“You forget,” the Rider said, pulling close enough that Roarke’s eyes reflected twin suns of death. “I am not your tool. I am the consequence of your existence. And consequences… come due.”
The Rider turned to Johnny—no, not Johnny. The man inside. The one who had invited the monster in, not as a cage, but as a partner.
The fire died. Johnny fell to his knees, human again, smoking and trembling. He looked at his hands. No burns. No chains. ghost rider spirit of vengeance 2012
The Rider turned. “Let. Him. Go.”
Roarke screamed. For the first time, genuinely screamed. He dissolved into a rain of blood and locusts, blown away by a wind that came from nowhere. “You forget,” the Rider said, pulling close enough
Danny collapsed, freed. The chains of shadow shattered.
They found Danny in an abandoned monastery perched over a canyon of thorn and bone. The boy was chained to a stone altar, a crown of rusted nails hovering over his head. Around him, cultists in black breathed incense that smelled like burnt rubber and funeral lilies. And consequences… come due
“Because Roarke isn’t just after the boy’s soul. The boy is the key. A ritual. The sun. The blood of the innocent. You know how it ends.”