Page 162 of Famine

I begin to get up, and once more Famine pushes me back down. “Calm your tits,” the horseman says, and how fuckingdarehe use my own line against me— “They never lived to begin with.”

I stare up at him, breathing heavily, my mind racing to catch up with his words.

“They never lived … ?” I echo.

“I have the power to make things grow and die,” he says. “I can prevent conception.”

That issomuch more information than I bargained for. But also, sex with the horseman is backonthe table.

Jesus, did that thought actually cross my mind?

Famine stares down at me. “Are you good?”

I nod, maybe a little too quickly. “I’m good,” I say, just to reassure him.

The horseman is looking at me as though I can’t be trusted.

“So War lives on an island?” I start again, taking a few deep breaths to calm myself. “With his family?”

I’m trying to imagine someone like Famine being a father. I can’t picture it.

“Mhm,” Famine says, still giving me a skeptical look. His hand moves back to my hair, and his fingers begin rubbing my scalp once more.

“So, he loves them then?” I ask. “His family?”

“The fuck if I know,” the Reaper says. After a moment, he adds, “But I imagine he does.”

I lay there, trying to figure out how the hell these women managed to tame two horsemen of the apocalypse.

“Does that mean War’s not killing people the same way you are?” I ask.

“He had been,” Famine admits, “but yes, at some point he stopped—as did Pestilence.”

“Why?” I ask, my brows furrowing.

The horseman frowns. A moment later, he stands. “Get some sleep. I’ll be near.”

With that, he crosses the room and opens the door. Famine slips outside, into the drizzling rain. The door clicks shut behind him, and then he’s gone.

It takes far longer than it should to fall asleep.

At first, all I can think about is his parting story and all of the information he revealed. But as my shock settles, other things begin to creep in.

I cannot forget how your skin felt against mine and the look in your eyes when I touched you. But most of all, I cannot ignore the way you draw me in.

I’m haunted by the horseman’s words and the look on his face when he said them.

I don’t even have a dick in me, and I’m fucked.

So, so fucked.

Somewhere between one troubled thought and the next, I slip off to sleep.

BANG!

I jolt awake, trying to figure out what’s happening, even as I hear shouting. Panic floods my system.

I push myself up on my elbows just as someone says, “Don’t move another centimeter unless you want a hole in that pretty chest of yours.”