Riders

by Veronica Rossi

  Above, the clouds pulsed with light, electricity splashing across the night. It was just me and Death now, getting pummeled by raindrop meteors.

  And the creature, beating its wings as it flew across the stormy sky.

  CHAPTER 27

  The sun was rising in a clear blue sky when I awoke in my Jeep once again—this time with a pounding headache, my stomach in cramps, and my Giants sweatshirt thrown over me. My body felt like it had been tenderized.

  Through the grimy windshield I saw Daryn, sitting on the hood. Her hair was up in a knot and she was talking to Sebastian and Marcus, who stood in front her. I saw no trace of the storm, or of the winged creature.

  “I know you guys want answers,” she said, “and I wish I could give them to you. I really do. But right now, all I can tell you is that bringing the four of you together quickly is the only way we’ll succeed. As soon as I can, I’ll tell you more. I promise.”

  “All right,” Sebastian said, nodding. “We’re almost there. We’ll find Conquest, then play the rest by feel.”

  By ear, I wanted to say. Play the rest by ear.

  “Man, forget that,” said Marcus. “It’s not all right with me.”

  He had the hood of his sweatshirt pulled over his head and his hands buried deep in the pockets of his jeans. His face was in shadow but I saw a cut on his cheek. I hoped his clothes hid a lot more damage, because I could barely draw a breath without talking myself into it first.

  Hunkered into his shoulders and with his head slightly bowed, Marcus struck me as guarded and dangerous. And I couldn’t help feeling like by adding him, our team had taken a big step backward. I hoped I was wrong. But I felt like I was right.

  “So what then, Marcus?” Daryn said. “Are you going to leave? Ignore your ability, and the fact that you can call a horse from thin air and just go about your life?”

  “There’s horses?”

  “Well, yeah.” Bastian shrugged. “I mean, we’re horsemen.”

  “Tell me something,” Marcus said. “Do I look like a cowboy to you?”

  “We have to do whatever’s needed,” Daryn said. “If the Kindred—”

  “I don’t have to do nothin’,” he said.

  “Yes, you do,” she pressed. “You do, because right now there are demons out there who are organizing, and if we don’t—” She stopped suddenly, realizing what she’d just said. Then she sighed. “I didn’t want to drop that on you yet. But I guess I just did.”

  Sebastian and Marcus weren’t moving. That word—demons—had shocked them both into silence, but I’d been expecting it. I think I’d known from the first time I saw Samrael at Joy’s party, but then there were the bone blades magically summoned at the studio, and the unnatural speed with which they moved. And last night, my little blind buddy. But hearing it from Daryn was still crazy. Having the confirmation. It still hit me hard.

  Marcus spoke first. “Demons have come after you?” He didn’t wait for an answer. Just did an about-face and walked away.

  “I’ll talk to him,” Bastian said. “I’ll make him hear reason.”

  “Thanks, Bas,” Daryn said.

  He went after Marcus.

  My gaze went to Daryn. I’d only known her a few days. Not long. But I’d been kind of avoiding some obvious things about the way I felt around her. “Martin.”

  She turned and saw me, then hopped off the hood and came over, pulling the door open. “How long have you been awake?” she asked.

  “Long enough.”

  Bastian and Marcus had stopped at the Mustang. The freeway was getting busier, cars and semis speeding past.

  Daryn propped her foot on the skid bar. “He might actually be more work than you are,” she said, following my gaze.

  “He’s the troublemaker. You’ll get used to me. But about last night…” The situation with Marcus had gotten way out of control. I was partially responsible for that. Time to own up. “I didn’t know he was going to be such an asshole, and—”

  “My thoughts exactly.”

  “I probably deserve that.”

  “You definitely do. Let’s just forget about it.” She glanced through the windshield again. “We’ll get him on board. He doesn’t have anywhere else to go.”

  “He said that?”

  She paused, then shook her head. “No.”

  “You know things, don’t you? About us? How much do you know?”

  She watched me for a few moments like she was thinking about how to answer. “More than I want to sometimes,” she said. Then her foot came off the skid bar.

