From Hell with Love Read Online Free PDF

shoulder, the contact was enough to bring Cadmus back to the memory of Räum’s final struggle with Crocell.  He could feel the fallen angel’s disgust with himself as he fought his brother; Cadmus could feel his sadness as he struck out at the slayer and sunk his nails into the blue demon’s flesh.
    “Oh no,” Cadmus said as the present started to burn away, as he realized who Räum had been during his life.  Räum and Amon had created the prophecies, detailing how the Apocalypse would begin and creating their own version of the Book of Revelations.   Cadmus could only shudder as he realized that he was about to inherit something beyond his understanding.
    He lost consciousness as the future claimed his mind.
    ***
    Niccolo watched his friend take turns curling into himself and lashing out, the reaping taking complete control of his body.  He could not help Cadmus as he writhed and shook in the throes of pain and emotion, but eventually Niccolo jumped forward and held the reaper’s shoulder in an effort to stop the Horseman from hurting himself.  When Cadmus slumped to the ground, Niccolo crouched over him and was disturbed by what he saw.
    Cadmus’ grey irises had vanished, blue energy pouring out of his eyes, and the avatar of death was murmuring nonsense.  Niccolo had heard the dialect only a few times since he had fallen to Hell, but he knew that it was the original angelic language.  After a few moments of speaking the uncorrupted dialect, Cadmus closed his eyes and passed out. 
    “Cadmus!  Cadmus !” Niccolo shouted while shaking the Horseman’s unconscious body, but only after half a minute did Cadmus stir.  The Horseman was even more pale than usual, and when his eyelids fluttered open, he was finally able to see Niccolo’s worried face.  As Cadmus lifted himself up, his friend helping him along the way, he tried to make sense of the things he had just seen.  He did not know how reliable Räum’s prophecies could be, but what he saw was enough to make him sick.  The horrible scene flashed through his mind again, the disorientation causing him to turn over and retch once more.
    “Are you alright?” Niccolo asked, rubbing his friend’s back.  He had never seen a reaping have this kind of effect on the Horseman. 
    “No, no, I’m not.  Nico…” Cadmus said before turning to his young friend, despair etched on his face.  
    “Someone just… someone is going to murder Lucifer.”
     

     
     
     

Chapter 2: Past - Sons of Firenze
    “Come back here, you rat!”
    Niccolo opened his eyes and felt the sun’s warmth on his face, the chaotic sounds of the street below assaulting his eardrums.  The merchant’s son had fallen asleep on the roof of his father’s estate and his back promised aches and pains for the rest of the day.  When he turned over, Niccolo felt like his mind was covered in mud, his thoughts sluggish and murky.  He wondered how that had come to pass, but then he saw the empty wine skin and the few dark stains on the roof which told of the night before.
    Niccolo groaned as he realized what had occurred.  His friend Marco had convinced him to go out on the town and revel in being the only heir of Carlo Vespucci da Firenze, since Niccolo would no longer have that distinction in just a month.  Niccolo smiled as he thought about his father’s new family, but it retreated once his mind fell to memories of his mother. 
    The young man pawed at his chest to find the cross hanging there and then lifted it to his lips, kissing the warm metal.  After a moment’s prayer for the woman that had raised him, Niccolo picked himself up and then walked over to the stairs into the house.  He had never been one for prayer, but his mother’s faith was one of her dominating features.  It felt appropriate to honor her piety since it allowed Niccolo to fool himself into thinking that she still existed, even if it was just in his mind and in his wishes.
    Despite his fondness for his