by Cheree Alsop
“You try to change that now?” There was a note of humor to Death’s voice.
“I know I can’t change the past,” Aleric replied. “I just want to make the present better.”
“How do you intend to do that?” There was a tone to the Fourth Horseman’s words that said he guessed what the werewolf was going to say.
“I want you to return Fluffy to Fabian and leave Blays with your brothers,” Aleric told him.
The voice fell silent for a moment. Doyle cleared his throat. “I can’t.”
“Because of Haga,” Aleric said, remembering.
“Yes,” Doyle replied with surprise in his voice. “Where did you hear that?”
“From Wallace.”
The Horseman gave a huff. “You do get around.”
“You’ve left me no choice,” Aleric replied. “You’re affecting my city.”
“Indirectly,” Doyle told him. “Humans are frail things in some ways, stronger in others. They’re interesting.”
“They also deserve to live their own lives without being tormented by the Four Horsemen. You belong in Blays.”
“I won’t return without Haga. Why else do you think I did all of this? I knew you would find her.”
Death’s words caught Aleric off-guard. “You mean you knew I would come after you in this way?”
Death chuckled. The sound made the mist whirl around Aleric. He felt the fingers of his victims brushing his arms, back, and chest.
“You’re the fae hero of this human city, Dr. Wolf. I’ve heard your name whispered in the streets, your legend told in the shadows. You’ve created quite the impact since you awoke here.” The Horseman’s voice lowered. “I knew if anyone could find Haga, you would be the one. I also knew if I involved the humans you seem to care about so much, you’d come running without hesitation. Your bravery is about as commendable as your death wish; trust me when I say I know what I’m talking about.”
“I’ll find Haga,” Aleric promised. “Send your brothers back to Blays and I’ll do anything I need to keep this city safe.”
“I knew you would do it,” Doyle said. “You have an antiquated sense of honor lost among most.”
The victims in the mist grew stronger. They grabbed at Aleric’s arms, pulling him from side to side with bruising grips. He could feel their hands raking down his back, dragging at his feet, trying to draw him down.
“Tell me how to find her,” Aleric said. There was a note of desperation in his voice. If they got too strong before he was finished speaking to Death, he wondered if he would be able to break free.
“She was being chase by your beloved friends,” Death said, his voice dry. “The Drakathans thought if they could capture her, they would have power over me. They chased her through the Rift. When I heard she was in danger, I asked my brothers to come along to help. I found blood; I fear she was wounded by gorgons.”
Aleric realized who the Horseman was talking about. He struggled to keep his footing. “Is she a woodland elf?”
“Yes!” Death replied. “Do you know where she is?”
“I do,” Aleric told him. “She was bitten by gorgons. I gave her the antidote. We’re waiting to see if she recovers.”
Death was silent for a moment. “She’s not in my realm,” he said finally. “She must still be alive.” There was hope in the Horseman’s voice.
“She was when I left the hospital.” The fingers tightened. Claws scratched down Aleric’s back and chest. “I need to get out of here to bring her to you!” he called as the mass pressed tighter around him.
“I’ll find you,” Doyle replied, his voice fading beneath the rising cries of the fray that surrounded Aleric. “You must pay for your actions. You must answer to them for your crimes.”
The mass climbed over Aleric, pressing him to the ground beneath hands and feet that punched and raked, clawed and pulled. He cried out at the pain of fingers driving into his shoulder where the silver stake had gone. He gasped at hands pressing into his eyes and feet kicking his head.
Aleric tried to suck in a breath, but he couldn’t past the weight of bodies on his chest. He struggled, but hands held him down. He opened his mouth to yell, but fingers slid inside, blocking his air. Anger, helplessness, frustration, and fear pressed in from every side. He closed his eyes and gave himself over to the onslaught he knew he deserved.
Chapter Fourteen
“Let me go!” Aleric shouted.
“Whoa, Wolfie! Hold still!”
