by Nikki Drost
Micah responds by cranking the cold water on full blast. The frozen droplets fill my open mouth causing my mind to panic and grab onto a memory of when I was six- years old.
A sack has been roughly dragged over my head and face cutting off my air supply. Growls and cheers of approval from the men of my father’s army echo against the walls of the dungeon. Cold metal bites into my skin as I am held down and chained to a wooden rack. Tears fill my eyes just as the first drops of frozen water hit my face. The thin fabric is held taunt forcing my mouth to remain open. My lungs burn with the loss of oxygen, but my father continues his punishment. The sensation of drowning is too much to bear as more water makes its way down my throat. The cheers are deafening now, my mind gives into the idea of letting go, of joining my mother in the afterlife. I would finally find some resemblance of peace, but my father would never allow that, no, he is not done with me yet.
In the next moment I’m back in my dream, Alaric is chained to the stone floor in my father’s dungeon about to lose his head.
His eyes meet mine. “Save me, Dad,” he begs.
“No stop! Not like this, just take me, you son of a bitch!”
“Christ, James,” Micah grunts next to my ear, his arms tighten around my body like bands of steel forcing my back against his chest. “God, brother, I’m sorry. I thought the cold water would sober you up.”
Scolding heat splashes against my skin soothing the panic and overwhelming fear coursing through my veins. I rest my head against Micah’s shoulder while taking a few deep breaths to calm my racing heartbeat.
“Why, Micah, why do I have to give him up? All my life I’ve fought against becoming a father and now, I want to be one more than anything else in this world.”
My legs begin to tremble underneath my weight, but instead of toppling over, Micah eases us both to the tiled floor. He wraps me in his warm embrace, holding me close against his chest. I inhale his woodsy scent and instantly feel safe and protected. The last time my brother held me like this, he had just saved me from a life of torture and abuse. Only, I had been too terrified to hug him back, but not this time. I wrap my arms around my brother’s torso and nuzzle closer.
“It’s going to be alright, we’ll find a way for you to keep him and make sure he fulfills his destiny. I’ll figure it out, little brother, I promise.”
His words do little to ease the pain within my soul. It’s not possible for it to work both ways, if there was, then we would have done it the first time around.
“Why do you always save me?”
Sometimes I think his life would have been better if he had left me in that cage to die.
“I will always save you, James, even if that means I have to save you from yourself. You gave me a reason to be a better man, so in a way, little brother, you saved me as well.”
***
On the ride home Micah informed me that not only is Kelsey about to leave my ass for good, but my son hasn’t been seen or heard from in days. I had been so busy ripping Kelsey apart that I hadn’t even noticed that my own son was missing. I’m off to a great fucking start as a father.
Micah has done everything he can to assure me that my son will be found safe, but my gut is telling me that he is in serious trouble. So help me, if someone has hurt him in any way I will go medieval on their asses. I’m done letting my family down. My brother was right, it’s time for me to man up and be the best father and husband that I can be.
I burst through the front door of the cabin and race up the stairs to my bedroom. Kelsey is too busy tossing her things into bags that she doesn’t hear me come into the room.
“I thought you said I was stuck with you, princess?”
Startled, Kelsey drops a pile of shirts onto the floor. She then turns to face me and my heart aches at the sight before me. Her tear stained cheeks and the noticeable dark circles under her eyes just further prove how much of a selfish prick I’ve been.
“Kelsey, I’m—”
“Don’t you dare say that you’re sorry!” she snaps angrily. “Do you have any idea what you’ve put me through? I’ve been scared out of my mind for not only you, but for our teenaged son. I doubt that he is hiding out in some motel room drowning his sorrows in Jack Daniels like you were.”
I deserve her anger and so much more for what I have done to her. Apparently, my selfishness knows no bounds. I’ve known from the start that I didn’t deserve her, but I never truly felt it until this moment. I silently watch as she continues to move about the room collecting her things.
