dirt-streaked, tilefloor.
“Try having to attend a place like this on a daily basis,” Hawk said from beside me. “I never made it to high school, but middle school sucked, especially with myfirstname.”
Hawk’s entire name was Sue Hawkson. From what I’d gathered from Hawk and the other humans, Sue wasn’t such a great name for a man to have in the mortal realm, but Hawk’s mother had named him after a song. She’d believed the name would make himstronger.
“That really would have sucked.” Vargas bit into a piece of jerky andchewedit.
“I’d rather face the horsemen than come to a place like this every day,”Shaxsaid.
“So would I,” Hawkreplied.
“There are too many openings, too many ways in,” I said as my gaze ran over the large roomoncemore.
“This is the best place for us in this building. It would be too easy for something to see inside the classrooms. They have more windows and only one door,” Hawk said. “The lockerrooms—”
“Have too many places to hide,”Isaid.