Aleric’s eyes flew open at the sound of Dartan’s voice. He looked around wildly, expecting to see the faces in the mist leering down at him with accusations in their eyes, their voiceless mouths opened in snarls of anger.
“It’s okay,” Lilian said. “We’ve got you.” She held his elbow where the I.V. ran. Aleric could feel the life-saving fluid flowing through his veins.
The werewolf’s heart pounded so loud he was amazed it didn’t burst through his chest. Aleric lifted his left arm to look for the marks from the victims, but there were none. The only pain he felt was in his shoulder; for the moment, the ache was actually a relief.
Diablo stood on his chest. The little minky meowed and rubbed her head against his face. He let out a relieved breath and petted the winged kitten softly.
“That must have been some dream,” Dartan said.
Aleric shook his head. “It wasn’t a dream.” He tried to sit up.
Dartan put a hand on the werewolf’s chest, holding him down as though he was as weak as the kitten.
“Easy, Aleric. Slow down. You need a break after that,” the vampire told him.
“I need to find Death,” Aleric replied. He tried to push the vampire’s hand away, but Dartan didn’t move or give any sign that he put effort into holding the werewolf down. It was infuriating.
“You almost found him,” Dartan said. “I think you need to reevaluate your position here.”
That caught Aleric’s attention. “What do you mean?”
“I mean that if you keep putting yourself in harm’s way like this, Death is going to find you a whole lot sooner.”
“He’s right.”
Aleric looked at Lilian. There were shadows under her eyes. He realized with a start that she had gone without sleep to stay at his side.
“If you keep pushing yourself like this, you’re going to crash,” she told him. There was sympathy in her tired gaze. “Aleric, I don’t know how much longer you’re going to be able to keep going. We need you here. If you don’t take care of yourself, someone will do it for you.”
A small half-smile lifted the corner of Aleric’s mouth. “You’re going to take care of me?”
She nodded. “Someone has to. You can’t expect Dartan to be the only one who cares whether you drop dead from exhaustion or whatever else you put yourself through. You have a family here who cares about you.”
“Yeah,” Dartan agreed. “Tell you what. If you don’t lay there until the rest of that I.V. goes through, I’m getting Nurse Eastwick and Dr. Worthen. They’ll have a thing or two to say about your condition.”
Aleric stopped pushing against the vampire’s hand, as futile as the action was. He let his head fall back against the pillow on the bed. Diablo celebrated by curling up beneath his chin. The purr that rumbled from her tiny body was loud enough to make everyone smile.
“I think she agrees with you,” Aleric admitted.
“We all need a rest,” Lilian said. “I’m going to go take a nap in the breakroom. Promise me you’ll stay here until I return.”
Aleric knew he could leave while she was gone, but if she needed to trust him to rest, he wouldn’t break that. “I promise,” he said. “Go get some sleep. You need it.”
She leaned down and kissed him on the forehead. “You need it, you stubborn werewolf.”
Aleric’s eyelids threatened to close of their own accord. He had to admit how exhausted he felt. The brief stint with the plague had taken a lot from him, but there was one more thing he had t
o do.
“Dartan, could you check on the woodland elf for me? I need to know if the antidote worked.” He paused, then said, “She’s the one Death’s been looking for.”
Dartan’s shock would have been hilarious if the fate of Edge City didn’t rest on the elf’s shoulders. “I’ll check right away. How do we get her back to him?”
“He said he’ll come to me. He knows where we are.” Aleric was too tired to decide whether that was a good thing or bad. “The sun’s up. I’ll take her out to him when he gets here.”
“When you wake up,” Dartan said, his tone stern.
Aleric nodded. “When I wake up.”
He awoke to the feeling of Lilian’s fingers brushing his hair off his forehead. The I.V. had been removed from his arm, its tube looped next to the empty bag on the pole.
“Haga’s awake,” she said. “The Horsemen are in the back parking lot. They asked me to come get you.”
Aleric sat up and was glad to find his strength had returned.
“How long did I sleep?” he asked.
“A few hours,” she replied. “It’s noon.”