“Even though you’ve told me over and over again that you didn’t want to be a father, I still held out hope that once you found out that I was pregnant you would change your mind. As furious as I am at you for leaving me, I am even more pissed off that you’ve hurt our child. You may not want him, but I sure as hell do and I won’t give him up without a fight. So you better warn your angel friends not to underestimate me because they are about to find out what a pissed off mother is truly capable of.”
Christ, if I had ever had any doubts that my mate couldn’t handle this life they just went flying out the fucking window. She is going to be one fierce ass mother to our pup. Heaven help anybody who ever messes with him. Now the only thing left to do is convince her to stay.
“You have every right to be hate me, but you’re wrong about one thing, Kelsey, I did change my mind. I want to be a father and I don’t give a shit what I have to do or what it will cost me, but our son isn’t going anywhere and neither are you.”
To drive my point home, I grab her by her arms and pull her close until her body is flush against my own.
“I love you, princess, and I’m not giving either of you up without a fight. I know you are strong enough to do this on your own, but I’m here to tell you that you won’t have to. I’m in this with you now and forever.”
The relief I feel as she wraps her arms around my waist and lays her head on my chest overwhelms me. I honestly wasn’t sure she’d forgive me this time.
“I love you too, Jamie, so much.”
I lean forward, pressing a soft kiss upon her lips. “I’m going to spend the rest of my life making this up to you, but first I need to find our son.”
Kelsey grabs my hand as I turn to leave. “Jamie your brothers have been looking everywhere for him. With his powers he could be anywhere in the world by now.”
“Don’t worry, princess. I know exactly how to find him.”
***
Of all the things I ever imagined myself doing in my lifetime, returning to my father’s castle would not have been one of them. Yet, here I am. Standing in what used to be the courtyard of his massive compound, I’m assaulted with the haunting memories of my childhood. The castle itself may no longer be here, thanks to my brother, but that doesn’t take away the overwhelming sense of trepidation that washes over me.
“This doesn’t make any sense,” Cass says as he looks around the abandoned structure. “Are you sure we’re in the right place?”
“He’s here, Cass. I’d bet my life on it.”
When the four of us had sat down to formulate some sort of plan to find Alaric the memory of my dream kept flashing in my mind. That’s when I knew without a shadow of a doubt that my son was taken here. I immediately summoned Azrael and threatened him within an inch of his life to transport us to Italy.
“The prophet isn’t alone,” Death chimes in. “You can feel it, right? That powerful sense of helplessness, fear, dread, it’s not caused from the lost souls that haunt this place. Demons are here, powerful ones.”
Azrael points toward a pile of rocks, among the ruins are four painted symbols similar to the sigils the four of us wear. I scan the area and find several more painted on nearby trees and some are even carved into the dirt.
“You need to summon, Michael.” The angel looks me dead in the eye. “Those sigils are the mark of the demonic Horsemen, and that one,” he points to the center of the courtyard, “is the mark of the fallen. The demons put that there to kee
p my ass out.”
“Fuck, Michael,” I snap. “It’s his fault we are even in this mess. I don’t give a flying fuck if the devil himself is inside. One way or another I’m going to get my son back.”
“Fine,” the angel sighs. “Just be careful. The Horsemen are unlike anything you have ever faced before. They are masters of deception. Watch each other’s backs and for the love of my boss, do not get separated. The only way you’ll defeat them is if you work together. I’ll wait here for your return.”
With a renewed sense of determination, the four of us head deeper into the compound. The closer we come to our destination the eerier our surroundings become.
“Man, this place creep’s me out.” Cass noticeably shudders. “I keep waiting for something to jump out at us.”
“Does anyone else have the feeling that we’re being watched?” Adam asks while scanning our surroundings.
Micah raises his hand, signaling for us to stop. We remain in formation as he drops to a knee and runs his palm over the earth. “Fall back!” he shouts as the ground beneath our feet splits open.
We scramble back just as hundreds of large wooden pikes spring upwards out of the dirt.
