Blood of Gods

by Lola StVil

  “I get all of that, Sails. But why did you assume I had drugged you all?” Jinx asks.

  “Because you gave us the hot chocolate and you weren’t affected by it,” I say.

  “Sunday made it. I just brought it through,” Jinx says. “And it didn’t affect me for the same reason it didn’t affect you. I didn’t drink mine.”

  “It’s a good thing you didn’t.” I smile. “There is no doubt in my mind I’d be dead if it weren’t for you.”

  I tell the team about me attacking Jinx and how he refused to harm me. And I tell them how he threw me his weapon at the crucial time and gave me what I needed to beat War. The team clap him on the back and cheer and he basks in their praise for a moment. The room falls silent again and I look Jinx in the eye.

  “In amongst all of the chaos, I never did apologize. I accused you of something terrible, and I’m so sorry,” I say.

  Jinx throws his head back and laughs.

  “Seriously, Sails, the way everything went down, my money would have been on it being me,” he says. “You defeated War and saved Sunday. You have nothing to apologize for.”

  “But I do,” Sunday says. “I really am sorry for everything I did, and everything I tried to do. I betrayed you all. I am just glad that I was able to fight War long enough to contact Sailor in her dream.”

  “So, it was you,” I say

  “Yes. If I hadn’t been able to pull you out there wouldn’t have been much of a fight. War would have killed you all. And again, for that I am sorry.”

  I open my mouth to tell him none of this is his fault, but Rye starts to talk first. I wince inside. I hope Rye isn’t going to agree with Sunday and tell him he has betrayed us.

  “I thought the same at first,” he says. I open my mouth to stop Rye, but he goes on. “I thought that whoever allowed War to take them had betrayed us all. But then I saw the truth. It’s not your fault, Sunday. None of us would have been strong enough of mind to keep an actual fucking Horseman of the Apocalypse out of our heads. I’m the one who should be saying I’m sorry.”

  Sunday reaches out and shakes Rye’s hand.

  “How about we all stop apologizing for shit that isn’t our fault and just accept that all this is on the Horsemen and not on us,” Aziza says.

  It’s a good plan, one I can most definitely get on board with.

  “That works for me,” Rye says.

  We all nod our agreement.

  “What was it like?” Mel asks Sunday. “Having War in your head?”

  “It was… strange. I mean actually, that doesn’t even come close to describing it. I assume War has been dormant inside me since the Horsemen came back to Earth, but I didn’t notice anything strange until we were in the desert searching for the spear. I started to notice an itching feeling in my head. On the inside rather than outside. I put it down to the heat and tried to ignore it, but as we got closer to the spear, it got more insistent. Once Sailor had the spear, it felt like I was being pushed back in my own head, like I was no longer controlling my body or my mind.

  “I figured out what was happening when my head began to fill with thoughts of mischief and destruction. I tried to fight War, tried to claw my way back, but he was too strong. I became a passenger in my own body, sitting there, looking out through my eyes, hearing with my ears, but not in control of anything.

  “I raged and screamed and cursed, but it was like War no longer noticed me, or if he did, he just ignored me completely. The tiny ray of hope I clung to was that there was a part of War, a part he tried to keep hidden, that was terrified of Sailor.”

  Sunday turns to me.

  “He knew all along that you were strong enough to beat him. So did I. And that’s what I clung to. War knew he needed to get you alone, but there was always someone with you.”

  “Oh my God,” Jinx suddenly interrupts. “Of course there was always someone with you. Like when we went to the warehouse to train and Rye and Aziza jumped out of nowhere and attacked me when I beat you. They thought I was trying to kill you.”

  I nod and Jinx laughs.

  “Crazy times,” he says. He turns to Sunday. “Sorry, carry on.”

  “That’s when War came up with the idea of drugging everyone so he could end you. He knew his power was growing and although he didn’t know you knew he was a member of the team, he knew you wouldn’t be far from figuring it out as his influence spread to the point where even he wouldn’t have been able to control it and the team would have been fighting each other constantly.

  “He didn’t know Jinx didn’t drink the hot chocolate, so he thought he was home free. And even then, even when he thought you would be completely alone, he feared you.”

  Sunday’s words give me further hope. If War feared me for what I did to Pestilence, then Famine and Death will surely be starting to get a little worried. Rye obviously has the same idea, because he grins at me, but then he frowns.

  “We have to stay alert,” he says. “Of course it’s a good thing that the Horsemen are afraid of you, but it also means they won’t take any chances.”

  “For God’s sake, Rye. Sailor just took down War and saved Sunday’s life. Can we just have one day where we celebrate that before we start worrying about what’s next?” Aziza says.

  Rye looks torn for a moment and then he smiles.

  “You know what? Yeah. We can.” He raises his coffee cup. “To Sailor and to being halfway through our mission.”

  “To Sailor,” the team repeats, and I feel that warm glow again.

  The warm glow I’ve come to recognize as acceptance. As family.

