EPILOGUE
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Sophia wound her arm about Death’s waist while he flipped the burgers on the grill. “I can’t believe an all-powerful goddess is sitting at our back table.”
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“She doesn’t always look like that.”
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He had to admit, it was hard to imagine her as anything other than a run-of-the-mill human. Her flowing gown and crown were replaced with tan shorts, a navy floral shirt, and a denim jacket. Her golden hair was tied back in a ponytail and she laughed at something Conquest said, before taking a dainty sip of the iced tea Sophia had made.
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“I can’t believe that the four horsemen of the Apocalypse are in your backyard for an evening barbeque either,” Sophia said.
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He set the tongs aside, splayed his hands over her hips, and tugged her close. He nuzzled her neck, breathing in her fresh scent of cinnamon and early spring. She’d been out in the garden again. “Our backyard.”
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She laughed and he drew back so he could see her beaming smile. She traced his mouth with her fingertips. “I love it when you smile.”
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He loved everything about her, whatever she did, however she did it. He was sure his fellow horsemen felt the same way about their loves. Danu certainly had taught them her lesson. Crafty. He wouldn’t have expected anything else from a goddess.
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As though knowing what he thought—and she probably did—she glanced at him with a knowing, raised brow for a moment, before turning to speak with Kitty.
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“There is something my brothers and I are still yet to do.”
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Sophia’s brows furrowed, “And what is that?”
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He set the cooked burgers on a plate and placed it in the middle of the table that overflowed with food. He’d even fried eggs from the chicken coop that Sophia had filled as soon as she’d moved in. In fact, there were a whole host of changes that had taken place since she’d chosen to come back to life. For him.
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She cupped her slightly rounded belly as she relaxed in the chair, smiling up at him. Melody picked up her glass and clinked it against Sophia’s. He had a lot to be thankful for.
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“I propose a toast.” He lifted his tumbler of whiskey, thankful it had not turned into lemonade.
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Danu turned a knowing look on him and he wasn’t quite sure if his expensive liquor would stay that way. Everyone lifted their glasses, and he noted the happy expressions on his fellow horsemen’s faces. He spoke for them as well, knowing they would agree with him one hundred percent. “We offer you thanks, Danu. And we…” he cleared his throat when the words stuck.
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“Out with it, Riordan,” Conquest said.
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“You say it then,” Death said.
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“You’re doing a fine job of it. Keep going,” War said.
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Death drew a deep breath, taking a moment to feel his heart beating like a drum. “We were wrong. About humans. They have their ups and downs, but it seems so do we. They are learning as they go along, as are we. They fight, they can be terrible to each other, but that is not all of them. There is light and there is hope. Thank you for helping us see that, and… thank you for helping us find our true purpose.”
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“You left out the most important thing, Death.” Chimes sounded as Danu spoke. She couldn’t hide everything about being a goddess.
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He had. It was simple. It had always been simple and yet, for them, so hard. “And love. Thank you for helping us find love, Goddess. I offer you our humble apologies and our eternal thanks.”
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“You are welcome.”
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Danu’s smile was as broad as Sophia’s.
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I hope you enjoyed my version of Death. I've teamed up with some amazing authors who have their take on the other three horsemen. Read them here:
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Read The Colour of War by Jen Katemi
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How in all the heavens does the angel of War begin to broker peace?
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The color red is all I see. The color of rage. The color of blood when an innocent life drains away into the hot dry earth. Why does our goddess Danu want to save these humans when all they strive for is power and greed, and all they manage is destruction? What makes the human world worth saving?
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When I meet Molly, it is as if a kaleidoscope of color bursts into my vision. The barmaid is everything I never knew a human woman could be – kind, brave and selfless. How can I refuse to step up and protect her and her young sister Cara?
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As Lord Branagan, angel of War, the color red is everything that I am. But Molly only knows me as Finn. Here in the human world, as Finn Barden, I might have to risk everything—even my supposedly immortal life—to prove to us both that there is more than one color in the rainbow.
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Molly makes the human world worth saving…but at what cost? Can I save her from the very thing I incite in humankind? Can I save her...from me?
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Read A Worthy Conquest by Amelia Shaw
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When the four horsemen were thrown out of paradise, they landed on Earth in four different places.
Lord Conquest wakes up as the wealthy owner of a ranch,
Money, power and women abound.
What more could a man want?
Except to Conquer the unattainable...
There's only one woman Conquest wants,
and that's Doctor Emma.
A woman whose only concern is serving her small country town.
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But things aren't what they seem.
There's evil lurking, and despite his best intentions,
Conquest can't ignore it,
Especially when Emma becomes the demons prey.
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A contemporary twist on 'The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse' story- starring Conquest and his white stead.
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Read Promise by Kim Cleary
Being stuck on the mortal world sucks.
Being stuck on earth without powers, utterly chafes. He will have to grovel to his goddess to go home, that is when she decides his penance is done. Lord Gawain is not impressed with waking up on earth, but if Danu wants an apology she will get one.
Eventually. No matter if he's actually sorry or not. Which he isn't, of course.
That is until he meets Kitty, a brave and beautiful mechanic caught in the middle of a vicious turf war.
He can't live forever on the mortal world, but that apology that will get him home? He can't say it. Not any more. Not if it means abandoning the woman who has roused his long withered soul to life.
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