“Jesus,” Cass says while clutching his chest. “Now I know how Indian Jones felt.”
Leave it to Casanova to find humor in a situation like this.
“Then I hope you brought your whip, Indie, cause we might need it to swing over a pit of snakes next,” I add dryly.
With our path blocked off, we are forced to head to the right. Yeah, this doesn’t scream trap at all, I inwardly scoff.
Just as we reach the area that used to be the armory, a large gust of wind hits us from all directions.
“Hit the deck!” Adam’s command has us dropping to the ground just as thousands of arrows whiz by our heads.
Jesus Christ!
“That’s it!” I growl. “I’m done playing games with these fuckers.”
I get to my feet and head straight for my father’s old dungeon, booby traps be damned. I’m sick of wasting time. God only knows what those assholes are doing to my son right now.
My message must have been received loud and clear since the rest of our trek was unhindered by any more pointy objects. After several tense minutes, we finally come upon a sizable gap in the ground. I peer down the dark hole to see a familiar looking stone staircase.
“Welcome to hell, boys.” I take several breaths before continuing. “Cass, you won’t have access to water, but there should still be plenty of weapons still lying around. Grab the first one you see. Adam, if anything goes wrong, you grab Cass and my son, then get the hell out of there, got it? Our first priority is getting Alaric to safety. Micah and I will be right behind you.”
I summon a ball of fire in each of my palms, then without hesitation I take the first step into the dark abyss. Memories of the past assault me from all directions, but I keep moving forward, that is until I reach the bottom of the staircase. It takes me a minute to process the unbelievable scene before me.
“Fuck me,” I whisper. “It looks exactly as it did hundreds of years ago.”
Lit torches cast haunting shadows over the hoards of polished weapons lining the walls. Yards of thick chains hang from the rafters, various torture devices are scattered about, and in the center of the room is a rack with leather restraints. If seeing all of this shit wasn’t bad enough, the wall of small metal cages pushes me over the edge.
“This isn’t right,” Micah growls, “I destroyed everything down here.”
“Well, somebody has been redecorating.” Adam tilts his chin toward the three unlit passageways. “Do I even want to know where those tunnels lead to?”
He really doesn’t. The only one that matters is the one in the middle. It leads straight toward my father’s personal torture chamber.
“Come on.” With my brothers following close behind me, I race down the passageway. As I cross the threshold, I’m hit with a bout of déjà vu. Just like my dream, I find Alaric kneeling in a puddle of his own blood. His arms are chained to the floor, cuts and bruises mare every inch of his skin. He raises his head, and once again, I see dark eyes staring back at me with anguish. Only he doesn’t beg me to save him this time.
“Save…yourselves,” he pants. “Please, Dad…just leave me.”
“Not happening, kid.”
I move forward with the intention of freeing my son, only to end up being thrown against the wall by an invisible force. One by one, each of my brothers is tossed against the wall.
“It took you morons long enough to get here. I thought we were going to have to send out a search party,” a familiar voice taunts.
I lift my head and instantly my jaw hits the ground. Holy motherfucking shit!
“It’s like looking in a mirror isn’t it?” Cass or rather famine says with a hint of amusement.
Yeah, a big creepy ass mirror maybe.
“I’m assuming no introductions are needed so let’s get down to it, shall we?” Conquest moves to stand in front of Adam, he leans in close to my best friend like he’s studying his features.
“Remarkable likeness would you say? I bet I could even fool that pretty wife of yours, should we find out?”
“Go near my mate and it will be the last thing you ever do!” Adam growls, his eyes flash amber as he struggles to break free.
“Quit playing with your food and gut the bastard already. I’m growing bored and you know what happens when I get bored,” Death snarls.
This is the strangest fucking thing I have ever witnessed, I think to myself.
“Fine,” Conquest sighs. “Go ahead and kill the prophet, but I call dibs on, Azrael. That angel and I have some unfinished business.”