  “Wait.” I didn’t want her to leave. I scrambled to say something. “How’s my face looking? Black and blue?”

  She leaned back into the Jeep and squinted a little. Her hair slipped out of its knot and spilled over her shoulder. “You have a few bruises but they’re already getting better.”

  “Bet you wish they weren’t.”

  “I’m glad you’re healing. But I’ll admit … I didn’t mind seeing you get put in your place.”

  She meant Marcus, but she put me in my place all the time. “Daryn…” I felt like I was staring at her, but I couldn’t make myself stop. She was just so steady. And pretty. “I know I wasn’t very cool to you last night. I just didn’t want you in harm’s way.”

  “Thanks for saying sorry. I’m pretty sure that’s what that was.”

  “You’re correct. Thanks for interpreting my apology.”

  She smiled. With the desert glowing gold and amber all around, so much like her, it was a perfect smile. No secrets. No hesitation. Like she’d laid the full measure of herself on me.

  It leveled me.

  I reached for her hand, which was surprising to both of us. But I was already committed so I wove my fingers through hers, keeping it smooth. Under control. Maybe I even came across a little jaded, going into instant damage control.

  Daryn went really still. She stared at her hand in my hand. Hers, perfect and smooth. Mine, bruised and crusted with dried mud. I could’ve probably thought through this a little better. “What are you doing?” she asked.

  At least we were on the same page there.

  “I just wanted to hold your hand for a second. It’s nothing. I hold hands with people all the time.”

  Her smile made a small comeback, but she didn’t look up. “Are you going to hold Sebastian’s hand?”

  “Uh, no. The thought hasn’t crossed my mind.”

  “Marcus?”

  “No.” He was no joking matter. The guy was a problem waiting to happen.

  “Gideon, I don’t think this is a good idea.”

  That didn’t seem like a very clear directive. “If you want me to stop holding your hand, I will. Do you?”

  She met my eyes. Everything stopped. The clouds. The planets. Time. Everything. “There’s something I have to tell you,” she said.

  Explosions of possibility went off in my head. “I’m listening.” I ran my thumb over her knuckles. Her skin was so soft. We were connecting. Taking a first step.

  Together. Now. Yes.

  “I’m starting to get a headache.”

  For a second there I thought that I, Gideon Blake, had grossly misjudged the entire situation and annoyed her to the point that I’d given her a migraine.

  Then I remembered and shot out of the Jeep, almost knocking her over. “You mean a vision-download headache?” I did a move with my hands like I was shampooing my head. Like that was going to clear things up. “The kind you get beforehand?”

  “Yes,” she said, calmly. “That kind.”

  “Okay. Okay. Sit down. Sit right there.” I tried herding her into my Jeep but she sidestepped.

  “I’m fine, Gideon. Relax.”

  “I’m relaxed.” That wasn’t totally true, but I was also completely ready to do anything she needed me to do. I was buzzing with the need to help. “I’m actually trained to handle this kind of thing.”

  “You’re trained for this?”

  “Definitely. Th
ere’s a whole section in the Ranger Handbook. Seeker Assistance Procedures Checklist. SAPC for short. Section One-A of SAPC says, ‘Secure a safe location for the Seeker’—which is you. So, sit. Please, Daryn. I know what I’m doing.”

  “Soon,” she said. “I will soon.” She was still smiling, but starting to blink slowly, the way a person does right before they’re going to fall asleep. “Is this scaring you?”

  “Does it hurt you?”

  “The headaches a little, but not for long.”

  “Then I’m not scared.”

  “You look worried.”

  “Just alert. This is my vigilant face.”

  “I actually believe you. Gideon, can you,” another slow blink, “can you keep Marcus and Sebastian away while it’s happening?” She got hung up on the S’s in Sebastian, slurring a little. “It’s not that I’m embarrassed, it’s just…”

  “No one’s getting close to you.”

  That should’ve sounded overprotective and crazy, but as I stood there, the heat of the desert sun on my back, it just didn’t. I felt like I was exactly where I needed to be. Standing guard. Looking out for her.

  “They’re over pretty fast,” she said. “Five minutes, usually.”

