Four Horsemen Page 14

  “Promised him what?” Kaden asked, reminding me there were two other people at the table.

  I took my eyes away from Liam and looked at Trevor and Kaden. “Nothing. So, what are we going to do about these professionals and the person framing me?”

  “There isn’t much we can do. If we knew who they were then maybe we could find them before they found us,” Kaden said, and looked at me expectantly.

  I shook my head letting them know I didn’t know who the hunters were. I just realized I didn’t even know how many were coming or what to expect. I would have to contact Shawna later, once I had some privacy. This was going to cause so much paranoia.

  “I don’t think we should go to classes,” Trevor announced.

  I made a noise of protest. I had to go to classes or else I would fail, today did not count. It was only my first semester. I did not want to be part of the small percent that dropped out after their first semester because they couldn’t handle it. I may be in danger, which is a better excuse than most, but dang it if I would let those Templars push me to failure because I was too paranoid to go outside.

  “He’s right, we don’t know when or where this attack will happen or who to expect,” Kaden said, siding with Trevor.

  I shook my head vehemently. “I am going to classes. I am not failing. What would I tell my parents?”

  “What would you tell them if you ended up dead?” Liam threw at me.

  I flinched, knowing full well my death would destroy them especially since it was still relatively close to Owen’s death. Still, my education was important, and I liked to think I would have a future, so I needed to prepare for that.

  “Then maybe we should train more and use the buddy system,” I suggested.

  Kaden threw his hands up in exasperation while Trevor shook his head and grumbled.

  “Seriously though, let’s carry weapons and practice our talents.” I knew there were some knives and daggers laying around here somewhere. I could just grab a few and hide them in my backpack.

  Trevor and Kaden looked to Liam which made me look at him too. The three of us waited for his final order. Not that I would listen to him, but he was the leader and I knew Kaden and Trevor would do whatever he said, including locking me up if it came to that. I could tell Liam thought about the locking me up part and I narrowed my eyes silently telling him to unthink it.

  Liam frowned and his jaw tightened. “You are still going to leave the house to go to class no matter what we say, huh?”

  I smiled mischievously. “You’re learning,” I playfully praised.

  Liam pinched the bridge of his nose. “Fine, we will use the buddy system. Kaden and Trevor together, and me and Phi. I will investigate and try to figure out who is framing Phi.”

  Kaden and Trevor started to protest but Liam shook his head and they fell silent.

  “I will grab the weapons,” Trevor said resigned, and got up to go get them.

  “I will set up a training schedule, I guess,” Kaden said and walked upstairs to his room.

  “You know, I could probably rig some booby traps for the house,” I suggested, wanting to help in some way.

  Liam nodded in agreement then stood up. “Do. Not. Leave this house without me,” Liam warned, making sure to emphasize the first two words, then walked out of the kitchen.

  By the end of the week I was absolutely exhausted. When Kaden said he would create a new schedule I didn’t think I would be training during every single free moment. If I wasn’t creating booby traps, doing homework, or attending class, then I was swinging a scythe, throwing daggers and punches, and practicing my talents which thankfully were getting stronger now that I knew how to use them. All I had to do now was think about loss and how it made me feel and I could cause anyone in the room to feel sick. Not collapse and puke your guts out sick. I could cause puke level sick when I actually touched them. I have nightmares about the things I’ve seen from their stomachs.

  I also experienced high levels of the others’ talents. I do not think I have ever felt more anger, despair, and fear in my whole life. However, the more I felt their talents the more I could conjure up my own since it drew on those three. It had become a battle between Liam and I on who could cause the other to cave first. Unfortunately, I had been the one to tap out each time since his talent was so strong and he was Conquest, meaning he had a natural advantage in anything. The only way I would win was if I decided to use pestilence and I was not planning on killing my maybe boyfriend anytime soon.

  I was sitting across from Kaden, trying to make him sick without touching him, when I had a thought.