Just like in my dream, a figure holding a broad sword emerges from the shadows. Yup, the sinister version of myself is actually War. Part of me feels relieved to know that my worst fear will in fact not come to pass, but the other part is freaking out because I know what is to come next. Not if I can help it.
“You know, I didn’t take you for a pussy,” I say with as much nonchalance as I can muster.
The only reaction I get from War is a cocky smirk, great, so not only does the demon look exactly like me, but he also has my attitude.
“How about you and I make a deal? Winner takes all.”
Take the bait, fucker.
“Dad, don’t!” Alaric begs. His eyes plead with me from across the room.
“How nauseatingly sweet, I hate sweet.” War sneers as he begins to pace around my son, the action makes me nervous as hell. “But I do enjoy making deals. You’re on, Peace.”
In the next moment, the nine of us are standing in my father’s old training ring. Well, this is as good a place as any to execute my plan. With the evil Horsemen on one side and us on the other, I motion for my brothers to huddle up. I take a moment to check on Alaric. His hands are still bound by those special angel chains, but we can work around that.
“Have you lost your freaking mind?” Cass whispers loudly. “You can’t kill War without your angelic sword and the last time I checked you don’t own that particular weapon.”
“Calm down, Cass, if this doesn’t work there is always plan B.” I bump fists with each of my brothers then turn to join War in the middle of the ring.
“I’m assuming you want rules,” War scoffs.
“Why bother, it’s not like you’ll stick to them anyways.” I smirk knowingly.
“Good point.” He chuckles.
With that out of the way, I unleash my powers. Lightning flashes across the sky as a surge of energy pumps through me. Rain begins to fall in torrents. The temperature around us drops several degrees as the ground beneath our feet shakes uncontrollably.
The surprised look on War’s face is almost comical. The poor bastard probably thought I’d fight fair seeing as how I’m supposed to be the good guy in this scenario. It’s too bad for him that I don’t know how to play fair.
While the evil
Horsemen are distracted, we make our moves. I land a hard kick to War’s abdomen, and then while he is doubled over, I throw several fireballs at Famine. Cass takes my place with War hitting him repeatedly with shards of ice.
At the same time, Micah slams Conquest in the chest with a nearby boulder while Adam summons a small cyclone and sends it directly at Death. The four of us work as a team, each battling their opposite power. The point wasn’t to kill the demonic foursome, we need special weapons to do that, all we need to do is distract them long enough to destroy one of those symbols. Then Azrael will swoop in and teleport our asses out of here.
“I’m impressed, Peace. I didn’t think you had it in you.” Famine throws out his hand blasting me with frozen water.
I’m instantly frozen in place. “Bite me, Famine.” I inhale deeply, then, with a jolt of my powers, the ice instantly cracks enough for me to break free. I toss out a few more fireballs, then, summon a bolt of lightning. Within seconds, Famine is out for the count with enough volts of electricity running through him to kill ten men. I can’t believe that idiot thought a little ice would stop me. Cass has been doing the same move to me for years.
I take the opportunity to locate one of those symbols. Finding one carved into a tree, I blast it with a giant fireball instantly setting the damn thing on fire. With that taken care of, I rejoin the battle. Conquest is down for the count, which leaves Death and War. For some odd reason this doesn’t surprise me.
Cass and I join forces alternating a fire and ice assault on War. He counters with his own attack, sending a stream of fire toward Cass. With a practiced move that I could’ve done in my sleep, I reverse the flames sending them right back at my evil twin. At this point, we switch partners once again, this time it’s me and Micah against Death.
Only we never get to finish our showdown. Just as my brother sends a tidal wave of rock and dirt, barreling toward his evil twin, Azrael finally decides to make an appearance. With a few middle fingers thrown in for good measure, Micah and I join the others and disappear into thin air.
Being transported by an angel is not as fun as it may sound. It feels like taking a ride on one of those roller coasters with the loops at warp speed. If you have to travel that way, I’d definitely recommend doing it with an empty stomach.
