Page 57 of Providence

Memphis nodded. “On my life. He is blood. Family. He will be safe.” Then he was gone.

I reached down, pulling Cara into my arms and grabbing Sammie’s hand. We had to get the fuck out of here, but not without Goose.

“Hey, Cara, ever wanted to hold a Mongoose?” She looked at me confused. Fuck the room was filled with bodies. How could I protect them from this? Maybe I should put them back into the safe room.

I looked at the C4 on the door. Nah, that wasn’t an option. “Okay guys. We are going to go out there. But I need you to keep your eyes on the back of my head, okay? Don’t look down.” I stuck my head out of the safe room. “Goose, Brother. Can you hear me? I need you to shift. We are getting you out of here. Me and the kids.”

Dammit, I hope he was coherent enough to hear me, otherwise we’d be fucked. I grabbed their hands and led them out of the safe room. “Remember, eyes up here,” I said sternly. I walked them through the mass of bodies over to Goose. His body was battered even in his mongoose form. God, we owed him so much. I wasn’t sure we’d ever be able to repay him and Bear.

I leaned down and picked him up gently. I wanted to apologize when he hissed a pained sound. “It’ll be alright. We got to Bear in time. We got you, Brother,” I promised softly. I passed him to Cara, who held him as gently as she held Madoc. “Grab my belt. We’ll go find Sera and Marco, hey? I’m going to take you guys for ice cream every day for a month for being so damn brave,” I said softly, drawing my gun. I crept up the stairs, slowing my steps so they could keep up. I looked out the door, only to be confronted by another fucking angel.

“Not an Angel, Solomon,” the cool voice said. Yeah, no angel. He was the motherfucking Devil.

He looked around me at Cara and Sammie. “Hello, Children.” He looked at me. “You may want to grab the rat.” With that, he clicked his fingers and both the kids fell asleep.

I caught Goose just before he hit the floor, and Lucifer managed to grab the kids in his arms. “They are fine. The mess out there, no child should see,” he said softly, and I nodded. I hefted Cara into my arms, and Lucifer grabbed Sammie. He had a sword in his other hand, but it seemed pretty redundant considering who he was. “Toward the back. I’m pretty sure Judas and my Beloved are making a death mound on the front lawn.”

My eyes went wide, but he didn’t seem like the kind of guy who’d joke about death mounds. We walked through the living room, and I could see the evidence of Goliath’s rage. Lots of dismembered bodies. But there was evidence of Judas giving over to Death too. An untouched body, his face contorted in a death mask of pain and suffering.

More soldiers were climbing over the rear fence, blocking off our escape from the back of the property.

Luc just raised an eyebrow. “Do not worry about this,” he said, moving ahead of me, out the back door onto the deck. He laid Sammie on the recliner, then stepped onto the back lawn, his black wings spread wide. They must have been twelve feet across. Black like death. Standing there like that, he scared the fucking shit out of me.

Then he swung his sword, a manic grin on his face. It was like madness hit every single one of those soldiers. They ran at him, guns blazing, and I quickly placed Cara beside her brother and Goose, covering them with my body. Jesus fucking Christ. Lucifer was insane. Literally nuts.

There was the squelching, thudding noise of a sword hitting bone, and the gunshots lessened and the screams got louder. I wanted to look, but honestly, part of me was a chickenshit. I didn’t want to see what happened when you took pot shots at the Devil.

When the gunfire ceased, I hazarded a look over my shoulder and resisted the urge to gag. I’d seen what Goliath could do to his victims, but the soldiers from the back lawn were basically minced meat and gore. They had been eviscerated.

I saw a finger lying on the back deck near my feet, and I wondered if I’d lose my Horseman cred if I puked all over my shoes.

Lucifer stood before me, coated in blood. He was a nightmare. No, he was fucking worse than that. He was the nightmare that your boogeymen had bad dreams about. With another snap of his fingers, he was clean. Every trace of foreign DNA was gone from his body. Handy trick.

I took my own advice and did not look down, even when my boots crunched and squelched I kept my eyes on the horizon until we were out of the yard. Gag.

We moved quickly over to the warehouse where I had Bear stashed. We avoided the street, because I didn’t know how I’d explain two unconscious children and a wounded Mongoose to the cops. I knew they had to be coming soon, unless Tenebrae had paid them to stay away.

Finally, I slipped through the side door of the warehouse. Bear was still there, curled up in his furry form, healing. I placed Goose down beside him.

I put the kids inside the truck, covering them with one of Cain’s huge hoodies.

Then I hesitated. I still hadn’t seen Sera or my Brothers. They needed me, but so did the kids and Bear and Goose.

Indecision was like a pain in my chest. Luc huffed. “Go. I shall watch over these ones.”

I eyed him suspiciously, which probably wasn’t good for my life expectancy. “Don’t you want to be back there fighting?”

He raised a single eyebrow. “My Fallen and my Horsemen have it under control. What do I need to fight for? The glory?” He grinned, and it was the kind of smile that made your heart stutter with fear. “I am the Devil. I need no glory.”

I hesitated a moment longer, then I turned and ran from the warehouse. I trusted very few people in my life, but right now, I trusted the Devil above them all to care for the people I loved.

32

Cain

Iraced around the back of the house as Judas had ordered. I had to get to Sera, to the kids. Had to make these assholes pay. I could feel the resonance of Death spreading his way from my President, like something insidious and evil. It wasn’t though, not normally. Death was just the opposite of Life. A completely natural, unavoidable ending for most people. That was, unless it was wielded by a Horseman. Then it was a weapon unlike any seen before. It made the very Heavens quake with fear.

Two mercs appeared, because there was no doubt in my mind that's what they were. Not Cartel. I cursed. The bombing of Apocalypse had been a fucking distraction, and we’d fallen for it while they were here, trying to take my family. I roared, pulling my knife from the sheath on my belt and running at them. War rode me hard, and it spread to them like a virus. Soon enough they would become paranoid, their hearts racing so fast that it felt like it would beat out of their chests. If I left them, they would turn on each other until only one, or none, was left standing. Unfortunately for them, I didn’t have time to let War play. They were going to die quick, but painful deaths.

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