  “Okay.”

  “It probably says that in the Ranger Handbook. Or maybe it says three hundred seconds. You military types are so strange about time.”

  I mustered a smile. She was slurring more and starting to slouch. I had to fight the urge to forcibly wedge her into the passenger seat.

  Daryn twisted her hair to one side, and her fingers drifted over the chain. “You know what’s really beautiful? Feeling what another person feels. Feeling all their love and their fears … It’s all just so beautiful, you know? Life?”

  I didn’t even know what to make of that, so I nodded.

  She stared at me for a few seconds. “It’s possible that I could topple over.”

  “Then get in the freaking car, Daryn.”

  “Would you catch me?”

  “Of course I would.”

  “What about right now? Will you catch me before I fall?”

  That knocked the air out of my lungs. Literally. A first for me. Lots of firsts all of a sudden.

  I stepped toward her, half expecting her to ask me what I was doing, but the second I put my arms around her, she burrowed against my chest like I was her favorite pillow. Then I had one of those moments where time compresses, like your thoughts are having a car wreck, everything fast but slow. And I saw these images—fast-roping, blueberry pancakes, fire horse charging, bone knives flying, gorgeous girl making a nest out of my shirt with her face. Which was now. Happening right now.

  She smelled amazing, like spring smells, cool, rain, flowers. And it felt incredible having her so close. I just really liked her close.

  I cleared my throat. “How you doing there, boss?”

  “I’m so good. Guys give the best hugs.”

  “Um … guys do?”

  She laughed.

  “You’re really messing with me right now?”

  “Guilty.”

  Yep. Liked her.

  She gave me more of her weight. I was almost holding her upright now. It felt like she was drifting away somewhere, on a tide I couldn’t see.

  “You feel good, Gideon,” she said. “I knew you would. That’s why I didn’t want thisss—” She went limp.

  I pulled her against me and went through a hundred different scenarios in my mind in a second before I forced myself to chill out, take a breath. She’d told me not to worry, that she’d be fine, and as much as she kept secrets, I didn’t think she’d lie about that.

  I turned my back to Marcus and Sebastian. They weren’t close but if I could’ve become a tank around her, I’d have done it. Shifting around a little, I tried to get it so she’d be more on my shoulder, which seemed better. More comfortable for her.

  Then there was nothing left to do but count down.

  Three hundred, two ninety-nine, two-ninety eight, two—

  CHAPTER 28

  “You don’t have to count all the way down for us, Gideon,” Cordero says.

  “I wasn’t going to.” I swallow, clearing my throat. Letting that morning fade back and this pine room fade in. “I was just trying to give you an idea. Five minutes feels like a long time when you’re counting every second.”

  Cordero laces her fingers together. “I can imagine. I didn’t mean to interrupt. Please continue. The creature you mentioned—the one with the wings. Was it one of the Kindred?”

  I nod. “He’s called Alevar. Creepy little dude. But I’m going to need a health break before I go any further.”

  I do need to use the facilities, but I also need a moment. The memory of being with Daryn is so real, it’s like I can still feel her head on my chest. I have to shake it off. I just need a second to lock it back down.

  Cordero frowns. “Health break?”

  I was trying to be tactful but I guess she wants details, which I can respect. “I gotta hit the head. And trust me. You don’t want to keep War away from a toilet when he needs one.”

  Texas and Beretta laugh right away. They know I’m messing around, but I’ve really scared the civvie. The look on Cordero’s face is priceless.

  “I’m just playing with you, Cordero. I drank all that water. It’s just biology. You know. Natural.”

  “Five-minute break.” Cordero pushes up from her desk. “You know your orders,” she says to Texas. “Make sure everyone is on alert.”

  “I don’t have to go that bad.”

  She stops at the door, her dark eyes shining as she glances back. “You don’t want to push me too far, Gideon.”

  “Warning stands,” Texas says as he unfastens my bindings. “Don’t try anythin’ stupid.” But he sounds more casual than before. He’s getting a sense for who I am. I have no intention of trying anything, and I think he knows that.

