The Black Rider - J.B. Trepagnier Page 0,6

You said something about a few years of peace, and then things would get worse. We only have a few months left. Will you finally tell me what you mean by getting worse?”

“All the souls from Hell will be released to kill everyone on Earth. There’s a failsafe for that. Angels will come to fight them, and most likely, the Earth will be destroyed. The Book of Revelations talks about rapture and souls rising, but that’s a gigantic lie. It was added to soften the blow if the Horsemen fail and all of Hell is released on Earth. There’s no rapture, Ariel. Everyone dies a horrible death.”

Well, shit. Even if I wanted to see Miss Mabel and get her to tell me the truth herself, there was no way I could go back to California now. My father dragged me into this mess, being a rapist fuck and experimenting on a child.

That child would figure out how to stop him and get her revenge.

Chapter 4

I

t wasn’t like I had five minutes to process or get my shit together after finding out I wasn’t human, and my father was the son of Satan. I wanted this to just be over with. I wanted to face my father and introduce him to Smurfette. I wanted to get a few scratches on her from bashing his stupid face in.

I was done eating. It wasn’t like I could enjoy tacos and guacamole when the pits of Hell could open up if we didn’t get this done. But I needed more of that Tequila because every time I thought I was processing the apocalypse, it just got more fucked up. I grabbed the bottle and started gulping again.

“Let’s get to the lab!” I said, bolting to my feet.

The room started spinning. Perhaps I hit the Tequila a little too hard. Leif grabbed me and yanked me back to the couch.

“Let’s take a little time to deal with our shit first, Ariel. I can’t imagine what you are going through. You wake up to all this, and you can’t remember a fucking thing. We just dumped all that on you, and you’ve had to process some of it all over again. Take some time, Ariel. We used to talk about everything. How are you right now?”

“I don’t think there are any words to describe what I’m feeling right now.”

Aeron kissed the top of my head.

“Since when have you ever had trouble telling me exactly what you were feeling?”

I shoved Aeron. I was glad he was one of the good guys. And I got why he kept his secrets. He was right. If I hadn’t been here with both Leif and Aeron holding me, I would have flipped my shit out and booted him out of my apartment. I wouldn’t have heard him out, and I’d be in California right now. Would Miss Mabel have finally told me the truth so I ended up where I was supposed to be?

“Because you have a habit of pissing me off.”

“I think you like it when I piss you off.”

I grabbed Aeron and made him look at me.

“You also do totally amazing things like find me nachos and make me pancakes. You know all my favorites foods, and you got me here safely.”

“So, do you forgive me for keeping secrets, Speedy?”

“Wait, a minute. If Miss Mabel is half angel and you’re full angel, why did she beat the shit out of you with her broom when she found you in my apartment? Was that a lie?”

Leif started laughing.

“I still think it’s funny you got the shit beat out of you by a Nephilim.”

Aeron started rubbing the back of his neck.

“Dude, it’s not funny. You know how strong Nephilim are, even the older ones. Ariel, Mabel wasn’t using her extra senses to look for angels. She was constantly on the lookout for men your father might have sent. She saw me in your trashed apartment and just assumed I was working with him. I had to rip my shirt, popping my wings out to get her to stop beating me because she was so angry, she wasn’t even listening to me.”

I started giggling. Miss Mabel might be half angel, but she was maybe five feet tall and ninety pounds soaking wet. I was just imagining her going at it with her broom against the Horseman of Death.

“Hey!” Aeron said, tickling the shit out of me. I shrieked and tried to shove him away. “Mabel is tiny for a Nephilim. They used