Page 10 of The White Rider
“She has to live with the fact that she got out and the others didn’t. I’m sure she feels helpless and just wants to do something. I’ll bet she would have been happy just getting one out. She’s not going to sacrifice me after what she experienced.”
“You sure about that, Nephilim? Some humans believe bad blood wins out. She might not care what he did to you. She might think you’re just like him, because you’re his daughter. She could easily trade you for her friends since she doesn’t trust anyone related to Isaiah.”
“You seem to share that same train of thought, Angel. I have a name.”
“I don’t think you are like him, Ariel. We are not our parents. That doesn’t mean certain humans don’t think that way. Personally, I think you should be back in California, but you mean a lot to my brothers. You were sleeping when Aeron and Leif lost their shit trying to find you. I’m not watching that happen all over again because you got kidnapped a second time. The fate of the entire world hinges on Aeron, Leif, and Dice staying sane long enough to kill your father.”
“I’m glad we cleared that up. I won’t leave this hotel room, and I’ll try to appeal to Daria, but I think she knows we’re on the same side.”
Asher just snorted.
“You’re such an infant. You think you know humans, but I’ve spent way more time around them than you have. You think the Bubbas and the Marthas are unique to this century? This has happened before. Using angel blood to create zombies is new, but nothing about how humanity has reacted to all of this is. There are always people doing their best with what they are given and trying to fix things, and then there are those using the chaos as an excuse to give in to baser urges. Things are dire right now. Logic doesn’t apply to anyone.”
“You don’t have to tell me that. People think the Antichrist is the second coming of Jesus.”
“I meant you too, Nephilim. For all your father knew, you died back in that hospital in Washington when communication from his lab stopped. You announced to the entire country that you’re alive and with people he told the country are terrorists. You think his Bubbas are limited to D.C? Aeron bragged about unleashingzombieson a whole mess of them. We never heard the end of it.”
“Wait, I thought that was a gang of cannibal rapists. Aeron never said anything about being followers of my father.”
“Oh, believe me. He wanted to. He wanted to brag all about it to you, but you didn’t remember enough yet. Dice, Leif, and I had to listen to him drone on and on about it.”
“He didn’t tell me what he was doing. He just started screaming about free food and took off running. There was this massive barricade of spikes in front of their compound. I was sure I was going to die. I’m still mad about that.”
Asher got the giggles. Angel boyfriends were superior to human boyfriends in many ways, but not when they decided to kill a bunch of people with me on the back of their horse. Or the fact that they found my reaction to it so damn hilarious. I had learned my lesson about punching Asher, so I swatted at him instead.
“How do you expect to handle the Oval Office with all of us if you can’t even deal with Aeron when he gets creative? Since you insist on tagging along, he can’t do his thing. It’s going to be a no-holds-barred Horseman fest in there, and if you think Aeron is crazy on his own, you should know that it’s worse when he works with Dice.”
“That’s when Leif’s shit gets broken. He kept complaining about that in Mexico.”
“That’s just when they fight each other. When War and Death work together against an enemy, they can break the entire world. You sure you’re ready for that, Princess? They might take the entire White House out in the process.”
I shrugged. Maybe it was my angel blood making me a little bit okay with killing and destroying historic buildings.
“As long as it stops Isaiah. We can rebuild a building. We can’t go back and change it if our time runs out and he wins.”
“I still think you should go back to California.”
I wished Asher would just drop that shit. He was sounding like a broken record. Every time I thought I was getting more comfortable talking to him, he had to revert to being an asshole.
Before I could even say anything, the door to the motel was flung open. Asher jumped in front of me to protect me, but I’d recognize that voice anywhere.
“You’d better have a good fucking reason for exposing my girlfriend, Asher,” Aeron roared.
Chapter 7
A
eron was pissed. I jumped between Aeron and Asher and realized Dice was there, too. They were both pissed at Asher. They looked like they were ready to fight him. He was only doing what I asked.
“I needed to take a shower and convinced Asher to bring me.”
“And why is Pepper bringing Daria to you?”
“Because I asked. I can draw the women that don’t want to be with the Bubbas. I’ll talk to her and smooth it out.”
A tiny little blonde woman strolled in behind them and kicked the door shut. They had hacked her hair off and she was in the process of growing it back. She had tattoos and wooden plugs in her ears. This woman was my tribe.
“Relax, assholes. I’m not going to hurt your girlfriend.”