  “Does Death cause a general illness, or can I differentiate between viruses?” I figured Kaden would be the best one to ask since he was our unofficial scholar on all things Horsemen.

  “What do you mean?” He asked distractedly. I sent another wave of my talent at him, and I knew it hit when he frowned and bent forward slightly. His green eyes darkened. He was good at hiding it, but I had gotten used to his tells enough to know he was feeling it.

  “Well right now you probably feel nauseous, but that is not really apocalyptic level talent. As Death, can I pick, like the flu or Ebola, to spread?” I withdrew my power to let Kaden breathe easier and respond.

  Kaden took a moment to catch his breath and straighten then tilted his head in thought. “I don’t see why not. You are the actual, real life Death, a sign of the apocalypse according to many myths so it would make sense that you control all sorts of diseases.” Kaden eyed me as if looking for something. “You aren’t thinking of doing anything crazy are you?”

  My eyes widened in horror. “What? No! I’m not going to become some kind of terrorist, calm down.” I shrugged and looked down at my hands. “I was just wondering.”

  Kaden stayed quiet a bit longer then stood up abruptly. I looked up at him, wondering if practice was over already. That would be nice. Maybe I could finally have a bit of down time. He held out his hand and I took it, letting him pull me up.

  “I want to show you something,” he said, and walked toward the stairs.

  Curious about what it was, I followed him. Upstairs we passed the guest room and I thought about darting inside so I could relax for a while. Instead I continued down the hall behind Kaden. I expected Trevor or Liam to come out of their rooms, but their doors stayed closed.

  At the end of the hall he stopped in front of a door that I knew led to his room. “You can come in here anytime you want.” He chuckled and his cheeks reddened a bit. “Well, knock first.”

  I opened my mouth to ask him why I would want to go in there, but my words died when he opened the door and I saw what was inside.

  Chapter 16

  My eyes widened and I gasped, trying to take everything in. I took a few steps into the room and turned in a slow circle to get a better look. Covering every wall except the one his bed was against were bookshelves filled with books. His whole room was a mini library and I instantly knew I would be coming back often. On display on some of the bookshelves were various daggers and other weapons. Behind his bed, on the wall, hung an ancient looking sword which I suspected to be the original sword of the first War Horseman, just like my scythe was the one Death first used.

  I went up to one of the shelves and ran my finger over some of the spines. Old books were interspersed among newer ones, but all were dusted and clean. After reading some of the titles, I could tell there was a theme. Kaden confirmed it a second later when he came to stand beside me.

  “All these books are on the apocalypse. Not just the Christian version but I have the Egyptian, Norse, and Aztec versions as well as others.”

  I stared in wonder at all the books. I never knew there were so many stories about the end of the world. I turned to look at the other bookcases and nodded my head towards them. “What about those?”

  Kaden turned to look at them with me. “I have a section for each of the Horsemen.” He walked over to the nearest bookcase and held out his hand as if
presenting it. “This one is all about War, including mythologies from different cultures about war stuff. Even if it doesn’t mention the Horsemen specifically, I have books about similar aspects.”

  I looked at the other bookshelves in the room. “Where is mine?” It felt so weird to know that a whole bookcase was dedicated to the Death Horseman which happened to be me and my predecessors. It made me shiver.

  He walked down the line of bookshelves, pointing to each one. “This one is Conquest’s, this one Famine, and this one is yours.”

  The bookcase holding at least a hundred books about Death, pestilence or anything similar sat along the wall opposite the door. I looked at the last bookcase next to mine, which was positioned near the bed and was only half the size of the others.

  I pointed to it. “What about that one?”

  Kaden cleared his throat making me look at him in curiosity. His cheeks reddened a bit and he refused to look me in the eyes. “Those, uh, are my personal books.”

  A smile crept up on my face. “You read for fun?”

  Kaden looked offended. “Yes, and it is actually quite fun thank you very much.”