He pushed off the bed and was happy to find his head clear and strength back.
“How are you feeling?” Lilian asked.
“Much better,” Aleric replied. “Who knew sleep could be so good for a person?” He rubbed his shoulder. Even it was feeling a bit better.
Lilian laughed as she led the way to the door. “I could have told you that.”
“I’m going to have to listen to you more often,” Aleric said.
He pushed open the door to the D Wing and stared at the mass of hospital staff members crowding the hallway. Necks were craning and people rose on tiptoes to get a glimpse of the Horsemen out the back door. A glance toward the door showed Dr. Worthen waiting halfway down the hall, his stern expression keeping the staff at bay.
“It’s about time,” the head physician said when Aleric met his gaze. “You have some serious explaining to do.”
Aleric crossed to him with a wry smile. “You’ll get the whole story,” he promised. “But for now, I hear it’s not polite to keep the Horsemen waiting. Nobody wants to start an Apocalypse.”
He and Lilian exchanged a look. He fought back a smile.
They found Dartan waiting with the woodland elf near the backdoor.
The elf surprised Aleric by giving him a weak hug. “Thank you, Dr. Wolf, for your care. They told me about the antidote and the plague. You’re a brave man.”
Aleric felt embarrassed at the praise. “I’m glad you’re going home.”
“Me, too,” she replied. “I’ve missed Doyle. I hear he made a bit of a ruckus trying to find me.”
“A bit,” Aleric agreed, smiling at the understatement. “He certainly cares about you.”
Dartan ducked away from the sunlight when Aleric opened the back door. He helped Haga outside into the healing light. He was relieved to see three of the four Horsemen standing in the parking lot. They made quite an ominous sight standing by their steeds in the bright light of day.
“You forgot this,” Dartan called from behind him.
Aleric turned to see the vampire throw something. He caught the object and opened his hand to reveal the small salamander totem on his palm.
“I’ll bring it back to you,” he promised.
“Just make sure you come back,” Dartan replied before he shut the door.
“I’m going to miss you so much!” Lilian said.
Aleric turned to see her kneeling in front of the two grims. The children stood next to Fabian. Each held the blankets and treasures Lilian and the werewolf had given the grim children.
“Fabian promised us real beds and a chance to go to school,” Grimsli said.
“Yeah,” Grimma pipped up, her voice excited. “And he said we can ride Fluffy whenever we want.”
The Second Horseman patted the black horse on the nose. “I’m just happy to have him back.”
“I’m sorry I took him from you. I had to ensure that the werewolf would find me.”
Aleric followed the voice to the Fourth Horseman. He stood near the garbage cans with a scythe in one hand. Behind him, a horse that glowed greenish-yellow and had red eyes sniffed at the contents of the metal garbage containers.
“Doyle!” the woodland elf said.
At the sight of her, the Horseman dropped his scythe and his horse’s reins and ran to her. His black cloak billowed behind him in a mass of shadows that rose and fell with the movement. The tall, pale Horseman scooped her up gently in his arms and hugged her the way one hugs a fragile person in fear of injuring them.
“Are you alright, sweetheart?” he asked.
“I am now,” she replied. “I’m ready to go home.”
“Me, too,” he said. He met Aleric’s gaze over the woodland elf’s shoulder. “Thank you. The plague is gone completely. You’ll find that the victims have also lost all recollection of their hallucinations. I promised Perry that his crops will be pestilence free from now on.”
“Thank you,” Aleric replied. “I appreciate your help.”
The Horseman nodded. “So how do we get back to Blays?”
Aleric held up the salamander totem. The confused looks on the Horsemen’s faces made him smile as he led the way through the alleys toward the Rift.
“This isn’t going to hurt, is it?” Wallace asked. He eyed the open Rift with uncertainty.
“It looks like fun to me,” Grimma said. She ran through with Grimsli close behind.
“Leave it to children to teach us what courage means,” Fabian said with a smile. He grinned at Aleric. “Here’s to hoping you never have to deal with us again.”
