Before we can say anything else, Mickey comes barreling onto the scene, batting away the souls that seem to be flooding around Riley.
“Why are these things all crowding around here? Don’t they realize I have shit to do?” he asks as he rushes forward and grabs Riley’s face in his hands. “Asshole!”
“Why am I the asshole?” Riley retorts. “The fucking Door exploded. You act like I did it on purpose.”
“I didn’t know where you were or what happened to you. And I couldn’t fix the Door and I couldn’t help you and I…”
Mickey dramatically sinks down to the ground right then and there. “I burned so many calories in my panic. The pain… the suffering…”
He kind of just… falls into Riley, hugging him to himself as Imani comes around the corner.
“Is Mickey hurt?” she asks.
Mickey nods, even though he looks perfectly fine. “I have been wounded… I require pampering and care.”
She takes her foot and rolls Mickey off Riley before kneeling in front of us. “Are either ofyouhurt?”
“I’m fine,” Riley says as he tries to hide his trembling hands against my body. “Torin is hurt, though.”
I shake my head, refusing to let go of Riley so anyone can check. “I’m fine. Nothing serious. I’ll soak in some healing water and call it a day.”
Lt. Lindsey seems to have also found us around the corner, which might have something to do with Quill’s ass sticking out of the alley and all of the souls bouncing around us.
“Is the horseman gone?” she asks.
“Momentarily… but I’m not quite sure he’s gone for good,” I say.
Imani asks, “How long is momentarily?”
Riley doesn’t say anything, so I respond, “I would think we’d have some time to recover and think of our next move. Could be months… could be years. Whatever the god did to him, I think it’ll take him a while to return.”
“Why did he do that?” Riley asks as he draws back from me, and more than anything, I want to pull him in. “Why take away the power of one he needs to fulfill his plan?”
“I don’t understand myself. I assume it has to do with the fact that Conquest was faltering because of you,” I say.
“Because of Riley?” Imani asks.
Riley refuses to engage, so I twist it around a bit. “Because of Riley’s magic. The horseman started to withdraw, and the god was not pleased by that.”
“I see,” Lt. Lindsey says.
“Why are the souls drawn to the two of you? Is it you, Torin?” Imani asks.
“No… it’s this magic,” Riley replies. “I think they’re drawn to this magic.”
I notice he has his body turned slightly away from me and appears to be trying his best to focus on the others. I just want them all to leave so I can talk to Riley, but right now, I’m not sure he wants to talk to me.
“Torin, let’s get you cleaned up,” Imani says.
“No, I’m fine. Please worry about the others out there.”
Imani hesitates because she seems to notice that something more is going on here, but I don’t think Riley is ready to talk about it just yet. He’s acting like he doesn’t want to even engage.
“Let’s begin scouring the area and find anyone who has been affected by the horseman,” Lt. Lindsey orders as she sets off. “When you two are able, go see someone about your wounds.”
And now there’s just the three of us.
Mickey eyes us before cupping Kit’s face to make Riley look at him. “Am I going to be left out of the loop? Because that’ll make me sad.”