  EPILOGUE

  RYE SPEAKS

  Sailor tests me every single day. She tests my patience as she ignores every instruction I give her, most of which are for her own safety. She tests my self-control as I fight to not pull her into my arms and make love to her. But despite everything, I wouldn’t change her for the world. She’s the most headstrong, bravest girl I’ve ever met, and she’s single-handedly taken down the second Horseman of the Apocalypse today. I am so proud of her I could burst, and the love I feel for her only grows stronger with each passing day.

  Not only has she beaten War, she did it in a way that Sunday has survived it. The thought of losing another team member was eating me up inside, and she found a way to ensure it didn’t happen.

  She deserves this night, the party Ya-Ya and Mel started to put together as soon as we finished talking this morning. I am still worried about her. As I let myself get closer to her, the thought of losing her becomes more and more worrisome. But I promised not to think about that tonight. Tonight is a celebration.

  Sailor comes over to me now, a drink in her hand, her cheeks slightly flushed, partly from the drinking and partly, I think, from the dancing. She slips her hand into mine and starts to tug me towards the center of the room, which has been cleared off to make a dance floor.

  “Come on, let’s dance,” she says.

  “No way,” I say. “Sailor, I don’t dance.”

  She grins at me.

  “And I don’t kill Horsemen or get gems embedded in my skin. But I guess we’re both changing,” she says with a wink.

  Reluctantly, I let her lead me to the middle of the floor. We start to dance. She watches me for a second and then she nods approvingly.

  “See. What was all the fuss about? It’s not like you can’t dance.”

  “I didn’t say I couldn’t dance. I just said I don’t dance. Which I don’t usually.” I laugh.

  She shakes her head and I smile at her. I look around the room as she twirls and giggles. Jinx and Sunday have the right idea. They’re sitting down, watching the rest of us dance. Aziza and Ya-Ya are dancing together and I realize Mel is missing. I wait a few moments, assuming she went to the kitchen for a drink or a snack or something. She doesn’t emerge and I feel a stab of worry in my gut, but I don’t say anything. Not yet. I don’t want to put a downer on Sailor’s night if Mel ha
s just gone to the bathroom or something.

  I keep dancing, waiting for the song to end. When it does, I take Sailor’s hands in mine and grin at her.

  “Right. You’ve had your fun. Now go and dance with the girls and let me just sit and watch,” I say.

  She laughs and nods her head. I move to join Sunday and Jinx, watching Sailor twirl around. She seems lighter, like a huge weight has been lifted from her, which I suppose it has. She giggles and I find myself smiling with her.

  “God, you’re so lovesick, Rye. It’s pathetic.” Jinx grins.

  I don’t even bother trying to deny it. I just shrug.

  “Well look at her. I would have to be stupid to not see the beauty in her.”

  That stops the teasing.

  “Any idea where Mel went?” I ask.

  Jinx shakes his head.

  “She said she was popping out to get some air,” Sunday says.

  My face must change because he quickly goes on.

  “Relax. Mel can take care of herself. And it was only a couple minutes ago.”

  I try to relax, but something is nagging at me. I don’t like the idea of Mel wandering around in the woods on her own, even with War gone. I decide she’s getting ten minutes, and then I’m going to go look for her.

  I go back to watching Sailor, and I repeat my vow to her. I will do whatever it takes for us to be together, and whichever of the gods is stupid enough to try and get in the way of that will regret it.

  I lose track of the time watching Sailor, and when I remember I was giving Mel ten minutes to come back to the party, half an hour has passed. I get to my feet. Sailor breaks away from Aziza and Ya-Ya and comes to my side.

  “Where are you going?” she says.

  I laugh. “The bathroom if that’s okay with you.”

  I hate lying to her, but I’m not going to ruin this night for her while there’s still a good chance I’m just being paranoid and Mel is fine.

  “Ah, go on then, I’ll allow it,” Sailor jokes. She’s still looking at me though and her smile fades. “Rye, you look stressed out. Can you please just relax for one night?”

  “I’ll try,” I promise her. “But it would be easier if my bladder wasn’t bursting.”

  She laughs and steps aside. I go out of the room and head for the cabin door. I am halfway along the hall when Mel comes in.

  “There you are. I was starting to get worried. Are you alright? Sunday said you went for some air, but that was ages ago,” I say.

  Mel steps closer and I can see the worry all over her face. My senses come to life and I look around quickly, almost expecting a demon pack to burst into the cabin behind her.

  “I’m okay,” Mel says quickly. “But there’s something you need to know. Can we go in the kitchen and talk for a moment? We can let the others have tonight and tell them tomorrow.”

  I nod and we head for the kitchen. We sit down at the table and Mel looks at me.

  “I think Sailor was right about Raven. I slipped out to follow up on a lead I had. I’ve still been digging like you asked me to, and it turns out there’s a good reason why Raven is so secretive about her past.”

  “Okay?” I say, on high alert

  “There has to be a reason why she put herself in Sailor’s life the way she has. She has to know about Sailor, about us. This is no coincidence.”

  “Mel, what are you saying?” I prompt her, my stomach whirling.

  “I don’t know if she is part of the Boundless or not, but Rye, she’s half god. And if she is part of the Boundless, then she’s more dangerous than we ever could have imagined.”

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