And then, he vanished.
* * *
Aisling
“You have to stay here,” I said to Oliver as I set him inside the crevice I’d discovered in the cave.
“They’re going to kill us,” he whispered.
I rested my hands on his shoulders. “No, they’re not. You’re going to be safe, but you have to stay in here until I come to get you. Do you understand?”
Oliver gazed over my shoulder and toward the continuing sounds of a brawl, but we were too far into the crevice for him to see what was happening. “Yes,” he murmured.
He stuck his thumb in his mouth as he gazed at me with sorrow-filled eyes. He’d already been through so much; he shouldn’t have to endure this too, but the only way to stop it was to kill the horsemen.
I didn’t know why he wasn’t affected by the horseman who’d turned the others into bloodthirsty monsters. He was probably too young to understand the emotion, but thankfully, he wasn’t a spitting, kicking, demon child. I didn’t know if I could handle that.
“It will be over soon,” I said and really hoped I was right. I ran my hand over his cheek. “Close your eyes, baby.”
He settled on the ground and closed his eyes as he rested his head against the stone. He had to be exhausted; maybe, just maybe, he would sleep through all of this. I doubted it, but I held on to that hope as I ruffled his brown hair.
“I’ll be back,” I promised and bent to kiss the top of his head. I wished I could stay with him, but the others needed my help.
He didn’t respond as he kept his eyes closed and huddled deeper into the shadows. It took everything I had to back out of the small hiding place. I kept my eyes on him until I rounded a corner and he vanished from view. Tears burned my eyes when I turned away from him.
I didn’t care what I had to do; I would make sure he got away from this place. Stepping out of the alcove, I was confronted with a group of fighting and gagging people and demons. Some of them were on their knees puking out wretched green bile while others were punching each other even as they groped at one another and tore at their clothes in a rage and lust-fueled frenzy.
The smell and sounds permeating the cave made my stomach turn, but so far, I was still withstanding a fair amount of the horsemen’s effects, though I couldn’t look at Hawk.
When I looked at him, all I could think about was tearing his clothes from him and screwing until we were too exhausted to move.
Lifting my forearm, I wiped away the sweat from my brow and felt the warmth of my skin. I knew that heat had nothing to do with the fire we’d left behind and everything to do with the nausea twisting in my stomach. Saliva flooded my mouth along with the coppery taste that often preceded vomiting. I couldnotstart spewing up green bile; if that stuff came out of me, I’d never stop.
Before the horsemen, I would have believed it impossible to be horny while trying not to vomit, but these assholes were a whole different ballgame.
I ignored the churning of my stomach and focused my attention on Corson and Wren as they battled Pestilence. My eyes kept trying to go to Hawk, but I couldn’t control myself enough to look at him.
Deep breaths. Stay in control. Don’t give in to the urges. You can do this.
Finally feeling in control of myself enough to look at Hawk, I felt like someone punched me in the gut as he ran at Lust.
No! Not alone! You can’t fight her alone!
But that was exactly what he was going to do.
Chapter Forty-One
Aisling
Forgetting all about the sickness churning inside me, I leapt over a group of humans and demons rolling around on the floor. I snagged an abandoned spear from the ground as I ran toward the others. Near the front of the cave, Lix sat with his hands on his knees and his head bowed as he spewed green bile.
A flutter of wings drew my attention to the ceiling seconds before Caim burst free of the cave and crashed into Lust. The impact tore Lust from her saddle, but before Caim could rise into the air with her in his arms, she grabbed one of his wings and yanked it down.
The motion threw off his ascension; they tumbled to the ground in a jumbled heap of white hair and black wings that blended as they rolled with each other. When Lust settled on top, Caim tossed her off and braced his arms under him. He staggered to his feet and steadied himself as his face changed.
Slack-jawed, he grasped the sides of his head as he staggered away from the cave. Nonsensical words I suspected might be the angelic language spilled from his lips as he started hitting the sides of his face.
Then, he turned into his raven form and released a loud caw before taking flight. I had no idea where he was going, but after enduring Lust’s touch, it was probably better if he got away from here.
