Page 71 of Incipient

“Well, that’s probably a good thing for you because I’m pretty sure Nikki isn’t going to budge on the subject.”

“Foolish girl,” muttered War as my gaze darted over to him. “She will not have a choice for very much longer,” he informed, his commanding tone sending a wave of prickles over my skin.

Staving off a shiver, I turned back to William and asked, “So, how are you going to do this anyway? Are you going to like, resurrect the dead Horsemen in order to activate the Power of Four?”

A displeased grumble sounded at the back of one of the horsemen’s throat, but I couldn’t really tell which one it was. Judging by their murderous glares, it could have been any one of the three.

“Unfortunately, that is not an option. The Horsemen were created, not born and so there is no soul to resurrect once their vessel expires,” explained William, making me cringe at his entire string of callous words.

“So, how then?” I bounced a glance at the trio ofGladiators, waiting for someone to fill in the missing piece.

“Quite simply,” began William, since no one else seemed interested in conversing with me, “we’re going to produce a fourth Horsemen.”

I stared at him blankly as I waited for the punchline. “Oh. Wow. You’re actually being serious right now?”

“Of course, I’m being serious.” William clicked his tongue in disapproval before giving each of the Horsemen an apologetic look on my behalf. “This is hardly the time for antics, Jemma or have you not noticed that another apocalypse is upon us?”

“I’ve noticed, it’s just…” I hesitated as I tried to find the words to form my question without sarcasm or accidently insulting anyone. “How exactly are you going to create a new Horsemen? Like, was there some magical recipe for creating new mythical creatures in the Sang Noir?”

“Well, no, not exactly,” he answered cryptically as he pressed his fingers together in a steeple. “And we won’t be creating one per say—more likeanointinga new one.”

“Anointinga new one?” I repeated, testing the word out in my mouth. It tasted like curdled milk. “I don’t understand.” None of this was making much sense to me at the moment. That or I didn’t want it to make sense to me.

“There is a ceremonial Rite that can be performed in the event that a Horsemen doesn’t make the journey. The Angels appeared to have left the ritual hidden in their scripture for precisely a time like this. All we have to do is cast the spell and transfer the likeness into an able alternative—”

“Wait, what?” I cut in, my head spinning like a cannonball. “What are you even talking about? You’re going to use magic to turn someone into the fourth Horsemen?” Was he even hearing himself or had I just been flung off the bus and landed right in crazy town? Flattening my palms on the table, I tried to rein in my spiraling thoughts. “How is that even possible? And who exactly is going to be stupid enough to sign up for this?”

William’s gaze darted around the room before returning to me. “Well, that’s what we called you here for.”

“Excuse me?” I jumped up from my chair, causing it to screech out painfully as it flew across the floor. “You’re not seriously saying what I think you’re saying.”

“Your blood is purer than the rest of ours, Jemma. You were the only one who was able to retrieve the book and you were the only one besides the Horsemen that could understand its coded text. There must be a reason for that.”

“Yeah, it’s called being cursed as fuck!”

“Jemma.” He squeezed his eyes shut briefly as though my language had physically assaulted him. That wasn’t all that was going to assault him if he didn’t watch it. “You are the best shot we have. With your bloodline and your abilities, you’re the best equipped to take this on. There is no one else.”

“Of course, there isn’t,” I grumbled sourly. “There never is.” My pulse was pounding so forcefully that I could barely hear my own thoughts.

“That’s not entirely fair, Jemma—”

“Not fair? Don’t talk to me about what’s not fair. You have no idea of the things I’ve had to sacrifice for no other reason than the body I was born into. You will never understand—” I cut myself off, not seeing any point in even trying to explain this to him. He wouldn’t get it. He would never be asked to kill the person he loved most or to sacrifice his body to become an avenging Horsemen. No one would ever ask that of him and then scorn him when he didn’t do so freely and happily. “I need…to go. Right now,” I said as I grabbed the back of the chair and shoved it under the table.

“Perhaps if you allow me a moment to explain—”

“Explain what?” I interrupted, my head feeling hollow as I stared back at him. “You want to cast some ancientuntriedspell that’s basically going toanointme as the fourth Horsemen. What could you possibly say to me that’s going to make that even remotely digestible?”

William failed to produce an answer.

“Exactly.” My gaze flicked to the three Horsemen who watched me with even eyes and blank expressions. I couldn’t decide if it was because they weresoullesscreatures or whether their silence was something more.

“Where are you going?” asked William as I turned for the door.

“I’m going home. I need time to…process this.” Like a century’s worth of time.

“Well, I hope for everyone’s sake that you process this quickly,” said William, his eyebrows creased and his mouth sagging into a visible frown. “Because as it stands, the progeny is a magnet for all things underworld.”

I faltered at his words as my stomach twisted into a knot. “What does that mean?”

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