Free Path of the Horseman by Amy Braun Page B

disappointed.
     
    Josh was the only one who kept the stick up
his ass. He looked at the walls and furniture like they would grow
arms and try to swing at him. The only couch he trusted was the one
Maddy was sitting on. He sat down beside her, but refused to unwind
the way she did.
     
    Back in the dining room, the fridge door was
slamming and Simon was muttering angrily to himself. I sighed and
left the living room.
     
    Simon was going through his stores of food. I
hadn’t come in here last night, so I didn’t know how much he had.
Sometime in the last six months, he’d found trunks of survival
food, dozens of boxed and dried foods, and created mountains of
canned products. But I’d expected more. I thought between Simon’s
appetite and the amount of food left out there, he would have
something resembling Smaug’s treasure vault. As it was, he had
enough food to ration himself for another year if he was stingy.
Now he was looking for something to feed the seven starving humans
I’d brought to his door.
     
    I took a step closer to him. He heard me, but
didn’t slow down as he thought about what he wanted to give to the
strangers.
     
    “Sorry, man,” I said so the people in the
other room wouldn’t hear me.
     
    “No you’re not,” was Simon’s reply. “You
never are. Not until it’s too late.”
     
    That stung me worse than I expected, but it
was nothing I didn’t deserve. It’s not like it was a lie.
     
    Simon reached into a plastic bag and took out
some plastic cutlery. His hand stopped in mid air and then he
lowered his hand. His shoulders dropped with his spirit.
     
    “They shouldn’t be here, Avery. I saw the
Soulless following you outside. If they know live humans are here,
they’re going to find a way in. If they can’t, they’re going to let
Ciaran know. And he’ll damn sure find a way into them. You might as
well have put the axe to their necks yourself.”
     
    I tightened my arms over my chest. “Leaving
them out there for the Plagued wasn’t an option. Neither is
pretending they don’t exist. This could be the moment we’ve been
waiting for, Simon. They could have been chosen to survive and take
part in the Second Coming. That means we have to make sure they
live, and the demons don’t. Our jobs aren’t done yet.”
     
    Simon whirled on me, his face pinched with
anger, but he was careful not to shout or punch me.
     
    “They only survived because of luck. Ciaran
and his lapdogs are just as efficient as we ever were. Maybe even
more so because we didn’t know they’d escaped Hell until it was too
late. If they really want these humans, they’ll get them. Ciaran’s
Soulless have made him stronger. With our powers draining, soon
even we aren’t going to be enough to stop him.”
     
    Simon was always smart. He thought things
through, planned methodically, and executed his plans without a
hitch. Unless I was involved. I had a tendency to fuck up even the
simplest plans. Something about being too reckless and never
sitting still.
     
    “It’s too late, Simon. They’re here now, and
we’re going to protect them. If the jackasses Upstairs aren’t going
to bother with the Second Coming, then we’re going to do it for
them.”
     
    My brother had nothing to say to that. He
knew that once I put my mind on something, nothing short of
Heavenly wrath could stop me, and it wasn’t like we were expecting
any of that ever again.
     
    He let out an exasperated breath and grabbed
an armful off food. He couldn’t carry it all, so he nodded to
another pile on the mini fridge. “Get those. Let’s go feed the
guests.”
     
    I nodded my thanks and did as he asked. Of
course he left me all the heavy cans, but I’d already pissed him
off. Even when we argued, I liked Simon. I didn’t want him to be
mad at me for longer than he had to be.
     
    It was a little funny when Simon and I walked
into the living room with arms full of food. The humans perked up
like dogs smelling treats, and