He slapped my hand away. “Do you want my help or not?”
I wished I were strong enough to do this without his assistance, but the horsemen were not mortals. This was going to take more power than I had on my own. In fact, it was going to take more than just the three of us.
Evander must have reached the same conclusion because his focus had already shifted. “We’re going to need Lucifer.”
“One angel to tether each celestial spirit back to this realm,” Michael murmured, connecting the dots aloud. “But will he agree?”
I studied my lost brother and noted the emotion painting his face. “For her, I think he will.”
Lucifer glanced over his shoulder, locking eyes with me even from a distance. Then he was here, standing on the hill before us, wings spread defensively, gaze filled with mistrust.
“What more could you possibly want?” he spat. “You’ve got your clean slate. You’ve won. Leave us be.”
“Clean slate? Technically your Merri could still birth your antichrist. And the Princes are running free. We’re hardly out of the woods.”
“Michael,” I groaned, shaking my head. “Stop.”
Evander sighed. “Gabriel is right. Leave it. This is not the time to argue. We have a proposition for you, brother.”
Lucifer set his jaw and took a deep breath. “No.”
“It’s for her,” I said, jutting my chin in Merri’s direction. “At least hear us out.”
“Go on, then. I’m listening.”
“We can bring them back. But it will take all four of us to do so.” I knew it was going to be a hard sell to get him to join with us in any capacity. We’d abandoned him just as much as he had us. I could barely recall the last time we’d all been aligned. Unless you counted all agreeing to stop the apocalypse, but even in that instance, it hadn’t felt like he’d been withusso much as withher.
Lucifer’s expression was stone... unless you knew him as well as I did. I could practically read the thoughts flickering through his head as they occurred. He was debating keeping her to himself and considering what their absence would do to her. I knew the moment he reached his conclusion, because his eyes dropped and he released a heavy sigh.
“All right.”
It was relatively simple after that. Each of us chose a horseman, found his soul, and called him into being in front of us. In moments, all four of them were present: Famine facing me, War with Evander, Pestilence in front of Michael, and Death standing nose-to-nose with Lucifer.
“What is this?” Death asked. “I’m not alive, but not dead. What have you done?”
Lucifer scoffed. “Of course that’s how you show your gratitude.”
“Gratitude?” Malice asked.
“We brought you back. I didn’t have to help, you know. I could have said no, and then you’d all be gone for good, and I could have had her all to myself. But I didn’t.” He poked Grim hard in the chest. “You owe me.”
Grim’s gaze swept over us, stopping on me. “We are back?”
“Not yet, technically. We have a few wrinkles to iron out,” Michael answered for me.
“Such as?” Chaos asked.
“We need you to take up your mantles once more if you’re to return to your bodies and your mate.”
“Why?” Sin asked.
“Because the universe demands balance. The lack of you four will create a vacuum.”
“Will bringing us back bringthemback?” Chaos asked, referring to their counterparts.
“No. In the beginning, it was just the four of you. Now that we’re essentially starting over, it will be so again.”
“Does that mean there will never be horsewomen again?” Malice asked.
