“Did you put your bets on this one?” Aisa snorts, looking over at her two sisters. “You always were the fools.”
Behind Aisa, the door to the hospital room thuds loudly as the Horseman tries to break the wards my mother set in place. She stands up, raising her shriveled hands to revitalize the wards, but nothing happens.
“The box must have taken some of my powers. It’s not working—” she says, turning to me with terrified eyes.
Before I have time to respond, the door to the hospital room crumples inward with a force that knocks Mom and I back into the wall and window behind us. Clotho and Lachesis step back, turning to the doorway. Aisa once again cackles, clapping her hands together like a giddy schoolgirl.
“Oh no,” Mom breathes, scrambling to get back to her feet.
I look up, brushing blood and debris from my face just in time to see the Horseman step into the room. From an outstretched hand, Colton dangles by his throat. Behind them, the bodies of Cat and Diana lie on the ground in a heap of blood and debris.
Oh, my god. This is how it’s going to end.
Chapter 25
Sin-Eater
I fight back the hysteria building within me, but it’s useless. Everything I know and love is coming to an end before my eyes. On top of that, everything I’ve been through up until now has been completely pointless. Necromancy, astral projection…even sin-eating. It’s all useless.
With a sickening snap, the Horseman’s black hand clenches, breaking Colton’s neck and severing his head from the rest of his body. His body crumples to the floor beside the Horseman with little fanfare.
I clap a hand over my mouth, forcing back the guttural scream trying to unleash.
Immortal or not—I’m not certain anyone can survive a Horseman of the apocalypse.
Tears flood my eyes as I try my best not to give in completely to despair.
There’s absolutely no resemblance to Wade remaining in the exterior body of the Horseman. It’s like I’m staring at a completely different entity altogether—and in some ways, I suppose I am. Yet, I swear I can still feel him. Like he’s still here with me, even though it seems impossible. God, how I wish he was still here with me.
Glancing down at the open box, I blow out a slow burst of air, trying to calm my nerves. What if there is a way to reach Wade? A way to make him remember who he really is… Even if only for a moment.
Could it be possible?
Wade never crossed over. His soul never left his body. Whatever he is now, he’s some sort of distorted hybrid. Something exploited for the gains of the Moirai—or at the very least, Aisa. Maybe the universe, too. But then again, the universe rarely takes sides.
Completely ignoring the bright light and intense energy of the box still clutched in my hands, the Horseman simply flicks his wrist and Colton’s head flies across the room. It hits the wall to my right with a sickening thud before it comes to a rest on the cold tile floors. Blood pools around it and I bend over, fighting back the urge to vomit.
Mom is suddenly at my side, her bony hands resting on my back as she tries her best to comfort me. It’s no use though. We’re all doomed.
“You know, it’s ironic, really. We had no idea at first that this horrid existence was finally coming to an end,” Aisa says gleefully, turning away from the Horseman to face me and my mother. “It was foretold eons before you were born, but we never knew just when the day would come. It was hidden, even from us, if you can believe it.” She snickers to herself.
Lachesis turns her gaze from Aisa to me, her eyes wide. She opens her mouth, as if she’s about to say something, but Clotho grabs hold of her arm. When Lachesis looks at her, Clotho shakes her head.
I narrow my gaze, unable to believe any of this.
“Why would you want to bring on the end?” I sputter, trying to stand back up.
Even as I talk to Aisa, I don’t take my eyes off of the Horseman because I know he won’t stand by for long. Despite myself, a plan begins to form, and a strange serenity settles over me. It may be a Hail Mary pass, but I’m ready to take it if the right moment presents itself.
“Because we’ll finally be free,” she states, as if it’s the most obvious thing in the world.
My mouth drops open.
Freedom? Of all the things she wants, it’s the same thing as the rest of us.
How’s that for ironic?
Well, if it’s freedom she wants, maybe there’s more than one way to give it to her.
As if on cue, the Horseman stalks forward, his dark, hulking form sending complete terror racing through me, despite any plans. I hold out my free hand, as if my feeble hand gesture could do anything to make him stop.
“Wade—please,” I plead, refusing to look away from him. “This isn’t you. You don’t want to do this.”
“That’s not Wade, Autumn.” Mom steps closer to me, grabbing onto my right arm as she winces through the pain.
I look over my shoulder into her terrified eyes. It’s clear that everything she fears about this magickal world is coming to fruition right before her and there’s nothing she can do about it but watch it unfold. It must be her worst nightmare as much as it’s becoming mine.
I straighten my shoulders, shaking my head at her words. “You’re wrong. He’s still in there…somewhere. I know he is. I can feel him,” I say, stepping forward and pulling out of my mother’s reach. My heart thumps loudly in my chest, but I can’t bring myself to cower in fear anymore.
If this is going to be the end, I’m going out the way I want to—believing in the power of love. Our love. “Wade, if you can