He urged his horse through with a click of his tongue and disappeared after the grims.
“If Fabian can do it, I can do it,” Wallace said. He gave Aleric an embarrassed look. “I am War, after all. I’m supposed to be the tough one. I can’t believe I let children go before me.”
“Take care of yourself,” Aleric told the Horseman. “Enjoy the border wars.”
“I always do,” Wallace replied. He urged his blood-red horse through.
Doyle and Haga looked down at Aleric from atop Death’s glowing pale horse.
“I’ve heard whispers of your name a few times,” Doyle said. “I thought I would see you in my realm before now.”
“I’m trying to avoid it as long as I can,” Aleric replied.
Doyle gave a grim smile. “Not a bad idea.” Haga set a hand on the Fourth Horseman’s arm and whispered something in his ear. He sat back with a nod. “Haga reminds me that I have something for you. A gift.”
“A gift for me?” Aleric replied in uncertainty. He wasn’t sure he wanted a gift from the Horseman of Death.
Doyle put his hand inside his black cloak. When he withdrew it, he held a glowing green orb. “Death doesn’t take you from yourself,” he said, his deep voice echoing off the walls despite the quietness of his words. “Death reveals you to yourself, and what better way to know who you are than through the memory of others.”
Aleric reached up a hand to the orb. The moment he touched it, warmth ran through him as though hot water had been poured on him from head to toe. He closed his eyes and the memory rushed into his thoughts.
“That’s my little boy.”
Aleric found that he was watching a version of himself far younger than his memories ran.
“You’re so smart, aren’t you?”
The voice was his father’s. Aleric looked up from his vantage point behind the little boy who couldn’t have been more than two years old.
“You figured it out, didn’t you?”
The man who watched him appeared younger than Aleric remembered. His brown hair had not yet been touched with gray and his eyes crinkled at the corners with his smile instead of disapproval.
His father bent down, picked up the sticks, and tossed them again.
All at once, Aleric remembered the game. His father had made the
sticks, choosing them one by one from the forest near their house. He had whittled them for days, smoothing the bark away and carving small pictures into their ends. He had then taken ash from the fireplace and rubbed it into his carvings so that they stood out stark against the pale wood.
Aleric remembered pushing himself, seeing how quickly he could place bear to bear, turtle to turtle, pixie to pixie until the sticks created a circle. The delighted smile on his father’s face filled him with such happiness.
“That’s my boy,” his dad said. “That’s my little Ricky. I’m so proud of you.”
The memory faded.
“I had forgotten,” Aleric said. He wiped at the tears on his cheeks as he looked up at Death and the woodland elf the Horseman loved. “I had completely forgotten.”
“I know,” Doyle said, his voice carrying understanding. “He wanted you to know.”
Aleric’s voice was thick when he asked, “Does that mean my father’s with you?”
The Horseman lowered his head in one noble nod. “He is.”
The knowledge made Aleric’s throat tighten. “Take good care of him, will you?”
Doyle smiled. “I always do. Death is not a thing to fear, Aleric Bayne.” His gaze sharpened. “But it is also not a thing to go searching for. If I have to come back for you far sooner than I intend, I will be disappointed. This is your second chance. Don’t throw it away.”
“I won’t,” Aleric replied. “I promise.”
He watched the Fourth Horseman cross through the Rift. After he passed, the hole closed and the view of the Glass District was swallowed up into the dark alley once more. Aleric caught the salamander totem and put it in his pocket. He leaned against the wall and closed his eyes, letting the memory run over him once more.
Chapter Fifteen
Lilian was gone when Aleric returned. He found Dr. Worthen and Dartan sitting in the break room.
“So the sphinx went home?” Dr. Worthen asked when Aleric took a seat on the couch near him.
Diablo flapped her wings and landed on the werewolf’s knee. Aleric petted her and she gave a contented purr. “Yep. Everyone made it back safely. Even the grims. I’m sad to see them go, but I’m glad they found a better home,” Aleric replied.