  I held up my hands. “Whoa, I’m not judging, just curious.” I walked over to his little bookshelf, passing mine along the way and stooped down to see the titles. “Ok now I’m judging. You like romance books?”

  I glanced up at Kaden who had followed me and saw him blush harder. The red in his cheeks made the orange highlights in his russet hair stand out. It was actually kind of adorable.

  “Now I know why you’re such a good flirt.”

  Kaden turned his back to me and grumbled. “Shut up.”

  I laughed at his reaction and walked over to my bookshelf, letting his reading habits go for now. “Wow,” I breathed, gazing at the multitude of books on the shelves.

  There were more books about death and the practices surrounding it than Conquest or Famine had about their topics. War may have been close since every culture ever dealt with war. There were so many books about death that it seemed impossible to ever get through it all.

  “Like I said, you can come in here anytime to study these. I haven’t found anything yet about your ghost thing, but we can look together, and this would also be the best place to research the extent of your talent,” Kaden said from behind me.

  I turned around with a huge grin. “Thanks.” I meant it too. I loved looking through books to research things which is why I liked studying at the library but ever since I had been attacked there I hadn’t gone back. Now I had a place to go to find out information about all this Horsemen stuff especially since Shawna’s Bible did not explain enough.

  My cell phone rung making us both jump. I fished it out of my pocket and checked the screen. Shawna. Speak of the devil, well, Templar.

  I answered it and moved toward the door so Kaden couldn’t overhear. I kept my eyes on him to make sure he didn’t come near me and answered the phone. “Yes?” I said making sure to keep the frown from my face in case Kaden questioned me about it.

  “They’re coming,” Shawna said sending chills down my arms.

  Fear tried to tighten my chest, but I took deep breaths to calm myself. “When?” Yes! I managed to keep my voice steady. Take that, fear.

  “Soon, I don’t know. There is a meeting about it tomorrow night.” Shawna sounded a bit scared which only made me feel even more uneasy.

  I glanced at Kaden who tried to act like he wasn’t listening to me by messing with some of the books on his bookshelves. I made sure to lower my voice. “Can you come here so we can talk in person.”

  A pause on the other line made me think she would say no. Instead she said, “Sure, I will be over in a few minutes.” Then she hung up.

  I put my phone away and Kaden immediately asked, “What was that about?”

  “Nothing. Shawna is coming over to give me something.” I made sure to keep my voice even and look nonchalant.

  Kaden stood up straighter and his eyes flitted around. “Shawna is coming over?”

  I narrowed my eyes at him. Did the War Horseman have a crush on my Templar ex-roommate? Not that he knew of her identity but still, I would have to make sure he didn’t get anywhere near her. I blinked in bewilderment when I realized I didn’t want to keep her away for Kaden’s safety but rather hers.

  I pointed my finger at him and scolded him like he was a puppy. “No, you stay away from her. She doesn’t need any of your flirting or romance novel pickup lines.”

  His cheeks reddened and I found that making him blush was my new favorite hobby, well that and pushing Liam’s buttons.

  He waved his hands at, shooing me away. “Get out of here.”

  I chuckled at him as I left then made my way downstairs to wait for Shawna. My humor died when I remembered what she was coming over to talk about. I kept my phone gripped in my hand waiting for her to call and change her mind. I wouldn’t blame her but if she did change her mind, I was going to pester her until she told me everything she knew. A few minutes later, a loud knocking at the door made me jump and almost drop my phone. I put it back in my pocket and took a deep breath then opened the door coming face to face with Shawna.

  She looked around the area before meeting my eyes and waving with a tight-lipped smile. She looked nervous and a little jumpy. I hoped the Templars did not know she was here. I glanced around the house to make sure there were no Horsemen nearby then went outside, closing the door behind me. I crossed my arms over my chest, partly to show her I was still a little upset and partly to fend off the chill in the air.

  “When and where is the meeting?” I asked, getting straight to the point.

