“Very cool,” Black said, waving them over with a smile that did little to soothe Amun’s dark mood. “Sit, sit. We’ve been expecting you.”
They had, had they?
Amun needed a better read on them, and suspected Secrets would have an easier time sorting through the noise if Haidee wasn’t there. Yet he couldn’t be without her. Not just to guard her—not that she needed guarding, because damn, he was still in shock over her ability—but because the other demons inside him might use her absence to overtake him. He would lose focus, returning to that mindless state of horror and pain.
Stand behind me and press your back into the tent flap, he told her as he moved forward. He gave her a gentle push in that direction. You’ve got a weapon?
“Yes,” she whispered.
She didn’t question him, but he knew she wanted to. Once again, he wished the connection went both ways, that she could push her voice into his head. Why the hell couldn’t she? Just then he wouldn’t have minded if she heard every thought he had, knew every urge he experienced. Her safety came before everything else.
He eased into the only empty seat at the table, the horsemen encasing him from every angle. He studied their faces more intently, noting the flawlessness of their skin, the purity of their eyes, the utter amusement in their expressions.
Amusement? Why?
Amun knew the moment Haidee did as he’d ordered and increased the distance between them, because Secrets sighed in relief and homed in on the three males and the female, at last digging past the buzzing, shrieking, moaning and silence.
—so damn bored…
—most fun I’ve had in a while…
—too bad we have to kill him…
—girl might be useful, though…
The other demons cackled, a thousand wind chimes in a storm. They weren’t so loud that they overpowered Amun’s other thoughts, and they weren’t so stalwart they overwhelmed him with dark urges. Oh, he could feel the things they wanted him to do. Taste the Horsemen’s blood, cause their screams. They’d been locked away so long, they were desperate. They also sensed Haidee was nearby, the frost of her skin like an invisible tether, and so they behaved. He could deal.
“You want safe passage from this realm,” Red said, a statement of fact, not a question.
“As with everything here, you must buy that passage,” White added, her voice as lilting and delicate as a snowfall.
Black smiled at him, all teeth and menace. “I hope you’re ready for this.”
Green, he noticed, never spoke a word. Just watched them all through enigmatic eyes. Amun felt a momentary sense of kinship.
He nodded at each of them.
“We’ll play two hands,” Red said. “No more, no less. If you lose, you will give me a hand. And I don’t mean a round of applause. Feel me?”
Behind him, Haidee choked on a breath.
I’ll be fine, sweetheart, he told her, even as he arched a brow at his opponents. Ask them what happens if they lose to me.
She obeyed, her voice strained. He was proud of her. She was scared but unbending, used to being in control, but allowing him to lead.
Red shrugged one of his massive shoulders, his attention never veering from Amun. “If I lose, I’ll escort you out of this realm myself.”
Secrets released an uneasy sigh. Over the centuries, Amun had learned the subtle nuances of his demon and knew Secrets sensed something amiss but hadn’t yet figured out what.
So now came the real negotiation. Ask them what happens to you during—and after—all of this, he told Haidee. What happens to you if I win, and what happens to you if I lose.
Once again she obeyed, and all four of the Horsemen grinned.
“Why does the woman speak for you?” White asked in that snowflake voice, ignoring the question. She was frowning, clearly unable to think up a logical reason on her own.
“Tell us what we want to know,” Haidee insisted, ignoring the question.
Good girl.
Black lost his battle to hide his amusement and gave them another toothy grin. “We keep you no matter the outcome, of course.”
Amun leapt to his feet and slammed his dagger into the middle of the deck, causing the table to rattle.
“Do you need me to interpret that?” Haidee asked with false sweetness.
Rather than angering them, Amun’s outburst and Haidee’s insult increased their enjoyment. Chuckling, Red waved him back in his seat. “Fine, fine. The girl will share your fate. If you lose a hand, she loses a hand. If you win, she wins and leaves with you. Happy now?” Hardly. Tell them if I lose the first game, they may take both my hands but neither of yours.
Of course, Haidee did not obey.
Mine will grow back, woman. Eventually. Tell them.
Still she remained silent.
He couldn’t turn back and glare at her; they would suspect he communicated with her telepathically. Not knowing what else to do, he signed the words, hoping one of the Horsemen knew the language. To his astonishment, all of them did, for they all nodded with satisfaction.
“Very well,” Red said, “we will take both of yours and neither of hers. But then there won’t be a reason to play a second game. We’ll have what we wanted. Both of your hands.”
Why did they want them? Just pick a different prize for the second. Like…my feet.
Haidee growled low in her throat, a predator ready to pounce. He knew she could hear his thoughts as he signed, but there was nothing he could do to comfort her. “I don’t agree to those terms.”
Everyone ignored her.
“Yes.” Red nodded. “Your feet will be a nice addition to our collection. We accept. Two rounds will be played, after all.”
“Amun—” Haidee began.
Amun held up his hand for silence, and he could feel the malevolence pulsing off her. Later, she would make him pay. But she would have the necessary appendages to do so, so he wasn’t too concerned. To the Horsemen, he signed, What are the rules?
They looked at each other, genuinely perplexed by his question.
“Rules?” White asked, blinking.
O-kay. Clearly the Rainbow Brigade lived by a code of its own making.
Secrets confirmed the suspicion. Suddenly Amun knew that there was no black and white with them, only shades of gray, and they wouldn’t hesitate to lie, cheat or trick to get what they wanted.
Trusting them in any way would guarantee his loss. Use the backpack to produce a new deck of cards, he told Haidee.
A few seconds later, she was strolling to his side. Secrets whimpered, the other demons cried out in pain, and then utter silence claimed his head. She angrily slapped the deck into his hand and stomped back to her post without a word. When they were once again distanced from each other, all of the demons peeked from their hiding places.
Secrets was a bit more subdued, afraid she would return at any moment.
The fear would have to be addressed, he realized. Secrets was a part of him. Amun relied on the beast and needed him at his best in dangerous situations. And as each new realm offered more danger than the last, that would have to be addressed soon.
Red leaned forward to study the new stack, and their fingers brushed.
In that split second, Secrets soaked up as much information as possible. William had created these creatures. Whether through conventional means or not, the demon couldn’t tell. All he knew was that they had purged some of the darkness inside of William and they both hated and adored the man for it, at once wanting to destroy and worship him.
They were too destructive to be loosed on earth, and so they had been bound to this underworld, but those bonds had begun to wither the day William had left them, and were now worn thin. Every kindness they dealt freed them a little more. But kindness was not part of their makeup and they had to actively ponder how to be nice.