There But For The Grace by A. J. Downey, Jeffrey Cook Page B

and Tabbris was dragged through the Hellmouth,” Death waved me on, and I could see the beginning of unease in his eyes.
    “Yeah,” I nodded, “You’re picking up what I’m putting down. With the keys; Tab was dragged into Hell, with the keys. He had them. I didn’t. Why do you think no one’s come after me yet? They probably have figured it out by now that he has them.”
    Death leaned back in the booth and looked grim. I fixed my coffee and drained it in something like three gulps, and the waitress came back around and took our order. Once she had left, Death let out a rather large sigh that left even my heart sinking.
    “So it begins,” he muttered and knocked on the table, rapping on its surface idly with his knuckles.
    “What? The Apocalypse?” I asked and his eyes shot to mine, I rolled my eyes at him.
    “Don’t forget, you’re talking to two.” I rapped on my temple with my fingertips. Iaoel had seen fit to show me a few things, namely four riders on horseback. The images were vague but enough to get the message through clear. I saw four Angels in silhouette against a fiery backdrop, all sitting astride mighty big horses. I couldn’t see faces or anything, or even tell if they were all male, female or a mix, as all of them wore armor and it wasn’t exactly unusual for Angel dudes to have long hair.
    Still, I could see enough to know that one of the horses were pale, and I remembered that much about the passage from Revelations.
    I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.
    “So it seems,” he said and sounded just as dismissive of the information as I did earlier about the fact that the bitch residing in my head was going to eventually kill me. I swallowed hard and told her silently, don’t think for a minute that I’m not taking you with me if that’s the case. There’s no way you’re getting my body.
    My proclamation was met with silence and darkness, not an image to be seen. Our food was set in front of us, and despite my lack of appetite, I did what Tab had told me some time back. I ate it anyways. One never knew when the next meal was going to come. I was being a good little soldier, and that was simply that. I needed to be if I was going to get Tab and me out of this, and whatever time I had left after that, well, I would use it to do something. I just didn’t know what.
    “This fucking sucks,” I uttered, and Death made a noise of, I think, agreement.
    He huffed a big sigh, “I cannot help you, Adelaide,” he said and then raised a hand when I drew breath to argue.
    “I cannot help you on my own. You must have the blessing of the other riders as well. Know that you have mine, but you must convince –”
    “Are you fucking serious?” I asked, and I was left pretty much gobsmacked.
    “Deadly,” he said with a slight smile, and I couldn’t help it: that shit made me laugh.
    “I need to go talk to War, Famine, Pestilence, and…well,” I waved in front of me at Death.
    “If it is time, it is time, though I disagree that the time should be now. If the other riders agree that the apocalypse should not be nigh, then I will help you. We will help you. You must speak to each of us, however.” He took in my dubious expression and mistook it for hesitation on my part, raising an eyebrow as if he expected me to punk out.
    “Who do we start with?” I asked.
    “You. Who do you start with, and that would be Famine.”
    “Cool, can you at least point the way in his direction?”
    “I will do you one better. I shall take you to him myself, after you’ve finished your meal.”
    “That’s awfully accommodating of you, Death. Thanks.”
    He laughed, and I smiled.
    “Please, call me Azrael. ‘Death’ makes me feel like an aged old man.”
    I didn’t comment on that one. What the hell could