“You’re correct,” Lennox states as he pats Sierra’s back gently. “Normally, after Lynx’s rebirth, nothing would change,and he would carry on until he got his call for an assignment or our council reached out for him. For example, we were brought here when our friends, the Walls, disappeared. Seeing Lynx here in Hell—well, we thought he had met his final death since we had Tempest, so it was a bit of a shock. Now I believe since he’s mated with Rez and she has her own power, he’s forfeited that call and allowed Tempest to be the next in line to follow the path of the Gatekeeper,” he explains.
Hearing that, a part of me aches.Wait a minute.“But Lynx and I mated just a few days ago. That doesn’t align with Tempest’s age, though,” I point out.
Lennox chuckles. “A mate bond doesn’t have to be created during sex; it can be any intimate situation. A pledge, a promise, the first time saying I love you, or Lynx’s first time promising to be your protector would have been enough to do it.” I blush at his explanation and try to think back at when that could have been, but there were so many times that I’ve lost count of when the first time he said he would be there for me was.
Is this a good or bad thing for Lynx? Will his link to his parents suffer because he doesn’t share the same calling, or is this just a good thing since he now has a sibling in his life?
“Does this mean Lynx is an orphan?” Moni asks, her blue bark getting darker with her tone.
“Oh no!” Sierra says, smiling. “This is a good thing. Lynx is still my baby. It just means he’s not going to be weighed down with the same political restraints that we are,” she says and then glances back at Lennox.
“Then again,” Lennox starts. “You might have your own restraints you will have to deal with.” He gives Lynx a concerned look.
“What do you mean?” Lynx asks with a frown, leaning forward to address his father.
Lennox and Sierra share a panicked look, and tension hits me like a sumo wrestler tackling me.
‘Was there something they weren’t supposed to tell us?’I ask Lynx, but he shrugs between my thighs.
‘I don’t know, but it’s killing me.’
“If the power I’m picking up in this room is any indication, Lynx, my dear boy, you’ll be intertwined with the fates and the Four Horsemen,” Lennox hints.
“You’ll have different rules to follow,” Sierra supplies, trying to be helpful.
With that bombshell, I check around the room. I’m not the only one sporting a perplexed look as we sit and take in this information.
“Wait a minute. So you’re saying that Lynx is somewhat tied to us because we’re the new Horseman?” Ryker asks, leaning forward and waving his hand to get Lennox’s attention.
“Yes, and to be frank, I’m curious to see how this will play out.” Lennox beams at my mate.
“Could you elaborate, please,” Levi states.
“Of course.” Lennox gets up and moves to a bookshelf, where he pulls down a thin tome and blows dust off it before handing it to me. The others gather around me as I carefully open the tome, making sure not to damage the frail paper. Inside are drawn pictures of the Horseman. They look accurate to the vision Anwen had shown me back in Purgatory.
“Are those the Horsemen?” Lynx peers over the lip of the book to take in the prior men.
“Yes, Son. Those are the originals. They had a huge following before they were tasked to take on the ultimate punishment for their crimes. Most of their followers went with them either out of loyalty or desperation.”
Turning the page, there’s an illustration of the followers he’s talking about. People are lined up around the Horsemen in onepicture, and in the next, their souls are being transformed into objects.
Flipping the next page, it shows a crowd divided into two. One side is obviously rejoicing, while the other side mourns, their heads bowed, and some lying on the ground crying.
“Not everyone loved or even liked the Horsemen, and that’s why we were their advisors and trusted protectors. Those who had a personal relationship with the Four, I would assume, had more pleasant things to say about their masters than most. So, I can only imagine what the rise of new Horsemen will mean to those who have been around long enough to remember them. Most of those would have been the ones that followed them into servitude,” Lennox explains, sitting down as I continue to leaf through the book.
“I was one of them that followed out of loyalty,” Knots admits, and it dawns on me that he’s right. He did tell me that he followed War and became a Door Knight by choice.
“Oh!” Sierra perks up. “Since you were an original follower, how do you feel about the new Horsemen? Do you foresee any problems between the old followers and the new Horsemen?”
You could hear a pin drop as all the attention turns to Knots, making him shift slightly in his seat.
“Well, I can’t speak for everyone, but I don’t have an issue since we’re family. I know they are the new Horsemen, but I know them as my family first and the title of Horsemen second. So it’s different for me. We, as followers, always believed or had hoped they would return. I don’t think the lore ever spoke of reincarnation or their powers transferring to a new Four before. So, there may be some that might not be happy with the news.”
“What do you mean?” Knox’s stern voice rings out.
“Well, to be completely honest—you four aren’t like the previous ones. Even though that’s a good thing because they were ruthless, some won’t look at it that way.”
Well damn.I flip the page and flinch at the scene, immediately knowing what Knots is talking about. On the page is War, sending young people to the front lines to die in battle. In the picture, it doesn’t look like they have much to fight with, but as I flip the next page, they shift into Shifters, and a nasty battle begins. I’m curious as to what they were fighting for.