  Shawna glanced around again making sure we were truly alone. “Tomorrow night, 6pm in a community center. The university chapter house where the Penn State Templars live is too small to accommodate everyone. We have our meetings at the center occasionally when the Pennsylvania chapter comes to the school.”

  “Why don’t you live with them?” I asked. She had been in the dorms since the first day, yet she could have lived in a nice off campus chapter house.

  Shawna sighed. “I already told you. They wanted me to live with you and report any findings. They had to make sure you were who they thought you were before they made a move.” At my suspicious look Shawna held up her hands. “I swear I never told them anything.”

  I nodded, deciding to believe her. She had been giving me information which was risky when her Order was into killing people. I wasn’t ready to admit it out loud, but I had slowly been trusting her again and thinking of her as a sort of friend. Maybe it was because I hadn’t had a friend in a long time, and I was a little desperate for one that wasn’t a machine. The friends I had in high school stopped hanging around me because I became depressed and withdrawn after Owen’s death and I had pushed away Liam, Kaden, and Trevor who tried to stick by my side.

  “I will tell you what they say right after the meeting,” Shawna said quietly.

  “No.” I had a sudden absolutely crazy idea and Liam was not going to like it.

  “No?” she asked bewildered. “Why?”

  “I want to go to the meeting.” I almost took it back as soon as it left my lips, but I clenched my fists and bit my tongue. I wanted to go and hear what they had to say for myself. I wanted to know how many Templars there were and see their faces. I was tired of being attacked by strangers. At least this way I would recognize them first. Maybe I would find out who had been framing me and put a stop to it before they killed any more people. And they said the Horsemen were evil. I snorted and shook my head at the thought.

  Shawna shook her head with wide eyes. “No, you can’t go. They will recognize you.”

  I huffed, realizing she was right. Then I snapped my fingers as an idea hit me. “I could wear a wig and disguise myself.” Yeah, that would totally work.

  She gave me a look like I was an idiot. “This is not a movie, Phi.”

  I rolled my eyes. “I know that, Shawna. C’mon it’s a
good idea. You could get me a wig and it will be fine.”

  Shawna opened her mouth to argue, frowning as she did in disapproval, but the door opened, and Kaden poked his head out forcing her to hold off on what she was going to say.

  “Shawna! So nice to see you.”

  Shawna’s face morphed from serious to flirty in an instant. I had to blink a few times to get on track with the new atmosphere. I glared at Kaden trying to silently tell him to go away. He glanced at me and smiled, completely ignoring my order.

  “We were planning on having a movie night. Why don’t you stay?” Kaden suggested, looking hopeful.

  Movie night? Since when? I started to protest but Shawna spoke up first. “I would love that, thank you.”

  “Great, I will tell the others.” Kaden went back into the house leaving Shawna and I alone.

  I switched my narrowed eyes from the door where Kaden had stood to Shawna. “What was that?” I accused.

  Shawna looked at me innocently though I could tell she knew what I was talking about. “What do you mean?”

  I walked up to her so I could speak low and show her how serious I was. “You guys can’t be together. You can come in just this once but don’t think it will happen again.” I know that sounded mean, but I was trying to protect Kaden and Shawna. “Also, bring me the wig tomorrow.”

  Before she could refuse, I walked into the house but not before I saw the hurt look on her face. My chest pinched with guilt. Maybe I had been unnecessarily harsh. I wouldn’t take it back though. Shawna was a Templar and Kaden was the War Horseman. That just spelled trouble.

  Shawna walked in after me a second later with no trace of the hurt she showed a moment before. Instead, she had a bright smile plastered on her face which got wider when she spotted Kaden. Annoyingly, Kaden’s smile turned just as bright when he saw her, and he came over to guide her to a seat in the living room. They started talking and laughing as Kaden pulled up Netflix. I kept my eyes on them and crossed my arms. What could they possibly be talking about?