  He drops the hood over my head and I muffle a groan. There’s really nothing that compares to the sweat and vomit scent combo. Not even Cordero’s perfume.

  “What is it, kid?” he says.

  “Hood stinks.”

  “Least it’s your stink,” Beretta says, and they both laugh.

  Texas helps me to my feet. My legs feel spongy from the drugs and because it’s been a while since I’ve moved. My first few steps weave. Texas grabs my elbow in a vise grip. He doesn’t let go as he walks beside me, issuing commands.

  Forward three paces.

  Down two steps.

  Ten more paces.

  As I follow them, I notice the hallway sags at the center and the floorboards shake. Not just because me, Texas, and Beretta weigh over six hundred pounds combined. They feel springy and thin. Drafts sweep past from all directions. They’re cool and smell alpine-clean compared to the musty warmth of the room. And this place has, like, the opposite of soundproofing. I hear everything. Passing a door, I catch voices arguing. Marcus’s room, no question. Then I hear laughter—that’s Bastian. Finally, I hear the steady meter of polished conversation—Jode.

  It’s good to hear them. I can barely sense them through the cuff. Too much crap in my blood. But I knew they’d be here. We left Jotunheimen together, the four of us. Only one of us stayed behind.

  Good job, Blake. You went three whole minutes without thinking about her.

  We reach the bathroom and the hood comes off. Beretta posts up at the bathroom door. Texas makes sure I don’t rip the sink off the wall and … what? Throw it through the tiny blacked-out window? It’d be cool if I had superstrength. I check in with what I do have, searching for the sword, for Riot, and nope. Still nothing.

  Texas waits behind me with the hood as I wash my hands. After being in that empty room for so long, everything is interesting and my senses feel heightened, acutely tuned to all of it. Freezing-cold tap water. Rust stains seeping into the drain. The antiseptic smell of the soap. That’s all I get before the hood’s back on and the world goes back to black. My
hands are refastened with the disposable plastic ties. Texas and Beretta flank me again. Time to make the trip back to the room.

  I picture it as we go. Turning from the bathroom into a narrow hallway with carpets worn bare at the center. Passing a small living room with cheap furniture, pizza boxes, maybe some spooky-looking government people sitting there, watching the kid in the hood walk by. I feel like I’m being watched. Which makes sense. There’s only one reason for all this security, and for this completely unethical debriefing. This was never about money, or international diplomacy, or the press. Cordero must’ve gotten wind of something unusual happening in Norway, maybe from satellite photos or drone images. How much about this did she already know before I started talking?

  Texas’s grip clamps down on my elbow, jarring me to a halt. “Hold here. Do not open your mouth.”

  I think I hear an argument. I strain to listen. Not Marcus this time. Who? Samrael? The Kindred? “What’s going on?”

  Somewhere a few paces ahead of me, Beretta swears. “Move,” he says. “Get him back in there.”

  I’m yanked backward, toward the bathroom, when I hear her.

  “You don’t need to push me! I’m going!”

  It’s her.

  Daryn.

  I slam my weight into Texas. We crash against the wall, the whole place shuddering. He tries to wrap me up, but I throw an elbow, catch him in the nose, I think, and that gives me a second. One second to reach up and yank the hood off, and she’s there. Standing inside the front door, between two men in black tactical gear, framed by the rectangle of sunlight behind her.

  She looks right at me, her eyes flaring with relief.

  She’s here.

  CHAPTER 29

  Texas recovers and lunges at me. There’s nowhere for me to go. My hands are tied, this hallway is tight, and he weighs almost a hundred pounds more than I do.

  My forehead crashes into the pine paneling. My vision cuts out. Everything is a blur as I’m shoved back, back, back. Then I’m in the bathroom again, where Texas jams his forearm under my jaw and pins me to the wall.

  “Stupid little shit,” Beretta growls behind him as he yanks the door shut.

  “Okay,” Texas says, taking a second to catch his breath. A line of blood trickles from one of his nostrils. “Okay, listen up.” He leans in, inches from my face. “You listening, Blake? ’Cause you’re gonna need to hear this.”